Music for Organ and Voice followed by Choral Compline
Join organist James Roman, soprano Grace Roman, and the Trinity Choir for a beautiful evening of music as part of Trinity Episcopal Church’s Concert and Choral Compline series. The concert begins at 7:00 pm with Compline immediately following.
Mr. Roman will perform on Trinity’s historic 1918 Pilcher pipe organ, accompanying Mrs. Roman. Then, the Trinity Choir will lead in singing Compline, the last service traditionally sung right before bed. This meditative worship is the perfect way to start your week on a peaceful note! A reception will follow. Admission is free; a freewill offering helps support the concert series.
More about our featured artists:
Mr. James Roman
A native of Moorestown, NJ, James Roman attended Westminster Choir College (WCC) in Princeton, NJ where he earned both a BM and MM in Organ Performance and Sacred Music as a student of Ken Cowan and Alan Morrison. In addition to his time at WCC James also studied with Grethe Krogh in Copenhagen, Denmark.
James has given numerous recitals in the Northeast and Texas and was a performer in the 2013 AGO Region III Convention in Winchester, VA. Additionally, he was the winner of the 2013 Joan Lippincott Organ Competition for Excellence in Organ Performance.
An avid lover of choral music, James has participated in three tours of Denmark and Sweden both as a choral singer and accompanist with the music ministry at the First Presbyterian Church of Moorestown, NJ. As a member of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, he performed under the baton of many world-renowned conductors such as Alan Gilbert, Daniel Barenboim, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Performances with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center and New York’s Carnegie Hall have included Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 2. & 8, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Bernstein’s Mass, and the NYC premiere of Christopher Rouses’ Requiem. He can be heard on a recently released recording of Bernstein’s MASS with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin on the Deutsche Grammophon label. He was also a member of the Grammy-nominated Westminster Williamson Voices under the direction of Dr. James Jordan and released two recordings with the ensemble under the GIA and Naxos labels: A Hole in the Sky and Carolae: Music for Christmas.
In the Fall of 2018 James will begin work on a Certificate in Music Performance at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music as a student of Daryl Robinson.
James currently resides with his wife Grace in Houston, TX and is the Associate Organist/Pianist at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.
Mrs. Grace Roman
Grace Roman is a lyric soprano hailing from Coral Springs, Florida. She graduated with her Bachelor of Music in Music Education degree and Performance Certificate in Voice from the University of Florida in 2013, where she studied with Ron Burrichter. Grace was fortunate to perform in a variety of settings during her time at UF, including with the University of Florida Schola Cantorum, UF Opera Theater, UF Cellorando ensemble, UF Jazz Ensemble, and with a number of composition students and faculty. She was also an active member in the UF and Florida National Association for Music Educators (NAfME) chapters. Grace was Co-Director of SONG: Singer’s Organization for a Nation of Gators during her Junior year. In 2012, she recorded tracks for Creating Poetry and Songs to Teach…Anything! written by Dr. Russell Robinson, published by Superior Educational Publishing.
In 2016, Grace graduated with her Master of Music degree in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College (WCC) of where she studied with Laura Brooks Rice. During her time at there, she was an active member of the WCC Opera Theater Company, a graduate assistant in the offices of Financial Aid and Continuing Education, and a graduate assistant for the Grammy-nominated Westminster Williamson Voices and Dr. James Jordan. Grace has a passion for performing, both in recitals and operas. Previous roles include Verdi’s La Traviata (Flora Bervoix/Chorus), Handel’s Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (La Belezza), Haydn’s Il mondo della luna (Flaminia), Handel’s Dido and Aeneas (Belinda) and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus (Chorus).
Grace made her professional debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the spring of 2015 in Bach’s St Matthew Passion (Ancilla II). She has received additional training at the CoOPERAtive program in Princeton, New Jersey, the Florence Voice Seminar in Florence, Italy, and OperaWorks in Los Angeles, California. Ms. Roman currently resides in Houston with her husband, Jim. She sings with the Houston Symphony Chorus and is the Manager of Operations for the Houston Chamber Choir.