THE SAINT GREGORY INSTITUTE OF SACRED MUSIC

AT THE PITTSBURGH ORATORY OF SAINT PHILIP NERI

Our People

Meet the talented musicians of the Saint Gregory Institute of Sacred Music at the Pittbsurgh Oratory.

Nicholas J. Will

Director of Sacred Music, The Pittsburgh Oratory

Founder and Director, Saint Gregory Institute of Sacred Music

Nicholas Will is the Director of Sacred Music at The Pittsburgh Oratory and the Founder and Director of the Saint Gregory Institute of Sacred Music, At the Oratory, he oversees a comprehensive and rapidly expanding sacred music program focused on excellence in repertoire, execution, and pedagogy, serving as primary organist and director of the Oratory Choir. From 2020 to 2024 he served as Director of Liturgical Music and Lecturer at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, overseeing a robust music program and teaching a comprehensive sacred music curriculum at America’s largest seminary. Similarly, he served as Director of Liturgical Music at the Pontifical North American College, Vatican City State, from 2018 to 2020. From 2013 to 2018, he was an Assistant Professor of Music at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he also served as Coordinator of the Sacred Music Program from 2016 to 2018. Other previous positions include directorships at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Carnegie, PA and the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Altoona, PA. A graduate of Duquesne University and the Peabody Conservatory of Music with additional study in improvisation with Dom Theo Flury, O.S.B. at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, Rome, Nicholas is a past winner of the André Marchal Award for Excellence in Organ Performance (Duquesne), the Dorothy DeCourt Prize in Organ (Peabody), the Young Organists’ Audition sponsored by the Pittsburgh Concert Society, and the Duquesne University Concerto Competition. He has performed as an organist, accompanist, and conductor throughout the United States and in Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Croatia, and Austria, including national gatherings of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (2012 and 2018) and the Church Music Association of America (2018). His recordings as an organist and conductor have been released by Navona Records and Jade Music, and he is a published composer with CanticaNOVA Publications. Nicholas's extensive experience as a university professor and director of parish, cathedral, and seminary music programs has given him a thorough knowledge of the Church's tradition of sacred music, an intimate familiarity with the issues facing parishes and church musicians today, and the desire and skills to improve the state of Catholic sacred music in the United States.

The Professional Vocal Core Members

Sarah Richards

Soprano

Sarah Richards is a Pittsburgh-based soprano who has performed opera roles including Monica in Menotti’s The Medium in SERIO Opera Company, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at OpernFest Prague/Smetana Hall, and Drusilla/Virtù in Claudio Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at Miami Beach Classical Music Festival. Ms. Richards’ other performance work includes the OperAffinity Concerto Lirica Gala Concert and Virginia Ryan art exhibition in Todi, Italy as well as performing newly composed works and sacred Baroque music as one of the founding members of the vocal trio Halcyon Voices. Ms. Richards has received a Master’s in Early Music Voice from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a Bachelor’s in Vocal Performance from West Virginia University.

John Sereno

Tenor

John holds a Bachelors degree from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He has been an professional church musician for over 25 years as a singer and conductor. John also has been appearing in productions with the Pittsburgh Opera since 2007.

Sarah Austin

Alto

Acclaimed for her “rich mezzo,” Sarah Austin enjoys singing throughout the Pittsburgh area. Sarah recently played Hansel in a touring production of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s OperaTots! program, which brings children’s opera and music education to local schools. She also sings with Azure Family Concerts, who provide sensory-friendly interactive concerts to children with autism. She is a member of the Pittsburgh Opera Chorus, and also performs regularly with local companies such as Resonance Works, The Pittsburgh Savoyards, and SERIO opera. She was recently the recipient of a district Encouragement Award at the Metropolitan Opera’s 2025 Laffont Competition. She holds a MM in Vocal Performance from Carnegie Mellon University and a BA in Music and English from Davidson College. Sarah also maintains a private voice and piano studio for all ages. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, gardening, and crafts.

Sam Shadle

Bass

Sam Shadle, a recent graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Software Engineering and Sacred Music(voice), currently teaches Music and Religion at St. Michael School in Greenville, PA, where he also works IT operations and support. When he is not singing with the Oratory Choir, he is involved in other music-making around the city, including by studying organ, singing in the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh's Professional Core, and participating in other area scholas and Catholic church choirs. While not music-making, he enjoys running and rock-climbing, working on projects and pursuing additional certifications in engineering, and spending time with family and friends.

The 2025-2026 Student Fellows

THE SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT VOCAL FELLOWSHIP

Soprano

Rebecca Martin

Rebecca is a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University studying Robotics. Originally from Arizona, she enjoys swimming and playing the piano in her free time.

Alto

Mary Jeffries

Mary Jeffries is pleased to join the Pittsburgh Oratory for her second year as a vocal fellow. She sings in the four-part women’s ensemble Halcyon Voices, bringing early sacred polyphony to churches in and around the Diocese of Pittsburgh. She is also a member of the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh (Carmina Burana April 2024), where she is looking forward to their 2024-2025 season of antiphonal masterworks, Adolphus Hailstork, and Motown. When she is not singing, Mary works as a health unit coordinator for UPMC.

Julia Tully

Julia Tully is an alto who has sung in Catholic liturgical choirs since her Childhood in Southern California. She and her husband, Daniel Tully, met during their undergraduate years at Brown University three years ago and got married this July.

Bass

Daniel Tully

Dan Tully is a second-year FOCUS missionary at the University of Pittsburgh. He has been leading and singing in student choirs since his undergraduate studies at Brown University, where he met his wife, Julia Tully.

Brent Gaspich

Brent Gaspich is a first-year undergraduate student at Duquesne University studying Biochemistry. He has sung in many choirs under the direction of conductors such as Anton Armstrong and Rollo Dilworth, but he is most grateful for his experience singing in his home church, the Cathedral Parish of Saint Patrick in Harrisburg. He looks forward to being a part of many beautiful Masses this year and continuing to learn the performance of sacred music.

THE TOMÁS LUIS DE VICTORIA CHORAL CONDUCTING FELLOWSHIP

Tomás Cabrera

Tomás Cabrera is a physics doctoral student at Carnegie Mellon University and has held the Tomás Luis de Victoria Choral Conducting Fellowship at the Pittsburgh Oratory since fall 2023 after joining the choir in 2021. When he is not singing or studying the stars he enjoys listening to good stories and exploring different art media. He is grateful for the opportunity to learn and make music for God and His people.

THE FR. EDWARD CASWALL, C.O. ORGAN FELLOWSHIP

Ryan Seaver

Ryan Seaver is a Senior at Franciscan University of Steubenville, majoring in Theology and Catechetics and minoring in Sacred Music and Music Ministry. This is his second year assisting at the Oratory as an organ fellow. Ryan looks forward to serving his home diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee when he graduates as associate organist at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Andrew Dierkes

Andrew Dierkes, PhD, RN, grew up near Philadelphia where he studied nursing and health services research. He moved to Pittsburgh to join the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing and readily found his way to the Oratory. Having been raised in a musical family and received instruction in piano, violin, and organ, he is grateful for the opportunity to grow as a liturgical musician.

The Pittsburgh Oratory Catholic Newman Center