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
The 2025-2026 Student Fellows
THE SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT VOCAL FELLOWSHIP
Soprano
Rose Silver
Rose is a soprano with an interest in sacred, ensemble, and early music. She has previously been a member of the Marsh Chapel Choir at Boston University, the St. James Cathedral Choir in Chicago, the Yale Repertory and Recital Choruses at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and most recently has sung with the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston. She began singing sacred music as a chorister in the Trinity Girls Choir at Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven, CT. In addition to singing with the Oratory, Rose is also a member of the Pittsburgh Camerata. Rose is completing her PhD in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University.
Izy Bernal
Izy Bernal, currently studying under Frederic Chiu at Carnegie Mellon University, started learning to sing and play piano at the age of four and is originally from Palm Beach, Florida. Excelling as both a classical and jazz pianist, she has played in various orchestras and big bands over the years, and has ample accompaniment experience. Isabella has performed in masterclasses for Meng-Chieh Liu, William Wolfram, Marina Lomazov, and is pursuing an undergraduate degree in Piano Performance with minors in Conducting and Collaborative Piano.
Alto
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.
Julia Tully
Julia (Jules) Tully is an alto originally from Southern California starting her second year with the Oratory Choir. She’s been singing for as long as she can remember and through it, met her husband Dan as they sang together in the campus choir for Mass at Brown University. She then joined him in singing for Brown’s Jewish a Cappellagroup The Alef Beats. Dan and Jules welcomed their first little girl, Gemma, this spring after going into labor after a 3-hour rehearsal for Holy Week.
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.
Tenor
Peter Naughton
Peter Naughton is an undergraduate vocal performance major at Carnegie Mellon University, studying under Daniel Teadt. Over the years, he has received recognition for various performances, including the honor of outstanding vocal soloist at the Walt Disney World 2023 Festival Disney. Recently, Peter has had the privilege of serving as a funeral and wedding cantor at his local parish, St. Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church in Chester Springs, PA. This is his first year as a Vocal Fellow in the Pittsburgh Oratory Choir.
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
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.
Sam Shadle
We are pleased to have Sam joining us as both an Organ Fellow as well as a Professional Vocal Core Member.