The Paul Madore Chorale’s Composer in Residence for our 2026 winter concert, Carols of the Heart, is composer Javier Márquez. We are very grateful to Javier, who welcomed the Paul Madore Chorale for our Summer Sing this past summer at St. Peter’s–San Pedro Episcopal Church in Salem.
Reverend Ives, pastor at St. Peter’s–San Pedro Episcopal Church, has generously welcomed our chorale to rehearse and present concerts this year while the Paul Madore Chorale is rebuilding after losing its funding. Thank you so very much, Reverend Ives!
We are honoring Javier by opening our winter concert with his very joyful “Cantate Domino” from Cantate Domino, Op. 26. Countertenor Ifeanyi Epum, from Nigeria and Trinity Episcopal Church, will be one of our soloists in Javier’s piece. Coloratura soprano Maggie Stone is the recipient of the Choral Fellows and Scholars Program at the First Baptist Church of Medford, MA.
It is a great honor as director to be able to continue the long legacy of the Paul Madore Chorale. Thank you, Javier and Reverend Ives!
— Robin McKee Williams, director
Behind the Music of Javier Márquez, Pianist & Composer
Javier Márquez discovered the joy of making music at age 13 in his native Dominican Republic, when a middle school friend showed him a keyboard for the first time. That friend taught him a melody by ear, which Javier could remember perfectly a few days later, and so the musical journey began. He spent his high school years teaching himself to play by ear, learning Spanish popular music from the radio, and later to read and write music notation.
After graduating from high school and taking a class in music theory and four-part writing, Javier was encouraged to coach a small church chorus in the town of Piedra Blanca, near his hometown of Bonao. He quickly developed a love for choral music. Javier immigrated to the United States in 2002, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Salem State University in 2008 and a Master of Music in Composition from UMass Amherst in 2014. His composition teachers were Philip Swanson and Salvatore Macchia.
Javier has served as pianist for the First Baptist Church of Salem, MA since 2008 and for St. Peter’s Episcopal Church of Salem, MA since 2018. The Concert Singers of Greater Lynn, a North Shore–based choral ensemble, has premiered many of his original compositions for chorus and orchestra since 2006. He enjoys traveling, learning foreign languages, dancing, food, and of course, making and writing music as much as possible.
Learn more on Javier’s website.
