beauty you
can hear.

Christi Bye hails from Kansas City where she grew up performing in musical theater, church and concert venues, learning much under her mother who was a choir director and organist.

Christi earned her bachelor's degree from Belmont University in Nashville, including a one-year vocal study at Gnesins Academy of Music in Moscow, Russia. She received her master's in teaching and K-12 music certification from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO and has pursued singing, choral conducting and directing roles in jazz, classical and musical theater settings for 30+ years.

Christi has lived in eight states, spending the last two years composing and teaching elementary and middle school music in Plano, TX. Christi moved to Darien in April with her husband of 23 years, Jake, and their three boys, Gareth, Harlan and Baden. She is excited to sing at St. Barnabas under Marnus Greyling, joining the list of distinguished choirmasters she has sung for, most notably Wilma Jensen, John Barry and Robert Lehman.

Barbara Zay grew up in Greenwich, and began her career as a choral musician at the age of 8 with the Christ Church Choir. Her voice teacher in high school was St. Barnabas' own Megan Friar.

She and her husband Matt joined St. Barnabas in 2008, making this their 16th choir season. Barbara has had the privilege of singing with a number of choral ensembles, including Ghostlight Chorus, Pro Arte Singers, and Music on the Hill, as well as at many churches throughout the NY metro area.

Barbara holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Scripps College and a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from Columbia University. Barbara and Matt live in Greenwich with their two sons, Randall and Frederick, who can be seen marauding the halls at St. Barnabas most Sundays.

Sarah Bleasdale, mezzo-soprano and St. Barnabas Vestry member, joined the choir full time as a professional alto section leader in 2014. She holds cum laude and magna cum laude degrees from Yale University and the University of Arizona School of Music, studied with the Atlantic Theater School in Manhattan, apprenticed with Dicapo Opera and Sarasota Opera, and was a member of the German company of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera in Hamburg playing Madame Giry.

She is a regular performer in chamber ensembles as well as opera, operetta, and musical theater, in repertoire ranging from early music to newly composed works. Besides St. Barnabas, Sarah currently sings with the Victor Herbert Project Live, Crescendo, Music on the Hill CT, Westchester Choral Society, Bard Festival Singers, and the Opera at Bard Summerscape.

Recordings include the Israel Philharmonic's recording of the Bloch Sacred Service recorded live in Jerusalem in 2008, Trinity Choir's recording of Handel's Messiah for the Naxos label, the soundtrack of the film Halo: The Fall of Reach and the videos of the Bard Summerscape operas available on the Fisher Center YouTube channel.

My name is Megan Friar and I have been an alto member of the St. Barnabas Choir for ten years.

My first religious experience happened in first grade while attending Our Lady of Fatima School in Wilton, CT. One afternoon while digging in my backyard, I stumbled upon three large rusty nails. I was convinced that I lived on the site known as Golgotha. Instead of sharing this news with my family, I saved my discovery for Show and Tell the next day. When Sister Dolores called on me, I stood with all the dramatic flair I could muster, raised my arms with the nails in hand, and exclaimed, "I have found Jesus' nails!" Later that afternoon Sister Dolores called my mother with grave concern.

My second religious experience happened in second grade when I was chosen to portray the Virgin Mary in the school's Christmas pageant. Not the little red-headed girl, nor the obvious blonde choice, but me, the brunette in glasses. I had arrived!

I am the youngest of nine children (Irish Catholic) and getting my parents' attention was a high task. Lucky for me, I was the one who could sing!

As a kid growing up, I came to learn that the girl who could harmonize at the drop of a hat never got to play the ingenue. I was relegated to secondary roles: the Funny Sidekick, the Mother, the Witch. I accepted this fate, which followed me to the University of Connecticut at Storrs where I met my husband, jazz pianist Ron Drotos. I received an undergraduate degree in Music Education and a Masters degree in Choral Conducting.

After landing the choral director job at Wilton High School, I decided I wanted to be doing what I was teaching my choral students to do (sing!), so I retired after two years, moved to NYC to pursue my singing career, and never looked back.

I was "a jack of all trades, master of none." I performed with the national tour of The Phantom of the Opera; appeared in concert with Ron; performed with opera companies, including Sarasota, Connecticut, Virginia, Des Moines, Center for Contemporary Opera, and the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players; was a member of the Metropolitan Opera extra chorus in their productions of Die Meistersinger, Peter Grimes, Turandot, and War and Peace; was a concert soloist with the Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall; toured with the Mark Morris Dance Group as a singer; and appeared as a chorister and soloist with many choirs and orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Voices of Ascension, Musica Sacra, Fairfield County Chorale, Bard Music Festival, Mostly Mozart, American Symphony Orchestra, and the Sioux City, Detroit, Jacksonville, Buffalo, and Eastern Connecticut symphonies, among others.

My most rewarding gig, however, has been as Mother to my boys, John (23) and Danny (21).

They say that the career of a performer unfolds in four stages: 1) "Who is Megan Friar?" 2) "Get me Megan Friar!" 3) "Get me a younger Megan Friar!" and 4) "Who is Megan Friar?" I am somewhere between stages 3 and 4. I'll take that!

Rising American tenor Kevin Ray is praised by Opera News for his "commendable style" and abilities with "subtle coloristic nuance." Most recently, he sang his first performances of Macduff in Macbeth with Resonance Works, and joined his alma mater Oberlin College Conservatory of Music for a gala performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.

In 2021, he joined New Orleans Opera for his first performances of Siegmund in Die Walküre. He recently made his LA Opera debut as Loud Stone in the World Premiere of Aucoin and Ruhl's Eurydice, and his Metropolitan Opera debut as the Messenger in Aida, while also joining the company for their productions of La fanciulla del West, Simon Boccanegra, and Das Rheingold.

Other recent engagements include joining Indiana University for a special bicentennial production of Parsifal covering the title role, his first performances of King Charles VII in Tchaikovsky's The Maid of Orleans with Odyssey Opera, the Prince in Rusalka with Arizona Opera, Erik in Der fliegende Holländer with Estonian National Opera, and Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with Berkshire Opera Festival.

Mr. Ray earned his Master of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music. He is a 2015 winner of the William Matheus Sullivan Musical Foundation Award, and he was one of eight finalists in Seattle Opera's 2014 International Wagner Competition.

He is a 2012 Grand Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions as well as a three-time district winner of the competition in previous years. He has also received second prize from the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition and third prize in the Wagner division of the Liederkranz Competition. Additionally, he is a two-time recipient of study grants from the Wagner Society of New York.

The Cornwall, New York native also received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and has completed further studies at the Accademia Rossiniana in Pesaro and the Mozarteum Sommerakademie in Salzburg.

Hi, I'm Matt Zay - first of my name, second longest tenured member of the St. Barnabas Choir (tied), third born child of an ex-monk and nun, fourth best triple jumper in the Division III Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2003, fifth amendment enthusiast, sixth most well-regarded expert in testing the boundaries of early childhood understanding of sarcasm, seventh-wave postmodern grammarian, and eighth fastest choir bio writer in town.

I grew up in Colorado and if you told me back then I'd end up in Greenwich, CT, I'd have said, "hmm ok." I stopped in California first and attended Pomona College, where I studied sometimes. I met my now-wife Barbara in the choir there, and that was the best thing to ever happen in the world.

At that point I became the mediocre half of an amazing two-singer package deal that got me into some great choirs, including this one. We sang with the Rolling Stones (brag), with Ennio Morricone (brag), with Debbie Gibson (not a brag), in places like Radio City and Barclays Center.

We got to Carnegie Hall and I didn't even practice. We sang at the United Nations and I didn't even break the escalator. But mostly we've just been singing beautiful music with beautiful people who are our best friends.

In real life, I work as a general contractor in NYC. My hobbies include woodworking, whisky collecting (when I was younger), and whisky selling (now that I have kid$$).

I'm a women's basketball fan and pride myself in having raised my boys to know the secondary nature of the MNBA to the WNBA. I will keep trying to make them laugh at my jokes, and more importantly to grow up with peace and love in their hearts. I am very grateful for the years I've spent here at St. Barnabas, a peaceful and loving place indeed.

Upon graduating from Princeton's Westminster Choir College in 1979, my Father started a Family Business selling plastics to Injection Molders & Extruders of which, I was hired as President to run, for the next 22 years!

I continued to sing at Princeton's Trinity Episcopal Church Men & Boys choir for an additional 4 more years, which included doing various services, concerts & recordings and participating in a Holland, Germany & England tour singing concerts in cathedrals.

The opportunity arose for me to audition for NY Symphony's NY Choral Artists, which opened the door to singing & recording with Musica Sacra, Amor Artists, Voices of Ascension, Pro Arte Singers, Essential Voices, the RCA Victor singers and more.

For 35+ years, I sang in multiple Live at Lincoln Center broadcasts with incredible Conductors and Soloists, singing on the Today show, participating in 3 recordings of Chain Gang songs & Spirituals with Pam Smith, accompanying Andrea Bocelli as a 12 voice backup chorus on the David Letterman show, singing & recording with Dave Brubeck, performing in all of the 9-11 memorial services & concerts including the Yankee Stadium memorial service, etc, etc.

In 1986, I was hired to supplement the Bass section of St Barnabas Church's Choir for a Bach B Minor Mass concert, & Michael Roush hired me after that.......and the rest is history!!

I thank God for the gift of song that I was blessed with, with all of the many musical concerts, recordings, and relationships I was lucky to participate in, all of which fed my musical & spiritual soul for many years. I am also extremely Blessed to continue singing to the Glory of God at St Barnabas, with a new chapter of music making with Marnus Greyling, as our Music Director & Organist!

John was born and raised in Colorado. He holds graduate degrees in both bass trombone and voice and has been a professional singer and occasional actor for nearly four decades.

Currently he also works as a writer and editor, mainly for classical music publicists. His many enthusiasms include writing back-of-the-book indexes, a skill picked up during the darkest days of the pandemic, playing other instruments, reading, songwriting, studying foreign languages and the poetry of Christopher Smart, and most recently taking Lindy swing classes with his beloved partner, Allison.

He lives in Kingston, NY, from which he commutes each Sunday morning to sing with the St. Barnabas choir.

Marnus Greyling obtained a BMus degree cum laude from the University of Pretoria, studying organ performance with Wim Viljoen, a former student of Marie-Claire Alain and Jean Langlais. He completed a Master of Music degree at the University of Cambridge (Jesus College, 2017), receiving a Cambridge Instrumental Award for organ, and studied organ with Gordon Stewart, while working closely with Christopher Robinson on Anglican choral music as organ scholar of Downing College. Other teachers during this time include Sarah MacDonald, Graham Ross, Stephen Cleobury, Andrew Nethsingha, and Stephen Layton.

Marnus was subsequently organ scholar at St Albans Cathedral in the United Kingdom, sharing all playing duties, playing for live BBC radio broadcasts, acting as principal accompanist to the Abbey Girl's Choir, and directing the Abbey Singers. He toured with the choir to Sweden in 2018. He was also accompanist to the St Albans Bach Choir, performing large-scale works, such as the Brahms Requiem with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Marnus has performed extensively in his native country South Africa, in England, Wales, as well as in Sweden, Lithuania and the United States. He is a guest conductor and organist for Vox Cantab, a UK based choir made up of former Cambridge choral scholars and has performed with them several times, most recently at St David's Cathedral, Wales.

He was the top prize winner in the national organ competitions of SAKOV (Southern African Concert Organist's Society) each year from 2011-2015. He won the Pretorium Trust Bursary competition for piano (2012) and received top prizes in the ATKV national music competition for organ (2015 and 2016).

Marnus has had masterclasses with Martin Haselböck (Austria), Daniel Roth (France), Clive Driskill-Smith (UK/USA), Mark Williams (UK), Simon Lindley (UK) and Frédéric Blanc (France). He has performed at various international music festivals. In 2020 Marnus organised the first Johannesburg English Music Festival, in collaboration with this UK based festival.

Before recently coming to the United States, he was the university organist of the University of South Africa, director of the jazz vocal a cappella group The Parktown Singers, assistant director of the Symphony Choir of Johannesburg, chairman of the RSCM Northern Branch, and Director of Music at the historic St George's Anglican Church Parktown.

Recordings of his solo performances, and collaborative work with singers and orchestras regularly feature on Southern African radio stations and television. Marnus is on the executive board of SAKOV, a member of the AGO, the Association of Anglican Musicians (AAM), and the St Wilfrid's Club, a New York city based organists club.

He is currently Director of Music at St Barnabas Episcopal in Greenwich, CT, with its highly regarded choral tradition, and renowned Richards, Fowkes & Co. Opus One pipe organ.

Marnus is fluent in Afrikaans and English, while also speaking German and Dutch. He has a great interest in history, particularly archeology, and enjoys traveling and meeting new people and cultures.

St. Barnabas is fortunate to make music with two incredible instruments in an acoustically stunning building.

The Richards, Fowkes Opus One organ has become an internationally-recognized instrument for its tonal qualities and musical versatility. It contains 35 stops over two manuals and pedal. Commissioned by St. Barnabas in 1988, the organ was installed in 1991 with then-director of music Michael Roush playing the dedication recital. Since then, international organist, Gillian Weir has played two concerts, as have many other international and local organists. In 2016 Michael Roush repeated the original dedication recital celebrating a quarter century of the very first Richards, Fowkes organ. Recordings have been made by Bruce Neswick and Johannes Unger.

St. Barnabas also has a 2008 Dutch continuo instrument of 5 stops built by Henk Klop. It is used for more subdued services such as those during Lent and Easter, as well as for concerts and other gatherings.

Michael was hired in 1979 after graduating from Juilliard. He served St. Barnabas faithfully for four and a half decades, building a renowned music program practically from scratch and serving as faithful pastor and counselor to families as they marked life's joys and sorrows in worship. He produced decades of remarkable concerts from large-scale pieces with orchestra to intimate a cappella works, including his farewell concert in 2023, at which he presented "Songs of Farewell," a gem of the English choral tradition by Hubert Parry. For over twenty years, he was also the Artistic Director of Fairfield-Westchester Concerts, Inc., which presented concerts at St. Barnabas, sponsored recordings, commissioned new works, and introduced young performers. He also started Bach@415, a new series which brought artists and groups from across the nation to join the St. Barnabas Choir in major works that are performed outside of worship. On July 25, 2023, the title director of music emeritus was bestowed upon Michael by resolution of the St. Barnabas vestry in recognition of his years of service and the continued impact of his legacy.