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Mr. Peter Richard Conte, Organist and Choirmaster
eter
Richard Conte was appointed Choirmaster and Organist of St. Clement's
Church in 1991. Since then, he has established an internationally-acclaimed
ensemble of eighteen professional singers which performs an extensive repertoire
of music in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. Each Sunday, and on special Feasts
of the Church Year, the choir offers a full setting of the ordinary of the
Mass, including the Credo, several motets, and the Propers for the Mass,
sung in Latin to their original Gregorian tones. The Saint Clement’s
Choir has recorded several compact discs on the DORIAN label, all of which
have received international praise.
In addition to his duties at Saint Clement’s, Mr. Conte is Grand Court
Organist of the world famous Wanamaker Organ in Macy’s, Center City,
Philadelphia. He performs on the six-manual, 28,500-pipe instrument twice
daily, six days per week. The Wanamaker Organ is the largest fully-functioning
musical instrument in the world; Mr. Conte was appointed Grand Court Organist
in 1989, and is only the fourth person to hold that title since the organ
first played in 1911.
Mr. Conte is highly regarded as a skillful performer and arranger of organ
transcriptions. He has been featured several times on National Public Radio
and on ABC television's "Good Morning America" and “World
News Tonight.” His monthly radio show, “The Wanamaker Organ
Hour”, airs on the first Sunday of each month, at 5 PM (Eastern),
and can be heard via the internet at WRTI.ORG. He performs extensively throughout
the United States and Canada under the management of Phillip Truckenbrod
Concert Artists, and was a featured artist at the American Guild of Organists’
National Convention in 2002, and at the International Organ Festival in
Aosta, Italy, in September 2004. He has performed with the Philadelphia
Orchestra, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, and with the Delaware and Allentown
Symphonies.
Peter Richard Conte is an Associate of the American Guild of Organists,
has served on the executive board of its Philadelphia Chapter, and has presented
guild workshops on transcriptions and improvisation. Mr. Conte studied with
Larry Smith and Robert Rayfield at Indiana University, Bloomington, and
was awarded the prestigious Performers’ Certificate in Organ. During
High School, he studied with Robert Kennedy, while serving as Associate
Organist at the Cathedral of the Incarnation, Garden City, New York.
Mr. Conte appears on the GOTHIC, DORIAN, JAV and DTR labels.
