Meet Ezequiel Menéndez
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Ezequiel Menéndez has been the Director of Music at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford, CT since 1998. During his tenure there, the music program has grown to be one of the largest in Connecticut, encompassing multiple choirs, a resident orchestra (Soli Deo Gloria), and an active concert series. He co-founded Hartford Concerts for Charities, which has raised money to rebuild Sri Lanka and to benefit local charities. In addition, Dr. Menéndez initiated the Sacred Sounds Music Series at the Cathedral. A native of Argentina, he graduated from the Conservatorio Gilardo Gilardi in Argentina as Professor Superior de Organo. In 1992, he received his Master of Music degree from Yale University under the tutelage of Thomas Murray. At Yale, he received the Charles Ives Scholarship and the Julia Sherman Prize for Excellence in Organ Playing. Other awards include the E. Power Biggs Fellowship and the Vivian E. Smith Scholarship. In May of 2006, he received the Doctor of Musical Art degree from Boston University, where he studied with the noted teacher and recitalist James David Christie.
Prior to his appointment at the Cathedral, Dr. Menéndez served as Director of Music at St. Ann’s Church in Avon, CT (1992-1998), and was Organist at St. Thomas More Chapel, Yale University (1990-1992). He has been Organist-in-Residence at the Ethel Walker School since 1994, and has held other posts throughout the USA and Argentina. As an ardent advocate of the pipe organ, he has acted as an organ consultant throughout countless parishes in Connecticut, and many now own new or relocated pipe organs due to his efforts. He remains an active recitalist, and has concertized widely throughout Europe and the Americas, including national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists, The Organ Historical Society, and the National Convention of Cathedral Musicians. Dr. Menéndez has performed as soloist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Estable del Teatro Argentino, Orquesta de Camara de la Municipalidad de La Plata, and the Hartt School Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Menéndez has taught organ class not only privately to both adults and children, but also for the annual Archdiocesan Organ Class, an intensive course that prepares organists for the Ministry of Music. He has also taught Organ Performance at the National Pastoral Musician Convention (2006). His private students have been accepted at prestigious schools like the Hartt School, Eastman, and Oberlin College.
