John Schiavone

John Schiavone proudly claims over 20 years as a "regular parish priest, daily presiding at liturgy and taking full, active part in ordinary parish life." He is also a composer who expresses the fullness of that "ordinary" life in multilingual Southern California.

John builds his melodies on the lines and modes of Gregorian chant. "I want to keep that 'church' sound in my music and, at the same time, make it accessible to the average worshiper," he says. Three of John's pieces were commissioned and used for the visit of Pope John Paul II to Los Angeles in 1987. He was also a tenor soloist for the Camerata of Los Angeles, the group that premiered his oratorio, Mary's Triptych, in 1983.

John serves as pastor at St. Gregory the Great Parish in Whittier, California.