In 1991, when Father Charles Hood of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church told Debbie Matthew, a young musician from Texas who had already lived in Guadalajara for 11 years, that he wanted to start a choir at the English speaking church and that she should direct it, her reply came quickly.
“I "I told him, ‘I’ve never directed in my life!’ But he knew I was a professional musician in the State Choir — he had come to Teatro Degollado for concerts I was in. ’You’re the only one that can do it,’ he said.”
St. Mark’s had already been in existence for 14 years. For music, there had only been a bit of organ playing, Matthew said.
“But Father Charles was enthusiastic about music. He put in some of his own money to the choir because he wanted to. He said, ‘The most important thing in the Anglican Mass, after communion, is music. It’s even more important than the sermon!’
“That was the beginning of the glory days. On Sundays, the church was full and some people were very generous,” said Matthew. “Father Charles had fans and artistic banners installed and
I think some of the money came from his personal donations. He bought an organ, chairs for the choir and choir robes.”
“The robes were too hot,” she added. “They didn’t last long.”
But the choir and its director did. This year, St. Mark’s choir is celebrating its 25th year of existence with Matthew at the helm.
In 2016 the church is feeling the effects of many changes, such as a general downturn in attendance at mainline, Protestant churches and, due to overwhelming economic and social changes, a decrease in the number of English speakers relocating to Guadalajara.
But a smaller choir with a very good organist, Ana Silvia Guerrero, still sings every Sunday and is known in the local musical landscape for its quality, especially on occasions such as Christmas, Easter, July Fourth and 16 de Septiembre.
“When we started we had maybe a dozen singers from the congregation,” Matthew reminisced. “Many of them were very good, such as John Brown, who founded another choir in Guadalajara.” (Brown substituted for Matthew for a year during a difficult pregnancy.) “Plus we had ‘ringers’ or paid professionals regularly, like the soprano Karla Martinez. For years, we occasionally did folk Masses with guitars and well known mariachi singers. At the regular Masses, we had some great organists, starting with Sergio Hernandez, who is now my boss at the State Choir.”
Hernandez played the organ every weekend at St. Mark’s for six years and credits the experience with helping him grow “musically and as a human being. We were part of the community and the Mass, not just background music. It was like a family.”
Matthew noted that other well known musicians were involved with the choir as organists over the years, such as Raquel Gonzalez, Kathleen McKee, Betty Rodriguez and Tim Welch.
Welch, too, currently has a high profile locally, as director of the municipal choir, Coro de Zapopan, and the Chapala-area singers, Los Cantantes del Lago.
“Come hell or high water, Debbie has always been there as director,” Welch said, “whether she is paid or not. She’s dedicated.”
Matthew notes that, although she hadn’t directed before she took charge at St. Mark’s (she had studied Musicology and Spanish while majoring in Latin American Studies at the University of Texas), she soon grew into her directing job — with a little help.
“Maybe the most amazing person to come through the door was Harlan Snow,” said Matthew. “He walked in to a choir rehearsal one day and asked if he could join us. His wife was an alto, like me. As it turned out, Harlan was a person with multiple doctorates who became a legend in Guadalajara. He combined the singers in St. Mark’s with singers in other English speaking churches — Gethsemane Baptist, All Saints Lutheran and a Catholic church — into a ecumenical, community group, Schola Cantorum. Later it became professional, with tryouts. Then, after four years, Harlan became director of the State Choir.
“But before that, in 1993, he gave me directing lessons. And directing turned out to be something I really enjoyed.”
“She’s a very skilled director and singer,” said Welch. “A consummate musician. People want to sing for her because her enthusiasm is bottomless. St. Mark’s is lucky to have her.”