GAYLORD — People all across northern Michigan are heading to Christmas services this week, but anyone heading to Mass at St. Mary Cathedral in Gaylord will see a familiar face at the organ.
For Wayne Wyrembelski, the love of the organ started early.
“As a little kid in parochial school. So, we were all marched over to the church once a week, you know, for mass for everybody. And some of us, went up into the gallery, into the choir loft and sang for those masses and all that. And I was just really, like, struck, smitten by the sound of the organ. And I remember leaning back against the organ case and feeling the vibrations and all that goes. And I thought, this is really neat,” said Wyrembelski.
Organist PKG
Fast forward to 1975 and now Dr. Wyrembelski found himself back in northern Michigan, hired as the music director for the soon-to-be opened St. Mary Cathedral in the newly formed Diocese of Gaylord. And he’s been providing the musical backdrop for events big and small in the diocese ever since.
“The day-to-day experiences are the ones that really float my boat. And especially, you know, meeting with families, you know, and whether it might be for a wedding or something. But I think funerals are the ones that defined the moment, you know, when you can bring some solace, some joy, to make that moment special when they’re saying their goodbyes and all that, it doesn’t get any better than that,” said Wyrembelski.
But his talents have hardly been confined to the walls of the cathedral.
“There have been so many, so many kinds of mountain peaks, you know. It’s been, quite an accomplishment to get a large group of people and tours in Europe, you know, so the cathedral choir has sung in Rome and in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Wales, and we’ve sung in the cathedrals of Toronto and Detroit and Chicago as well too,” recalled Wyrembelski.
He’s also helped nurture the next generation of musicians.
“I think it’s, a responsibility that comes with a gift. And that is the shared a gift, you know? I don’t see how you can keep a gift. It just doesn’t seem right. And so, there’s again, you talk about highlights. You talk about wonderful experiences. There’s none better than when you see somebody else succeed,” said Wyrembelski.
And 50 years later, he remains both honored and humbled to be the man behind the music.
“I think that the organist, the musician that musicians best, musicians least. So, if you are not conspicuous, you are not, drawing any undue attention to yourself and all that, but just, providing a service, you can touch them in a certain way, in a certain place that nobody else can, because music has that power,” said Wyrembelski.