MUSICAL FAMILY Catholic New York - June 22, 2006

Hopewell Junction Couple Performs Together in Churches and on the Road

By JULIANN DeMEO

As the "Magical Musical Martins," Doug and Martha Sturomski have taken their musical act to such well-known places as St. Patrick's Cathedral and the United Nations.

The Hopewell Junction couple have each served as music director at parishes in the archdiocese. They also have performed together in schools, libraries and other local venues as the bell-ringing "Martins" for almost 20 years.

They perform side-by-side, singing and ringing their 35 tuned hand bells-which they talk about during the act, explaining, for instance, the significance of bells in proclaiming good news such as the end of a war.

But they're not limited to ringing. Mr. Sturomski also plays the piano and Mrs. Sturomski plays the violin. They chose the stage name "Martin" they said, because Martin is Mr. Sturomski's middle name.

"It just had a nice ring to it," he quipped.

Together, the Sturomskis have also been involved in music and choral direction in the archdiocese for 30 years.

Mrs. Sturomski has been music director at the couple's parish, St. Mary, Mother of the Church in Fishkill, for the last 12 years, a job that's even more enjoyable because the pastor, Msgr. Joseph A. Martin, shares her love of music.

"I love Church music," she said. "For me, faith is just a way of life...it's who I am."

Before becoming music director at St. Mary's, she held similar posts at Immaculate Conception in the Bronx, St. Jude's in Manhattan and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ardsley.

Mr. Sturomski was a choir director at St. Rose of Lima and St. Jude's, both in Manhattan; Visitation and Our Lady of Angels, both in the Bronx; St. John Evangelist, Beacon; Sacred Heart, Highland Falls; and St. Denis, Hopewell Junction.

The husband and wife both feel that there is an important relationship between religion and the arts.

"As a human family we learn to interface with each other through the arts," Mr. Sturomski said. "Art is a part of faith. Faith is a part of art."

Although he currently does not have a full-time post, he's active in the music ministry at his own parish, singing in the choir and playing the organ and piano. His wife, when not directing one of the choirs or serving as cantor, will also play the violin at Mass.

"Music empowers people to be a part of the Mass," Mr. Sturomski said, calling music "an enriching experience" that brings one closer to God.

Each year, the couple also gives a concert at St. Mary's, with proceeds from CD's sold there donated to the Fishkill Food Pantry. Last year, they donated more than $1,000.

Of the 100 or so performances they give each year, about 25 are in schools, with their bell-ringing program at those appearances geared to children. They have also developed study guides and activities for the students. In Catholic schools, they add instruction on the religious significance of bells and the various Church occasions for bell ringing.

The couple was inspired to become bell ringers after hearing a performance of the Boston Boys Bell Choir at Our Lady of Angels in the Bronx while Mr. Sturomski was music director there. After that, he felt that the bell ringing "was something special" and he and his wife taught themselves how to use them.

"We started learning by doing," Mr. Sturomski said.

While music is an important part of the couple's faith life, it is also the thing that brought them together in the first place-while they were studying music at the University of Milwaukee in Wisconsin and were members of the university's concert choir.

Natives of Wisconsin, Mr. Sturomski grew up in Milwaukee and Mrs. Sturomski is from Sheboygan. They married in 1971 and relocated to New York for the music and art scene, living first in the Bronx near St. Brendan's parish. Although Mrs. Sturomski abandoned her pursuit of an opera singing career to raise their four children, she and her husband passed on their love of music, and at various times each of the Sturomski children has performed with their parents.

Their son James, and his wife, Amy, are music directors at St. John Evangelist-St. Joachim parish in Beacon. Their daughter Janine is graduating this year from SUNY New Paltz with a degree in performing arts. Chris, their youngest son, plays the baritone horn at St. Mary's on special occasions. Only their eldest daughter, Angela, has left performing for now.

Mrs. Sturomski told CNY, "The family is very strong, and the ties are very close."

She added that the family had to be close, since all they had was one another when they moved to New York. Both she and her husband commented that music has been a way for the family to bond. "A family that plays together, stays together," Mr. Sturomski said.