This Month’s Artists: Paul Griffin and Sophia Anastasi Griffin

Paul Griffin serves the D.C. area as both teacher and organist. He began his career in the small rural towns of northern Maine. While living on his parents’ farm outside of Houlton, he developed an interest in organ playing. In his high school years, Paul drove the 115 mile stretch of highway from his hometown to Bangor to receive occasional organ lessons. In 2011, Paul attended the University of Maine in Orono to study music education and continued to study the organ. After receiving his B.M. in Music Education with an emphasis on piano, he attended the Catholic University of America and received a Master of Music in Sacred Music Degree with an emphasis on organ. While at The Catholic University of America, Paul appeared on EWTN four times as Director of Music for both the Holy Spirit and St. Thomas Aquinas Masses at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Paul now serves St. Peter School Capitol Hill as Music Teacher/Choir Master and The Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land as organist.

Sophia Anastasi Griffin is a professional vocalist based in Washington, DC. She studied with Sharon Christman at The Catholic University of America where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance and earned an Outstanding Artistic Achievement award. At Catholic University, she performed two leading opera roles as Laurette in Doctor Miracle and Sesto in Giulio Cesare. She has cantored at many churches in the region, including the Baltimore Basilica of the Assumption, Saint John Paul II National Shrine, Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for masses aired on EWTN. She also had the opportunity to sing at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on a choral tour of Italy. In addition to sacred music and opera, Sophia has also performed leading roles in popular musicals in the DC area, including Maria in West Side Story and Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel with Theatre Lab and the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. She was a featured soloist in Songs for a New World with Young Artists of America at Strathmore and composer Jason Robert Brown. She also performed in Leonard Bernstein’s MASS with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Marin Alsop at the Kennedy Center and Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and is featured on its Grammy-nominated recording.

You can register for this event at  Music at the Monastery/12th March 2023.