| Jesuit Church

2014 (P)recap

Posted on Dec 8, 2014 in Media, Updates

Thank you for such a wonderful year! I must say I am quite looking forward to getting serious this Advent season as I perform/compose more contemplative and sacred music. You can get the minute information on all of the performances (such as venue, date, time) on the Upcoming Events page.

Lessons and Carols

Sunday December 14th, at 3pm, come out to the Jesuit Church for Lessons and Carols. This is a traditional FREE event of the season (open to all), in which seasonal liturgical readings are matched to musical selections.

Christmas Midnight Mass

I am once again honored to have one of my compositions performed at Christmas Midnight mass at the New Orleans Jesuit Church. I will also be singing with the choir. The music begins at 11:30pm on the 24th and goes into the wee hours once we can finally legitimately say, “Merry Christmas!”

NOVA: Luceat

One of the most significant things to happen to me this year was being accepted into New Orleans Vocal Arts Chorale (or NOVA). This is an unsurpassed group of singers who would shame any musician in this city just being in their presence. My first concert with them is Sunday, December 21st, at 7:30pm, at Holy Name Church at Loyola University. I cannot wait to experience this. It will be unlike anything you have witnessed before. The live experience is inexplicable, but listen to a bit here.

Old U.S. Mint Recap

My 6-piece ensemble’s taping at the Old U.S. Mint in November was such a success. Many thanks to those of you who came out! Your presence made all the difference. Here’s a little taste of the result.

Sarah Gromko Trio Every Friday

Of course, my jazz trio still plays every Friday from 8-10pm at Pearl Wine Co. Catch us in the last weeks of the year as we add more holiday tunes. You will always be able to hear my originals in the 2nd set, after we warm you up with some fun arrangements of jazz standards in the 1st. Remember, Christmas doesn’t START until December 25th, and continues to 12th Night, so don’t expect me to cut out the sacred stuff on the 26th… 😉

Hopefully I’ll see you before Christmas is through!

Composing and Local Love

Posted on Oct 25, 2013 in Updates

Well, this has been a lovely month! Here are some cool things in the works:

I am being commissioned to compose a Psalm for Christmas Midnight mass at the New Orleans Jesuit Church. I submitted a few of my old liturgical pieces to the musical director for possible inclusion in our liturgy, and he asked me to compose a brand new piece for flute, two violins, cello, organ, soloist, and chorus!

If you haven’t seen the beauty or heard the acoustics in that place, you are certainly missing out. As Musical Director, Paul Wattingy, describes it, “you could turn on a vacuum cleaner, and it would sound beautiful in here.” Hopefully my music will sound a few notches better than that…

I am also in the planning stages for a new album. When I went through my music a few months ago, I saw I had 40 unrecorded originals! I’ve been performing some of them regularly, and I will probably write some new ones to fill out the theme. I’m especially excited to include a larger ensemble piece used as interludes throughout, much as I did with Merton’s Prayers on my first album.

I’m playing with a lot of new people, introducing our musical collaborations on each of my nights in my monthly residency at Pearl Wine Co. The next one is on November 9th (NEW TIME: 9-11pm) with Jenna McSwain on keys and Trey Boudreaux on bass.

I often forget about my music biz work for other musicians soon after I provide it, but thank goodness they don’t! I’m excited to now be working for Al “Carnival Time” Johnson, Evan Christopher, author Jacob Mendelsohn, and a soon TBA Musicians’ Advocate.