Music

Douglas P. Starr, DMA

Douglas Starr, D.M.A., is Director of Music and Arts. He supervises musical ministry and artistic outreach. Doug conducts the Chancel Choir and oversees the Friends of Music Guild Concert Series. He is an organ recitalist, a bass soloist, a voice teacher, and an active composer of sacred and secular choral music published with Beckenhorst, Lawson-Gould, and G.I.A. Along with his wife Annette, many of his compositions can be found on their website, TierneyStarrmusic.com. Recently, St. Paul’s was the site for the premiere of his “All Saints Requiem” for choir, soloists, and organ.

Having served in Episcopal Church Music since 1974, twenty-nine of those years have been with Saint Paul's: Mt. Vernon, Ohio (74-78); Louisville, KY (87-92); and here in Pittsburgh since 1993. "Perhaps this poetically represents the fact that St. Paul is my favorite apostle," he notes, "but more to the fact that these parishes are blessed with rich musical traditions, and I have had the honor to further those parish traditions."

On a personal note, “My musical life is a synergetic blend of and affection for 19th century and early 20th century American gospel hymnody (that no church really sings any longer) and the treasure of sacred music from Bach to Ives.”

A graduate of The Ohio State University with degrees in vocal performance and theory/composition, Douglas also currently teaches part-time at Penn State University and has taught at Westminster College, Kenyon College and Central Michigan University and served as director of choral activities at Bellarmine College in Louisville, Kentucky. He was a University Fellow while at Ohio State, a Mellon Fellow at Vanderbilt University in 1983 and an American Council on Education Fellow in 1988.

Watch Doug play “Sarabande for the Morning of Easter” by Herbert Howells

Bob Melvin

Bob joined the St. Paul’s staff in August 2021, bringing a deep love of both music and community to his roles, and having spent most of his adult life in the neighborhoods where those streets intersect. He has a degree in journalism from Penn State University–where he met his future wife when she arrived for graduate school and he, after graduation, had decided to stay and start a band–and has spent time as a writer, musician, and stay-at-home dad.

Bob lives in Dormont with his wife Karen and his sons Elijah and Jack, and they have joyfully attended St. Paul’s since 2014.