Saint Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr Church
Historic Polonia District, Buffalo, New York, USA
Rectory & Parish Office
123 Townsend Street
Buffalo, New York 14212
716.854.5510

Music Ministry

Former St. Stan’s choir director and organist Peter J. Gorecki served our Parish for over 30 years. Gorecki was a central figure in Polish music in Western New York serving as musical director and conductor of the Chopin Singing Society for  28 years, longer than any other director of Polonia’s premiere chorus, before he stepped down in 1981. He led the Chopin group on two concert tours of Poland and conducted it on numerous televised concerts.

He also directed the United German-American Singing Societies, the Kalina Singing Society, the Polish Singing Circle and the choir at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church. Born in Pszcyna, Poland, the son of a church organist, Mr. Gorecki attended the music conservatory in Katowice, Poland, and the Handel Conservatory in Munich, Germany. During World War II, he was forced to work in a labor camp in Germany. In a displaced-persons camp after the war, he organized a choir and began composing and arranging his own music. He left Germany in 1949 and came to the U. S. After a couple of years on Long Island, he moved to Buffalo and started playing organ at St. Stanislaus Church. Soon, to support his growing family, he was working with several different choirs.

“Monday I worked with Kalina,” he told an interviewer in 2009, when he was honored by the Polish Arts Club of Buffalo. “Tuesday was Chopin’s. Wednesday was the Polish Singing Circle. Thursday was the German choir, and Friday was a different German choir.”

In 1981, he and his wife startled the local Polish community by moving back to Germany, where he worked as a church organist and choir director on a more relaxed schedule for the next 10 years. The Goreckis returned to Buffalo in 1991. He passed away in 2011.
Members of the St. Stanislaus Choir during a Sunday Noon mass.

1892 Johnson & Son Pipe Organ

In 1893 the parish purchased Op. 797 from Johnson & Son of Westfield, Massachusetts for $7,875.00. Charles Vinter of Buffalo installed the instrument. Vinter was frequently connected with Johnson installations throughout the region.

In 1954, the parish commissioned the Tellers Organ Company of Erie, Pennsylvania, along with Tellers’ representative, Stephen Po-Chedley & Son of Buffalo, to renovate the instrument as thier Op. 814. the organ was dismantled and pipework was taken to Erie for cleaning and repair. The mechanism was new throughout, including new wind system, wind-chests and stop-key-style console. The Choir division was place under expression. During the course of the project, several ranks were added and a few new stops unified the Johnson faced was retained. Additional restorative work was carried out in 1979 and 1993.

From 2004 through 2007 an extensive restoration of the Johnson and Son Pipe organ was undertaken. The organ received tonal additions, a new console and gilding of the facade pipes bringing the replacement value today to well over 1 million dollars. In the 2007 rebuild, all of the deleted stops were replaced using Johnson pipework. Heritage organs also added new stops to expand the tonal palette of the instrument, though the tonally the organ retains it's authentic 1893 sound. The organ now contains 54 ranks and 3,158 pipes over four divisions. The building is an incredible edifice, with stunning architectural elements, and fantastic acoustics. 


The organ has hosted renowned organists including longtime Parish Music Director Peter Gorecki and visiting muscians such as David Snyder, Susan Armstrong and Frederick Swann.
Early 1980s picture of the St. Stanislaus Church Choir under the direction of Peter J. Gorecki.