Ellis Grabe
A member of The Santa Fe Symphony Chorus since August 2018, Eilis Grabe sings with the St Francis Pontifical Chorus directed by Carmen Florez Mansi. He also performs for three masses at San Felipe de Neri Parish in old town Albuquerque, and with Lingua Angeli, a group of singers mostly from Our Lady of Assumption in Albuquerque, in addition to singing for the archdiocese’s television masses. Over the years, he has performed with two different folk groups—a Scots Gaelic and a Welsh singing group—as he enjoys singing old Irish songs, brought over from his grandparents who emigrated to the U.S. from Ireland. He himself lived there for many years with extended family, singing songs called “Sea’n No’s.” Ellis has been singing and playing music since he was 5 years of age. By 17, he was playing the violin, guitar, banjo, and mandolin. He and his sister used to sing at “Hootenannys” in the Washington, D.C., area when they were teenagers. In 1992, the duo made a CD of sacred music.
Ellis is currently researching and writing his family’s history, a genealogy project that focuses on his grandmother and mother’s legacies that he will eventually give to his family. He spent his career in the field of Pastoral Ministry, specifically hospital chaplaincy. He also taught for both public and private schools and, for a time, worked in corporate America. He is presently working hospice care which he believes to be the most important work he has ever undertaken. “It is a blessing to have the gift to sing,” he reports, “but more importantly, to give praise and attention to God.”
He is a member of the Pastoral Musicians Association and the National American Association of Catholic Chaplains. While he has lived in cities such as Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco and in various parts of Europe, Ellis reports that he doesn’t currently have a pet of his own here in Santa Fe, but that he particularly enjoys the company of cats.