Father William Finn, CSP, was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 7, 1881. He graduated from Boston Latin School, the New England Conservatory of Music, and Saint Charles College in Maryland prior to entering the Paulist community. When a boys' choir was organized in Chicago at Old Saint Mary's parish in 1904, he temporarily left his theological studies to direct the parish music program. He returned and was professed on June 11, 1905. He was ordained a Catholic priest on June 9, 1906.
Upon ordination in 1906, Father Finn's first assignment was to be choral director in Chicago. It has been said that while "Alfred Young was the founder of the Paulist music tradition, William Finn presided over its golden age." Under Father Finn's direction the Boys' Choir gained national and international acclaim. They sang in the Vatican in 1912 for Pope Pius X, who gave Father Finn the title, "magister cantorum," and toured the United States during World War I to raise money for French refugee relief efforts. In recognition of his musical achievements, Father Finn was awarded an LLD degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1914 and Palms of the French Academy in 1912.
In 1918 Father Finn was transferred to Saint Paul the Apostle church in New York to direct its parish choir, and he took with him several exceptional singers from the Chicago choir. Father Finn also established the first Catholic Choir School in the United States, which he conducted from 1918 to 1924 in the Libby Castle. In 1925 the New York Paulist Choristers began to perform on the WLWL radio station, and also on the NBC radio show, "The Catholic Hour." The choir also gave frequent concerts at the Metropolitan Opera House.
The Paulist General Chapter of 1922 thanked Father Finn "for untiring zeal, earnestness and devotion to the cause of sacred music and for the prestige that has accrued to the Paulist Fathers by his musical work during the last twenty years in Chicago and New York."
When not directing the choir or preaching at Saint Paul the Apostle in New York, Father Finn wrote eight books on choral music. He would also published "Sharps and Flats in Five Decades: An Autobiography," by Harper in 1947. In a profile of Father Finn by Helena Huntington Smith that appeared in the December 20, 1930, issue of "The New Yorker," she wrote, "It is enormously important to him that people shall know the glories of Palestrina."
In the late 1930's Father Finn began to lose his hearing and he suffered a stroke in 1940. Compelled to retire from choral work, he spent three years at Old Saint Mary's parish in Chicago from 1942 to 1945 before returning to New York for the rest of his life.
During his final years he was officially in residence at Saint Paul the Apostle parish but also lived in an apartment in Yonkers with his niece. On February 22, 1961, his niece returned home to find Father Finn enveloped in flames, his clothing on fire. She smothered the fire by wrapping him in a blanket; the cause of the fire has never been determined. He was hospitalized in Bronxville with third degree burns, and passed away on March 20, 1961. At the time of his death he was 79 years old and had served for 54 years as a Paulist priest.
Upon ordination in 1906, Father Finn's first assignment was to be choral director in Chicago. It has been said that while "Alfred Young was the founder of the Paulist music tradition, William Finn presided over its golden age." Under Father Finn's direction the Boys' Choir gained national and international acclaim. They sang in the Vatican in 1912 for Pope Pius X, who gave Father Finn the title, "magister cantorum," and toured the United States during World War I to raise money for French refugee relief efforts. In recognition of his musical achievements, Father Finn was awarded an LLD degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1914 and Palms of the French Academy in 1912.
In 1918 Father Finn was transferred to Saint Paul the Apostle church in New York to direct its parish choir, and he took with him several exceptional singers from the Chicago choir. Father Finn also established the first Catholic Choir School in the United States, which he conducted from 1918 to 1924 in the Libby Castle. In 1925 the New York Paulist Choristers began to perform on the WLWL radio station, and also on the NBC radio show, "The Catholic Hour." The choir also gave frequent concerts at the Metropolitan Opera House.
The Paulist General Chapter of 1922 thanked Father Finn "for untiring zeal, earnestness and devotion to the cause of sacred music and for the prestige that has accrued to the Paulist Fathers by his musical work during the last twenty years in Chicago and New York."
When not directing the choir or preaching at Saint Paul the Apostle in New York, Father Finn wrote eight books on choral music. He would also published "Sharps and Flats in Five Decades: An Autobiography," by Harper in 1947. In a profile of Father Finn by Helena Huntington Smith that appeared in the December 20, 1930, issue of "The New Yorker," she wrote, "It is enormously important to him that people shall know the glories of Palestrina."
In the late 1930's Father Finn began to lose his hearing and he suffered a stroke in 1940. Compelled to retire from choral work, he spent three years at Old Saint Mary's parish in Chicago from 1942 to 1945 before returning to New York for the rest of his life.
During his final years he was officially in residence at Saint Paul the Apostle parish but also lived in an apartment in Yonkers with his niece. On February 22, 1961, his niece returned home to find Father Finn enveloped in flames, his clothing on fire. She smothered the fire by wrapping him in a blanket; the cause of the fire has never been determined. He was hospitalized in Bronxville with third degree burns, and passed away on March 20, 1961. At the time of his death he was 79 years old and had served for 54 years as a Paulist priest.
Father William Finn, CSP, was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 7, 1881. He graduated from Boston Latin School, the New England Conservatory of Music, and Saint Charles College in Maryland prior to entering the Paulist community. When a boys' choir was organized in Chicago at Old Saint Mary's parish in 1904, he temporarily left his theological studies to direct the parish music program. He returned and was professed on June 11, 1905. He was ordained a Catholic priest on June 9, 1906.
Upon ordination in 1906, Father Finn's first assignment was to be choral director in Chicago. It has been said that while "Alfred Young was the founder of the Paulist music tradition, William Finn presided over its golden age." Under Father Finn's direction the Boys' Choir gained national and international acclaim. They sang in the Vatican in 1912 for Pope Pius X, who gave Father Finn the title, "magister cantorum," and toured the United States during World War I to raise money for French refugee relief efforts. In recognition of his musical achievements, Father Finn was awarded an LLD degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1914 and Palms of the French Academy in 1912.
In 1918 Father Finn was transferred to Saint Paul the Apostle church in New York to direct its parish choir, and he took with him several exceptional singers from the Chicago choir. Father Finn also established the first Catholic Choir School in the United States, which he conducted from 1918 to 1924 in the Libby Castle. In 1925 the New York Paulist Choristers began to perform on the WLWL radio station, and also on the NBC radio show, "The Catholic Hour." The choir also gave frequent concerts at the Metropolitan Opera House.
The Paulist General Chapter of 1922 thanked Father Finn "for untiring zeal, earnestness and devotion to the cause of sacred music and for the prestige that has accrued to the Paulist Fathers by his musical work during the last twenty years in Chicago and New York."
When not directing the choir or preaching at Saint Paul the Apostle in New York, Father Finn wrote eight books on choral music. He would also published "Sharps and Flats in Five Decades: An Autobiography," by Harper in 1947. In a profile of Father Finn by Helena Huntington Smith that appeared in the December 20, 1930, issue of "The New Yorker," she wrote, "It is enormously important to him that people shall know the glories of Palestrina."
In the late 1930's Father Finn began to lose his hearing and he suffered a stroke in 1940. Compelled to retire from choral work, he spent three years at Old Saint Mary's parish in Chicago from 1942 to 1945 before returning to New York for the rest of his life.
During his final years he was officially in residence at Saint Paul the Apostle parish but also lived in an apartment in Yonkers with his niece. On February 22, 1961, his niece returned home to find Father Finn enveloped in flames, his clothing on fire. She smothered the fire by wrapping him in a blanket; the cause of the fire has never been determined. He was hospitalized in Bronxville with third degree burns, and passed away on March 20, 1961. At the time of his death he was 79 years old and had served for 54 years as a Paulist priest.
Upon ordination in 1906, Father Finn's first assignment was to be choral director in Chicago. It has been said that while "Alfred Young was the founder of the Paulist music tradition, William Finn presided over its golden age." Under Father Finn's direction the Boys' Choir gained national and international acclaim. They sang in the Vatican in 1912 for Pope Pius X, who gave Father Finn the title, "magister cantorum," and toured the United States during World War I to raise money for French refugee relief efforts. In recognition of his musical achievements, Father Finn was awarded an LLD degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1914 and Palms of the French Academy in 1912.
In 1918 Father Finn was transferred to Saint Paul the Apostle church in New York to direct its parish choir, and he took with him several exceptional singers from the Chicago choir. Father Finn also established the first Catholic Choir School in the United States, which he conducted from 1918 to 1924 in the Libby Castle. In 1925 the New York Paulist Choristers began to perform on the WLWL radio station, and also on the NBC radio show, "The Catholic Hour." The choir also gave frequent concerts at the Metropolitan Opera House.
The Paulist General Chapter of 1922 thanked Father Finn "for untiring zeal, earnestness and devotion to the cause of sacred music and for the prestige that has accrued to the Paulist Fathers by his musical work during the last twenty years in Chicago and New York."
When not directing the choir or preaching at Saint Paul the Apostle in New York, Father Finn wrote eight books on choral music. He would also published "Sharps and Flats in Five Decades: An Autobiography," by Harper in 1947. In a profile of Father Finn by Helena Huntington Smith that appeared in the December 20, 1930, issue of "The New Yorker," she wrote, "It is enormously important to him that people shall know the glories of Palestrina."
In the late 1930's Father Finn began to lose his hearing and he suffered a stroke in 1940. Compelled to retire from choral work, he spent three years at Old Saint Mary's parish in Chicago from 1942 to 1945 before returning to New York for the rest of his life.
During his final years he was officially in residence at Saint Paul the Apostle parish but also lived in an apartment in Yonkers with his niece. On February 22, 1961, his niece returned home to find Father Finn enveloped in flames, his clothing on fire. She smothered the fire by wrapping him in a blanket; the cause of the fire has never been determined. He was hospitalized in Bronxville with third degree burns, and passed away on March 20, 1961. At the time of his death he was 79 years old and had served for 54 years as a Paulist priest.
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