After 25 years of visionary leadership, Canon Larry Tremsky, Director of Music at the Cathedral of the Incarnation, has announced his retirement for mid-November 2025. We give thanks for a quarter century of faithful, artistic, and transformative ministry.
Canon Tremsky has built one of the finest cathedral music programs in the Episcopal Church. Under his direction, the Cathedral Choirs have flourished, welcoming more new choristers in recent years than in the previous decade. His work has shaped generations of young singers, many of whom continue to return from college to sing at major festivals, drawn back by the warmth, excellence, and spiritual depth of the program he has nurtured.
During Larry’s tenure, the cathedral’s musical life has been enriched by a number of extraordinary projects. These include the rebuilding and joyful rededication of the cathedral’s Casavant organ, the construction of a new continuo organ, the complete restoration of our 1920s Steinway concert grand piano, the refurbishment of the historic 1876 National Centennial Tower Bells, and the improvement of our acoustic environment through a major liturgical renovation of the Nave to its original 1870s design. These efforts have strengthened both the beauty and the clarity of worship in our sacred space.
"A cathedral is built not only of stone and stained glass, but of the living voices that fill it with praise,” said the Very Rev. Dr. Michael Sniffen, Dean of the Cathedral. “For 25 years, Canon Tremsky has cultivated a sacred soundscape that is at once historic and vibrant, reverent and alive. Our collaboration has been one of the great joys of my ministry. Thanks to Larry’s leadership, our instruments are in magnificent shape, our choirs are thriving, and the future is bright.”
A gifted conductor, teacher, and collaborator, Canon Tremsky has stewarded the musical tradition of the Cathedral with both reverence and innovation. Thanks to his leadership, the program is in an exceedingly strong position for the future.
Reflecting on his ministry, Canon Tremsky shared, “It has been the privilege of a lifetime to make music in this sacred place and in the company of such committed and joyful musicians. Working alongside Dean Sniffen has been both a creative partnership and a spiritual friendship. I leave the program strong and inspired, with deep gratitude for all that we have built together.”
Following his retirement from Cathedral ministry, Canon Tremsky will relocate to Lviv, Ukraine, where he will establish an organ studio and contribute to the flourishing of a new generation of musicians in a growing culture of organ studies. His passion for sacred music and teaching will continue to resonate far beyond our shores.
We will gather to celebrate Canon Tremsky’s extraordinary ministry at the Cathedral with gratitude and joy in the fall of 2025. Details of the celebration will be shared in the coming months.
A national search for the next Director of Music—a full-time, Canon-level position with housing—will begin in June.
Please join us in praying with thanksgiving for Canon Larry Tremsky, and for the continued flourishing of music at the Cathedral of the Incarnation.