Timothy Socha

I am a native of Royalton, New York, recently retired as Music Director at
St. Joseph Cathedral, Buffalo after a tenure of seventeen years. I served
as Artistic Director of the Greater Buffalo Friends of Music since 2016. A past
Dean of the Buffalo Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, I was also the
long-time chair of the Music Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Western
New York. In 2024, I completed a six-year term on the Board of Directors of the
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a graduate of Colgate University, where I
studied organ with Mary Ann Dodd and choral conducting with Marietta Cheng. A
recipient of the Presiding Bishop’s Diploma in Church Music, I have performed
throughout Western New York as an organist, accompanist, choral director and,
for more than twenty years, as a member of the Royalton Ringers, a handbell
quartet. I maintained a private music studio as a piano and organ instructor
from 1990-2009. Mr. Socha taught for ten years (2006-2016) at Nichols School in
Buffalo as Upper School choral director and subsequently for several years, as
Bell Choir director and music teacher at Catholic Academy of West Buffalo.

I am so happy to return to teaching at CAWB and look forward to continuing on as Handbell Choir Director.