David Martinez, M.A.

David Martinez, CDMM (Certified Director of Music Ministries) is a Special Lecturer in Organ & Music History at Providence College, where he has taught since 1992. During this time he has taught courses in The History of Church Music, Organ Performance, Music Appreciation, Basic Concepts of Music (Theory), Music History and Opera & the Musical Theater. He was the Music Director at St. Pius V Church in Providence where he served from 1992-2003, and 2008-2026. During 2003-2008, he was the Music Director at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Newport and the Church of St. Sebastian in Providence.

Martinez received his Bachelor of Music degree in Church Music & Organ from Northwestern University and his Master of Arts degree in Musicology from The University ofMichigan. He is a doctoral candidate at the latter institution. During the 1988-89 academic year Martinez received a Fulbright grant to study Spanish sacred music at the archives and cathedrals of central Spain. In 2003, he received his “Certification-Director of Music Ministries” through the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM). He was the first Catholic musician in the country to receive this comprehensive certification. Subsequently, he presented two papers on certification for church musicians at the NPM Eastern Regional Convention (Philadelphia, 2004) and the NPM National Convention (Milwaukee, 2005).

Locally, he has served on the Providence Diocesan Music Committee, and the Education Committee of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Before coming to Rhode Island, he ministered as an organist and Director of Music Ministries at parishes in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. In 2005, Martinez earned a second Master of Arts degree in Religious Studies from Providence College. During the school year, he is a full-time high school Religion Teacher at LaSalle Academy in Providence, RI where he teaches “Introduction to Christianity,” and “Theology, Scripture and the Arts”. He currently teaches three organ students.