We begin the season celebrating the momentous birthdays of two choral giants: Alice Parker (1925-2023) and G. P. da Palestrina (1525-1594). In addition to works by these luminaries, we offer two sublime motets by J. S. Bach, “Jesu, meine Freude” and “Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf.”

Hailed by The New York Times as a “finely polished, stylistically nimble ensemble” and Opera News as “a wondrous ensemble”, the Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola is comprised of some of New York’s finest professional singers. The core group of 19 singers has command over a wide range of repertoire, from Gregorian chant to contemporary literature. The Choir expands as needed for the Concerts at St. Ignatius, Park Avenue series. Each singer is a soloist in his or her own right in a variety of genres including early music, opera, oratorio, contemporary, and pop repertoire. The Choir may be heard on recordings for the MSR Classics and AMDG labels.

Choral music is one of the magnificent spiritual and cultural legacies of the church. Its evolution spans millennia, and in a certain sense it epitomizes what Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin referred to as the “slow work of God”. The choral art remains a dynamically alive organism today, with exemplars who continue to expand the boundaries of what is possible.

On Wednesday evening, October 29, we will celebrate three choral exemplars—two from the distant past, and one who left us just two years ago. In essence, this concert provides a snapshot of three different time periods in choral music history: the 16th century with Palestrina, the early 18th century with Bach, and the late 20th/early 21st centuries with Alice Parker.