The Cathedral of Saint Raymond Nonnatus invites you to the third installment in its 2017-2018 Cathedral Music Series. On Sunday, Nov. 12, at 3 p.m, the Cathedral Choir along with the Saint Xavier University Chicago Chorale and Chamber Singers and the Ecclesiastical Choral Society of Joliet will present a collaborative choral concert, headlined by Louis Vierne’s 19th-century French Romantic masterpiece Messe Solennelle. This piece will utilize the combined choirs as well as both Cathedral organs in this performance [Laura Kempa Bogan – conducting; James Grzadzinski – Grand Organ; Richard Siegel – Choir Organ]. The program also includes music by Handel, Brahms, Durufle, Hoover, Grzadzinski, and others.
The Cathedral Music program is led by James Grzadzinski, director of music and organist, assisted by Richard Siegel, associate organist. Siegel is also the director of the Ecclesiastical Choral Society of Joliet. The Saint Xavier University Chorale and Chamber Singers are led by Laura Kempa Bogan, director of choral activities. Grzadzinski said of the collaboration: “It is wonderful to work with multiple generations of musicians in this performance promoting the ministry of sacred music for the purpose of giving greater glory to God. By engaging in this collaboration, we are able to offer the three choirs as well as the local community the opportunity to appreciate a tremendous choral work, which serves a testament of how art and music assist us in expressing wonder and awe in the presence of God.”
A freewill offering will help to offset the costs of the program. Ample free parking is available on the cathedral campus. With questions, please contact the Cathedral Music Office at 815.722.6653, ext. 222, or music@straymond.net.
