St. Mary’s Schola Cantorum

The Schola Cantorum of St. Mary's is the cornerstone of one of the most admired Catholic parish music programs in the country.

The Schola was founded by David Hughes (Director of Music, 2007–2019) as a professional quartet to provide fitting music for the traditional Latin Mass, which was instituted at St. Mary’s shortly after Pope Benedict XVI issued his Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum in 2007. Every week since that time, the Schola has sung a polyphonic Mass Ordinary and motets and the complete Gregorian propers, as an integral part of the Latin Mass and a pivotal part of St Mary’s' mission to evangelize through beauty. The Schola was eventually expanded to a quintet, and made its professional recording debut in 2017 with Lux Fulgebit: The Mass at Dawn of Christmas Day, the world premiere recording of the 16th-c. Mass Christe Jesu by William Rasar.

Under the direction of Charles Weaver (Director of Music, 2019–present), the Schola Cantorum has been expanded into a yet larger ensemble, retaining the professional core group and including volunteers of exceptional ability. On a weekly basis throughout the year, the Schola performs a wide range of the greatest music written throughout the centuries for the Mass: late medieval and Renaissance polyphony, Baroque gems by composers such as Monteverdi and Charpentier, and even twentieth- and twenty-first-century works.

The ongoing work of the Schola Cantorum is made possible by the benefactors of the St. Cecilia Society. For more information, please contact Tom Heckel, chairman, at (203) 570-7646 or theckel51@gmail.com.

View the Schola Cantorum's upcoming schedule of repertoire

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