The Manchester Choral Society celebrates spring through a collaboration with Ste. Marie's Parish and Robert St. Cyr, Director of Sacred Music/Oranist. French composer Louis Vierne composed his Messe Solennelle (Solemn Mass) in 1899 around the time the organ at Ste. Marie's was built. The choir will perform this work, both dramatic and ethereal, from the organ/choir loft.
Luminosity, by Britisth composer James Whitbourn will be performed with the choir, viola, and Indian tanpura in front of the altar, working antiphonally with the organ in the loft. The text centers on the transcendent beauty of creation expressed by Saints and mystics through time. The repertoire maximizes and honors the glorious acoustics of the Cathedral and its magnificant pipe organ.