The Palestrina Choir...

...will present a concert on Sunday, March 23, at 3:00 p.m., at St Patrick's Catholic Church. The 17-voice a cappella choir, under the direction of Michael Harrison will perform a program entitled "Psalmi Ponitentiales." The program includes pieces by Renaissance composers Orland de Lassus, Alexander Utendal, and Jacobus Vaet. There is no admission charge; a donation is requested.

Recitation of the seven penitential psalms (6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142) has been a part of Lenten worship since the time of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216). Polyphonic settings of these lengthy texts became popular in the latter part of the Renaissance, particularly among Netherlandish and German composers.

The Palestrina Choir was formed in 1986 to present rarely heard masterpieces of 16th-century liturgical music, with an emphasis on the works of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. In recent years the choir has also begun to give occasional presentations of music from later eras. The Palestrina Choir has been featured on WETA-FM's Music from Washington and NPR's Performance Today. The Washington Post has called the Palestrina Choir "one of the finest and most specialized choruses in the choral wonderland of metropolitan Washington."

St Patrick Church
10th and G Streets, NW
202-347-2713
Benjamin Smedberg, Director of Music & Organist