SUBSCRIPTIONS
Subscriptions are now available for next season! Be sure to secure your spot for our 2026-2027 concert series.
For our 71st season we partner with various local performers to explore the metaphor of fire and light through six diverse programs. In these, the Chamber Chorus presents madrigals old and new, motets and masses for multiple choirs, and burning passions both sacred and secular. Six venues remarkable for their different designs and acoustics are our hosts for a continuing celebration of the 500th anniversary of Spanish maestro, Francisco Guerrero. Looking to the present day, we offer the North American premières of ancient Roman verses set by Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Guillaume Connesson. We continue to champion new music through commissions to the St. Louis composer, Carter Datz; from Mexico, Maria Granillo; from Latvia, Eriks Esenvalds; from England, Sasha Johnson Manning.
See below for concert dates and details. We will hold each presentation on a Sunday from 3 pm to about 4:30 pm. The subscription includes tickets to all six concerts, and saves you $30 over buying tickets separately for each concert. If you prefer to mail in your subscription or donation, please use this form.
Seat Cushions
For patrons who would like to pre-order seat cushions and are not already receiving them as a donation benefit, they are available at $20 each as a subscription add-on or you can purchase them separately here. You may purchase them online and pick them up at our first concert. They will also be available for purchase at the concerts.
October 4, 2026
A Consuming Fire
Second Baptist Church
9030 Clayton Rd., Richmond Heights, MO 63117
The fiery language of human passions is reflected in Baroque madrigals by Alessandro Scarlatti, Romantic lieder by Agnes Tyrrell, and contemporary songs by Dan Forrest and a new commission from Eriks Esenvalds. The fire of Pentecost is depicted in motets by Guerrero and Stephanie Martin, while Prometheus’ gift to mankind is described by the great Russian master, Sergei Taneyev.
November 8, 2026
The Fire of Heaven
Cathedral Basilica
4431 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108
This concert’s title comes from a cycle for three choruses by Geoffrey Burgon, while Mendelssohn adds a fourth for his monumental motet, Hora Est. Other polychoral works are provided by Guerrero, Ben Parry and Kerensa Briggs, for whose Missa Brevis choristers from Lindbergh High School join the Chamber Chorus.
December 20, 2026
Christmas Fire
Sacred Heart Catholic Church
751 N. Jefferson St., Florissant, MO 63031
From Australia comes The Burning Babe by contemporary composer, Anne Boyd, while we contrast two settings of the Magnificat, a Renaissance version by Guerrero and a world première from Maria Granillo, our Mexican ‘Composer-in-Residence.’ Seasonal carols from Iceland contrast the cold outside with flames lit to announce the season.
February 21, 2027
The Fire of Love
Third Baptist Church, Grand Center
620 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63103
Cupid lies at the heart of a fiery text set by Renaissance masters, Arcadelt and Lassus, while Verdelot’s version subsequently inspired Guerrero to compose a complete ‘parody mass’ based on its theme. The Little Love-God written in the 1940s by the Italian maestro, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, receives its US première, while John Conahan, Elaine Hagenberg and Francis Pott present contemporary songs of love.
April 11, 2027
The Fire of Remorse/Regret: Vergil
E. Desmond Lee Auditorium
560 Trinity Ave., University City, MO 63130
In the Aeneid, Vergil relates how the ill-fated Queen Dido ends her life on a funeral pyre. Her ruin, and the challenge of destiny faced by Aeneas, inspired numerous composers from the Renaissance to the present day. Their musical treatments underpin a program exploring how Vergil has inspired composers across centuries and continents, and are complemented by settings from his other epics, the Eclogues and the Georgics.
May 30, 2027
Fire, Fire!
Grace United Methodist Church
6199 Waterman Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63112
In various depictions of fire, Renaissance madrigalists like Thomas Morley and Philippe da Monte are contrasted with contemporary composers who have been similarly inspired. Recent settings by Morten Lauridsen and Mary Offer preface a world première setting of an ode from Sophocles’ Antigone by the St. Louis composer, Carter Datz.