Co-Sponsored by St. Paul's Choir School

Gabriel Faure’s musical settings for his beloved and highly distinctive Requiem Mass will be performed by the St. Paul’s Choir of Men and Boys within a special Mass celebrated in St. Paul’s Church. The music follows the arrangement Faure composed for the Church of the Madeleine, Paris, in 1893, using a choir of men and boys.

The lecture and discussion preceding the Mass, by Professor Thomas Kelly along with James Kennerley, FRCO, will consider this musical setting within the diverse history of the Requiem form, the liturgical structure of the Mass, and the horizon of death and life beyond the grave.

The St. Paul’s Choir of Men and Boys is associated with the St. Paul’s Choir School, founded in 1963 by Dr. Theodore Marier, the only Catholic boys’ choir school in the United States. The Boys’ Choir sings during term time at daily and Sunday Masses, and at a weekly Choral Vespers. The Choir has toured and performed throughout North America and Europe and made numerous recordings.

James Kennerley is Director of Music at the St. Paul’s Choir School and at St. Paul’s Harvard Square. Rooted in the English choir school tradition, he is an internationally known organist, vocalist, and director.  Educated at Cambridge University, Mr. Kennerley was Organ Scholar at Jesus College and later at St. Paul’s Cathedral London. He has frequently given solo organ concerts throughout the U.S. and Europe.

Thomas Forrest Kelly is Morton B. Knafel Research Professor of Music at Harvard, where he was named a Harvard College Professor in recognition of his teaching and served as Chair of the Music Department.  An internationally recognized authority on medieval and early modern music, and on the performance of music in historical settings, he has lectured widely throughout the U.S. and Europe. Among numerous books and articles for both scholarly and general audiences: Capturing Music. The Story of Notation (Norton,2014); The Practice of Medieval Music (Ashgate Variorum, 2010); and First Nights: Five Musical Premieres, Yale, 2000). Professor Kelly received his PhD from Harvard, as well as diplomas from the Schola Cantorum in Paris and the  Royal Academy of Music in London.