St Nicholas’ Choir to sing at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome

St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church Choir have been invited to Rome to sing at some of the Eternal City’s most famous churches, including St Peter's Basilica. Discover all about this remarkable achievement below...

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The choir of St Nicholas' will be making their historic visit to the Italian capital in April, in the week following Easter Sunday. In a rare honour for a Church of Ireland choir, they have been requested to sing at the Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St Peter's Basilica. During the Mass, they will perform work by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, the revered composer who served as Master of the Chapel Choir at St Peter’s in the 1550s.

The ecumenical spirit of the trip will be further enhanced with the St Nicholas’ Choir also singing at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls - one of Rome’s four major basilicas - and at the Anglican Church of St Paul's Within the Walls, the first non-Roman Catholic church built within Rome’s city walls. The Irish Ambassador to the Holy See, Ms Frances Collins, is expected to attend the Saturday liturgy at St Paul’s outside the walls.

The twenty-four voices of St Nicholas' choral ensemble include the many students who are on choral scholarships to sing in the choir, long-standing members of the choir, and members of the St Nicholas' community. The choir will be accompanied by Mark Duley, Director of Music at St Nicholas’, organ scholar Peter Gardiner, the Provost, the Very Rev'd Lynda Peilow, and the Bishop, the Right Rev'd Michael Burrows.

The choir’s Roman itinerary is: Thursday 9th April, 12 noon Mass at the Altar of the Chair, St Peter's Basilica; Saturday 11th April, 6pm Mass at the Basilica of St Paul's Outside the Walls; Sunday 12th April, 10.30am Sung Eucharist at the Anglican Church of St Paul's Within the Walls.

The Provost and rector, the Very Reverend Lynda Peilow, said, “This invitation and trip is testament to the choir's hard work and dedication. We are all looking forward to the trip, especially at such a poignant time in the Church calendar; it will be a blessing to spend time together after all the choir’s hard work through Holy Week and Easter and deeply affirming to them.”

For more information please visit stnicholas.ie/schola-cantorum