Ancient Liturgies

The Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, led by Matthew Glandorf, presents ANCIENT LITURGIES, a unique program explores how music and ritualism unite as a common expression towards a spiritual transcendence.

This exploration is highlighted with a performance of “Ancient Liturgy” for chorus, narrator, prepared piano, string orchestra and percussion, by a prominent Philadelphia composer Joseph Castaldo marking the 10th anniversary of his death.

Castaldo was president of the Philadelphia Academy of Music 1966-1983. During his presidency, PAM grew to become first the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts and then The University of the Arts as we know it today.

Castaldo coined the phrase “Avenue of the Arts” defining a diverse conglomerate of the arts institutions located along Philadelphia’s South Broad Street, a central avenue in the city.

Commissioned and premiered by The Music Group of Philadelphia in 1990, Castaldo’s “Ancient Liturgy” was inspired by Mithraism, a religion popular at the time of the Roman Empire, whose followers believed that after death the soul went to the sphere of the fixed stars and on to Paradise.

This performance is also dedicated to the memory of Seán Deibler who died in 2009. Deibler is the founder of The Music Group and founding artistic director of The Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia.

Also included in this program: Jonathan Harvey’s Come, Holy Ghost for unaccompanied choir; Te Deum by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, and Eric Whitacre’s Cloudburst, an evocative piece popular with the choral communities and audiences around the globe.