The Pontifical Sistine Chapel Choir to sing in Macao, Hong Kong and Taipei

Vatican City, 16 September 2014 (VIS) – The Pontifical Sistine Chapel Choir is to perform for the first time in Macao, Hong Kong and Taipei. The concerts will be made possible through the Hong Kong Institute for Promotion of Chinese Culture, in collaboration with the Coro Perosi of the Diocese of Macao and the Taipei Philharmonic Foundation. By sharing the rich musical traditions of East and West, these concerts aim to promote cultural exchange through art and music, thereby creating new channels of communication and communion.

The concerts, entitled “Reverberating Heavenly Tunes in Greater China”, will include pieces from notable composers such as Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Orlando di Lasso, Gregorio Allegri and Lorenzo Perosi, whose works historically form part of the repertoire of papal celebrations.

The concerts will take place on 19 September 2014 at 6 p.m. in the Cathedral of Macao; 21 September at 8 p.m. at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre; and 23 September at 7:30 p.m. at the National Concert Hall in Taipei.

In addition, on 21 September at 11 a.m. in the Cathedral of Hong Kong the Sistine Choir will assist, with the authorisation of the Cardinal Secretary of State, at the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist, at which Cardinal John Tong Hon will preside.

The Pontifical Sistine Music Chapel Choir (Sistine Choir), which has its origins in the former Roman Schola Cantorum, has for centuries preserved the musical traditions of the Church and is composed of trained vocal musicians who sing at Papal liturgies and at other celebrations convoked by the Holy Father.