A concert by the personal choir of Pope Francis

The Cappella Musicale Pontificia Sistina Choir, commonly referred to as the Pope’s personal choir, will be performing in a sacred music concert, ‘Exsultate Deo’, on Friday 9 June, at 7.30pm, at St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta.

This is a unique opportunity for those who wish to attend a concert by the Pope’s choir, the world’s oldest choir, responsible for the musical accompaniment of the liturgies presided over by Pope Francis.

The repertoire for this concert will consist of musical compositions by European composers of the 16th century, highly renowned for sacred music. These include ‘Miserere’ by Gregorio Allegri, and other musical pieces by Orlando di Lasso, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Tomás Luis de Victoria, and also Gregorian chant.

This polyphonic choir, which has been present since the first centuries of the Church, consists of 35 boy choristers, who can sing in soprano and alto, and of 20 adult singers, 11 tenors and 9 basses. At present, the choir is directed by Massimo Palombella, a Salesian priest.

Apart from animating the liturgical celebrations led by the Pope in the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel Choir also performs in a number of concerts as part of its mission to share the Good News of the Gospel through music and song. In the coming months, the choir will perform for the first time in Detroit, USA.

Tickets for the concert, organised by the Archdiocese of Malta by courtesy of the Victoria International Arts Festival, can be purchased online on www. teatrumanoel. com. mt. Discounted tickets apply for disabled persons, elderly citizens and students. The organisers would like to remind those attending that they are requested to refrain from wearing stiletto/narrow heels at St John’s Co-Cathedral.

This concert is being organised with the support of APS Bank, Arts Council Malta and Teatru Manoel.