Experience Festina

Several times a year, St. John's welcomes Festina, a choral ensemble that includes regionally and internationally acclaimed artists drawn from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, Henry Purcell Society, and Emmanuel Music, among others. Festina specializes in early sacred music, drawing from the rich catalogue of Renaissance polyphony through Baroque and Classical works. They strive to present masterworks of the Western canon while likewise dusting off the obscurity of lesser-known composers, all in the living context of public worship. Their repertoire spans the gamut of full-scale Masses by Palestrina, Victoria, and Hassler; motets by Antoine Brumel, Rafaella Aleotti, and William Byrd; and incidental works by Henry Purcell and Michael Haydn. They also incorporate more contemporary music from ecumenical sources that complement their core repertoire, such as compositions by Herbert Howells, Benjamin Britten, and Bob Chilcott. If you'd like to make a donation to sponsor Festina singing at St. John's, please contact Father Bret.