Rome and Vatican singers bring centuries of sacred music to California
The ensemble seeks to evangelize through the beauty of the Church’s musical heritage.
Forty singers from leading musical institutions in Rome and the Vatican are bringing centuries of sacred music associated with papal liturgies to California during a six-city tour Aug. 24–29.
The singers make up Sacred Voices, part of the Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci Foundation, which preserves the musical legacy of the longtime director of the Sistine Chapel Choir, Catholic San Francisco, the news outlet of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, reported Aug. 20.
The tour will showcase the Roman polyphonic tradition of the Sistine Chapel Choir, with works by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Lorenzo Perosi, and Cardinal Bartolucci among those featured, according to the outlet.
Alessandro Biciocchi, executive director of the Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci Foundation, described the repertoire’s enduring place in the Church’s liturgical tradition.
“The music of these artists resonated and still resonates to accompany the solemn liturgies of the popes in the Sistine Chapel and in St. Peter’s Basilica,” he said, “and represents the most solemn music repertoire of the Catholic Church.”
The choir performed for Pope Leo XIV at the Apostolic Palace June 18 and previously appeared in the U.S. in Chicago in 2022 and New York in 2025.
The California tour concludes Aug. 29 at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland.
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