The Basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona held a concert March 19 featuring the city’s renowned Orfeó Català choir, celebrating the anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone in 1882 and paying tribute to Venerable Antoni Gaudí, the basilica’s most iconic architect.
The Kyrie from Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Requiem Mass is performed by Orfeó Català, a renowned choral society in Barcelona.
— CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) March 20, 2026
The concert commemorates the anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone.
Breathtaking 🙏 pic.twitter.com/lCy9mhP9gK
Attended by hundreds, the concert featured several sacred music pieces mainly composed by Spanish and Catalan composers, including a Te Deum commissioned by the historic Monastery of Montserrat last year on its 1,000th anniversary.
According to the Sagrada Família, selecting the Orfeó Català for the concert was intentional — Gaudí held the choral society in high regard during his lifetime, and, in a 1922 dedication to the choir, wrote: “In Heaven, we will all be choir members.”
In addition to honoring the bond between Gaudí and the Orfeó Català, the concert was “a living tribute to collective memory” in remembrance of the several generations that have worked on the basilica for decades, Sagrada Família said. The concert honored “the effort and perseverance of anonymous yet decisive people, who with their dedication, faith, and work have driven this project dreamed by Gaudí.”
The concert is one of several events hosted by the basilica in 2025 and 2026 to celebrate the centenary of Gaudí’s death and anticipate the completion of the basilica’s main tower, the Tower of Jesus Christ. Pope Leo XIV will inaugurate and bless the tower in a ceremony set for June 10, exactly 100 years after Gaudí’s death.