The Cathedral Concert Series
Join us for our 44th Season!

About the Concert Series

For 44 years, St. Thomas More Cathedral has maintained a unique ministry of bringing the work of established concert artists to the community at large through an annual series of free concerts in the exquisite acoustical environment of the Cathedral. Join us in this milestone year!

Cathedral Concerts is a self-supporting service dedicated to bringing the work of professional musicians to the Cathedral Community, and the DC area community-at-large. We sponsor concerts ranging from organ recitals to choral concerts and instrumental programs. Dates are published in a season brochure. Parish and public attendance and your patronage are warmly invited. 

Free and ample parking is provided onsite, including accessible spaces for the physically challenged. A reception is held after each concert, where guests and performers are meet and interact.

Special Event: All Souls Day 
Service of Solemn Vespers
Featuring the Cathedral Choir
Sunday, November 2, 2014 - 7:30 PM

The Cathedral of St Thomas More will continue a centuries-old tradition of the Catholic Church with a Solemn Vespers service to remember the dead and celebrate the communion of saints.  In the Catholic Church, the day specifically commemorates the departed faithful who have not yet been purified and reached heaven. Christians who celebrate All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day do so in the fundamental belief that there is a prayerful spiritual bond between those in heaven and the living. 

Solemn Vespers includes psalms, petitions and sacred music by the Cathedral Choir.
2014-15 Concert Schedule
Organ Recital
Dr. Mary Beth Bennett, Guest Organist

Friday, November 14, 2014 at 8:00 PM


For many years, Dr. Mary Beth Bennett has served as guest organist at St. Thomas More, playing for recordings, the installation of Bishop Loverde, the annual Service of Lessons and Carols and other concerts too numerous to mention. During her more than 20 year musical collaboration with Rick Gibala, she has composed 2 pieces for St. Thomas More, “Banquet of Peace”(choir and organ) and “Carillon Noel” (handbells and organ) which have been performed at the Cathedral numerous times and recorded. Dr. Bennett is an internationally recognized organist and composer and holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Stetson University, the Staatliche Hochschüle für Musik in Cologne, Germany, and the University of Southern California, with post-doctoral study in plainchant being done at the Catholic University of America. A winner of eight national and regional competitions in organ and composition, she has served as a national judge for competitions in organ performance, improvisation and composition. From 1990–2000 she lived in the Washington, D.C. area where she served on the musical staff of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception as well as St. Patrick’s in the City and as Ceremonial Organist for the US Department of Defense. She is now on the adjunct music faculty of the University of Richmond and is the Organist/Choirmaster of Seventh Street Christian Church in Richmond, Virginia. 


This recital will include works by Bruhns, Buxtehude, J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Andreissen, Vierne and Messiaen, as well as a work composed by her for the 2009 American Guild of Organists Convention in Norfolk, Virginia.

Service of Lessons and Carols - Take Two
Featuring the Choirs of the Cathedral of St. Thomas More
Sunday, December 7, 2014 - 7:30 PM

God had another idea last December when the Service of Lessons and Carols was to take place. Just a
few short hours before this beautiful, anticipated and well-advertised service was to begin a powerful snowstorm hit and sent the music department reeling as the word “CANCELLED” shattered the evening’s program. Disappointment, frustration, and “getting the word out” ensued, as well as the stark realization that God is in control, not the Music Department—one more “lesson” to be indelibly learned. 

This annual tradition and memorable service of Cathedral life is once again being anticipated, using the same music and following the same program this December, God willing. Introspectively, hearts and minds are open and inspired celebrating Advent and Christmas, setting the tone and defining the season, as opposed to what bombards and surrounds us daily; the outward signs of this hurried, stressful and consumer-driven season.

TAKE TWO reveals only slight changes as the congregation joins the Cathedral Choir, Handbell Choir, and their Music Director, Dr. Richard Gibala, whom is celebrating his 25th anniversary season at the Cathedral. Joining them is the Bishop of the Arlington Diocese, Most Rev. Paul Loverde, the Rector, Rev. Robert Rippy, the clergy, school and staff of the Cathedral in celebrating this beautiful service, which is derived from the English tradition, and performed in many venues throughout the world.
Serenade of Sacred Songs and Spirituals
Allan Palacios Chan, Guest Soloist
Friday, February 13, 2015 - 8:00 PM

Allan Palacios Chan will be returning to the 
cathedral after presenting the first solo voice 
recital for the series in 2012. Allan, a Philippine 
born tenor, grew up in Woodbridge, VA where he 
started his singing career at age six in the children’s choir at his local S
parish church. Since then, he has performed at many of the churches, 
universities, and concert halls in the area including the Kennedy Center 
with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Millennium Stage, and the Atlas 
Theater. Abroad, he has performed in various ensembles and as a soloist 
in Southeast Asia and several European countries. He holds a bachelor 
of Arts degree, magna cum laude, in music with a minor in theater from 
the George Mason University School of Music in Fairfax, VA, and a Masters 
in Music degree in voice performance from the College-Conservatory of 
Music at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, where he is currently working 
towards his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in voice performance. Even 
with his full time student status, Allan maintains a busy performance 
and teaching schedule. 

Join us on a musical and spiritual journey with 
repertoire ranging from Latin chant to the American Spiritual.


The Broadway Chamber Players
John Romeri, Artistic Director
Friday, April 24, 2015 - 8:00 PM

Broadway Chamber Players (BCP) is New York City’s newest chamber-music ensemble comprised of the finest instrumentalists, composers, and conductors across classical, jazz, and new-music fields, unified by one common thread—we all perform on Broadway. With our first critically acclaimed season in the books, BCP
seeks to continue Broadway’s great tradition of live music by bringing its musicians from the pit to the stage, further enriching the Theater District concert scene by programming diverse chamber-music concerts and providing a fresh approach to hear some of New York City’s finest musicians in an intimate setting.