Summer Festival of Sacred Music Announces Free Events

The 17th annual Summer Festival of Sacred Music continues on Sunday, July 31, at 11 am with a servIce To honor our black musical heritage. St. Bartholomew's Choir and percussionists will be conducted by William K. Trafka.

The service will include Missa Luba, a version of the Mass for choir and percussion based on traditional Congolese songs. The work was arranged by Father Guido Haazen, a Franciscan Friar from Belgium who founded "Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin," a choir of boys and teachers from Central School in Kamina. Amazingly, the work was originally performed without a written text. All of the movements were improvised adaptations of the Greek and Latin Mass texts to traditional Congolese songs and the composition was the result of generAl Cooperation and of spontaneous inspiration. The piece is named for the Luba, one of the Bantu peoples of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The service will also include Arnold Sevier's magnificent arrangement of Thomas A. Dorsey's gospel hymn, Precious Lord, for unaccompanied choir.

The Summer Festival of Sacred Music takes place each Sunday morning at 11 am at St. Bart's during the summer months. At a time when most churches reduce their musical offerings, St. Bart's provides outstanding sacred music sung by St. Bartholomew's Choir and Boy and Girl Choristers, two of New York City's most renowned choirs. Works include an array of Mass settings from the 15th century to the present, embracing a diversity of cultures from around the world. The music will be sung as part of the 11 am service, a Choral Eucharist, the liturgical context for which it was composed. All Summer Festival events are free and open to the public.

The Summer Festival of Sacred Music takes place at St. Bart's, located at the corner of Park Avenue and 51st Street. Subway: 6 to 51st Street. For more information, call (212) 378-0222 or visit our website for the complete schedule.