About the Choir

The Saint Anselm College Choir, under the direction of Fr. Bede Camera OSB, has won local renown for the musical and spiritual quality of its music. As the official choral group representing Saint Anselm College, it is appropriate to the Benedictine Tradition that the choir be primarily a liturgical choir.

The Choir is open to Saint Anselm students. Rehearsal and performance schedules are arranged in a way that respects the students' primary responsibility: i.e., attention to academic studies. The Choir, therefore, works with a limited amount of available rehearsal time, and seeks to produce the best music it possibly can within the time restraints necessary to allow Saint Anselm students a varied and balanced program of extracurricular and academic activities.

The Choir's repertoire includes the best of contemporary and traditional Christian music. Students are introduced to some of the great classics of Christian civilization, including Gregorian Chant, Palestrina, Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Tallis and others in addition to some of the finer contemporary works written primarily for the American Catholic Church. Members of the choir are given the opportunity to perform music that is often only available to students who are majoring in music in more specialized institutions.

The choir serves the college community in several ways: It is a liturgical choir which sings at the Sunday Choral Eucharist at 7 pm and on other special occasions such as Family Weekend. Many students from the choir are invited to join special ensembles to sing other occasions including the Sunday Morning Mass at 11 am. Membership in these ensembles is by audition. The choir offers two concert performances each year, DecemberSong during the Advent Season and a spring concert usually held close to Easter.
The choir goes on tour occasionally to local parishes. Every two years the members of the choir have the opportunity to participate in a European Concert Tour. In past years they have been to Vienna, Prague, Leipzig, Rome, Venice, Florence, Budapest, Salzburg, Zurich, Belgium, Luxembourg and Paris. In 2012 the choir will be performing in southern France, Monaco and Spain.