“Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre,
(Psalm 150:3-5)
praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.”
St. Paul’s prides itself as being a beating heart of musical expression in the city of Rome. Join our congregation, attend one of the evening concerts here or listen to and read one of our Musical Meditations: there are many ways to explore the musical life of St. Paul’s.
The church enjoys an eclectic program of services and concerts throughout the year, being one of the most sought-after venues for classical music in the city of Rome. The space is used for concerts by a variety of external musicians Monday through Saturday and the church music department runs its own ‘Luminaria’ concert series on Sunday evenings.
The Anglican choral tradition is firmly rooted in the worship at St. Paul’s. Having grown out of the Anglican Reformation, which took place in various stages during the 16th century, music, which had always played a role in divine service, was re-considered and underwent new developments in the light of the new liturgies and the adoption of English as the official language of worship.
The American Episcopal Church began life as a natural development of the Anglican Church in the New World. It has adopted as part of its worshiping life not only the traditional repertoire derived from musical importations from Europe, but also indigenous and novel musical forms.
Our professional choir, accompanied by our Organ Scholar and directed by Organist and Director of Music, Stefano Vasselli, sings for the Sunday morning English Sung Eucharist in addition to Evensong and special services throughout the year. Their repertoire is varied and, although mostly based in renaissance polyphony, spans from Byrd, to Kodály, to Negro Spirituals.