"The Golden Age"

The 2025 Byrd Festival celebrates a golden age of English church music. This year’s program is a tribute to the great composer Orlando Gibbons on the 400th anniversary of his death in 1625. The singers of Cantores in Ecclesia will perform resonant choral anthems and intricate solo music by Gibbons, along with seldom-heard movements from Byrd’s Great Service, another choral masterpiece of the early seventeenth century. There will also be an organ recital by Mark Williams featuring the music of Gibbons, followed by a special Saturday evening compline service. This year’s festival is dedicated to the memory of Dr. William Mahrt, distinguished professor of musicology, who died on New Year’s Day. He was involved in the festival since it began in the 1990s and he was an inspiration to the musicians who took part in it. We will sing the Victoria Requiem in his honor on the morning of Saturday, August 9th.