Founded in 1932, the Duke Chapel Choir is the oldest established musical ensemble at Duke University.
01/22/2025
The Chapel is closed today, January 22, and all events and programs are canceled while the university's Severe Weather Policy is activated. This includes the cancelation of this evening's choir rehearsal.
UPDATE:
Due to icy conditions on campus, Duke University will extend the severe weather and emergency conditions policy until midnight Wednesday.
More info at https://alert.duke.edu
01/19/2025
Music for the Second Sunday after Epiphany includes:
• Songs of Thankfulness and Praise / SALZBURG (harm. J. S. Bach)
• Goodness Is Stronger Than Evil (Bell)
• Psalm 36:5–10 (Fothergill)
• Lift Every Voice and Sing Praise / LIFT EVERY VOICE
• Great Day (Hogan)
• God Be in my Head (Rutter)
• Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee / HYMN TO JOY
Sunday Morning Worship Service - 1/19/25 - Rev. Dr. Judith Fentress-Williams Here is the worship guide for this service:https://chapel.duke.edu/sites/default/files/1.19.25%20-%20Epiphany%202%20WORSHIP%20GUIDE.pdf .Join us in worship ...
01/12/2025
Classes are back in session, and the Chapel Choir resumes worship leadership at Duke University Chapel in tomorrow’s service for The Baptism of Our Lord. Music includes:
• Praise to the Lord, the Almighty / LOBE DEN HERREN (desc. Oxley)
• The Waters of Life (Biery)
• Down Galilee’s Slow Roadways / MERLE’S TUNE
• God, Bless Us and Keep Us (Farlee)
• The Spirit of The Lord (Highben)
• Praise and Thanksgiving Be to God / CHRISTE SANCTORUM
…as well as organ voluntaries by Franz Liszt and J. S. Bach.
Join us in person or online at 11:00 am Eastern.
Sunday Morning Worship Service - 1/12/25 - Dean Luke A. Powery Here is the worship guide for this service:https://chapel.duke.edu/sites/default/files/011225Bulletin.pdf .Join us in worship that offers stirring preaching...
12/19/2024
The broadcast version of the Chapel Choir's 2024 "Messiah" is now live! Through January 12 you can enjoy this compilation of the live performances on December 6, 7, and 8.
The sold-out run featured soloists Kathryn Mueller, Lucia Bradford, Andrew Bearden Brown, and Jonathan Woody, with Mallarme Chamber Players playing period instruments at Baroque pitch.
Handel's Messiah 2024 The Duke Chapel Choir and soloists, accompanied by Mallarmé Music with Dr. Zebulon M. Highben conducting, performed G.F. Handel's "Messiah" before sold-out a...
Tonight, the Duke Chapel Choir is joined by Mallarme Chamber Players, soprano Kathryn Mueller, mezzo Lucia Bradford, tenor Andrew Bearden Brown, and bass-baritone Jonathan Woody for the first of three sold-out performances of Handel’s “Messiah”!
If you are not among the 3,300 people who were able to procure a ticket, a broadcast version of the performance will be available on YouTube from December 23 until January 12. 🎶🎶🎶
11/23/2024
Tomorrow is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday in the liturgical year, and the Chapel Choir's final Sunday service for the fall term. Joined by the Amalgam Brass, our festive repertoire for the occasion will include:
• How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds (Bumgarner)
• All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name / CORONATION (arr. Bankson)
• E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come (Manz)
• The Head That Once Was Crowned / ST MAGNUS
• God Is Gone Up with a Shout (Thompson)
• The Lord Bless You and Keep You (Lutkin)
• O God, Beyond All Praising / THAXTED (arr. Proulx)
Join us in person or online at 11:00 am Eastern.
Sunday Morning Worship Service - 11/24/24 - Pastor Michael Walrond Join us in worship that offers stirring preaching, inspiring sacred music, and faithful prayer. Held year-round amid the beautiful, soaring architecture of D...
11/17/2024
Today’s music includes:
• Ain-a That Good News (Dawson)
• O Day Full of Grace (Christiansen)
• God Be in My Head (Rutter)
• The God of Abraham Praise / LEONI
• My Lord, What a Morning / BURLEIGH
• What Feast of Love / GREENSLEEVES
• Rejoice, The Lord is King / DARWALL’S 148TH
Sunday Morning Worship Service - 11/17/24 - Dean Luke A. Powery Here is the worship guide for this service:https://chapel.duke.edu/sites/default/files/111724WorshipGuide.pdf .Join us in worship that offers stirring preac...
11/13/2024
Writing in the Duke Chronicle, senior Arya Krishnan describes his experience of wonder and beauty during an impromptu tour of Duke Chapel.
"Every aspect of it was designed with careful intention, steeped in cultural tradition and filled with rich symbolism," says Krishnan, a member of the Duke Chapel Choir. "The high arches and carefully engineered stonework amplify sound in a way that makes each note resonate and linger, giving the music a rich and ethereal quality."
"The Chapel had been hiding in plain sight all this time," he writes. "I glance at it every day, yet it took me this long to realize it was a treasure trove of art, culture, and tradition."
Read the column: https://buff.ly/4epfFCg
11/02/2024
Transcendent anthems and hymns fill Duke University Chapel’s celebration of All Saints’ Sunday at 11:00 am:
• Requiem (Giacomo Puccini), with guest violist Simon Ertz
• Hallelujah: Heavenly Home (Shawn Kirchner)
• There Is a Land of Pure Delight (Grayston Ives)
• For All The Saints / SINE NOMINE
• In Our Day of Thanksgiving / ST CATHERINE’S COURT
• Rejoice in God’s Saints / HANOVER
• Sing with All The Saints in Glory / HYMN TO JOY
Sunday Morning Worship Service - 11/3/24 - Dean Luke A. Powery Here is the worship guide for this service:https://chapel.duke.edu/sites/default/files/110324WorshipGuideWEB2.pdf .Join us in worship that offers stirring p...
10/20/2024
The music for this morning's service includes:
• For He Shall Give His Angels (Mendelssohn)
• Whoever Would Be Great Among You (Nelson)
• The Lord Bless You and Keep You (Lutkin)
• Ye Servants of God / HANOVER
• Will You Let Me Be Your Servant? / THE SERVANT SONG
• O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee / MARYTON
• Go Forth for God / OLD 124TH
We also welcome guitarist Colin Fullerton from the Duke University Department of Music faculty. Colin will accompany the Chapel Choir on "Whoever Would Be Great Among You," and perform Brahms' Intermezzo (Op. 117, No. 2) during Communion.
Sunday Morning Worship Service - 10/20/24 - Dean Luke A. Powery Here is the worship guide for this service:https://chapel.duke.edu/sites/default/files/102024WorshipGuideWeb2.pdf .Join us in worship that offers stirring p...
The Duke University Chapel Choir is the largest of the three choral ensembles at Duke University Chapel. Its members include Duke students, faculty, staff, and alumni, as well as residents of Durham and surrounding areas. The Chapel Choir is a regular part of worship services on Sunday mornings, during Holy Week, and at other times throughout the academic year, singing anthems and leading the congregation in hymns and liturgical music.
The Chapel Choir’s critically acclaimed performances of Handel’s Messiah have been an annual Advent tradition since 1933. Its spring oratorio concerts have featured other major choral works performed with professional orchestra. Recent programs have included Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Lauridsen’s Lux Æterna, the Duruflé Requiem, and James MacMillan’s St. Luke Passion.
The Chapel Choir has toured extensively throughout the United States, Austria, China, the Czech Republic, England, Germany, Greece, Poland, Spain, and Turkey. Performance venues have included Washington National Cathedral; Carnegie Hall and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York); St. Martin-in-the-Fields (London); and the Thomaskirche (Leipzig).
The Chapel Choir is conducted by Dr. Zebulon Highben, Director of Chapel Music.
