The Chapel Arts Series
The Chapel Arts Series is proudly supported by the Office for Mission at the University of Saint Thomas as an opportunity to engage our students, faculty, staff, and the broader community through the sacred arts.
During the 2024-25 season we will offer a wide variety of programming that will feature world-class musicians from around the globe. Every event is free, open to the public, and followed by a reception held in our Hoedeman Gallery of Sacred Art.
Watch this video of our last concert - A Winter Journey: Luminous Night of the Soul...
Contact Information
If you have inquiries or are interested in supporting this series, please contact:
Dr. Jacob Benda
Director of Music, Liturgy and Sacred Arts
jrbenda@stthomas.edu
(651) 962-6570
Upcoming Events
Sunday, March 2 4PM
Making their Chapel Art Series debut, the National Lutheran Choir directed by Jennaya Robison presents a meaningful program that will include the premiere of a commissioned work by composer Hans Bridger Heruth and lyricist Brian Newhouse to honor the work of healers.
Saturday, April 12 7PM
In preparation for Holy Week, Polish organist Filip Presseisen, winner of the 2015 International Cinema Organ Competition, improvises music for the 1903 silent film La Vie et la Passion de Jesus Christ.
Saturday, May 3 7PM
Featuring Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals for organ solo, Rhapsody in lue by George Gershwin, and the monumental Concerto in D for Organ, Strings, and Timpani by Rachel Laurin, Musicians will include organist Jacob Benda, pianist Ekaterina Knayazeva, and Maestro Matthew George conducting the University of St. Thomas Festival Orchestra.
Thursday, May 15 2025 7PM
In collaboration with the University of St. Thomas Theology Department, this season finale will celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea with music presented by church choirs and instrumentalists from around the Twin Cities including the Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Constantine Ukrainian Catholic Church, Holy Cross Catholic Church, the St. Paul Seminary, and more.
Past Events
Watch recap of the concert .
The Cathedral Choir of the Basilica of St. Mary directed by Patrick Schneider joins UST music faculty Jacob Benda in presenting music inspired by the seasons of Advent and Winter. Featuring Dreamweaver by Ola Gjeilo, The Nutcracker Suite for piano fourhands and orchestra by Tchaikovsky, and more.
Saturday, October 1, 2022
Internationally renowned organist, Wolfgang Rübsam, opens the series playing selected masterworks by J.S. Bach.
Saturday, November 5, 2022
Polish organist Filip Presseisen, winner of the 2015 International Cinema Organ Competition, improvises music for the 1903 silent film La Vie et la Passion de Jesus Christ.
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Virtuoso guitarist Dan Nadel, clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski, and percussionist Satoshi Takeishi present an evening of enlivened improvisations inspired by music shared among the many cultures of the Mediterranean.
Saturday, December 10, 2022
Teri Larson and the Basilica of St. Mary Cathedral Choir join forces with Jacob Benda and fellow University of St. Thomas music faculty as they perform music inspired by the seasons of Advent and Winter.
Saturday, February 18, 2023
Natives of Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, twin-sister guitar duo Tanja Mirić and Darka Mirić Kooienga, explore sounds from around the world including their own published transcriptions.
Saturday, April 1, 2023
A Holy Week meditation featured Franz Liszt's profound work for choir and organ, Via Crucis, as well as music by Allegri, Duruflé, Poulenc and Schubert. Musicians will include organist Jacob Benda, and conductor Elena Bird Zolnik.
Saturday, May 6, 2023
Celebrating the 35th Anniversary season of the Gabriel Kney pipe organ, soloist Jacob Benda and conductor Matthew George present organ concertos by Francis Poulenc and Josef Rheinberger with the University of St. Thomas Orchestra.
Saturday, October 7, 2023
Famous for his electrifying and engaging performances, international concert organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez opens the 2023-2024 Chapel Arts Series with iconic music by composers ranging from J.S. Back and Franz Liszt to Modest Mussorgsky and Freddy Mercury.
Saturday, October 28th, 2023
Concert pianists Ekaterina Knyazeva and Anton Melnichenko join forces to celebrate the 150th anniversary of virtuoso pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff with music written for two pianos/four hands, including a performance of his final major work, Symphonic Dances, Op.45.
Saturday, November 11th, 2023 - 7:30 PM
Featuring guitarist Chris Kachian, violinist Stephanie Arado, pianist Amy Grinsteiner, and narrator David Jordan Harris, the interactive experience of concert and conversation will serve as a compelling bridge between cultures and religious traditions.
Saturday, December 9th, 2023 - 7:00 PM
Conductor Patrick Schneider and the Basilica of St. Mary Cathedral Choir join University of St. Thomas music faculty Jacob Benda and violinist Allison Ostrander for an evening of music inspired by the seasons of Advent and Winter. Featuring works by Ola Gjeilo, Jessie Montgomery, Stephen Paulus, Antonio Vivaldi, and more.
Saturday, February 24th, 2024 - 7:00 PM
Le Quatuor International de Saxophones brings together four musicians from three continents, united by their dedication to the art of chamber music. Saxophonists Jean Pierre Baraglioli, Wiliam Street, Keiji Munesada, and Richard Dirlam collaborate with Jacob Benda for an exploration of music from around the world.
Saturday, March 16th, 2024 - 7:00 PM
In partnership with the Claritas Initiative, the next event of the Chapel Arts Series will take place on Saturday, March 16that 7:00pm in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas. The music for this concert will be inspired by themes expressed within the permanent art exhibit on display in the Iverson Center for Faith by artist Kelly Kruse, Embodied: The Earthly Immortal Soul and the Battle of Becoming. The musicians will include the artist, Kelly Kruse (soprano), Jacob Benda (organist), Ekaterina Knyazeva (pianist), and Marion Judish (violinist). A reception will be held afterward where Dr. Mark McInroy will offer inspiring words and facilitate a conversation between the artist and the audience. This event is free and open to the public.
Saturday, May 4th, 2024 - 7:00 PM
Chapel Arts Series Season Finale
Symphonic Sounds: A Celebration of MPR's Michael Barone and James P. Callahan
Saturday, May 4th at 7:00pm
Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas, University of St. Thomas
Please join us for the season finale of the 2023-24 Chapel Arts Series as we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Minnesota Public Radio's nationally syndicated program, Pipedreams, hosted by Michael Barone, and the musical life of former University of St. Thomas Music Professor, James P. Callahan. The program will feature favorite works of Michael and Jim including Organ Concerto No. 1 and Organ Concerto No. 2 by Callahan, Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Organ, Strings, Timpani, and Edward Elgar's Sospiri. A highlight to the evening will include the posthumous world premiere of Elegy for saxophone and piano by James P. Callahan.
The featured performers will include organists Jacob Benda and David Jenkins, conductor Matthew George, saxophonist Richard Dirlam, and the University of St. Thomas Festival Orchestra.
A reception will follow in the Hoedeman Gallery of Sacred Art. Please invite your family, friends, and colleagues as we honor two titans of American music.
September 28 7PM
Hailed by the Los Angeles Times for her "rare musicality" and "lovely lyrical grandeur", internationally renowned concert organist and composer, Chelsea Chen, opens the 2024-25 Chapel Art Series with an electrifying performance of music spanning time and space.
Saturday November 9 - 7PM
David Brubaker, first violinist of the Minnesota Orchestra, collaborates with pianist Miryanna Moteva and organist Jacob Benda for an autmn evening of violin sonatas and virtuosic variations.
The beautiful does not merely entertain; rather, it invades, chooses, and changes the one to whom it deigns to appear. It opens the mind to a consideration of ever higher forms of the beautiful, conducing finally to the transcendent source of beauty itself.