The Cathedral of Saint Paul

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Sacred Music

NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTS

DOWNTOWN CONCERT SERIES

  • The FOURTH season of the DOWNTOWN CONCERT SERIES at the Cathedral of St. Paul is live! This concert series seeks to bring the best of art and sacred music to our Cathedral as an offering to the Diocese, city, and parish.
  • These concerts feature renowned organists, choirs, and so much more. This year, we feature our first-ever Christmas concert as well as two of the US’s most awarded college choirs…both in our very own state! We also commemorate the 500th anniversary of G.P. Palestrina’s birth (in concert in October, but also in Cathedral Choir’s repertoire throughout the year).
  • Because the Cathedral Church is consecrated to God, all concerts are presented free of charge, so that all people may find a home here at St. Paul’s.
  • Please check the link above to see if you might help support our mission to bring quality organ, choral, vocal, and instrumental concerts to downtown Birmingham. The late Anna Catharine Grace’s gift of the pipe organ named in her honor is a huge part of this series. She and many other donors over the last few decades laid the foundation of our concert series. We hope you will join us in rejoicing and praying for our many benefactors near and far.
  • Our next FREE concert is TUESDAY, January 6, at 7:00PM, as we present internationally-renowned concert organist ISABELLE DEMERS. Why the strange date? We are presenting in coordination with our hosting of the Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians yearly gathering January 5-8, 2026, which gathers all the Roman Catholic Cathedral musicians in North America. As always, this event is not ticketed. We will also have Solemn Mass (celebrated by Bishop Raica) on Monday, January 5, at 5:30pm (featuring works from Kodaly, diLasso, and others), and Solemn Vespers on Wednesday, January 7, at 5:30pm (featuring the Zelenka Magnificat in C). Bring a friend and introduce them to our Sacred Music Apostolate and our parish family! The program will be posted HERE the week of the concert!
  • For more information, simply call (205.251.1279×107) or email (ludwick@stpaulsbhm.org) the Director of Music. We look forward to seeing you this year at these concerts and in worship!

Liturgical Music week-to-week

  • For the most current information on liturgical and sacramental schedules, check the Cathedral frontpage.
  • The 5:00pm (anticipated) Mass has hymns and a Gregorian chant ordinary led by cantor and organ.
  • The Sunday 8:30AM Mass is led by a cantor or small schola and organ. Hymns and the Gregorian ordinary are sung by all; the schola leads the Gregorian processional propers (Entrance, Offertory, and Communion) as needed.
  • The 11:00am Solemn Mass is our main musical offering, with most (and sometimes all) of the Gregorian proper represented, along with the requisite hymns and Gregorian or vernacular ordinaries. Polyphonic (choral) Mass ordinaries are sung about once a month in part or in whole. Music is led by Cathedral Choir (or Cathedral Choir staff singers during some Summer months), a semi-professional choir of 20-25 voices.
  • The Orders of Worship and Music Lists subpage is kept current so that you may see what we are preparing for upcoming weeks!

In the “Sacred Music” section you can learn about the following sub-topics (also accessible through the menus).