Venetian Vespers Music
![A split-screen promotional graphic for an event at Duke University Chapel. On the left side, a photograph captures a live choral concert inside the grand, gothic-style chapel. A large choir and small instrumental ensemble perform at the front of the sanctuary, facing a seated audience that fills the pews. Above the performers, towering stone pillars frame an intricate, multi-tiered wooden reredos and a massive, colorful stained-glass window. Rows of glowing, ornate chandeliers hang down from the high ceiling over the audience. The right side of the image features a solid royal blue background with white text that reads "VENETIAN VESPERS MUSIC"](/images/2026/20260620/c63ca424f862542e0757ece1a4804196-CR-Chorworks2b Calendar 2025 copy_20260518085336PM.jpg "A split-screen promotional graphic for an event at Duke University Chapel. On the left side, a photograph captures a live choral concert inside the grand, gothic-style chapel. A large choir and small instrumental ensemble perform at the front of the sanctuary, facing a seated audience that fills the pews. Above the performers, towering stone pillars frame an intricate, multi-tiered wooden reredos and a massive, colorful stained-glass window. Rows of glowing, ornate chandeliers hang down from the high ceiling over the audience. The right side of the image features a solid royal blue background with white text that reads "VENETIAN VESPERS MUSIC"")
This concert presents larger-scale works with soloists and period instruments, in the format of the traditional Vespers evening prayer service. Psalm settings by the Renaissance Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi are interspersed with other motets and antiphons, concluding with an eight-part setting of the Magnificat by the Baroque composer Giacomo Carissimi.
Free admission. Paid parking is available in the Bryan Center Garage at 125 Science Dr.
The performance is presented by singers with the Chorworks summer program. Directed by the Chapel's conductor-in-residence Dr. Philip Cave, Chorworks is a week-long workshop for talented, early-career singers to deepen their facility with early music repertoire.
Chorworks' founder, Dr. Cave, is a conductor, educator, singer, and the director of the professional ensemble Magnificat. As a vocal soloist, he has worked with celebrated conductors including Leonard Bernstein, and at venues including the Beethovenhalle in Bonn and the Sydney Opera House. He has performed across Europe, at the BBC Promenade Concerts in London, and has shared the concert platform with many distinguished musicians, including Sir Peter Pears, Sting, and Sir Paul McCartney.
This year, Chorworks welcomes new and returning musicians, including former Duke organ scholar Katherine Johnson, Duke student instrumentalists, and Duke faculty members Clara Rottsolk and Roseen Giles.
