Schola Academica Performs in Salzburg

The choir sang at the Sunday Mass in the Salzburg Cathedral, the epitome of the city’s long musical tradition where Mozart once worked as a church musician. The Schola Academica has brought a new color to the rich variety of sacred music programs offered by the church: instead of a concert, the choir performed Gregorian chants as part of the liturgy, as well as T. L. de Victoria’s Mass.

“Although the audience who filled the vast cathedral had exceptionally refined musical tastes due to their fortunate location, the Schola Academica choir with its unique sound and performance drew a warm response from the public. Unusual for a church service, our performance was greeted with loud applause at the end of the mass, and the success was also affirmed by János Czifra, long-time Domkapellmeister of the cathedral,” said chorus master György Merczel about the performance. János Czifra had a special reason, too, for receiving the choir so cordially, as he himself was once a member of the chorus Schola Hungarica, the predecessor of Schola Academica.