Gloriae Dei Cantores

The Massachusetts choir Gloriae Dei Cantores, whose name means Singers to the Glory of God, specializes in religious choral music of various eras, from medieval to contemporary. The group is affiliated with the Church of the Transfiguration in the town of Orleans, on Cape Cod, where it performs weekly services; it has also toured and recorded widely, both a cappella and with major symphonic ensembles.
Gloriae Dei Cantores is a mixed-gender adult choir with 40 members that dates back to 1988 under that name; it coalesced from an amateur group on Cape Cod led by Elizabeth Patterson, who took the choir to Britain for studies with conductors Stephen Cleobury and George Guest. The two were impressed by the small choir’s quality and urged Patterson to establish it as a professional group with the new name. (The singers still receive no salary, however.) The new group did not take long to make an international impact. In 1989, the group toured Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary, and what was then Yugoslavia, and has made several other domestic and international tours, including one with the Boston Pops in 1996 and another with the Munich Symphony, to 16 American cities, performing Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, K. 626. They have performed the same work in Russia with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. The group has appeared in 23 countries. Patterson remained the choir’s director for many years and still appears in an emeritus capacity; she was succeeded by Richard K. Pugsley. Gloriae Dei Cantores’ recording career also began in 1989 with an Easter Day Mass recording featuring music by Palestrina and Jean Langlais.
The choir’s recorded output has been both voluminous and broad. The group has released more than 60 albums as of the late 2010s, all sacred; they are divided between thematic programs and recordings of specific repertory works. Among the latter group is a 2012 recording of Alan Hovhaness’ From the Ends of the Earth. Most of the choir’s recordings have appeared on its own Gloriae Dei Cantores label, which has been distributed internationally by Naxos since 2016. In 2020, it released a well-received recording of music by Arvo Pärt, entitled Stabat Mater.~ James Manheim