Duke University Chapel enriches the aesthetic landscape of Duke and Durham through its annual series of choral concerts, organ recitals, and other artistic events.

Find below a listing of concerts in the 2025–2026 season of Music at Duke Chapel. Through the generous support of our partners and the friends of Duke Chapel, many of these concerts are free and open to the public. Events requiring tickets are indicated below. Tickets can be purchased at the Duke University Box Office. To receive updates on Chapel Music concerts and programs, sign up for our email newsletter.

Lift up your hearts. Lift up your voices. Come to Duke Chapel and rejoice with us this year, as we revel in the beauty of music and the glorious God who has given it.

A close-up of a stained-glass window depicting the Annunciation. On the left, the Virgin Mary kneels, with a halo and her hands folded in prayer, looking down and to the side. On the right, the angel Gabriel kneels, holding a staff with a scroll unfurling from the top. Both figures are set against a dark background with light radiating from behind Mary. The bottom of the image shows a field of green plants.

Rejoice, the Lord is King!
Your Lord and King adore!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing,
and triumph evermore.
Lift up your heart; lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Charles Wesley’s 1746 hymn “Rejoice, the Lord Is King” reminds us of the connections between music, faith, and joy. Singing and music-making are natural responses to knowledge of God’s love for us. As God’s love fills us with joy, we fill the world with music, which further spreads hope and joy to those who hear and experience it.

There is great joy and deep faith in this season of Music at Duke Chapel. The spring oratorio, connecting to the recent 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, features musical expressions of faith by composers Arvo Pärt and John Rutter. The Bach cantata series celebrates the works of “the fifth evangelist,” but also some of his contemporaries, including Vivaldi and Handel. Speaking of Handel: our 92nd annual Messiah presentation once again features period instruments and Baroque-era tuning. Sunday morning, Choral Evensong, and Jazz Vespers services bridge faith and music through inspiring choral anthems, organ voluntaries, gospel songs, and congregational hymns. All of this, plus organ recitals, guest artist concerts, carillon recitals, and more await you in this season of Music at Duke Chapel.

So: Lift up your hearts. Lift up your voices. Come to Duke Chapel and rejoice with us this year, as we revel in the beauty of music and the glorious God who has given it.

Luke A. Powery
Dean of Duke University Chapel

Zebulon M. Highben
Director of Chapel Music

Handel's Messiah

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Friday, December 5, 2025, at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, at 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 7, 2025, at 4:00 p.m.
CHEA KANG, soprano
KEY’MON MURRAH, countertenor
KAY’MON MURRAH, tenor
EDMUND MILLY, bass
DUKE CHAPEL CHOIR
MALLARMÉ MUSIC
ZEBULON M. HIGHBEN, chorusmaster
DAVID RAYL, guest conductor

Since 1933, Duke University Chapel has welcomed the holiday season with the sublime music of Messiah. From the haunting strains of “The people that walked in darkness” to the exuberant triumph of “Hallelujah” and “Worthy is the Lamb,” George Frideric Handel’s masterwork weaves a musical tapestry that recounts the story of Christ’s life, from birth through death and resurrection.

This year’s Messiah performances will be presented on period instruments with Baroque-era tuning, under the direction of guest conductor David Rayl, Professor Emeritus of Choral Conducting in the College of Music at Michigan State University. Each performance will include selections from Parts I, II, and III, and will last approximately two hours and fifteen minutes with intermission.

Tickets will be sold through the Duke Box Office

Spring Oratorio: Light from Light

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Saturday, March 28, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
DUKE CHAPEL CHOIR
MALLARMÉ MUSIC
ZEBULON M. HIGHBEN, conductor

featuring john rutter’s requiem and arvo pärt’s berliner messe

On the eve of Holy Week, the Duke Chapel Choir joins forces with Mallarmé Music to perform two stunning expressions of faith.

Arvo Pärt’s Berliner Messe was written in 1990 for a German religious festival following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Yet its origins lie in an earlier work, the 1977 Summa, a setting of the Creed written in Estonia during an era in which Pärt could not openly express his faith. The mass moves between ethereal serenity and joyous exuberance, woven together by Pärt’s signature tintinnabuli technique.

John Rutter’s beloved Requiem premiered in 1985 and was dedicated to the memory of his father. It combines portions of the traditional Latin Requiem with English-language scriptures—Psalm 130, Psalm 23, and verses from Job and John—in a musical tapestry of solace and reassurance.

Tickets will be sold through the Duke Box Office

Organ Recital Series

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SUNDAYS AT 5:00 PM
 

featuring
Kathleen Upton Byrns McClendon Organ (Aeolian, 1932)
Benjamin N. Duke Memorial Organ (Flentrop, 1976)
Robert Collings Parkins Organ (Brombaugh, 1997)

October 5, 2025
A head-and-shoulders portrait of a middle-aged man with short graying hair, wearing a dark suit, a white polka-dot collared shirt, and a striped gray tie. He is smiling and looking at the camera. A dark wood bookcase with rows of books is visible in the background.

ALAN MORRISON, head of the organ department at the Curtis Institute of Music, is recognized as one of America’s premier concert organists. His performances throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Russia have been received with enthusiastic praise for his quality programming, colorful use of the organ, and interpretive integrity. Reviewers of his numerous recordings have noted that “Alan Morrison knows something about igniting audience passions…. Morrison’s playing is consummate and dazzling” (Fanfare) and that he “possesses a technique that could chew holes through solid concrete – and sensitive musicianship to boot” (The Diapason). He will open this season’s recital series on the Aeolian organ.

November 16, 2025
A head-and-shoulders portrait of a young woman with brown wavy hair, brown eyes, and a bright smile. She is wearing a black shirt underneath an ornate, short-sleeved jacket with a complex pattern of black, orange, and reddish-brown ribbons and stitches. Her left hand is raised to her chin. The background is a solid gray.

MAXINE THÉVENOT is director of cathedral music and organist at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John, Albuquerque, New Mexico. As an organ recitalist, she has appeared in concert halls and churches across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Described as “a 21st-century organ virtuoso” (Orgue Canada), she has recorded several solo CDs for Raven Records. Reviews have praised her “exceptional technique and consummate musicianship” (The American Organist) as well as “fervor and passion . . . blazing performance” (American Record Guide). Ms. Thévenot’s recital on the Aeolian organ will include works by Frank Bridge, Marcel Dupré, Rachel Laurin, Olivier Messiaen, Louis Vierne, and others.

February 1, 2026
A head-and-shoulders portrait of a young woman with brown hair, blue eyes, and a broad smile. She is wearing a black v-neck top and gold hoop earrings. Her hair is parted and has bangs. The background is a solid blue.

KATELYN EMERSON, hailed as “one of the world’s most promising organists,” is internationally renowned for performances throughout North America, Europe, and Asia that are “thrilling from beginning to end.” A prizewinner of competitions on three continents, including first prize in the American Guild of Organists’ 2016 National Young Artists’ Competition in Organ Performance, she has recorded solo CDs for the Pro Organo label. Ms. Emerson is currently based in both the USA and the United Kingdom, having been awarded grants to support her PhD research at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Music and Science. Her recital program, performed on the Brombaugh and Flentrop organs, will include music by Buxtehude, Jacquet de La Guerre, M. Rossi, Cabanilles, Reimann, and others.

March 22, 2026
A head-and-shoulders portrait of a man with short brown hair and glasses, wearing a dark blue suit jacket over a white polka-dot collared shirt. He is smiling slightly and looking at the camera. In the background, there is a blurry, light-colored stone wall.

CHAD FOTHERGILL is Chapel Organist at Duke University and the organist for Duke Divinity School. He has presented recitals, lectures, lecture-recitals, hymn festivals, and workshops for numerous musical and liturgical organizations throughout the United States. Before his appointment to Duke, he held visiting faculty appointments at Gustavus Adolphus College and the University of Delaware, as well as church positions in Iowa City, Philadelphia, New York City, and Minneapolis. Since 2018, he has also served each summer on the faculty of the Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival. Mr. Fothergill’s recital program will feature the Flentrop organ, with works by Dieterich Buxtehude, his contemporaries, and his predecessors.

Bach Cantata Series

Philip Cave, Director

A long, wide-angle shot of a crowd of people sitting in church pews, with their backs to the camera. The pews are a light wood. In the foreground, people in the first few rows are slightly blurred. At the front of the church, a small choir is standing in front of a stained-glass window and an organ and is singing from books. A man is conducting the choir, and another man is sitting and playing a keyboard.

SUNDAYS AT 5:00 PM IN DUKE CHAPEL
PRE-CONCERT TALKS AT 4: 00 PM IN GOODSON CHAPEL

Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantatas are often considered the pinnacle of German sacred music, works whose theological depth and emotional resonance touch deep places in the human soul. This year’s cantata series, Bach &, features cantatas, concerti, and organ works by Bach and his contemporaries, Vivaldi, Dumont, and Handel, illuminating the connections and differences between these Baroque masters.

November 9, 2025: BACH & VIVALDI

Vivaldi: Concerto in A minor for 2 violins, RV 522, and Nulla in mundo pax, RV 630
Bach: Vivaldi Concerto in A minor (arr. for organ solo), BWV 593, and Non sa che sia dolore, BWV 209

February 15, 2026: BACH & DUMONT

Dumont: Prelude; Super flumina Babylonis; and Litanies de la Vierge
Bach: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61, and Orchestral Suite No.2 in B minor

April 26, 2026: BACH & HANDEL

Handel: Overture: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, HWV 67; As Pants the Hart, HWV 251b; and Zadok the Priest, HWV 258
Bach: Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21

Additional Concerts

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September 28, 2025, at 5:00 p.m.

J. Samuel Hammond Carillon Recital

February 22, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.

Evensong Singers Concert

March 1, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.

Staff Singers Recital

April 19, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.

J. Samuel Hammond Carillon Recital

Guest Artist

Forgotten Clefs: Surviving Inquisition

A quintet of musicians pose in a studio with white brick walls. They hold various wind instruments, some of which appear to be historical or period instruments.
February 28, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.

Exploring Spanish and Sephardic music over a 400-year span, Surviving Inquisition traces the journey of Sephardic Jews from the thirteenth century in Alfonso el Sabio’s Castile, through the early years of the Inquisition in late fifteenth-century Catholic Spain, to Italy in the early seventeenth century, where many Jews lived following expulsion. Using European and Arabic instruments—including dulcians, harp, hurdy-gurdy, recorders, and shawms—Surviving Inquisition intertwines traditional Sephardic tunes with Catholic music from Medieval manuscripts, featuring works by Juan del Encina (1468–1530), Juan de Anchieta (1462–1523), Christobal de Morales (1500–1553), and Salamone Rossi (1570–1630).

Presented in partnership with Mallarmé Music.

Tickets will be sold through the Duke Box Office

Sacred Choral Clinic

with Hilary Apfelstadt

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Saturday, January 24, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
A portrait photo of a woman with a warm smile, with shoulder-length blonde hair parted on her left side. She is wearing a black turtleneck and a layered silver necklace with large, circular, textured pendants. She is looking directly at the camera. The background is a dark, solid color.

Choir singers and directors are invited to the Chapel’s third annual Sacred Choral Clinic with Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt, an internationally renowned conductor and pedagogue, who is Professor Emerita at the University of Toronto as well as a past president and former interim executive director of the American Choral Directors Association.

Participants will sing with the Duke Chapel Choir and other choirs from around North Carolina, as Dr. Apfelstadt teaches vocal techniques and introduces choral repertoire appropriate for the upcoming liturgical seasons. At the conclusion of the clinic, a brief public “informance” will be given, featuring the repertoire from the clinic interspersed with short organ works and hymns for all to sing.

Co-sponsored by North Carolina chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and the Royal School of Church Music in America.

Registration will be available through the Duke Box Office

Music in Worship

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Sunday Morning

Duke Chapel’s longstanding excellence in sacred music is rooted in its weekly, year-round Sunday morning services, which combine potent preaching, imaginative liturgy, and inspiring sacred music. During the academic year, the Duke University Chapel Choir and the Chapel’s magnificent organs provide primary musical leadership, supplemented by student chamber groups, professional instrumentalists, and visiting artists.

See the schedule of Sunday morning services
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Choral Evensong

For centuries, the church has marked the transition from daytime to evening with psalms, prayer, and song. Duke Chapel’s Choral Evensong follows this historic pattern, using the liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer and featuring choral and organ music from the English cathedral tradition, led by the Chapel’s Evensong Singers.

See the schedule for Choral Evensong services
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Jazz Vespers

Over the past eleven years, Jazz Vespers has become a beloved tradition at Duke Chapel. Sing, rest, pray, and celebrate in these worship services, which combine the ancient Christian tradition of evening vespers with the aural idioms of Black sacred music, including jazz, gospel, and the spirituals. Jazz Vespers is led musically by John V. Brown, Professor of the Practice of Music and Director of the Jazz Program at Duke University, and the John Brown “Little Big Band.”

See the schedule for Jazz Vespers services

Supporters & Partners

We are once again grateful for the many supporters who make this season possible, including:

Duke Chapel Choir and Chapel Music Endowment
Director of Chapel Music Endowment
Agnus Dei Endowment Fund
Amy Geissinger Chapel Choir Quasi-Endowed Scholarship Fund
Barbara-Jean Ross Jones Music Education Fund
Carl A. Herring Carillon Endowment
CB Richardson Chapel Endowment Fund
Charles B. Wade Oratorio Endowment for Duke Chapel
Donald and Hazel Jansen Wallis Endowment
F. M. Kirby Foundation Endowment Fund for Chapel Music
Frances Wilson Leavenworth Endowment
Hurst Family Chapel Endowment
J. Benjamin Smith Endowment Fund
J. Foster Barnes Endowment
J. Horst & Ruth Mary Meyer Fund for Duke Chapel
James and Helen Burnett Coppridge Endowment Fund
Jefferson W. Kirby Duke Chapel Choir Scholarship Endowment Fund
John O. Blackburn Chapel Oratorio Fund
Kathleen Upton Byrns McClendon Aeolian Organ Fund
Marvin Boren and Elvira Lowe Smith Memorial Endowment Fund
Mary Duke Biddle Foundation Chapel Oratorio Endowment
Mildred Clusman Phillips Duke Chapel Choir Endowment
Mildred L. Hendrix Endowment
Professor Paul Young Endowment Fund
Roy A. Goss Memorial Fund
The Klove Family Fund
Thomas C. Clark Fund for Chapel Choral Music
Vereen Family Endowment for Choral Vespers
Waldo Beach Hymnody Endowment Fund
William Arthur Higgins Choir Scholarship Endowment Fund

and the many friends of Chapel Music who generously support our program every year.

Duke University logo
North Carolina Chapter of the American Choral Directors Associations
Duke Arts logo
Durham Children's Choir logo
Mallarme Music logo
Royal School of Church Music in America logo
WUNC Radio logo
WCPE Radio logo