Yale Schola Cantorum

Yale Schola Cantorum is a chamber choir dedicated to performing sacred music from the sixteenth century to the present day in concerts and choral services around the world. Sponsored by the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, the ensemble is led by internationally acclaimed Norwegian conductor and educator Grete Pedersen, whose career spans four continents and brings together historical depth and contemporary vision. Masaaki Suzuki serves as principal guest conductor. Open by audition to students from all departments and professional schools across Yale University, the choir has a particular focus on historically informed performance practice, often collaborating with period-instrument ensemble Juilliard415.

Schola was founded in 2003 by Simon Carrington. In recent years, the choir has also sung under the direction of internationally renowned conductors Matthew Halls, Simon Halsey, Paul Hillier, Stephen Layton, Sir Neville Marriner, Nicholas McGegan, James O’Donnell, Stefan Parkman, Krzysztof Penderecki, Helmuth Rilling, Craig Hella Johnson, Marcus Creed and Dale Warland.

In addition to performing regularly in New Haven and New York, the ensemble records and tours nationally and internationally. Schola’s 2018 recording on the Hyperion label featuring Palestrina’s Missa Confitebor tibi Domine has garnered enthusiastic reviews. A live recording of Heinrich Biber’s 1693 Vesperae longiores ac breviores with Robert Mealy and Yale Collegium Musicum received international acclaim from the early music press, as have subsequent CDs of J. S. Bach’s rarely heard 1725 version of the St. John Passion and Antonio Bertali’s Missa resurrectionis. A recording on the Naxos label of Mendelssohn and Bach Magnificats was released in 2009, and recent years have seen the release of two CDs by Delos Records. More recently, Hyperion released Schola Cantorum performing a chamber version of the Brahms Requiem. Two recordings, New England Choirworks and Schütz’s The Christmas Story, were released in 2019, and Schola’s newest release is 2025’s In the Land of Uz, featuring works by Judith Weir and Amy Beach.

On tour, Schola Cantorum has given performances in England, Scotland, Germany, Hungary, France, China, South Korea, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Japan, Singapore, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, India, Spain, and Scandinavia.

Learn more about the recordings by following the links below.

1. In the Land of Uz (2025) - Hyperion
2. New England Choirworks (2019) – Hyperion
3. Palestrina: Missa Confitebor tibi Domine and other works (2018) - Hyperion
4. Schütz: The Christmas Story and other works (2018) - Hyperion
5. Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem (2018) – Hyperion
6. Fauré: Requiem and other sacred music (2017) - Hyperion
7. Sing Ye Birds, A Joyous Song (2014) – Delos
8. Anniversaries and Messages (2013) – Delos
9. Mendelssohn and Bach Magnificats (2008) – Naxos
10. Bach: St. John Passion - 1725 version (2008) – Gothic
11. Souvenirs de la France Profonde (2007) – Yale Institute of Sacred Music
12. Antonio Bertali: Missa resurrectionis (2007) – Gothic
13. Heinrich Biber: Vesperae longiores ac breviores (2004)