Vigil for Love

i. Prayer

ii. Intercession: A Madrigal

iii. Responsory

iv. Song to the Friend

v. Offertory

vi. Invocation

vii. Song of Sanctuary | for Ting Ting

viii. Lesson

ix. Canto

x. CREDO

Commissioned for the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia June 2025 Canada Tour and dedicated to our friend and former leader Charlotte Sibley, a model for living and loving life fully

Love is that emotion that we believe distinguishes humans from all other forms of life. It ennobles, it transforms, it illuminates. It also confounds, mystifies, and frustrates. The piece will explore various facets and utterances of love, hopefully bringing us to a more profound understanding of its unique mysteries and many layers. Our friend and former leader Charlotte is a model for living and loving life fully, and this piece is created in her honor.

• Kyle Conner, April 2025

I am honored to have created this major new work with my friend and poet Kyle Conner in honor of Charlotte Sibley, an amazing and visionary leader who is also the former board chair of the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia. Vigil for Love is a testament to the love that she has offered so selflessly for our organization and for the many bright lights in our life.

The work progresses in ten movements according to Kyle’s libretto, which borrows extensively from sacred liturgical forms and secular song structures. My music attempts to evoke many of these ancient sounds and symbols while also placing us harmonically decidedly in the present. It is also a virtuosic feature for Mendelssohn Chorus’ amazing collaborative pianist and senior artist-in-residence, Ting Ting Wong, who is asked—along with the chorus—to evoke love’s many moods: playful and placid, exhausted and exultant, virile and virtuous.

• Dominick DiOrio, May 2025

The premiere performances of Vigil for Love were given by the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia with artistic director and conductor Dominick DiOrio, associate artistic director Heather Mitchell, and pianist Ting Ting Wong at the following times and places:

• Sunday, June 22, 2025 * 10:00am * Eastminster United Church * Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• Wednesday, June 25, 2025 * 3:00pm * Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel * Montréal, Québec, Canada

• Friday, June 27, 2025 * 7:00pm * Saint-Dominique Church * Québec City, Québec, Canada

• Saturday, October 18, 2025 * 4:00pm * The Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity * Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

i. Prayer

ii. Intercession: A Madrigal

iii. Responsory

iv. Song to the Friend

v. Offertory

vi. Invocation

vii. Song of Sanctuary | for Ting Ting

viii. Lesson

ix. Canto

x. CREDO

Commissioned for the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia June 2025 Canada Tour and dedicated to our friend and former leader Charlotte Sibley, a model for living and loving life fully

Love is that emotion that we believe distinguishes humans from all other forms of life. It ennobles, it transforms, it illuminates. It also confounds, mystifies, and frustrates. The piece will explore various facets and utterances of love, hopefully bringing us to a more profound understanding of its unique mysteries and many layers. Our friend and former leader Charlotte is a model for living and loving life fully, and this piece is created in her honor.

• Kyle Conner, April 2025

I am honored to have created this major new work with my friend and poet Kyle Conner in honor of Charlotte Sibley, an amazing and visionary leader who is also the former board chair of the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia. Vigil for Love is a testament to the love that she has offered so selflessly for our organization and for the many bright lights in our life.

The work progresses in ten movements according to Kyle’s libretto, which borrows extensively from sacred liturgical forms and secular song structures. My music attempts to evoke many of these ancient sounds and symbols while also placing us harmonically decidedly in the present. It is also a virtuosic feature for Mendelssohn Chorus’ amazing collaborative pianist and senior artist-in-residence, Ting Ting Wong, who is asked—along with the chorus—to evoke love’s many moods: playful and placid, exhausted and exultant, virile and virtuous.

• Dominick DiOrio, May 2025

The premiere performances of Vigil for Love were given by the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia with artistic director and conductor Dominick DiOrio, associate artistic director Heather Mitchell, and pianist Ting Ting Wong at the following times and places:

• Sunday, June 22, 2025 * 10:00am * Eastminster United Church * Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• Wednesday, June 25, 2025 * 3:00pm * Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel * Montréal, Québec, Canada

• Friday, June 27, 2025 * 7:00pm * Saint-Dominique Church * Québec City, Québec, Canada

• Saturday, October 18, 2025 * 4:00pm * The Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity * Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA