New York Cultural Center
HUMAN AFFAIRS
Dialogues on events
that shape our world
MEMORY AND IDENTITY
Exploring our heritage
Testing our tradition
BEAUTY WILL SAVE
THE WORLD
Discovering the world
of arts: performances
and presentations
MEETINGS AT
THE CROSSROADS
Face to face with...
A place where roads meet. A time of change.
"If thou among the
eternal
Ideas art numbered,
which the eternal
mind
Deigns not should
e'er be clothed in
fleshly form,
And in frail human
frames
Learn with what ills
our mortal life doth
swarm;
Or if some other
earth be mine of
those
Innumerable worlds
wherewith heav'n
flames,
And, brighter than
the Sun, the nearest
star
Through kinder
atmosphere above
thee glows:
From here, where
days are brief and
skies soon darken,
To this, an unknown
lover's hymn, oh
hearken"

Giacomo Leopardi
"To my lady"
BEAUTY WILL SAVE THE WORLD
Discovering the world of arts:
performances and presentations
A Choral Concert Journeying
through Salvation History

(in collaboration with
Columbia Catholic Ministry)
Choral classics and poetry
recited and
performed by the
CHOIR of COMMUNION AND
LIBERATION
under the direction of
Christopher VATH
FESTIVAL OF
LESSONS AND CAROLS
"No expression of human sentiments
is greater than music"

Once Monsignor Giussani, the founder of
Communion and Liberation, in meeting with a
group of musicians said: “No expression of
human sentiments is greater than music. Who
would not be moved by a string concert? How
can you remain untouched by the colors of a
piano sonata? It seems the top of the top.  And
yet…when I listen to the human voice…. I do not
know if it happens to you too, but the human
voice is even better than music, and you cannot
go beyond that. Yes, singing is the highest
expression of the human heart and there is no
higher service to the human community than
singing.”  So we are very grateful to the Choir of
Communion and Liberation who will give us the
opportunity, through the beauty of choral music,
to delve deeper into the great event of
Christmas, which marked forever the history of
humanity.

The choir of Communion and Liberation directed
by maestro Christopher Vath is composed of
high school and university students, and adults,
all who have come together to give voice to their
faith through the beauty of the texts and music
they perform. Their a cappella repertoire extends
from Gregorian chant to the 20th century, and
spans a variety of countries and languages.
Formed in 1994 under director Vath, the choir
has performed both its Christmas Lessons and
Carols and its Lenten choral meditation around
the New York metropolitan area. They perform
yearly at the Way of the Cross over the Brooklyn
Bridge on Good Friday.

Christopher Vath was born in New Orleans. He
attended North Texas State University, where he
received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano
Performance with Joseph Banowetz. After
graduate studies at the Julliard School with
Martin Canin, he started teaching piano and
working as a liturgical music director and is
currently at Regina Pacis Church in Brooklyn. He
has worked as composer, arranger, and pianist
in the field of commercial music. Two of his
choral arrangements are published by World
Library Publications. Since 1996, he has been
“Talking Music”, a lecture concert series, which
attempts to lead the listener to the ultimate
questions of humanity through great works of
music. In 2005, in addition to his Weill Hall debut,
he gave a private performance for Pope
Benedict XVI at the papal summer residence
Sunday
December 9, 2007
at 3:30pm

Saint Paul’s Chapel
Columbia University
Broadway and 116th Street
New York
READ THE PROGRAM
PHOTO GALLERY