Gloriæ Dei Cantores
Gloriæ Dei Cantores (Singers to the Glory of God) holds a passionate dedication to illuminate truth and beauty through choral artistry, celebrating a rich tradition of sacred choral music from Gregorian chant to the twenty-first century. gdcchoir.org
Founded in 1988, Gloriæ Dei Cantores from Orleans, MA, under the direction of Richard K. Pugsley, has touched the hearts of audiences in 23 countries in Europe, Russia, and North America, receiving extensive critical acclaim for its artistic elegance, performance authenticity, and compelling spirituality. Distributed in the United States and internationally by Naxos and Gloriae Dei Cantores Recordings, the choir’s discography of over 50 recordings showcases their extensive repertoire, encompassing both masterworks and rarely performed musical treasures from Gregorian chant to the 21st century.
Highlights of the choir’s career include three invitational tours of Russia, opening the 900th anniversary of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Italy, live radio and television broadcasts with the BBC, film soundtracks, the tree-lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Plaza, and performances in some of the finest concert halls throughout Europe and the United States.
The choir’s collaborative ventures have included ten Holiday Tours with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops, a sixteen-city US tour of Mozart’s Requiem with Philippe Entremont and the Munich Symphony Orchestra (Columbia Artists, CAMI, LLC), performances of Mozart’s Requiem with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in Russia, and world premiere concerts and recordings with Grammy-award-winning artist Mark O’Connor. They have also appeared on the concert stage and in recordings with John Williams, Samuel Adler, Stephen Cleobury, Vladimir Minin, and the late George Guest, Mary Berry, and Margaret Hillis, among others.
Gloriæ Dei Cantores makes its home at the Church of the Transfiguration in Orleans, MA, where the choir sings weekly worship services, concerts, and recordings throughout the year. The members’ ongoing life of worship – Sunday Eucharist, Choral Evensong and Liturgy of the Hours in Gregorian chant – is the foundation of the choir’s artistry, enabling their extensive repertoire to become a vibrant form of prayer in any setting. Their music conveys “a kind of utter, rapt, spiritual intensity, that you simply can’t imagine unless you’ve experienced it for yourself.” (American Record Guide)
The church has been called “an acoustical marvel” (American Record Guide) creating a sound of “sheer beauty” (HR Audio.net) and “sonic splendor” (Fanfare).
Hear Gloriae Dei Cantores in their home at the Church of the Transfiguration. Learn more
(Mozart: Rare Choral Works)
Richard K. Pugsley, Director
Known for his musical intuition and performance authenticity, Richard K. Pugsley has been applauded for his “expert conducting” (Classics Today) with “clarity and instinct for high impact moments” (San Francisco Classical Voice), and for his ability to “reveal the details of each composition with a rare sensitivity and luminosity.” (New York Classical Review). Pugsley has conducted the internationally recognized Gloriæ Dei Cantores for over twenty years, and performed with the choir in concert halls and churches in twenty-four countries throughout Europe, Russia, and North America for over thirty years. His passion for enlivening the sacred texts of choral literature as relevant and present encounters of sung prayer spans the traditions of ancient Gregorian chant, to classic repertoire, modern works, and rarely-performed choral gems.
Maestro Pugsley has conducted over 2,000 works at the Church of the Transfiguration in Orleans, MA. Featured performances have included Carissimi’s Jephtha, Handel’s Messiah, Israel in Egypt, and Saul; Mendelssohn’s Elijah; Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors; and J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. He directed the New England, USA premiere of The Pilgrim’s Progress by Vaughan Williams, as well as concerts of Walton’s The Twelve, Poulenc’s Gloria, Duruflé’s Requiem, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, and Finzi’s Intimations of Immortality, For St. Cecilia, and Lo, the Full Final Sacrifice.
His directing in the New England Premiere of The Pilgrim’s Progress was heralded by the Boston Globe as “powerful in conception and polished in execution.”
Pugsley is an accomplished producer of over thirty recordings on the Gloriæ Dei Cantores Recordings label. He most recently produced Gloriæ Dei Cantores’ album, Stabat Mater: Choral Works by Arvo Pärt that was released in 2020, rose to #5 on the Traditional Classical Billboard Charts, and has been hailed as “superb, unfailingly secure, lovely, and expressive.” (Fanfare).
A tenacious advocate for youth music education, Pugsley has also directed workshops with thousands of students throughout the world—using the medium of music to inspire young musicians to reach their greatest potential and experience the joy of excellence in performance.