Vatican’s Sistine Chapel Opens Doors for Exclusive Angel-Themed Concert

The Vatican's famous Sistine Chapel welcomed approximately 200 invited guests for a private performance of a new composition exploring biblical angel encounters. The 70-minute oratorio featured British performers and will be broadcast on BBC radio next week.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — An exclusive musical performance took place Sunday night within the walls of the Vatican’s renowned Sistine Chapel, featuring the world premiere of a work centered on biblical stories of angelic encounters.

While the Vatican occasionally arranges musical performances in the chapel for visiting artists and special events, these gatherings remain strictly by invitation only, with photojournalists rarely granted permission to document such occasions.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Westminster’s archbishop, addressed the approximately 200 attendees before the performance began, making what he called “an awkward announcement.” He informed the audience, predominantly English-speaking guests including Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney and former UK Prime Minister Theresa May, that recording or photographing the premiere was prohibited.

The musical work, titled “Angels Unawares,” runs for 70 minutes and consists of 12 individual segments, with each section drawing from biblical narratives. Composer Sir James MacMillan created the piece using written material by Robert Willis, Canterbury’s former Dean who died in late 2024 shortly after finishing the text.

John Studzinski, the financier and philanthropist whose Genesis Foundation funded the project, explained his vision to The Associated Press: “I wanted a big piece of music for the holy angels, which had never been written before. When we started it, I think James was uncertain as to whether this was possible. But then when we saw the text that Robert Willis had created; James didn’t change one word, and he was so moved.”

Studzinski continued: “Now we have a piece of music that can live forever, that really reflects some of the most emotional, powerful aspects of angels as messengers, mentors, warriors, motivators.”

The British ensemble The Sixteen provided vocals for Sunday’s performance, accompanied by the Cambridge-based Britten Sinfonia chamber orchestra. Angelic imagery surrounded the performers and audience throughout the chapel — depicted in wall paintings chronicling Moses’ journey through life and death, and overhead in Michelangelo’s famous fresco showing the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden. This biblical exile serves as the opening piece in “Angels Unaware.”

Vermont State Senator Alison Clarkson reflected on the experience afterward: “It was sort of the unification of the glory of two of the greatest artistic expressions, music and painting. It was just perfect.”

The work’s name originates from biblical scripture emphasizing brotherly love and the importance of welcoming strangers — who may be angels in disguise. While most angelic figures in the oratorio appear openly to biblical characters, at least one remains hidden. In “The Song of Tobias,” the main character repeatedly criticizes himself for failing to recognize the archangel Raphael.

The tenor soloist delivered the poignant lines: “The dog, I felt, had known it all along,” followed by a dramatic pause before the orchestra built to the song’s climactic conclusion with “How could I not have known?”

Behind a protective cloth screen, restoration work continues on Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment,” where scaffolding-mounted conservators work to eliminate white salt deposits that have built up on the monumental artwork over three decades. The wingless angels in this masterpiece were only visible through the screening material.

Cardinal Nichols shared his thoughts with the AP about the composition’s universal appeal: “The theme of angels is one instinctively understood by many people and in many different faiths. Therefore, to explore their presence and the power of angelic presence in our lives will, I think, touch many people’s hearts and souls.”

According to the Genesis Foundation, Sunday’s performance was captured for broadcast on BBC radio during the upcoming week.

The planned radio broadcast highlights how religious compositions performed in English can reach broader audiences compared to those in Latin or other languages. Following last year’s conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, Nichols observed that English serves as the world’s most widely spoken language.

Nichols noted: “Many, many people take to English and can grasp it.”

The performing choir also welcomed the opportunity to sing in their native language.

Soprano Julie Cooper, dressed in a sparkling green gown, admitted: “We’d be pretty rubbish at singing in Italian, to be perfectly honest. We’re used to singing in Latin, but it is wonderful to do these texts in English and to try and bring them alive and tell the story and communicate. To singers, that’s the most important thing.”