A relative newcomer to the local classical music scene, professional chorus Ensemble Con Fuoco has announced its five-concert 2026-27 season, including a bluegrass “Mass,” a pairing of Renaissance and contemporary requiem mass settings, music by soundscape composer R. Murray Schafer, plus major works by Arvo Pärt and Carl Orff.
Founded as part of a doctoral conducting recital in 2019, ECF has evolved quickly into one of the leading professional choirs in the region, led by its founder, executive and artistic director, David Castillo Gocher, with support from artist associate Krista Cornish Scott. Initial concerts were held at St. Catharine of Siena Church in Westwood, and this season takes place predominantly on the West Side.
“Many Rivers: An American Choral Portrait”
Oct. 3, 7 p.m. St. Antoninus Church, 1500 Linneman Rd.
This opening concert weaves spirituals, folk songs and contemporary settings by Dominick DiOrio, Jake Runestad and Caroline Shaw with movements from Carol Barnett’s “The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass,” with fiddle, banjo and bass joining the choir.
“A Requiem Across Centuries”
Nov. 1, 3 p.m. St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 8101 Beechmont Ave.
Nov. 2, 7 p.m. St. Martin of Tours, 3720 St. Martins Place
Ensemble Con Fuoco marks All Souls by pairing Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Missa pro defunctis – drawn from his 1605 Officium Defunctorum, the summit of Spanish Renaissance polyphony – with Kerensa Briggs’ Requiem from 2022, a contemporary setting for mezzo-soprano, choir and organ rooted in the same plainchant tradition that shaped Victoria’s writing.
“Force of Nature”
Feb. 28, 3 p.m. St. Catharine of Siena, 2848 Fischer Place
This concert looks to the natural world for inspiration, featuring works by soundscape pioneer R. Murray Schafer alongside nature-themed works by Melissa Dunphy, Kyle Pederson and Tellu Turkka. Krista Cornish Scott conducts, ECF is joined by the choir from Taylor High School and conductor Joe Rivers.
Arvo Pärt: “Passio”
Date & time TBA. Mount St. Joseph University, 5701 Delhi Road
ECF presents Arvo Pärt’s spare, meditative setting of the Passion according to St. John, published in 1982. This performance is part of a sacred music conference in the spring, the centerpiece of its closing concert. Details TBA.
Carl Orff: “Carmina Burana”
April 23, 7 p.m. Mount St. Joseph University
This closing concert of the season includes the University Singers and Chamber Choir of Mount St. Joseph University in Carl Orff’s most popular work, a boisterous setting of sometimes bawdy poems by medieval monks.
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