Cathedral Concerts

“To foster appreciation of sacred music through high quality concerts, accessible and free to all…” (from the Cathedral Concerts mission statement)

For half a century, St. Thomas More Cathedral has maintained a unique ministry of bringing the work of established concert artists to the community at large through an annual series of free concerts in the exquisite acoustical environment of the Cathedral. Join us in continuing the marvelous tradition!

Cathedral Concerts is an outreach service dedicated to bringing the work of professional musicians to the Cathedral Community, and the DC area community-at-large. We sponsor concerts ranging from organ recitals to choral concerts and instrumental programs. Dates and performance details are published in a brochure. Every event is open to the parish and general community, and we encourage you to tell your friends about us. Free and ample parking is provided onsite, including accessible spaces for the physically challenged. A reception is held after each concert, where guests and performers meet and interact.

Upcoming Concerts – Our 2023–2024 Season

Kassia Music String Quartet – Sunday, April 28 at 4 pm

As we celebrate the Easter season, Kassia Music, a local professional chamber ensemble, presents a concert of uplifting music for string quartet by Mendelssohn and Weigl.

How to Support Our Mission

As a self-sustaining service, Cathedral Concerts relies on the support of our donors to maintain this marvelous tradition. The cost of presenting these concerts is beyond the resources of the Cathedral parish to support on its own. Therefore, we rely on the generosity of our patrons in order to make the Concert Series a continuing part of the spiritual and cultural enrichment of Cathedral life and the Metropolitan Area Community.

We invite you to join many in our community who have already given from their treasure so that all may benefit from this beautiful tradition. As a sponsor, your support will be recognized in one of the following categories:

Cathedral Angels ($1000 and more)
Benefactors ($500-$999)
Patrons ($100-$499)
Sponsors ($50-99)
Contributors ($20-49)

The names of all donors, as well as “Memorial” gifts will be recognized in concert programs for the entire season in which the gift is made. All donors will receive reserved seating. Donors in the Cathedral Angel category will be personally introduced to the artists at the reception following each concert.

There are three options for donating:

Securely online, using Faith Direct.
On Venmo using the handle @stmcathedral. Please put “Concerts” in the “What’s it for?” field.
By check made payable to “Cathedral of St. Thomas More” with “Cathedral Concerts” in the memo.

In order to help us stay in touch with you and acknowledge you for your donation, please download and complete this form. You can then either email the completed form to music@cathedralstm.org or drop it in the mail to

Cathedral of St. Thomas More
Attn: Cathedral Concerts
3901 Cathedral Lane
Arlington, VA 22203

Past Concerts

Our 2023–2024 Season

Musical Meditations for Lent – Sunday, March 3 at 4 pm

Come sing your favorite Lenten hymns and listen to organ music and meditations connected to those hymns. Musical Meditations for Lent will be a prayerful concert of Lenten organ music interspersed with congregational hymns and meditations, featuring all of our own Saint Thomas More Cathedral organists.

Sacred Music for Advent and Christmas – Sunday, December 17 at 4:30 pm

NOTE: Because of the Cathedral renovations and the size of this concert, it will take place at St. James Catholic Church in Falls Church, Virginia and will be at 4:30 pm. (All other concerts will take place at the Cathedral at 4 pm).

The Cathedral Choir and Youth Choir will present a prayerful concert of Advent and Christmas music from the Middle Ages to the twenty-first century. The program will include congregational singing so that all can join in the joy of preparing for the coming of Christ, our Savior.

My Soul Rejoices – Sunday, October 22 at 4 pm

As we come to the close of Preparation Year 2 for the Golden Jubilee of the Diocese of Arlington – “My soul rejoices in the Lord.” Rejoice in the current vitality of our Diocese – the Cathedral Choir offers an hour of music in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The concert will include a solo setting of Mary’s Magnificat by twentieth-century American composer Randall Thompson, chant and choral settings of all four Marian antiphons, and several settings of the Ave Maria.

Our 2022–2023 Season

Ave Verum Corpus – Sunday, October 23 at 4 pm

As we come to the close of Preparation Year 1 for the Golden Jubilee of the Diocese of Arlington – “Do this in remembrance of me.” Remembering the past with gratitude – the Cathedral Concerts offers an hour of choral and organ music about the gift of the Eucharist. The Cathedral Choir will sing a selection of choral works, some unaccompanied, and others accompanied by organist Nicholas Will, the Director of Liturgical Music at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. These will be interspersed with solo organ pieces by French composers Cesar Franck, Theodore Dubois, and Olivier Messiaen.

Sacred Music for Advent and Christmas – Sunday, December 4 at 4 pm

Sacred Music for Advent and Christmas Livestream

Musical Meditations for Lent – Sunday, March 12 at 4 pm

Faith, Hope and Love – Sunday, May 7 at 4 pm

“So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13

Join us for an afternoon of religious and inspirational musical theatre favorites around the themes of faith, hope and love. The concert will feature Cathedral cantors Shaina Murphy and Nicole Elledge, members of our Youth Choir, and you, the audience!

Please note: Due to the renovation of the Cathedral, the concert will be held across the parking lot in Lee Hall of the Cathedral School