Guest Choirs Application

As the choir’s conductor, you must read COMPLETELY and have full knowledge and understanding of all the terms and conditions explained on this page. It is obvious in an online application when one has not read our terms and conditions fully. If so, your online application WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY DENIED. Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing.

The online application form will serve as your letter of agreement. Being granted a performance date is contingent upon your consent to and compliance with all of the following:

Only the choir’s conductor may apply for a performance and be the contact person who will correspond with the Cathedral. The choir’s conductor will be the contact person on the day of the performance.

To prevent any misinformation that could lead to the cancelation of a performance, no tour coordinator, travel agent, representative, choir secretary, assistant choir director or administrative assistant can be the applicant or contact person.

Impersonating the choir’s conductor in this application process is a violation of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral policy and of New York State Law. Applications submitted by anyone other than the conductor named in the form will be automatically denied.

In the application form, you will need to provide your proposed program of no more than 45 minutes of music (including any encore selection), complete with composer/arranger names and the true performance timing of each piece. Applications submitted with a blank or incomplete proposed program, or without the true timing of each piece, will be automatically dismissed.

1. Choral concerts cannot take place on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, nor during the Christmas holiday, during Holy Week, on Holy Days, and on most federal holidays.

2. We cannot “pencil in”, “hold” or “save” dates. Complete applications are processed on a first-submitted, first-considered basis. We are not responsible for ensuring that you send us the supporting materials required to complete your application. We do not send reminders. If your application for a certain date is incomplete and we receive a complete application from another ensemble for the same date, that ensemble will be granted the performance date.

3. Choral concerts take place on weekdays (except Thursdays) only, from approximately 4:00 PM (16:00) to no later than 5:00 PM (17:00). These times are subject to availability and may be changed with little or no notice to accommodate Masses, other major events, or any construction work related to the cathedral’s current renovation.

4. We cannot schedule performances outside the above times because of the high number of other programs occurring at this busy cathedral throughout the day. We are not able to accommodate performances during or between any weekend Masses. We cannot accommodate any unscheduled, “drop-in” performances.

5. No fees or donations may be collected for performances, nor may any tickets, books, brochures, CDs or DVDs be sold.

6. Performing at St. Patrick’s Cathedral is on a voluntary basis only. The Cathedral offers no stipend or financial assistance of any kind. Guest ensembles are solely responsible for all travel and hotel accommodations, transportation to and from Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and meal expenses incurred.

7. Choirs perform acoustically, i.e. without microphones. The space is best suited for classical-music ensembles large enough (and whose singers resonate enough) to project without strain or fatigue. Soloists must be selected accordingly.

8. We strongly recommend that you program a cappella works for several practical reasons. There is no piano in the Cathedral, and the organ is the only keyboard instrument allowed to accompany. While up to four small, portable, mechanical (i.e., non-electric and non-electronic) instruments are allowed to provide accompaniment, no digital keyboards, bands, drums or orchestras are permitted.

9. If you bring an accompanist to play the organ, this person will be able to watch you only by means of a closed-circuit television monitor (in two dimensions), which is much more challenging than watching a conductor in person (i.e., in three dimensions). You will not be able to make eye contact with the accompanist. CAUTION: due to the acoustic time delay between the choir organ and the steps on which choirs sing, this accompanist ought to be a bona fide organist with enough experience working in similar conditions to provide well-synchronized accompaniment support. Moreover, this person should have ample experience with large pipe organs to know exactly how to use the Cathedral’s organ properly without rehearsal and without assistance from our staff organists. An accompanist who lacks sufficient actual experience will struggle to provide adequate accompaniment support, and your performance could suffer artistically. Due to the busy schedule and the construction noise from the ongoing renovation​ every day, we cannot offer any practice time on the organ. Therefore, any guest organist must come ready to perform “cold”. Saint Patrick’s Cathedral assumes no responsibility whatsoever, artistic or otherwise, if your accompanist lacks the qualifications to fulfill this role successfully. If available by prior arrangement, one of our staff organists might be able to provide accompaniment for a fee.

10. Saint Patrick’s Cathedral welcomes music of all spiritual traditions. While we do not require a program comprised entirely of sacred music, we ask that your selections be respectful of the sacred space and of the liturgical season in which you plan to perform. We reserve the right to request changes to your proposed program accordingly.

11. Your proposed program should consist of no more than 45 minutes of music, including any encore selection. No dance movement, interpretive, so-called “sacred” or otherwise, is allowed.

12. Concerts are listed on our web site once the application process has been finalized. Flyers and posters are not permitted. The size of the audience cannot be estimated. It varies according to the number of visitors present. Expect a certain level of non-audience, ventilation and street noise during your performance, and keep that in mind as you program quiet selections.

13. The Cathedral does not print programs for the concerts. In place of printed programs, we encourage you to elect one of your singers to announce each selection (or group of selections) briefly from a microphone that we provide for this purpose.

On the day of the performance:

14. Please come dressed for your performance. There is no opportunity to rehearse prior to the performance, and there is no space available to warm up or change attire. Additionally, there are no public bathrooms in the Cathedral. There are public bathrooms across 51st Street in the lobby of the Olympic Tower, but those facilities should not be used to change attire.

15. Your ensemble is not required to wear a uniform or robes, but the attire must be dressy. We do not allow T-shirts, tank tops, shorts, jeans, flip-flops, tennis shoes, sneakers, etc. If your performers wear robes, men should wear dark pants and dark shoes, and women should wear dark shoes. As a general rule, skirts must extend below the knee, and shoulders must be covered. Inappropriate dress may result in the cancelation of your performance. Please let us know if you have any question about proper attire.

16. Please enter the Cathedral in orderly fashion through the doors on Fifth Avenue no later than 3:45 PM (15:45). The Ushers will be expecting you and will show you to your reserved pews in the North Transept.

17. All members of your ensemble (conductor, choristers, organist, soloists, managers, chaperones, etc.) must maintain full professional decorum at all times, be respectful of the sacred nature of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, hold silence out of respect for those who are praying in the cathedral, and treat our space and our staff with proper care and etiquette.

18. Flash photography and use of mobile telephones for texting, use of social media, to photograph peers or to record any part of a Mass, are forbidden.

19. No drinks (including bottled water) or food are allowed in the cathedral.

20. Personal belongings, such as coats and handbags, may stay in the pews during the performance with someone assigned with watching them. Saint Patrick’s Cathedral assumes no responsibility for any lost or stolen personal items.

21. When it is time, the Ushers will signal your singers to walk to the sanctuary steps from which they will perform.

22. Your performance must end no later than 5:00 PM (17:00) sharp, even if it starts late for any reason. Our schedule limitations are strictly non-negotiable. You must be ready to cut one or more numbers if your performance risks going past 5:00 PM for any reason.

23. After the conclusion of the performance, your ensemble and its guests may take pictures only for a brief moment. Do not linger and have unnecessary conversation, as preparations for the 5:30 PM (17:30) Mass will be underway and people are trying to pray.

24. All members of your ensemble and guests are welcome to stay after the performance to attend the 5:30 PM (17:30) Mass. Please let them know in advance that only Catholics may receive Communion.

25. Please maintain professional decorum and keep all mobile telephones switched off until you have left the cathedral.

26. Full adherence to all of the above conditions has direct impact on your ensemble’s eligibility to apply for a performance at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral at a later date.

27. Tardiness, or inappropriate dress, repertoire or behavior may result in the cancelation of your performance. Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is under no obligation to advertise, but may list your performance via web site calendar and other publications distributed by Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Saint Patrick’s Cathedral reserves the right to cancel, postpone, or change any and all confirmed performances subject to liturgical or other needs of the Cathedral or Archdiocese of New York, and assumes no responsibility, financial or otherwise, for performance cancelations.