Ethel Smyth & W.A. Mozart

British composer Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D for choir, orchestra, and soloists is a monumental achievement. Written in the mid-19th century, it was dismissed by critics who deemed women composers unequal to their male counterparts. Seattle Pro Musica hails this stunning and seldom-heard piece as more than equal. 

We pair this groundbreaking work with Mozart’s beloved “Great” Mass in C minor for one performance only in the magnificent acoustic of St. James Cathedral.

With soloists Tess Altiveros, soprano; Miriam Gnagy, soprano; Dawn Padula, mezzo; Zachary Finkelstein, tenor; and Charles Robert Stephens, baritone.

buy smyth/mozart tickets

In person: Saturday, May 20, 2023 ‐ 8pm
St. James Cathedral – 9th & Marion, Seattle

Seattle Pro Musica strongly encourages all audience members to remain masked for in-person events. Singers, orchestra members, and soloists will test to unmask and perform.

register for online concert access

Streaming: Saturday, May 27, 2023 ‐ 7:30pm
online, free; donations gratefully accepted

premiering on YouTube on May 27 and available on-demand for 30 days

“SPM pulled out all the stops, glorying in the powerful emotions, contrasts, and colorful sound worlds of a full-blown symphonic-choral score. It’s not often we get to hear them perform on this scale — and the results were nothing short of thrilling.
”
— Thomas May, Memeteria

Special thanks to our season and program sponsors for Ethel Smyth & W.A. Mozart:

Listen to excerpts:

Provided to YouTube by Kontor New Media Mass in D for soloists, chorus, orchestra and organ: Gloria · Catriona Smith, Helene Schneidermann, Scott Mac Allister, Andreas Macco, Hermann Trefz, Helmut Wolf Ethel Smyth: Mass in D ℗ Ludger Boeckenhoff Audite Musikproduktion Released on: 1997-01-01 Conductor: Helmut Wolf Composer: Ethel Smyth Auto-generated by YouTube.

Mass in D (Gloria) - Ethel Smyth

Born in 1858, Ethel Smyth was both a composer and a defiant member of the British women's suffrage movement. Her "Mass in D" is a monumental work, which George Bernard Shaw called "magnificent!"

On Easter Sunday, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Netherlands Radio Choir performed Mozart's 'Great Mass', the first Mass in which Mozart fully let go. The music is lush, great, ambitious and worldly. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Great Mass in C minor, K.

"Great" Mass in C minor (Kyrie) - Mozart

One of Mozart's masterpieces, the Mass in C minor was left unfinished (as was the famous Requiem). Listeners may recognize the Kyrie movement from the 1984 film Amadeus.

Accessibility at our venues:

St. James Cathedral: Wheelchair access is available in the Northeast (Marion St.) and Southern (Columbia St.) vestibules of the Cathedral. Additionally, many chairs can be removed to accommodate wheelchairs.