For most of 2025, I have been working on a large-scale project for narrator, soprano soloist, bass-baritone soloist, children’s choir, adult choir, and orchestra. My Messa per Papa Celestino V honors Pope (and Saint) Celestino V who served as Pope for 161 days from July 5-December 13, 1294. It is a remarkable story of a humble priest, Pietro da Morrone, who lived most of his life as a hermit high in the Apennine Mountains of Central Italy. Commissioned by the Camerata Musicale Sulmonese, the premiere performances of this 80-minute work will take place in the Abruzzo Region of Italy on December 14 (Sulmona) and December 15 (Pescara). If you live in Italy or are visiting in mid-December, I hope that you will be able to attend.
Click on the following link to view the 24-page program booklet for the Sulmona and Pescara performances. The work consists of six poems and thirteen movements of music. All of the Italian, Latin and Greek texts are included with English translations. In the case of my poems, the English versions are the originals. It should be noted that I have written these poems in the imagined voice of Papa Celestino V.
Sulmona Performance on 14 December 2025
Conductor Pasquale Veleno and LAS
Saxophonist Gaetano Di Bacco and LAS – On the first page of the Messa per Papa Celestino V, I have written the following: Dedicated to to Gaetano Di Bacco, Artistic Director of the Camerata Musicale Sulmonese, with profound gratitude.
News articles about the premiere performances:
Il Centro – 14 December 2025
A photo from the rehearsal at the Music Conservatory in Pescara on 12 December 2025
Larry Alan Smith 