St. Matthew’s Music Guild Season Continues With ‘Premiere Vocal Ensemble’ Stile Antico

By LILY TINOCO | Assistant Editor

St. Matthew’s Music Guild will continue its 40th anniversary season of concerts with a performance featuring Stile Antico—one of the world’s “most accomplished and innovative” vocal ensembles—on Friday, April 4, beginning at 8 p.m.

“The Golden Renaissance: A Journey Through Some of Stile Antico’s Favorite Music” is slated to present diverse styles of choral music that flourished around Renaissance Europe.

The program will feature masterworks by Englishmen William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Tallis and John Taverner, as well as seasonal and ceremonial music by Michael Praetorius, Francisco Guerrero, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Gregorio Allegri, Josquin des Prez, Cristóbal de Morales and Tomás Luis de Victoria.

The concert will close with a new work, commissioned by Stile Antico from Huw Watkins: “The Phoenix and the Turtle.”

“‘Stile antico’ is an Italian term that means ‘old style’ or ‘ancient style,’ and describes a style of musical composition that was popular in the 16th century,” according to Music Guild. “Based in London, Stile Antico’s 12 members have thrilled audiences on four continents with their fresh, vibrant and moving performances of Renaissance polyphony.”

Stile Antico has been invited to appear at Europe’s leading festivals. Since the group’s 2009 debut, the ensemble has frequented the United States and Canada.

Stile Antico is celebrating 25 years as a professional ensemble in 2025 with gala performances at Wigmore Hall, The Boston Early Music Festival and AMUZ Antwerp.

“The group also marks the 500th birthday of Palestrina, the quintessential master of the ‘stile antico,’ with a series of concerts and the release of a new album for Decca Classics,” according to Music Guild.

Due to the Palisades fire, the April 4 concert will take place at St. Augustine by-the-Sea Church in Santa Monica—located at 1227 Fourth Street. Parking will be available at the Santa Monica Public Parking Structure 1, located across the street from the church. Tickets for the concert are $45.

Music Guild will return to St. Matthew’s Church in the Palisades—where it typically hosts its concerts—“when it is deemed safe to do so,” according to a statement.