A rare look inside the Sistine Chapel for a private concert about angel encounters

The Vatican’s Sistine Chapel hosted a concert debuting a composition focused on interactions with angels found throughout the Bible

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican’s Sistine Chapel hosted a concert Sunday evening, debuting a composition focused on interactions with angels found throughout the Bible.

The Vatican sometimes hosts concerts in the chapel for visiting musicians and other special occasions. But the events are always invite-only, and it is extremely rare for photojournalists to receive access.

“I have to make an awkward announcement,” Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, said before the show, then told the roughly 200 attendees, mostly native English speakers, that they couldn't use their phones to film or photograph the premiere. Guests included Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney and the UK's former Prime Minister Theresa May.

The 70-minute oratorio, “Angels Unawares,” is comprised of 12 pieces, each representing a story drawn from the Bible. Sir James MacMillan composed it using texts by Robert Willis, the former Dean of Canterbury who passed away in late 2024, not long after completing the work.

“I wanted a big piece of music for the holy angels, which had never been written before," financier and philanthropist John Studzinski, whose Genesis Foundation commissioned the composition, told The Associated Press. “When we started it, I think James was uncertain as to whether this was possible. But then when we saw the text that Robert Willis had created; James didn’t change one word, and he was so moved.”