We are thrilled to welcome the newest cohort to the Yale Institute of Sacred Music—an extraordinarily diverse group of scholars and musicians hailing from across the globe and the United States to pursue degrees in divinity, religion, and music. We are delighted to have them join our vibrant community and look forward to an inspiring year ahead of collaborative growth, scholarship, and artistic excellence! Read more about the students.
Religion at the Crossroads: Black Sacred Arts in Ghana
The fifth annual Black Sacred Arts conference, held in Ghana from July 22–24, brought together music, movement, scholarship, and spiritual expression in a vibrant celebration of Africa’s creative and sacred heritage. Read more and view photo highlights.
Yale Jubilee Chorale to advance the rich traditions of Black sacred music
Under the leadership of new faculty member, Jeffrey Allen Murdock, a new 24-voice student ensemble has been formed to study and perform Black sacred music, expanding the efforts of the Music and the Black Church program. Read more.
Call for proposals for REEC initiative
We are now accepting proposals for 2027-28 events, including conferences, performances, exhibitions, discussions, and creative collaborations, that explore how religion and the arts can engage with today’s pressing environmental challenges. Learn more.
Exploring contemporary praise and worship music at Nashville conference
ISM faculty, alumni, and students gathered at Belmont University in July, where Professor Melanie Ross delivered a keynote address. Read more.
ALUMNI NEWS
Alum appointed director of music at Miami's Trinity Cathedral
Alexander Straus-Fausto M.M. ’24 will lead one of South Florida’s premier liturgical music programs and help preserve its historic 1924 E. M. Skinner Organ, Opus 471. Read more.
Judith Dupré featured in Yale’s Women Living the Questions
The ISM and YDS alumna reflects on vocation, creativity, and her remarkable journey from painter and architect to bestselling writer and architectural historian in this podcast conversation.
Second place in national organ improvisation competition
Ryan Kennedy D.M.A. ’24 earned second place in the 2026 National Competition in Organ Improvisation at the American Guild of Organists national convention in St. Louis. Read more.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Mark your calendars!
The ISM’s fall season offers a rich array of events that explore the intersections of music, religion, and the arts. Highlights include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Yale Schola Cantorum and Juilliard415 in both New York and New Haven, as well as a concert featuring the music of Buxtehude and Buene; a fall concert and Latin Vespers service with Yale Voxtet; Verdi’s Requiem with Yale Camerata and Yale Philharmonia, along with the ever-popular annual Camerata Advent concert; weekly Yale Consort choral evensong services; organ recitals featuring Francesco Cera, James O’Donnell, and Wolfgang Zerer; the annual Lana Schwebel lecture with priest-poet Malcolm Guite; the annual Kavanagh liturgy talk by L. Edward Phillips; and a series of interdisciplinary events engaging ecology, ritual, and sound. View all upcoming events on the ISM online calendar.
