A Sunday of song returns to the Sooke Community Hall on March 23 when Nicholas Fairbank conducts the orchestra, choir and soloists in two brilliant choral works from the late 18th century.

Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus will play Franz Joseph HaydnB次元官网网址檚 St. Cecilia Mass and the Coronation Mass by W.A. Mozart with soloists Jennifer Turner, soprano, Deanna Sills, mezzo-soprano, Timothy Carter, tenor, and baritone Alex Chen.

Haydn composed this Mass in C for the famous pilgrimage church of Mariazell, Austria, in 1782. It has always been one of his most popular mass settings due in part to the brilliant orchestration, to which the trumpets and drums contribute festive joy.

MozartB次元官网网址檚 Coronation Mass was completed a few years earlier in 1779, when he began work as the resident composer and organist at Saltzburg Cathedral, where it was first performed. It too has become a well-known work, with a celebratory spirit that requires a slightly larger orchestra than the Haydn piece, calling for a brass section of French horns, trumpets and trombones.

The March 23 performance at the Sooke Community Hall, 2037 Shields Rd., starts at 2:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased directly from Sooke Pharmasave or online at Eventbrite. For more info visit .