St. Cecilia Chamber Choir presents “Seven Centuries of A Cappella” Friday, April 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 1 at 4 p.m., at St. Patrick's Church, Newcastle.

Works explore the gamut of musical expression in five to 13 part harmony, from Allegri’s beloved “Miserere Mei,” to new music by Gjeilo, to jazz numbers. Director Linda Blanchard of Damariscotta will be joined by special guests tenor David Myers, Jr. and baritone Richard Francis for this concert.

St. Cecilia will sing two works by the very popular composer Ola Gjeilo. The joyful “Prelude” is contrasted by the pensive “Contrition,” which Gjeilo called one of his most personal pieces. The masterpiece “Exsultate Deo” by Palestrina gives the sacred text a lively setting. Allegri's sublime "Miserere Mei Deus" was so prized when it was first composed that it was prohibited from being sung outside of the Sistine Chapel. Rheinberger's beautiful “Abenlied” will be sung in six-part harmony.

Two pieces by the Victorian composers Elgar and Stanford, “My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land” and “Quick! We Have But a Second,” will be featured.

The concert will also include light pieces such as the jazz piece “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and Toch's spoken tour-de-force, “Geographical Fugue.”

The concert will be “round-ed” out by several numbers from P.D.Q. Bach's less-than-magnum opus “The Art of the Ground Round.”

St. Patrick’s Church is located at 380 Academy Hill Road in Newcastle.

Tickets $20, are available in advance at Treats in Wiscasset, Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop and Cafe in Damariscotta, Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick, and online at www.ceciliachoir.org.