"Portals of Heaven," a Sacramento Choral Society performance at the historic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, will showcase classical music performed by 160 singers and three featured soloists, backed by organ, oboe and trumpet.

The performance is scheduled for Sunday afternoon with hopes that light will stream through the stained glass to add a visual element to the 18th- and 19th-century compositions.

Donald Kendrick, founding conductor of the choral society and director of choral activities at California State University, Sacramento, recently sat down to answer questions about this weekend's concert.

What does the performance "Portals of Heaven" have in store for the audience?

This is the opening of our 17th concert season, and we're going to present two beautiful choral works for the audience. The first piece is a Requiem Mass by Gabriel Fauré. He's a French composer who wrote this piece in 1888. It's a very inspiring and comforting piece … in Latin. It will feature two of the soloists, Katherine Jolly and Daniel Yoder. The other work is the Vivaldi "Gloria," written in the 18th century. It features soprano Katherine Jolly … and Julie Anne Miller, the mezzo-soprano. I think the audience will be very uplifted and inspired by two of the most significant works of the 18th and 19th centuries.

What do you have planned for the rest of the season?

The Wells Fargo "Home for the Holidays" (is) our big Christmas program, which will be held in Memorial Auditorium on Dec. 8. It will feature all 180 singers in our choir, plus our whole orchestra of 65 people, and the Sacramento Children's Chorus will be our guest artists. … (We'll be back) March 10 at the Cathedral. That concert is called "Sound and Spirit." It's going to be music from around the global village. Then we will take that program on an international tour to Italy, where we'll be in Milan, Florence and Rome.

We're downtown again at the Community Center Theater on May 18. It's called "Lest We Forget: An Armed Forces Salute."

Your first performance at the cathedral was in 2009. How are you approaching the selections given your experience with that venue?

The audience really loved the grandeur of the cathedral and loved to hear music written for cathedral. The cathedral underwent a $34 million restoration in 2005, so it's beautiful inside. We've basically tried to present music that is sung around the world in major cathedrals such as this.

Would the opportunity to see the cathedral influence someone who has never attended a choral event to attend this performance?

Absolutely. Attending a performance like this, you have a sense of the visual art, and you'll hear great music sung in a beautiful place. It's a wonderful marriage – beautiful music, beautiful space.

SACRAMENTO CHORAL SOCIETY

What: Concert featuring soloists Katherine Jolly, Julie Anne Miller and Daniel Yoder

Where: Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, 1017 11th St., Sacramento

When: 3 p.m. Sunday

How much: $35 reserved, $25 general. Half-price for students with ID.

Information: www.sacramentochoral.com or (916) 536-9065

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

• Read more articles by Kelsey Lindelof

Order Reprint