In a season characterized by collaborations, our November concert brings together our singers with choristers from Lindbergh High School for a reprise performance of the “Missa Brevis” commissioned from the British composer, Kerensa Briggs. Though it is scored for three distinct choruses, this is by no means the most expansive work on the program, since we also perform “Hora Est,” a tour-de-force by the teenage Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847) that demands four separate choirs! Such choral writing is termed ‘polychoral’, and other examples of this genre complement the Briggs and Mendelssohn works. This is especially apparent in “The Fire of Heaven” by the British composer, Geoffrey Burgon, which calls for no fewer than 27 separate voice parts! Then, from Spain, we sing “Duo Seraphim” by the Renaissance genius, Francisco Guerrero: it contrasts powerfully with “Flame,” a recent work from Ben Parry, conductor of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, and this provides an uplifting conclusion to the November instalment of our 2026-2027 series titled ‘Choral Fire.’