O Holy Father Nicholas

Arvo Pärt’s a cappella choral work, O Holy Father Nicholas, was composed for the opening of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center Ground Zero site. It premiered some months before the event, on 31 October and 1 November 2021 at the Metropolitan Museum, performed by the Artefact Ensemble and conductor Benedict Sheehan.

St. Nicholas Church was completely destroyed during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The new church, opening two decades later in the immediate vicinity of the original location, is not meant to be an Orthodox church only, but will serve as a National Shrine open to pilgrims from all confessions from all around the world. 

Arvo Pärt: “The (re)opening of St. Nicholas Church at Ground Zer…

Arvo Pärt’s a cappella choral work, O Holy Father Nicholas, was composed for the opening of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center Ground Zero site. It premiered some months before the event, on 31 October and 1 November 2021 at the Metropolitan Museum, performed by the Artefact Ensemble and conductor Benedict Sheehan.

St. Nicholas Church was completely destroyed during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The new church, opening two decades later in the immediate vicinity of the original location, is not meant to be an Orthodox church only, but will serve as a National Shrine open to pilgrims from all confessions from all around the world. 

Arvo Pärt: “The (re)opening of St. Nicholas Church at Ground Zero, where the relics of the saints have become intermingled in the dust with the remains of the attack victims, is a special event for the whole Christian world. I am grateful that my music can be part of this occasion.” 

The new choral work was commissioned by Nektarios S. Antoniou and Schola Cantorum with the Metropolitan Museum. It is based on the English prayer text from the Orthodox liturgy, taken from the troparion of the feast day of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. Arvo Pärt has used the same text before – in the third part of his choral work Triodion and in Church Slavonic in Alleluia-Tropus, a work written for vocal ensemble.