Voicing: SATB Chorus, Trumpet and Organ
By Leo Nestro
Composed in the spring of 2008, Regina cæli, lætare was commissioned by The Most Reverend Michael J. Bransfield, Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, who served as rector of Washington's Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception from 1980 to 2004. Welcoming the bishop's choice of this beloved evening antiphon, the composer responded in setting a text which has for centuries inspired and delighted worshippers, composers and concert audiences.