Sing to the Moon – Cantus Novus at the Long Night of Churches 2026
Cantus Novus Wien will once again perform at St. Stephen’s Cathedral as part of this year’s Long Night of Churches.
Starting at 11 p.m., the cathedral will be transformed into a space filled with sound and movement.
Musical soundscapes will emerge in various locations; voices will appear, wander through the space, and blend with the saxophone and organ to create an experience that you not only hear but also feel.
Between composed music and free improvisations, moments arise that are unique—quiet, powerful, surprising.
Musicians
Cantus Novus Wien
Bernd Fröhlich – Saxophone
Ernst Wally – Cathedral Organ
Conductor – Thomas Holmes
Tickets
Free admission, just come on by!
About the Long Night of Churches
Tradition and experimentation, the familiar and the unexpected – all have a place here. The Long Night of Churches offers an opportunity to discover new experiences and to encounter church in its many facets. It provides insight into the diverse roles churches play in contemporary society: as centers of social and charitable work, as spaces for reflection and meaning, as platforms for dialogue and exchange, and as places where visions of a better world can take shape.
The Long Night of Churches aims to show what church can be, while also encouraging engagement with the “challenging issues” – including those within the church itself – that concern and affect people. This is done with a consciously self-critical perspective: how and where can the church, and religious communities more broadly, help shape the major issues of our time?
Following the hopeful theme of 2025, the 2026 edition of the Long Night of Churches is dedicated to mutual encouragement. Through the play on words “MUTeinander” (combining the German words for “courage” and “togetherness”), the concept of courage is expanded to include the idea of supporting and encouraging one another.
About Cantus Novus Wien
Cantus Novus Wien, based at the Vienna Diocesan Conservatory for Church Music, has been directed by Thomas Holmes since 2001. In 2018, it was named “Choir of the Year” by the Vienna Choir Forum for its outstanding choral work. Cantus Novus Wien regularly showcases its broad stylistic range: at the international film music gala “Hollywood in Vienna” 2019, the consecration of the new organ at St. Stephen’s cathedral in Vienna in 2020 or in the ambitious video productions.
The choir’s repertoire includes oratorios, among others, by Handel (Israel in Egypt; Messiah) and Haydn (The Creation). And the Requiem settings by Mozart, Brahms, Verdi and Fauré. With contemporary music as one of the focal points, the choir premiered works by Wolfgang Sauseng, Ruth McGuire, Wolfgang Reisinger, Markus Pfandler, Wolfram Wagner and Annamaria Kowalsky.