Next Friday, April 18, is Good Friday and, at 5pm, the City’s St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church will offer a haven to people who want to take an hour away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Galway’s finest chamber choir, Collegium, under the direction of Mark Duley, will present a programme of reflective music for the day that’s in it, in an event presented by Music for Galway.

The concert will feature two versions of the great penitential psalm Miserere mei Deus – Allegri’s famous 17th century setting and a version written in 2009 by James MacMillan.

These extended works will be framed by shorter motets by other composers, in which the voice of the crucified Christ addresses the penitent believer directly, and to which the Miserere settings act as a response.

Collegium, which is based in St Nicholas’ and sings for the liturgical programme of the church, regularly performs in Galway and beyond, often basing its concerts around themes or seasons.

The choir membership ranges from 16-24 singers, depending on projects.

Its artistic director Mark Duley has served as organist and director of music at Dublin’s Christ Church Cathedral, chorusmaster to the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir, artistic director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra, and artistic director of Pipeworks. He has appeared with major Irish ensembles, including the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Chamber Choir Ireland, the Irish Baroque Orchestra, and his own chamber choir, Resurgam.

Mark also holds the post of organist at St Nicholas’ Church and is founder-director of St Nicholas Schola Cantorum.

Music for Galway is inviting people of all faiths and none to come together on this significant day in the Christian calendar, with Anna Lardi of the organisation observing that the Good Friday concert has become one of the most popular events of Music for Galway’s concert season.

The organisation is dedicating this concert to the memory of Seán and Norah Stewart, who supported Music for Galway in many ways over decades.

Standard tickets costs €18 with concessions costing €16, while €9 Social Inclusion tickets are available to full-time students, asylum seekers, people in receipt of job-seeker allowance and disability allowance.

For more information and booking go to musicforgalway.ie.

Pictured: Collegium, performing at St Nicholas’s Collegiate Church, directed by Mark Duley.