Seraphic Fire Biographies

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About Seraphic Fire

Founded in 2002 by Artistic Director Patrick Dupré Quigley, Seraphic Fire has garnered critical acclaim locally and nationally. Lauded by the Miami Herald as “one of the best choirs anywhere,” Seraphic Fire has gained a reputation for dynamic, cutting-edge performances. In an exciting crossover collaboration in 2004, Seraphic Fire was invited to record with international pop star Shakira on a track for her album Oral Fixation II, which ultimately went platinum on the Billboard Pop Charts.

Seraphic Fire’s programming is broad, including classical and contemporary, sacred and secular choral works. This programming has won the organization awards and earned wide-ranging praise. Over the past seven seasons, the organization has commissioned and premiered works by up-and-coming young composers. In 2005, Seraphic Fire commissioned The Road From Hiroshima: A Requiem, a 50-minute work from 28-year-old composer Shawn Crouch. It was subsequently nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

In recent years, Seraphic Fire has made significant organizational and artistic strides. Recent seasons have experienced record-breaking ticket sales with many sold-out performances. In 2007, Seraphic Fire was awarded a Knight Foundation grant for the formation of the Firebird Chamber Orchestra, which debuted in 2008. Seraphic Fire currently performs full seasons at several South Florida venues in Coral Gables, Miami Beach, Key Biscayne and Fort Lauderdale. In 2007, the ensemble began touring nationally.  Seraphic Fire has eight CDs in circulation, including the critically acclaimed Monteverdi Vespers of the Blessed Virgin 1610.

In 2010, Seraphic Fire has started its education initiative, Miami Choral Academy. The Choral Academy is a program designed to create a Little-League style network of choirs in Miami’s inner-city schools. In partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the Choral Academy seeks to make positive academic and social change through participation in choral singing and an integrated academic enrichment program.

Patrick Dupré Quigley Bio

The founding artistic director of Seraphic Fire, Patrick Dupré Quigley, has conducted ensembles throughout North America, Europe, China and Israel.

Patrick is the recipient of the 2004 Robert Shaw Fellowship, given annually by the National Endowment for the Arts and Chorus America to one conductor between the ages of 25 and 40 who demonstrates the potential for a significant professional career.  At 26, Mr. Quigley was the youngest person ever to receive this award.

In eight seasons, Patrick has built Seraphic Fire into a nationally recognized ensemble, now considered one of the five major performing arts institutions in Miami. The international classical music magazine Gramophone has declared that Seraphic Fire “has quickly become one of the top attractions in the [South Florida] region. No group programmes more adventurously.” The South Florida Sun Sentinel calls Seraphic Fire “the smartest, most creative and consistently excellent classical music ticket in South Florida.”

Patrick has led numerous thrilling recording projects, including the Monteverdi Vespers of the Blessed Virgin 1610. Vespers is a standout recording that became the No. 1 best-selling classical album on iTunes and remained in the top 20 albums for more than a month.

In October 2006, he was one of 16 conductors from around the world invited to Stockholm, Sweden to compete in the tri-annual Eric Ericson Award. Under his leadership, Seraphic Fire was the recipient of the 2006 ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Award for Adventurous Programming of New Music.

Patrick has commissioned and premiered numerous works, including the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Road from Hiroshima: A Requiem by Shawn Crouch and the acoustic version of Ingram Marshall’s Hymnodic Delays. Known for its high-quality and exciting performances of Baroque and New Music, Seraphic Fire is also the first classical ensemble since the Benedictine Monks of Silos to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Pop Charts, appearing with international pop star Shakira on her platinum-selling album, Oral Fixation 2.

Patrick received his master in music in conducting from Yale University, where he studied on a full scholarship. He earned a bachelor in musicology from the University of Notre Dame.