About
Our Mission
“The genius of Bach, from whose motto we take our name Soli Deo Gloria (“To God alone the glory”), resonates through the ages. We have a glorious mission: To enhance, promote and preserve classical sacred music in the biblical tradition at the highest level, and we look forward to that mission resonating into the future.”
—Joseph A. LoSchiavo, President and CEO
Our Vision
SDG Music Foundation is an international foundation dedicated to:
• preserving the sacred masterpieces of the past
• promoting classical sacred concerts around the world
• creating classical sacred music for future generations
SDG was formed in 1993 as a nonprofit foundation devoted to the preservation, performance, and promotion of classical sacred music inspired by the Bible in both the Christian and Jewish traditions. At the heart of its mission is the commissioning of new classical sacred music from the world’s leading composers. In addition, the organization sponsors sacred music concerts and recordings around the world. In each of these areas, SDG has gained recognition as a distinctive advocate for classical sacred music.
Our History
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| World premiere of Rouse Requiem, sung by the Los Angeles Master Chorale |
In the two short decades since its founding, Soli Deo Gloria’s commissioning division, SDG Music Foundation, has created a body of 37 original works of sacred music from 25 composers of 9 nationalities. Works commissioned by SDG have been performed in concert halls and houses of worship in 8 countries. Major collaborators have included the New York Philharmonic, Westminster Choir College, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, Orchestre de chambre de Paris, American Boychoir, and Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Through the years, SDG has worked with composers of many faith backgrounds, especially in the Psalms Project, and has inspired new generations through its international Project Uplift, which brings the sacred repertoire to audiences where funding for such performances may be in short supply.
Soli Deo Gloria also sponsors sacred concerts and recordings on CD and DVD, notably four highly regarded DVDs of classical sacred masterworks, conducted by SDG’s Founding Artistic Director, John Nelson: Bach Mass in B Minor, Beethoven Missa Solemnis, Haydn Die Schöpfung (“The Creation”), and Bach St. Matthew Passion.
Based in Chicago, SDG’s concert activities include the popular Chicago Bach Project which, since 2011 has presented a single performance each spring in which Maestro Nelson conducts a top-tier cast of soloists, orchestral musicians and choristers in one of J. S. Bach’s monumental sacred masterworks. The 2015 performance, the St. John Passion, is scheduled for March 20, 2015, at Chicago’s Harris Theater for Music and Dance.