Sacred and Sublime: How Cor Mundi brings ancient traditions back to life

(Photo by Jeff Grass)HOUSTON — "Sacred music has been a very important part of my life," said Cor Mundi founder Daniel Knaggs. The choral ensemble performs exclusively sacred music and launched its first full season this year. 

The group's holiday concert, The Wondrous Child, will perform at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 21 at the Chapel of St. Basil at the University of St. Thomas campus. General admission tickets are $45, and student tickets are $20.

"I'm particularly attracted to the ability that sacred music has to illuminate a kind of transcendent beauty," he said.

Raised a Catholic and a church musician from a young age, Knaggs is originally from Michigan, where he and his sister sang in their church choirs, and their father played guitar at Mass. By the time he went to college at the University of Michigan, he was the director of his church's Spanish Mass, so he majored in music and Spanish. 

"That's where I got a lot of experience with the different parts of liturgical music," he said. "Even performing in the university choirs and things like that, we did quite a bit of sacred music."

He came to Houston, earning his master's degree at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, his Ph.D. in music composition, serving as a lecturer at the school, and taking on the role of music director at St. Martha Catholic Church in Kingwood. 

There is a long intertwining of Catholic history in sacred music. Much of the genre's early repertoire is tied to the Church, whether it's a specific Mass or settings of the Liturgy. Keeping those traditions alive is important to Knaggs, even as he also wants Cor Mundi to perform works that are more modern, but harken to the ancient rites and themes.

Cor Mundi was established a few years back, becoming a registered nonprofit in January 2024. Knaggs auditioned nearly 100 singers after posting a notice about his new ensemble on social media. From that group, he shortlisted around 40, and then selected the current core group of about two dozen. He was impressed with both the turnout and the talent.

"We had to turn down a number of incredibly gifted singers," he said. "That was really tough. [There are] so many talented people."

He's looking forward to Houston audiences hearing them. This Wondrous Child is the second concert of the season, and explores the vulnerability of the Christ Child combined with the incredible power He is born with to bring peace on earth.

"So it's about that paradox," Knaggs said. "This helpless child, who is able to accomplish the wonder of God's plan, and how different composers have looked at that moment with awe, like gazing into the manger."

The core of the concert is works by Johann Sebastian Bach, along with what Knaggs said are beloved carols and works of his own. "But they're all sort of going towards the same theme of celebrating the Christ child," he said.

The Chapel of St. Basil is located at 3802 Yoakum Blvd. in Houston.

For more information, visit www.cormundi.org.