Seraphic Fire to perform Christmas concerts this week

Seraphic Fire starts season of giving with crowd-funding campaign

Patrick Dupr Quigley - Photo courtesy of Seraphic Fire

MIAMI – Patrick Dupré Quigley's dad was a civil rights attorney working for a legal aid clinic and his mom ran an adult education program at a housing project. There wasn't really any money to spare for music lessons, but his parents found a way. 

They came up with enough money to buy him a piano at a garage sale. When he joined the school choir in fifth grade, his parents didn't have to pay for singing lessons. The only thing he had to buy was a choir robe. 

Recommended Videos



"For a kid who came from a house where money was tight, it was the perfect musical outlet," the founder and artistic director of Seraphic Fire, a Miami-based choral and orchestral group, recently wrote on Facebook about his passion for the choir. 

For his 40th birthday, the conductor decided to start a crowd-funding campaign to raise $24,000 to provide full scholarships for 20 students this summer at Aspen. He started the campaign just before the choir's Christmas performances of English carols and Gregorian chants.

For their loyal following, the holiday season isn't the same without the Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble's Jesus Christ the Apple Tree and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. 

The 13 singers have four performances this week:

- Wednesday from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at The Society of the Four Arts at 2 Four Arts Plaza, in Palm Beach. Tickets are $40-$45.  For more information, call 561-655-7226 or visit FourArts.org.

- Thursday from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church at 1225 Piper Blvd., in Naples. Tickets are $58. For more information, visit SeraphicFire.com or call 305-285-9060.

- Friday from 7:30-9 p.m. at St. Gregory's Episcopal Church at 100 NE Mizner Blvd., in Boca Raton. This performance sold out. For more information or for the wait list, call 305-285-9060. 

- Saturday from 4-5:30 p.m. at the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center at 10950 SW 211 St., in Cutler Bay. Tickets are from $20 to $55. For more information, visit SMDCAC.org or call 786-573-5300.


About the Author:

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.