By Jay Sorgi • Posted June 3, 2026

Four days in July become more than a free chance for kids to sing in an historic basilica in Center City, but to get to know one another, expand their talents, grow in their understanding of music, gain confidence, and encounter God in all of it.

Cantate Domino, the choir summer camp at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul for youth ages 7-15, gives 40 young people musical faith experiences, growth in vocal skills and plenty of fun and camaraderie for four days and an evening.

It will run from Monday, July 13 to Thursday, July 16 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with a special Evening Prayer at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday night. The camp is free, though a $50 donation is suggested to help meet costs. Families can sign their kids up, find out more information and donate to the camp here.

“We use this as an opportunity to get people excited about liturgical music and get kids involved,” said Director of Cathedral Parish Music Charlene Angelini.

“Getting the youth involved and getting them hooked from the beginning is a really important thing.”

Angelini can attest to that herself. The classically-trained singer who has led music at the Cathedral Basilica for a decade got her start in Catholic choirs when she was invited to sing at a May crowning at 10 years old.

She cites her own growth in music coming through an organist and “infectious teacher” at St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Fairless Hills, Bucks County, who focused on Angelini’s own skills as a singer and musician, bringing joy, meaning and positivity to the experience.

“When you’re singing at church, you’re an integral part of the liturgy, and you’re evangelizing in your own way and you’re able to praise God; it’s a new level. It takes on a different responsibility, I think. Being able to share that joy with the kids is step one,” Angelini said.

She has hosted the camp at the Cathedral Basilica since 2016, with only the COVID-19 pandemic interrupting the otherwise-yearly experience for kids.

Students get to learn songs in English, Latin and Spanish and various styles of liturgical music. They get to sing their own solos, as bashful kids learn to overcome performance anxiety in a supportive atmosphere.

Teaching comes from Cathedral Basilica staff and volunteer Archdiocesan Choir members and includes singing and breathing techniques, reading music, posture and vowel pronunciation. They also learn the organ through principal organist Mark Loria.

Not all of the time is spent singing. Kids get to play numerous games including the tradition of camp ping pong. They also tours of parts of the Cathedral Basilica that most of the public doesn’t get to see.
The Wednesday of the camp allows kids to also showcase other gifts like stand-up comedy or playing a musical instrument through a talent show.

She said the camp also introduces them to the Cathedral Basilica’s own Cantus Angelorum Cathedral Children’s Choir which sings once every month for Saturday 5:15 p.m. Mass. Their leader, Danielle Molan, helps teach during the camp.

Angelini believes that for many young people, these four days become an immersive tool of evangelization as they invest themselves more into the sensory experience of the Mass through song, opening up opportunities for discernment over what they’re singing.

“When you’re in the doing, then you get to sing it and express it, and you feel it in your heart in a very different way. I think that makes a lot of light bulbs go off,” Angelini said.

“They think, ‘I know this. I’ve heard Psalm 23 before, but what does it really mean?’ And then you dissect what that particular psalm means and it creates connection for them and a possibility for an interaction with the Lord.”

She says that bringing kids together from multiple parishes, cultural traditions and musical genres opens kids up to understand there are many ways to praise God in song.

“That’s also a beautiful thing to allow people to experience different ways to sing these exact texts that are given to us and to have an openness to that,” she said.

Angelini believes that the simple experience of overcoming bashfulness and fear to showcase a young person’s musical gifts also helps their confidence and mental well-being while they develop the talent God gave them.

“It’s a beautiful opportunity for them to be in their body in a different way and hopefully get past the ‘Oh my gosh, is somebody watching me? Can I really do this?’” she said about the faith and friendship-forging four days in the beauty of the Cathedral Basilica.

“We really encourage kids to sing out and to sing full throttle and to have that become a part of who they are. That’s part of the joy.”