Photo courtesy of St. Peter's Cathedral Internationally known sacred music group Floriani will be in concert at St. Peter's Cathedral in Marquette, tonight.

Renowned choral group Floriani will be performing at 7 p.m. today at St. Peter Cathedral in Marquette. Concert admission is free, although freewill offerings will be accepted.

Floriani is a men’s vocal quartet ensemble dedicated to performing and reviving sacred music. At their concerts they offer a meditative experience as they perform an assortment of Gregorian chant, music from Eastern and Western traditions, and original pieces. In addition to the concert, Floriani will be singing for all of the weekend cathedral Masses (Saturday vigil at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

St. Peter Cathedral is located at 311 West Baraga Ave. in Marquette.

Graham Crawley, one of the members of the group, considers the concert a chance to return to a church that he considers a second home.

“I was born and raised in Phoenix, but my mom spent her childhood in Marquette. Every year we would ditch the desert heat and spend June through September with my grandparents, Jack and Mary Anne Kublin,” Crawley said.

“So, I grew up spending tons of time in Marquette, and was basically raised at McCarty’s Cove and Mattson Park, fueled by Jean Kay’s pasties, Togo’s subs, and Frosty Treats. My parents were married in St. Peter’s, and it’s where I was baptized — it’s truly my second home, and every return brings with it the nostalgia and fond memories of childhood.”

Crawley says he has always loved music. “Some of my earliest memories are of listening to the Beatles with my dad. My grandpa, Jack, plays piano beautifully, so I was introduced to classical and jazz at a young age,” he said. Growing up, he played the saxophone for six years, but never formally sang. “[I] would just learn songs on my own by ear. It wasn’t until I attended Thomas Aquinas College in California at the age of 25 that I was introduced to sacred music,” Crawley explained.

In 2018, the college choir took on the name Floriani and began singing for Catholic Masses and Holy Hours in the surrounding area. Crawley and the other members went their separate ways after graduation, though a few members kept in touch, having conceived of the possibility of pursuing the mission of Floriani in the future.

After a year or so Crawley and his fellow ensemble members Giorgio Navarini, Thomas Quackenbush and Joseph Daly felt the call to pursue the mission full time. The men quit their jobs, moved to Phoenix and began working part time at a parish while traveling the country to sing for Masses, concerts, and workshops. “Since then, we’ve sung in over 50 parishes around the country, led a pilgrimage to Poland, recorded a few albums, and recently led our first Collegium–a liturgical music immersion for serious musicians, held at our alma mater,” he said.

He described getting to return to the U.P. to share the gift of sacred music as wonderful, and a long time in the making. “[I was] most excited for my grandpa to finally hear us. He’s been a huge inspiration for me and has always been a great supporter of the arts,” Crawley said. “It’s also an honor to sing in such a beautiful church that has played so large a role in my family’s history.”

For Crawley, his experiences with Floriani and singing sacred music has impacted his faith deeply. “I feel closer to Christ’s heart–the heart of the Church–when I am singing,” he said. “Music forms the soul in a way that no other medium can achieve, and the Church, in her wisdom, has used Gregorian chant for well over a thousand years to draw the faithful ever deeper into her embrace.”