About Us

About Fior Angelico

Formed in 2006, Fior Angelico is a Columbus-based chamber chorus of sixteen singers dedicated to the performance of early music. The group typically performs 1–2 concerts per year, usually in the summer or early fall. Past programs have featured the works of such Renaissance masters as Josquin, Isaac, Willaert, Palestrina, Lassus, Victoria, Byrd, Tallis, and Monteverdi. The name Fior Angelico comes from the title of a 1547 music theory treatise, Fior angelico di musica (“The Angelic Flower of Music”), written by Fra Angelo da Picitono.

Fior Angelico is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization under IRS category 501(c)(3). All donations to Fior Angelico are tax-deductible to the full extent provided under law.

About the Founder/Artistic Director

Matthew Bester hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He holds both a PhD and a Master’s Degree in Musicology from The Ohio State University as well as a Graduate Certificate as a Specialist in Medieval and Renaissance Studies from Ohio State’s Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree cum laude in Music from Harvard University.

Matthew is the Director of Music at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio. He also serves as Associate Conductor of the all-professional Lancaster Chorale. From 2002 to 2004 he was Assistant Conductor of the Ohio State Men’s Glee Club. Before that, while living in Boston, he founded and directed the Holden Consort, an amateur orchestra and chorus with a diverse repertoire of choral and orchestral works, and was music director of the Lowell House Opera.

Matthew remains active as a singer, performing regularly with the Lancaster Chorale. From 2000 to 2011 he was a soloist and bass section leader at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church. He also occasionally teaches courses at The Ohio State University as an adjunct faculty member. He lives in Dublin, Ohio, with his wife and three children.

Current Roster