Chorus SanctæCeciliæ, the first chamber choir in Helsinki, was founded in October 1953 on the initiative of Harald Andersén. The choir is baptised based on the patron saint of the church music - Saint Cecilia. The choir aspires to sing songs that seldom or never are performed in Finland, both old and newly composed music.
Chorus Sanctæ Ceciliæ, or the Cecilia choir, started off under the lead of professor Harald Anderséns ledning 1953–1965. Since then several renown conductors have influenced the repertoire and the activities of the choir: Fabian Dahlström, Kaj-Erik Gustafsson, Lena von Bonsdorff, Ilkka Kuusisto, Folke Gräsbeck, Åsa Westerlund, Ulf Långbacka, Jan Hellberg, Sixten Enlund, Ulrika Bergroth and Dag-Ulrik Almqvist. Since spring 2015 Pia Bengts is the conductor of the choir.
The Cecilia choir sings both religious as well as secular music, both old and new. The choir has performed at concerts in Finland and abroad throughout the years. On top of that the Cecilia choir has released two CDs and performed both in radio and on TV. The first CD of the choir - Liv och längtan - was released in 2001 and the second - Bli hos oss - was released 2003.
To its 60-year anniversary, the Cecilia choir ordered and performed a piece with text by Stella Parland and music by Kimmo Hakola.