Student Premieres Original Mass Composition at Choral Concert

A director conducts a choir on stage during a concert.

An undergraduate East Texas A&M music student directed the university’s Chamber Choir while they performed his original Mass composition during a recent choral concert at the Jack and Lou Finney Concert Hall on the university's campus.

Daniel Feliberty Irizarry is a junior majoring in music with an emphasis on performance and a Roy Finney Choral Scholar. On May 1, he premiered his composition, “Missa A Cappella,” to concertgoers during the Vocal Division’s spring concert.

The piece, set to the Catholic liturgy in Latin, consists of five movements. Irizarry started composing the Mass in 2023 and completed it in April 2025. He said the piece is written to take the listener on “an emotional and musical journey of someone who has strayed from their religion but still has strong beliefs.”

“Missa A Cappella” isn’t his first composition. The 20-year-old's first foray into composing was “Nuclear Lullaby,” which premiered in 2024 at the Moody Performance Hall in Dallas during the School of Music’s “Music at the Moody” concert.

Originally from Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, but now residing in Aubrey, Texas, Irizarry finds inspiration from multiple composers. These include Norwegian Knut Nystedt, Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, and American Eric Whitacre.

Irizarry says that he plans to continue composing in the future.

“I am looking into writing some instrumental pieces, maybe a brass fanfare,” Irizarry said. “My goal is to become a professional composer and carve my way through the choral world.”

The fact that a 20-year-old already has two composition premieres under his belt isn’t lost on him, and he thanked the people he credits for his success.

“These achievements could not have been achieved without the help of my family, my composition teacher, Dr. Judy Bozone, Mrs. Georgia Kornegay, interim director of choral activities, and, most importantly, the ETAMU Chamber Singers,” Irizarry said.

Daniel Feliberty Irizarry conducts the East Texas A&M Chamber Choir during a performance of “Missa A Cappella” on May 1, 2025 | Photo courtesy of Daniel Feliberty Irizarry.