NEWARK, N.J. — Dr. Carly York, a church cantor whose lovely soprano voice can be heard during Masses at the parish of St. Mary in Newark on most Sundays, is also a recording artist and released a new album on Sept. 25 that blends original compositions with old music. Really old — 1,000 years to be exact.
Among the six songs on “I Heard the Voice” is a millennia-old Gregorian chant, “O Nata Lux de Lumine,” that York said she believes has never been recorded in its Gregorian form until now.
“O Nata Lux de Lumine” is a musical tribute to the feast of the Transfiguration, which commemorates the moment Jesus Christ revealed his divine glory to his disciples on a mountaintop.
York, who said she knew she wanted to include Gregorian chants on her album and conducted research into them before going into the recording studio, added that she was struck by the beauty of “O Nata Lux de Lumine.”
Her album draws on an old English hymn, “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Sing,” she explained, “and I really wanted to build the album around the idea that we can actually hear the voice of God speaking to us.”
“I started doing some research about Gregorian chants that have an imagery to them,” York explained, “and I came across the chant ‘O Nata Lux de Lumine.’ The middle verse literally talks about the voice of God speaking from heaven: ‘This is my beloved son. Listen to him.’ And that was the reason I picked this song.”
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Once she decided to record the chant, York, who was a music major in college, went back into research mode.
“I realized that while it has been recorded and published many times as a choral piece, … no one has recorded the actual Gregorian chant on which those other choral pieces were written,” she said.
York wrote to monks in an abbey in France who had included “O Nata Lux de Lumine” in a book they published in 1983 (the only source of information York could find) to secure their permission to record it.
In her correspondence, she also inquired as to the chant’s age. “They wrote and said it was a very ancient hymn,” she recalled.
York is excited about the idea of serving as a bridge for modern-day Catholics to explore ancient music and grow closer to their faith at the same time.
“There’s something very special for the public — that there is a hymn that Christians for over 1,000 years have been singing to capture this majesty of God speaking from the heavens,” she said. “It’s a really powerful message.”
“I Heard the Voice” is York’s third album. She previously released albums in 2020 and 2025. The new album includes one of her original songs, “Breathe on Me, Holy Spirit,” a melody to the prayer of St. Augustine to the Holy Spirit.
In addition to her cantor duties at St. Mary, she sings at Mass and ceremonies in churches across the Archdiocese of Newark.
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And when she isn’t using her soprano voice to lift the hearts of churchgoers, she is busy with her career as a real estate agent.
York, who started out as an educator and holds a doctorate in educational leadership, served as a school district administrator before switching professions.
“I did that for a couple of years and did not feel it was my calling,” she explained.
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Releasing an album with an ancient Gregorian chant brings York full circle in her faith journey. Gregorian chants led York, who was born into a Baptist family in Altoona, Pennsylvania, to consider joining the Catholic Church. York was baptized into the Catholic faith in 2013.
“The Gregorian chant, in particular, was the seed of me coming to Catholic conversion because I was raised Baptist and spent my entire adolescence singing traditional Baptist hymns,” she said. “And then I majored in music in college, and as a music major, anybody has to study music history. And so, the beginning of music history starts with the Gregorian chant.”
York said Gregorian chant has endured for centuries because the Catholic Church has preserved it as a way to draw people into prayer and closer to God.
“Put it on for three minutes and feel the presence of the Lord,” York said. “And that’s what I’m hoping everybody can take away from my albums.”
Carly York’s album, “I Heard the Voice,” is available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon, and on her website at:
TheCatholicCantor.com