Rector
Ensemble Music
Biography
Father Robert Mehlhart OP completed his studies in Regensburg, Oxford, and Vienna, collaborating with Nikolaus Harnoncourt at major European festivals, and has recorded for Resonando and Sony Classical International. In 2023, he was appointed Rector of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome.
He directs the PIMS Cappella at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Since 2012, he has been the Director of Music at the Theatiner Church in Munich, where he leads the choir and orchestra during liturgies, concerts, and radio broadcasts.
He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in Sacred Music from the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, as well as a doctorate in Musicology and a Master of Theology from the University of Vienna. He has taught at the University of Music and Theatre in Munich. In Regensburg, he studied under the guidance of Mons. Georg Ratzinger.
He is a composer of various liturgical works, and his initiative Let’s sing with the Pope has surpassed 4 million views on Instagram.
Research Interests
Ensemble Music
Gregorian Chant
Sacred Music of the 16th century
Publications (selected)
How to sing Dominican Chant – An Immersive Introduction (2026)
Triduum ante Pascha – German/Latin liturgical book for Theatinerkirche Munich; edited with Innocent Smith OP (2020)
Beyond the O Lumen – notes on St. Dominic’s antiphon, CLIOP, Rivisita della Commissione Internazionale Liturgica dell'Ordine Domenicano, Roma, 14, 2017
Compositions (selected)
Adoro te Devote for mixed choir and descant. First performance: 27 October 2025 in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome
Wedding anthem for mixed choir and orchestra. First performance: 20 May 2023, Theatinerkirche Munich, Germany
Adoro te devote for mixed choir, organ and instrument ad libitum. First performance: 8 December 2022, Theatinerkirche Munich, Germany
Magnificat anima mea for double choir. First performance: 8 December 2022 in Theatinerkirche Munich, Germany
Halleluja, Das ist der Tag for mixed choir and orchestra. First performance: 2 October 2021, Theatinerkirche Munich, Germany. Recipient of the third prize from the National Composer Competition Halleluja 2022. Published by Sankt Michaels Bund, Munich, Germany, 2022
Psalm 148: Praise him you shining stars for organ und soprano. First performance May 2021 in Passau, Germany
Missa di San Domenico a 3. First performance: February 2021 for the Dominican nuns at Monte Mario, Rome, Italy
Adoro te Devote a 3. First performance: January 2021 in Basilica Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, Italy
Psalm 9: With all my heart for organ and voice. First performance 11 June 2020 in Theatinerkirche Munich
Missa in tempore coronae for organ and voice. First performance 24 October 2020 in Theatinerkirche Munich
De Sancto Georgio for four equal voices. First performance 2019 in the chapel of the Munich Residence
Justus ut palma florebit for four equal voices. First performance in spring 2017 in the chapel of the Munich Residence
Missa O Lumen for mixed choir. First performance 8 August 2016 in Theatinerkirche Munich; composed for the 800th anniversary of the Order of Preachers)
Conferences and Recordings (selected)
Conferences
Online tutorials: Let’s sing with the Pope. Online plainchant tutorials on social media and YouTube, 4 million views on Instagram on 1 June 2025
Lecture: From Plainchant to Polyphony. Presentation and concert at Ralston College, Savanna, United States (19 February 2025)
Lecture: Stabat Mater. Presentation and concert at Ralston College, Savanna, United States (19 February 2024)
Lecture: Only the Lover Sings: How Plainchant Arouse out of Polyphony. Presentation and concert at Ralston College, Savanna, United States (22 February 2023)
Leader of Cantatorium at the Overture Spirituelle of the Salzburg Festival 2023 with Camerata Salzburg, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Manfred Honek
Leader of the International Section of the Extraordinary Music Workshop, Krakow, Poland (3–9 July 2023; 14–21 August 2022; 16–22 August 2021)
Paper: Contemporary Vocal Music in Catholic Liturgy: Creators, Spaces, and Sounds in Germany. Presentation at the conference Modern Sacred Music, The Pontifical University of John Paul II, Krakow, Poland (21 November 2022)
Paper: Prioress, Reformer and Scribe: Anna Zinner and the Altenhohenau Graduals. Presentation at the 2022 Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference (MedRen), Uppsala, Sweden (4–7 July 2022)
Paper: L’antifona di San Domenico: O Lumen ecclesiae. Online presentation in Italian, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, Italy (20 February 2021)
Member of the Jury at the National Choir Directors’ Competition 2021 (Chorleitungswettbewerb Spitzenklänge). University for Church Music Rottenburg-Stuttgart (30–31 July 2021)
Paper: Gaudent Chori caelestium: The musical frescoes of San Marco, Florence. Online presentation for the Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Medieval Theology (IGTM), University of Copenhagen (24 July 2021)
Paper: Melodic and Textual Adaptation in O Lumen Ecclesiae. Presentation at the conference Dominicans and the Liturgy in Medieval Paris, Columbia University Global Center, Paris, France (5 April 2019)
Recordings
Missa Papae Marcelli (Resonando - 2026)
Robert Mehlhart, Vokalkapelle der Theatinerkirche, Christian Eglhuber, Riccardo RicciMeditations - Chants & Piano (Sony Classical — 2023)
Tim Allhoff, Robert Mehlhart, CantatoriumHerz & Mund (Resonando — 2021)
Robert Mehlhart, Vokalkapelle der Theatinerkirche, La Banda
Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben
Antonio Giuseppe Bernabei: Missa Venatorum
Edition of Bernabei Mass and booklet texts by Christian Leitmeir, Magdalen College, University of Oxford
Mathias Rehfeldt: Oratio (2020)
Robert Mehlhart, Vokalkapelle der Theatinerkirche, Orchester von St. Kajetan
Commission and first performance as digital production (YouTube)Orlando di Lasso: Missa Cantorum, Missa Venatorum, Magnificat Octavi Toni (Resonando — 2020)
Robert Mehlhart, Vokalkapelle der Theatinerkirche, Christian Eglhuber
Premiere recording of Missa CantorumAdvent und Weihnachten (Lieder und Tänze) (Resonando — 2019)
Robert Mehlhart, Vokalkapelle der Theatinerkirche, Gambenconsort
Dances taken from Terpsicore Musarum by Michael Praetorius and arranged by Robert MehlhartClaudio Monteverdi: Selva Morale e Spirituale, Magnificat Secondo – Messa a 4 da cappella (Resonando — 2017)
Robert Mehlhart, Vokalkapelle der Theatinerkirche, Johanna Soller