[Birds chirping]
REV. ALISON BODEN: The Princeton University Chapel
is one of the icons of Princeton University.
It was built in the 1920s
not long after the First World War.
The president then, President Hibben,
and the leadership of the university said,
"We're gonna build a wonderful large chapel
as a testimonial to our belief that,
especially when times are really painful,
each of our religious traditions
has promises made to us
for restoration, healing and goodness,
and that's what this building is gonna be about."
The iconography in the building
is literally a testament to that.
[Bright choral music]
PENNA ROSE: The chapel itself is incredibly special.
It's very unusual for a college campus
to have a chapel that looks like this and feels like this.
REV. DR. THERESA THAMES: It's awe-inspiring when you walk in
and it's also significant in the life of students
because it is the first place they enter
during Opening Exercises and it's the last place
that they exit as a class during Baccalaureate.
ALEXANDRA WILSON: The chapel is, for me and for many people in it,
the most welcoming space that I've ever been in.
[Bright choral music]
REV. ALISON BODEN: The vast grandeur of the space
lends such an aura of holiness to the ceremonies
from all of our religious communities.
PENNA ROSE: This is the chapel for everybody.
There is a big Muslim service here,
Hindu Diwali happens here,
there's a Catholic Mass every day,
there's an ecumenical service every Sunday.
VINEET CHANDER: The University Chapel brings together
the entire campus community
as well as the wider community here in town.
PENNA ROSE: For many people it's a refuge
where you can come during the week
and you can just sit and be calm and be quiet.
REV. ALISON BODEN: When they make that space their own,
for whatever they need it for, they're praying,
they're meditating, they're being quiet,
whatever they need to do,
and I really hope that for all of that beautiful air
and stone and carving and glass and light,
that they are feeling the hope that was the intention
of building that magnificent space in the first place.
PENNA ROSE: It's a wonderful place to do music,
because it has a great reverberation.
Whatever you do, the chapel space takes it in
and makes it bloom, and it's just an exquisite experience.
REV. ALISON BODEN: The organ is just one of the best
in the country.
It is a vast instrument
that truly fills that tremendous space.
[Solemn organ music]
PENNA ROSE: It is a magnificent instrument
and is perfect for this space.
So we have some of the organ in the front,
some is back here, and then we have, of course,
the trumpets en chamade in the back.
ERIC PLUTZ: It has 7,893 pipes,
from the size of a small pencil,
very, very small, to 32 feet in length.
[Solemn organ music]
REV. ALISON BODEN: When that instrument gets rolling
and the deepest notes make the whole building shake
and the highest ones are just floating through the air,
it's an experience in and of itself.
JILL DOLAN: And then there's the Chapel Choir,
one of the most moving groups
I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.
ANDY LIU: As soon as I walked in the chapel
and heard the choir sing,
I was just like, I wanna be part of this.
[Warm choral music]
PENNA ROSE: The first time we sang up here as a choir
I was just overcome by how beautiful it was.
[Bright choral music]
[Mellow orchestral music]
ALEXANDRA WILSON: There are people of many religious traditions
in the Chapel Choir, but for me
it is about making music and having a community.
PENNA ROSE: This really is a good place for anybody.
We're all just a family.
ANDY LIU: Penna's always there to inspire us.
She always asks us the question,
"You have one choice: you either be fabulous or not,
and you choose to be fabulous."
ALEXANDRA WILSON: Every week I get to come here and I get to sing
in the Princeton Chapel.
How miraculous it is
that we have something like this on campus.
REV. ALISON BODEN: I think the chapel inspires moments of awe.
JILL DOLAN: There's something about the building
that's very much about letting everyone's spirit soar.
ANDY LIU: This has been the defining experience
of my undergraduate life, and I really can't imagine
being at Princeton without the chapel.
ALEXANDRA WILSON: It is hard to describe how grateful I am for Penna.
She has become, along with the deans of the chapel,
some of the strongest role models in my life.
PENNA ROSE: Whoever you are, you are more than welcome to be here.
[Solemn choral music]