In 1972, Dolly Parton wrote two iconic classics on the exact same day; 54 years later, a breathtaking candlelit string quartet reimagines her hits inside Boston’s historic 1820 cathedral

The Cathedral Church of St. Paul on Tremont Street, which finally filled its empty pediment with the stunning Nautilus sculpture in 2012, is hosting tributes to the great Dolly Parton this November and December.

In 1972, Dolly Parton wrote two iconic classics on the exact same day; 54 years later, a breathtaking candlelit string quartet reimagines her hits inside Boston’s historic 1820 cathedral
Via Wikicommons | Background: Daderot | Foreground: Kristopher Harris
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Harriet Scrumptious
 –  Staff Writer
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Stroll down Tremont Street opposite Boston Common and you’ll pass the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, consecrated on June 30, 1820. Designed by Alexander Parris and Solomon Willard, it was the first Greek Revival building in Boston.

Look up and there’s a quirk most passers-by miss. The rough stones of the pediment were meant to show St. Paul preaching before King Agrippa, but they sat empty for almost two centuries. Only in 2012 did the cathedral commission sculptor Donald Lipski to fill the gap, and the result was A Ship of Pearl, better known as the Nautilus.

Wikicommons | Farragutful

Its story runs deeper than stone, too. In 1844 it saw the ordination of Alexander Crummell, the third African American ordained in the Episcopal Church, and it later became the base of Barbara Harris, the first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion.

On Sunday, November 15, a string quartet brings a different kind of storytelling inside: a candlelit tribute to Dolly Parton.

Candlelight: Tribute to Dolly Parton

15 November 2026 18:00 + more dates

The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul

From $42.00

Expect Jolene and I Will Always Love You, two classics Dolly said she wrote on the very same day in 1972. “That was a good writing day,” she once recalled. Add 9 to 5 and a few more favourites, all reimagined for strings under the cathedral’s soaring ceiling.

Can’t make it? A second date follows on December 13. Both start at 6pm.

Candlelight: Tribute to Dolly Parton

Candlelight: Tribute to Dolly Parton

15 November 2026 18:00 + more dates

The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul

From $42.00
Tickets are available now on Fever.

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