Family Christmas Eve Service

Choristers Sing at Christmas

The Chorister Academy at St. John's will sing at the 4 p.m. Family Christmas Eve worship service. (There will be a 7:30 p.m. Vispera de Navidad service in Spanish and a 10 p.m. Festive Eucharist with Choir and Instruments, as well. On Christmas Day, there will be a 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist and Carols service. The Chorister Academy will not be singing as a group at these services.)

The Four Choirs Festival

Click here to sample some of the music from Evensong.

Please Save These Dates

Saturday, September 27: Potluck square dance from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Bring food for the food bank as well as food to share with the group.
Friday through Saturday, October 24-25: Four Choirs Festival ending with Evensong at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Tuesday, November 4: Choir Day from 9:30 to 2:30 p.m. Bring your lunch for a day of fun with all of the choristers.
Thursday, December 4: Advent Evensong at 6:45 p.m. after the regular rehearsal. Parents and friends are welcome.
Sunday, December 7: Lessons and Carols for Advent

Choristers to Meet September 4 at 5 pm

The Chorister Academy at St. John's Church, on the Green in Waterbury, begins its fifth year on Thursday, September 4, at 5 pm. There is a limited number of openings for young people who would like to learn to sing the great music of the church and who would like to receive a basic music education.

Membership in the choir is for young people in grades 3 through 12.

A Training Choir for children in grades K-2 will begin rehearsals on Thursday, September 11, at 4 pm. Children who participate in this choir will receive musical training through participation in musical games, singing, and other musical activities.

The director of both choirs is Mrs. Maria Coffin, and she will be happy to talk to interested families about their children's membership in either choir. Please call her at 203-754-3116 for more information.

Chorister News from Maria Coffin, Director

The Chorister Academy begins its fifth year with a new and expanded program. Our new development is the Training Choir for children in grades K through 2 and older children who wish to join the Chorister Academy but have no musical experience. The Training Choir will meet on Thursday afternoons from 4 to 4.45 p.m. and will include singing, learning to read music, musical games, and anything that will make young children comfortable and excited about the wonderful experience of singing choral music. It is hoped that the Training Choir will be ready to sing in church by Christmas.

The Chorister Academy will continue to meet on Tuesdays from 4 to 5.30 p.m. and on Thursdays from 5 to 7.15 p.m. and will now be able to concentrate on learning more difficult music. The members will also be working on earning their various color ribbons. We have young people working on the first ribbon (light blue), the second ribbon (dark blue) and the third (red). We hope to have reached some of our goals by Advent.

New members of either choir are eagerly sought and will be welcomed. They will be asked to meet with the director to determine their placement. Please call the church office at 754-3116 to arrange to talk with the director.

Be sure to mark on your calendar the Festival Evensong to be sung by the Chorister Academy and visiting choirs on Saturday, October 25 at 4 p.m.

Chorister Awards, June 8, 2008

Chorister Academy Director Maria Coffin awarded cottas to the Academy's newer members and recognized others for their special achievements this year. Here are pictures of the choristers who received cottas and of Diana Hernandez, whom Ms. Coffin appointed as head chorister. Ms. Coffin praised Diana, who has been a chorister for four years, for her regular attendance and active participation during this time.

Mrs. Coffin also recognized Krystal Dover, Susy Cromwell, and Mitchelle Torres, who will attend chorister camp at St. Thomas Church in New York City this summer.

For their noteworthy involvement in the Chorister Academy, Mrs. Coffin also noted the following:

Adella Carlson's regular attendance, Cherry Terrero-Ortiz's improvement, Susy Cromwell's helpfulness, Jonathan Singleton's carrying her very heavy tote bag, Raven's perfect attendance and being the librarian, and Susana and Mitchelle Torres for consistent participation over four years.

Choristers' Talent Show

The Chorister Academy ended the school year with a talent show at St. John's. Choristers' families brought plenty of food for a pot-luck supper before entertainment in the sanctuary. Parents were treated to poetry readings; a cappella singing; guitar, piano, and clarinet recitals; dancing; and a finale from the choristers themselves. They sang, "There's a Place for all God's Children in the choir. " It was a beautiful, blessed evening.

Four Choristers to Attend Choir Camp at St. Thomas

Mitchelle Torres, Raven Walker, Krystal Dover, and Susy Cromwell will be attending choir camp at St. Thomas Church in New York City this year.

Choristers Sing at GWIM Fund-raiser

Choristers Visit with Mrs. Connecticut after GWIM Concert

After the Chorister Academy sang 10 interfaith songs at the Greater Waterbury Interfaith Ministries May 20 pasta supper fund-raiser, it spent some time with Mrs. Connecticut, Lynnette Letsky Piombo, who was at St. John's to support the GWIM event. She helped each chorister try on her beautiful tiara. Ever the good sports, the boys joined in the fun, too!

The Choristers sang the Israeli folk hymn "Hashivenu," "O Gracious Light," "Festival Alleluia," "Al Shlosha D'Varim," "Jubilate!," "Christ Has no Body but Yours," the Sufi Islamic chant "Alla Hoo," "Make Me a Channel of Your Peace," and "An Irish Blessing."

RSCM America Publishes 'Five Choirs' Story

The Spring 2008 issue of the Royal School of Church Music America newsletter includes a story about the Five Choirs Festival at St. John's last October. Please click here to read it! (You'll need to scroll down to page 6.)

Click here to read other posts about the Five Choirs Festival.

Bach's Bible

Click here to watch a brief video about Bach's Bible.

Poem: 'Choristers' by Joshua Singleton

Sing unto God with songs of praise.
We are the Choristers,
The rooftops of churches we raise!

Beautiful high notes that flutter around,
Sometimes some notes that haven't even been found.
Songs in Spanish, Hebrew, French
For the tunes and notes that we must clench
To impress the audience
That have come to admire
The wondrous sounds of this lovely choir.

Sung unto God with songs of praise.
We are the Choristers,
The rooftops of churches we raise!

(Joshua Singleton)

Helping out with the Sharon Garden Project

Chorister Adella May Carlson spent last weekend helping out at the Sharon Garden Project in Sharon, Connecticut. For the past nine years, Dan and Mary Gates have welcomed St. John's Parish and Waterbury Baptist Ministries onto their land to grow fresh vegetables for the patrons of the Greater Waterbury Interfaith Ministries (GWIM) and the Jubilee Harvest run by the Baptist church. (Read more about this endeavor here.) Adella spent much of her time rolling out sheets of black plastic that keep weeds from taking over the garden. She also took pictures and wrote about the Project here.

The GWIM soup kitchen provides dinner for the Chorister Academy every Thursday evening during rehearsal, so Adella was glad to give back to the people who have given her so much.

Diana Hernandez, Head Chorister

Diana Hernandez, who is in Grade 9 at Wilby High School in Waterbury, is our new head chorister. She is also a charter member of the Chorister Academy. She has developed a beautiful singing voice as a result of her commitment and genuine interest. Congratulations, Diana!

Inspiring Worship: Confirmands, Choristers, and MLK, Jr.

The confirmation class planned and led worship on April 6, 2008, which focused on faith in action and was inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. Honoring the 40th anniversary of King's death, confirmation class wrote a Psalm that called for peace and justice in our time. Chorister Academy director Maria Coffin set the Psalm to music, and the Chorister Academy sang it. You can hear the two spirituals that the Academy sang in the podcast in the sidebar of this blog.

Easter Music at St. John's

Our podcast in the sidebar on the right contains audio recordings of our musical offerings on Easter Sunday, 2008. Please listen and be with us in Spirit.

Lenten Love Song

The Chorister Academy sang "A Lenten Love Song" at the Maundy Thursday service on March 20. You can hear this song if you press the arrow on the podcast in the sidebar on the right. God bless.

Upcoming Chorister Events

Thursday, March 20: Singing during the Maundy Thursday Service at 7:30 p.m.
Easter Sunday, March 23: Singing during the 10:15 a.m. Worship Service
Sunday, April 6: Singing during the 10:15 a.m. Worship Service, which will be designed by the confirmands, including choristers Krystal Dover and Raven Walker
Thursday, June 5: Final chorister dinner followed by a talent show. We are asking parents to cook for this meal and would like a volunteer to coordinate this.

Beautiful new Faces!

Choir Festival Slated for October 24-25

Plans for our 2008 choir festival are underway. The dates are Friday, October 24, and Saturday, October 25. Richard Webster will return as director, and Matthew Brown will return as organist. Click here to read about last year's festival. Check out our podcast in the sidebar on the right to sample some of last year's music.

Choristers Sell Valentine's Day Roses

The Chorister Academy sold roses and teddy bears with chocolate between worship services on February 10 to raise money to send some of its singers to choir camp at St. Thomas Church in New York City this year.

Rosebud Sale and Other Chorister Events

Rosebud Sale: The Choristers will sell Valentine's rosebuds between the first and second and second and third worship services on Sunday, February 10.
Evensong for Lent: February 28 at the end of rehearsal. Friends and family are welcome.
Maundy Thursday: March 20, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Pick-up time will be 8:45 p.m.
Evensong for Easter: April 10 at the end of rehearsal. Friends and family are welcome.
No Rehearsal: April 15 and 17.
RSCM 80th Anniversary at St. Thomas Church, New York City: Details to follow.
Last Choir Sunday: June 8. Awarding of cottas and ribbons.
Choir Pool Party: to be announced.