Please Join us for the Five Choirs Festival

Read all about it here.

Singers Develop Their Voices and Their Confidence at Chorister Camp

The three of the choristers from St. John's who attended a week-long program of music and fellowship during a choristers camp at St. Thomas Church in New York City in July say the program helped them to strengthen and develop their singing voices while making new friends and enjoying the company of old ones. The girls returned with greater confidence in their abilities and enthusiasm for the chorister program.

Ofelia, the lead chorister at St. John's, says the program taught her to hit the High B as well as other previously out-of-reach notes. She and Diana said the exercises for "jiggling your muscles" to strengthen them helped them develop their voices.

Susy says that through the course she learned how to support her voice: "I learned how to hold it longer so my throat doesn't give out before I'm done."

The 44 girls from around the country who attended practiced singing for 1 1/2 hours three times a day.

All three girls enjoyed seeing New York City, including a performance of Mama Mia and walks in Central Park. The girls said that back in their dorms they found themselves singing as a group for the fun of it as well as just plain having fun with their peers.

You're Invited to the Five Choirs Festival at St. John's

The Five Choirs Festival at St. John's Parish on the Green in Waterbury, Connecticut, on October 19 and 20 will bring together 80 choristers from five Episcopal churches in Connecticut and Rhode Island to sing under the direction of the acclaimed Richard Webster.

"St. John's initiated this project because we want our choristers to sing these services," says Maria Coffin, who established and directs the Chorister Academy at St. John's.

"The most beautiful thing in the world is the sound of young voices singing this music," Ms. Coffin adds. "What better place than this beautiful church?"

Choristers from St. Luke's, East Greenwich, Rhode Island; St. Peter's, Cheshire; Trinity, Hartford; and Trinity, Newtown, will join the St. John's group.

Mr. Webster, Associate Director of Music at Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston, is a choral director, organist, arranger and composer.

Matthew Brown, formerly an intern in church music at Grace Church in New York City, will be the organist during this festival.

All the choristers will sing Evensong at St. John's at 4 p.m. on October 20. The public is invited to attend this service.

Ms. Coffin hopes people in the community--parents, neighbors, music teachers--will attend this event and enjoy the talents of these children. "This will be a great opportunity for people in Waterbury to hear children sing beautiful music, and these children can do some very difficult things."

For more information, contact St. John's Church at 203-754-3116. Click here for an event flyer.

Chorister Calendar is Up-to-Date

Please click on the calendar in the navigation toolbar on the right to open up the Chorister Academy's fall calendar. The rehearsal, singing, and event calendar are current as of August 16.

Choristers Need Your Help for the Festival of Choirs

The Festival of Choirs at St. John's Church October 19 and 20 will present 80 choristers from Connecticut and Rhode Island to meet and mingle with peers from other churches and to sing under the direction of the acclaimed Richard Webster before they sing Evensong at St. John's at 4 p.m. on October 20. Matthew Brown, formerly an intern in church music at Grace Church in New York City, will be the organist during this festival.

This event will need church wide support. Chorister Academy director Maria Coffin needs your help in the following ways: *food for Saturday snack break,
*food for Saturday lunch,
*home stays for about 25 children, and
*help coordinating rooms for our visitors to St. John's.

Please contact Maria at St. John's 203-754-3116 if you can help. Click here to download a flyer to print and display.

Choristers' Pool Party--Thank You, Alice!

Practice and Performance at Grace Church, New York, City, June 17, 2007

Choristers at Grace Church, New York City, June 17

Three Choristers will Participate in the Saint Thomas Girl Chorister Course in New York City This Summer

Three members of the Chorister Academy of St. John's Episcopal Church in Waterbury, Connecticut, will participate in the third annual Saint Thomas Girl Chorister Course in New York City from July 29 to August 5. This year’s Director of Music is Sarah MacDonald, Director of Music in Chapel, Selwyn College, Cambridge. She will conduct all rehearsals working toward a Treble-only Evensong on Thursday and the Sunday morning Eucharist which is sung with the gentlemen of the Choir of Men and Boys of Saint Thomas Church. Left to right: Diana Hernandez of Waterbury, Ofelia Torres of Waterbury, and Susy Cromwell of Southbury.

Choristers Sell Roses

Festival of Choirs

FESTIVAL OF CHOIRS

October 19 and 20, 2007
St. John's Church, Waterbury, Connecticut

St. John's, Waterbury, Connecticut
St. Luke's, East Greenwich, Rhode Island
St. Peter's, Cheshire, Connecticut
Trinity, Hartford, Connecticut
Trinity, Newtown, Connecticut

a two-day festival for 80 young singers
from five churches and towns

Richard Webster, Director
Matthew Brown, Organist

Maria Coffin, Coordinator

concluding with a service of
EVENSONG
the ancient Anglican service of sung evening prayers
Saturday, October 20, 4 p.m.
All are welcome.

Click here to print a flyer.

203-754-3116

Evensong at St. Mark's, Bridgewater, Connecticut, on May 6, 2007

The Chorister Academy of St. John's Episcopal Church, Waterbury Connecticut, sang during the Evensong service at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Bridgewater, Connecticut, on Sunday, May 6, 2007, at 4 p.m.

St. Mark's will donate the offering from that service to The Dominican Literacy Project, which was established to help Haitian children living in the Dominican Republic to help pay expenses such as building maintenance and midday meals for 120 children trying to receive an education. Haitian children in the Dominican Republic are denied status, birth certificates, and public education, according to St. Mark's.

Evensong, one of the oldest services in the Anglican tradition, dates back to the original Book of Common Prayer of 1549, and combines the monastic offices of Vespers and Compline. It is drawn almost entirely from the Bible and includes Psalms, Hymns, Anthems, and the Magnificat and Nuc dimittis. The service is a sacred method of singing praise to God, according to St. Mark's.