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.