Piano dedication concert - free

Pianist Igor Lovchinsky

Sunday, November 5 at 3:00 pm

Join us in a special concert to celebrate the dedication of our Knabe grand piano. 

This piano, whose sound regularly enriches our worship, was a gift from Dorothy Reinke’s daughter Diana Stugger. The piano will be dedicated to Diana’s paternal and maternal grandparents: Gladys and Charles Wilson and Florence and Robert Sprague. Both Charles and Robert were vestry members at St. John’s. 

Many parishioners no doubt remember Igor’s previous visits to Williamstown, when he awed us with his virtuosity and charmed us with his personality. Igor will be playing Schumann: Kinderszene; selected short works of Chopin;  Bach/Busoni: Num Komm der Heiden Heiland; and Gershwin/Wild: Grande Fantasie of Themes from Porgy and Bess.

The concert is free and open to the public. 

Misty Blues concert

Headed by vocalist Gina Coleman, the Misty Blues band pays homage to the older blues made popular by the bold and brassy women of its time, while still paying respect to classic male artists of the 20s, 30s and 40s. The band also plays classic rock and folk songs infused with a healthy dose of the blues

The band will be representing the Capital area in Memphis, TN at the International Blues Challenge  in January 2018.  Donations will help defray the band's travel expenses to that event..

Hear a sample of the band

Born IV Blues represents the newest generation of blues bands, consisting of four high school students,  Born IV Blues will be performing in the Youth Showcase in Memphis, 

Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time

Audience members are invited to bring a lunch to eat; St. John's will provide drinks and cookies.

The Quartet for the End of Time was composed during an excruciatingly difficult time while Messiaen was captured and held in a German POW camp during World War II. The piece draws its inspiration from the Book of Revelation, birdsong, and the colors of the northern lights.  The first performance was held in the camp during the bleak winter of 1941 with Messiaen at the piano, and fellow prisoners playing violin, cello, and clarinet.  

Ensemble Chamarré sees to help the listener to experience the context of this extraordinary masterpiece of chamber literature by describing the conditions at the camp and details of Messiaen’s experience as it relates to the music. 

Click here to listen to Ensemble Chamarré  perform an excerpt from the Quartet.

Ive's "Concord Sonata"

The 14th annual Summer Noontime Concert series continues with a performance by Northampton-based pianist Andrew D'Antonio. The program consists of a single work, Charles Ives monumental "Concord" Sonata,

The concert is free - donations are welcome to help defray costs. Audience members are invited to bring a lunch to eat; St. John's will provide drinks and cookies. An intimate setting with lovely acoustics.

Concerts run on Mondays through August 21
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Primarily a chamber musician, Andrew D'Antonio seeks out a diverse range of repertoire, performing everything from Haydn and Janáček to Messiaen and Sciarrino.  Andrew has given dozens of recitals and performances throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Past highlights include recitals at SALT New Music Festival and Symposium in Victoria, BC; a tour performing Schubert’s Winterriese with Eduardo Ortiz, multiple recital tours with flutist Erin Dubois; and recent concert debuts in New York City and Boston.

Bach to BlackNotes: free piano recital

Pianist Kyle Walker performs music of J.S. Bach and various African-American composers.
Audience members are invited to bring a bag lunch to eat.  The church will provide drinks and cookies.

 A strong advocate for social equality, pianist Kyle Walker believes music can speak to social issues better than verbal language can, the understanding of which he brings to both traditional Western repertoire and that of the living world-wide composers with whom he collaborates.

As an advocate of social justice Walker is a founding member and chamber music director of The Dream Unfinished, an activist orchestra which supports New York City-based civil rights and community organizations through concerts and presentations.

He is currently embarking on a solo performance project entitled BlackNotes, which aims to explore the divides and connections between White American and Black American Art Music. See and hear more of Kyle Walker’s musicianship at www.kylewalkerpiano.com.

Free violin and piano recital

The 14th annual Summer Noontime Concert series continues with a performance by New York-based musicians Akiko Kobayashi (violin) and Claudia Kobayashi (piano). The program includes music by Albinoni, Telemann, Ysaye, Beethoven, and Sibelius..

The concert is free - donations are welcome to help defray costs. Audience members are invited to bring a lunch to eat; St. John's will provide drinks and cookies. An intimate setting with lovely acoustics.

Concerts run on Mondays through August 21

An exhibition of cats in the Lower Room

Parishoner Michele Ridgeway has an exhibition of cats in the Lower Room.

Michele says,

"I began painting the cats in the fall of  2016- they were initially inspired by  the cats that I had adopted, but became more of a drive to express my own feelings “out loud.”  As subjects, the cats and their antics gave me much joy during a time of political change and fear AND hope. The cats were painted as bold, quick, stylized portraits of bold colors in a simplified format of outline and paint. They were quickly painted with colors intuitively mixed. Their expressions range from bold calmness with closed eyes to aggressive straightforward stares. I feel that as works they communicate more in their colors and faces than I am able to communicate with my own conversations. "

For more information visit Michele's webpage

The Lower Room is open daily from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Free bassoon recital

Bassoonist Gerald Lanoue and pianist/organist Edwin Lawrence perform music by Fasch, Dutilleux, Sluka, Gershwin, Lawrence. Audience members are invited to bring a bag lunch; the church will provide drinks and cookies. 

Sacred Jazz concert

Baroque cello duos

Free viola recital - Monday, July 10 at noon

Philadelphia-area violist Michael Strauss returns to our summer concert series in a program of transcriptions of solo music by J.S. Bach.

Prelude from Cello Suite in C
Prelude from Cello Suite in d
Prelude from Partita in E for Violin
Chaconne
Chromatic Fantasy

Audience members are invited to bring a bag lunch.  We will provide drinks and cookies.

Concerts every Monday through August 21.

Summer series begins July 3 with string quartets

Free Noontime Concert

Monday, July 3

String quartets performed by Emily Kalish, Kathy Andrew, violins; Jimmy Bergin, viola; Perri Morris, cello.

Schubert: Quartettsatz
George Walker: Lyric for Strings
Dvorak: "American" Quartet

Audience members are invited to bring a lunch to eat.  St. John's will provide drinks and cookies.

Concerts every Monday through August 21.

Sneak preview of tonight's concert (May 18) Vivaldi Gloria

Click here
to see a short excerpt from the final chorus of the Vivaldi: Gloria, performed by the St. John's choir and CIAO! (Community Intergenerational Action Orchestra), recorded in rehearsal tonight!

The concert features the entire Vivaldi: Gloria, as well as concertos by Bach, Telemann, and Vivaldi performed by CIAO!   FutureCIAO! (the training orchestra for CIAO!) will perform short works by Bach, Bartok, and Telemann.

Concert is at 7;30; admission is free; donations will be accepted to benefit the Berkshire Immigrant Center.

Vivaldi Gloria with St John's choir and CIAO!

Don't miss this special concert featurng the St. John's choir accompanied by the Community Intergenerational Action Orchestra (CIAO!).  

In addition the the Vivaldi Gloria, CIAO! will perform selected concerto movements by Telemann and Vivaldi. FutureCIAO!, the training orchestra for CIAO!, will perform short works by Bach, Bartok, and Telemann.

Admission is free; donations will be accepted to benefit the Berkshire Immigrant Center to support immigrants and their families to achieve financial stability and community success.

Free piano recital Saturday, May 5 at 5 pm

Saturday, May 5 at 5:00 p.m.

Pianist Stephen Ai (Williams College, class of 2019) performs works by Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin.

Admission is free!
Stephen Ai began studying piano at age five with Ms. Anna Stal and is currently a sophomore at Williams College studying with Ms. Doris Stevenson.  He has received many various local, state, and national awards for his musicianship, including the Berkshire Symphony Soloist Competition, American Protégé Talent Competition, American Fine Arts Festival Scholarship, San Diego Symphony Hot Shot Young Artists Award, and California Bach Festival Complete Works Audition Awards. He has also performed with the Berkshire Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and the Los Angeles Bach Festival Orchestra, among others. 

Free trumpet recital Saturday, April 29th at 3:00 p.m.

Come to a free trumpet recital by Leonard Bopp, accompanied by pianists Stephen Ai and Qiana Yang.

The program includes works by Haydn, Rachmaninoff, and Ravel.

Born in Albany, New York, Leonard Bopp is currently a sophomore at Williams College. At Williams, Leonard is a member of the Berkshire Symphony, and frequently performs as a soloist and chamber musician

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This summer, Leonard will study at the Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar in Hannover, NH, where he will work with many of the world’s foremost trumpet soloists. 

Leonard has also studied at the Domaine Forget International Music Festival in Quebec, Canada, and spent two summers in high school as a student at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, where he performed as Principal Trumpet of the Young Artists Orchestra and studied with David Krauss, Principal Trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Also an aspiring conductor, Leonard is Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra of Williams, and has also conducted the Berkshire Symphony and the I/O Ensemble. Last summer,

Tenores de Aterúe in concert Friday, April 28th

Doug Paisley and Tenores de Aterúe in concert Friday, April 28th at 7:30 p.m.

Suggested donation: $15 adults, $10 students and seniors.

 Click here to listen to a sample of Tenores de Aterúe 

Sardinian cantu a tenore is a form of polyphonic singing performed by a group of four singers using four different voices: bassu, contra, boghe, and mesu boghe

The deep guttural timbre of the bassu and contra voices produce ringing overtones, which are expanded by the mesu boghe.  This rich aural texture is essentially a canvas for the boghe, who is the main soloist ad sings almost all of the text.

The song form is typical of the region of Barbagia and other parts of central Sardinia. Performance are often spontaneous and done in local bars, but also at more formal occasions, such as religious festivals.

The lyrics are sometimes ancient, but may also be contemporary poems on present-day issues such as emigration and politics, and they are connected to the island’s rich poetic tradition.

Free viola recital this Saturday, Feb. 25 - 4:00 p.m.