Trombone Tone!

Virtuoso trombonist Will Lang performs tomorrow (Monday, July 26) on the St. John's Episcopal Church Summer Noontime concert series. The concert is free, and audience members are invited to bring a bag lunch to eat during the concert, which will end by 12:45. The church will provide drinks and cookies. The program consists of works for solo trombone by 20th and 21st century composers John Cage, Enrique Crespo, Aaron Cassidy, Walter Hartley, James Bergin, Abbie Conant, William Osbourne and Frederic Rzewski.

Trombonist William Lang is making a career in new music. As an active musician in both New York and Boston, he is dedicated to the performance of new music by established and emerging composers. He has performed new music in such venues as Carnegie's Zankel Hall, the Winter Garden, the Cathedral of St. Paul in Boston, the Flea, the Tank, Secret Project Robot, the Gershwin Hotel, and the Stone. Lang has been involved in the premiere of over 45 new works in the last year alone.

He is a member of NotaRiotous, the chamber ensemble of the Boston Microtonal Society www.bostonmicrotonalsociety.org and has performed with such ensembles as the TACTUS Ensemble, Zero Gravity, the SEM Ensemble, the Claremont Ensemble, the Guidonian Hand (a trombone quartet he started,) Grocery Store Sushi, Wet Ink, and Loadbang, a new music group of which he is a founding member.

Lang is an active performer in New York City's freelance orchestra scene, and has toured across New York State with the SUNY Fredonia Wind Ensemble as a soloist, performing Richard Peaslee's Arrows of Time. He recently received a Masters degree in the Contemporary Performance Program (of which he is a flagship member) from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Herrington.

Don't miss this stunning concert! Families, bring your young musicians so they can see just how amazing a trombone can be!

Youth Band concert!

St. John’s Episcopal Church in Williamstown continues its Summer Noontime Concert Series on Monday, July 13 with a program of contemporary gospel music presented by the St. John’s Youth Band. The concert will begin at noon and end by 12:45. Audience members are welcome to bring a bag lunch, and the church will provide lemonade and cookies. Admission is free, but donations to help offset expenses are welcome.

Members of the band are all students at Mt. Greylock and include Dylan Sikelianos, lead guitar; John Kolesar, bass guitar; Evie Mahan and Tyra Nurmi, vocals; St. John’s Special Events coordinator Jimmy Bergin directs the band and plays keyboard. The program will feature selections from the musical Godspell and other high-energy contemporary gospel songs.

The Youth Band was formed two years ago, rehearses weekly and has played regularly at the bi-weekly “Worship Outside the Box” services held at St. John’s on Sunday mornings, as well as at other church functions.

Summer Concert Series begins!

The St. John's annual Summer Noontime FREE concert series begins this Monday, July 6 with a program of vocal music by Webern, Ives and Finzi. Featured performers are New York-based baritone Avery Griffin and local pianist Scott Bailey. The concert will begin at noon and end by 12:45. Audience members are welcome to bring a bag lunch. Admission is free, but donations to help offset expenses are welcome.

Families are welcome!

Avery Griffin is a freelance singer who performs regularly with both New York- and Boston-based groups including the Trinity Choir at Trinity Church, Wall Street; the St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys; the NotaRiotous ensemble of the Boston Microtonal Society. He teaches theory annually at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. His most recent local performance was with Roomful of Teeth at Mass MoCA.

Pianist Scott Bailey is staff accompanist/vocal coach at Westfield State College and Director of Choral Activities at Bay Path College in Longmeadow, MA. He has served on the faculty at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and works as a freelance accompanist and teacher throughout the Pioneer Valley as well as Berkshire County. He is the music director at the First Congregational Church of North Adams, United Church of Christ, and is coordinator of their North County Music Series, a concert series featuring local and emerging musicians from Berkshire County and beyond.

The concert series will continue on Mondays from July 13 - August 17. Featured performers include:
July 13 St. John’s Youth Band
July 20 Trio Café Budapest
July 27 Will Lang, trombone
August 3 Nick Revel, viola; Scott Bailey, piano
August 10 Loadbang (contemporary music ensemble)
August 17 Emily Kalish, Abigail Reisman, violins

Beat the Winter Blues this Saturday!

Beat those winter blues by coming to a FREE concert at St. John's Episcopal church this Saturday, January 31 at 7:00 pm. Five (count' em, five!) widely varied musical groups will offer a wide variety of lively music.

Families are encouraged to bring children!

The performing groups include:

- St. John's Youth Band (Tyra Nurmi, Evie Mahan, John Kolesar, Dyland Sikeleanos)

- Trio Brevalo, comprised of local singers Doug Paisley, Paul McFarland and Silvio Eberhardt, who sing traditional folk and liturgical songs from Caucasus Georgia

- Trio Cafe Budapest (Bill Wootters, piano; Ted Gilley, guitar and Jimmy Bergin, violin)

- Cantilena Chamber Choir, directed by Andrea Goodman, a 24-voice acapella group.

- The Shoes, a local teenage world music group (including Patrick Madden and Sato Matsui, who performed on January 11 at the 10am service)

Come have a great time and beat them blues!

MLK Day event

St. John's Episcopal Church, Williamstown, will celebrate Martin Luther King Day on Sunday, January 18 at 4:30 p.m., when folksingers Charlie King and Karen Brandow will present "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn me 'Round", a performance piece that offers a history of the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 to 1997. The presentation, which highlights activists such as Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer and Ella Baker, will include PowerPoint images, dramatic readings and powerful songs.

Charlie King and Karen Brandow are musical storytellers and political satirists who have released six CD's since they began performing as a duo in 1998. In addition to a fulltime career of concert touring, King and Brandow have sung in support of numerous groups working for peace, human and labor rights, environmental sanity and alternatives to violence.

This event, co-sponsored by the Williams College Chaplains' Office, is free and open to the public. St. John's Church is located at 35 Park Street, Williamstown, MA. Further information about Charlie King and Karen Brandow can be found at www.charlieking.org

Leaf raking party!

First, they were here -- pretty!!!

Now, they're here... :(

but...THIS guy's got the right idea!

Come to the leaf-raking party at St. John's this Saturday, November 15 at 10:00 am!

your hosts: Dan, Lisa and Jack Campbell - the more the merrier, ALL ages welcome!

Blessing of the Animals - music by Wintergreen!

Join us as we celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi with a Blessing of the Animals during a simple service of Evensong on Sunday, October 5th at 4:30 p.m.

All creatures great and small will be welcomed to take their places in and among the pews, which make excellent corrals for animal companions. Dogs should be on leashes, and cats in carriers. Participants who wish to remember a deceased pet may bring a photo or keepsake for that purpose.

The local folk trio Wintergreen return as our guest musicians. Members Larry and Alice Spatz and Jared Polens perform a mixture of traditional and contemporary folk music from Britain and America on a variety of instruments including hammered dulcimer, guitar, mandolin, psaltery, and bass. Their inspired selections always capture the spirit of this service.

A free-will offering will be received for the fund for strays and wild animals at Greylock Animal Hospital.
St. John’s is located at 35 Park Street, and is wheelchair accessible. Information: 413-458-8144.