Choirs at St. John’s
Music is a very important part of the liturgical life of St. John’s. A rich program of sacred music has proven to have helped many Catholics rediscover a profound sense of the sacred. Sacred music being the “handmaid of the liturgy”, we here at St. John’s make every effort to follow the teachings of the Church on sacred music. The parish choirs include:
The Sunday 10:00 AM Volunteer Choir
This newly-formed choir of adult men and women and teens sings for the 10:00 AM Family Mass each Sunday. Hymns, Latin chants and motets are sung to enrich the Sacrifice of the Mass and to lead the faithful in song. Rehearsals are held each Sunday from 8:15 AM up to start of the Mass. Combining with the Children’s Choir each week, this beautiful blend of voices offers not only an opportunity to sing side-by-side with the youth of the parish but also a time and place for parents and their children to worship and sing together. Typical repertory might include English hymns, a Latin Gregorian chant Kyrie and Gloria, and polyphonic music of the Renaissance or Classical periods. All adults and teens are welcome!
The Children’s Choir
Here at St. John’s, we feel strongly that the involvement of children through various ministries in the Church can reinforce the importance of Mass in their lives as young Catholics. Through their time and hard work, these young people to contribute to the parish in a very positive way through the ministry of music. Music is an area of our liturgical life upon which we place tremendous emphasis – providing music for Mass by singing is not only a gift to God, but a service to the worshipping community. When done well, music sacred can lift hearts and minds to the Almighty. Each Sunday, from September through May, the Children’s Choir, joined by the Adult Choir, sings fro the 10:00 A.M. Family Mass. Before Mass, there is a rehearsal at 9:30 in the choir room. If your child is in our Religious Education program, he or she will be let out of class early to join the rehearsal. Additionally, there is a mandatory rehearsal each Saturday from 1:00 to 1:45 P.M. all children ages seven through twelve who are willing to make a weekly commitment are gladly welcomed into our Children’s Choir. There is no charge for any child in the choir. If you have any questions, please contact Scott Turkington at 324-1553, ext. 18, or STurkington@optonline.net.
The High Mass Choir — Schola Polyphonica
The Schola Polyphonica is Connecticut’s senior professional Catholic church choir and sings for all the major liturgies at St. John’s. Comprising some of New York and Connecticut’s leading ensemble singers, the choir is well renowned. Its working repertoire covers all aspects and periods of music of the Latin Rite from Gregorian chant to the present day with special emphasis on 16th and 17th century polyphony. Maintaining this tradition of public worship to the glory of God lies at the heart of the parish’s work. St. John’s is well recognized as one of the outstanding custodians of classic Roman Catholic liturgical traditions. High Mass in the New Rite is celebrated on all Sundays and many feasts throughout the year. In particular, the great liturgies of Christmas, Holy Week and Easter attract packed-out congregations. To serve the liturgy the priests of St. John’s have fostered a unique musical establishment, comprising three separate choirs plus a professional music staff. in 1999 Scott Turkington was appointed Organist & Choirmaster, assuming overall responsibility for developing a choral tradition and especially a professional choir, which under his direction remains among the finest mixed-voice choirs in the northeast. Before coming to St. John’s, Scott Turkington was Assistant Organist and Conductor at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., In the 1980s, he was Music Teacher and Organist at the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School (Cambridge, Massachusetts), under Theodore Marier. While at the National Shrine, he played for over 500 services each year, and appeared on live national television dozens of times. His musical studies have been at the University of Minnesota, the Boston Conservatory of Music and the Catholic University of America. A former Dean and current board member of the Fairfield, Conn., Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, Mr. Turkington is in frequent demand as an organ recitalist and has played innumerable recitals throughout the U.S., having made his New York debut at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He has performed as an organ recitalist for a national convention of the Organ Historical Society, is a featured performer on their compact disc, “Organs of Baltimore”, and has lectured on Gregorian chant for a national convention of the American Guild of Organists. In 1994, his choir performed for Pope John Paul II at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. A 2004 and 2006 recipient of the Perennial Wisdom Medal conferred by the Monuments Conservancy, Mr. Turkington is an Executive Director of the Church Music Association of America and is on the faculty of their annual Colloquium at Loyola University in Chicago, where he also teaches a summer course in Gregorian Chant. He is in demand throughout the country as a lecturer on Gregorian Chant and as a teacher of Church music, particularly Classical polyphony. Editor of “A Gregorian Chant Master Class”, Theodore Marier’s final work published by the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Conn., he conducted the choirs for this book with its companion CD, which feature the Stamford Schola Gregoriana and the nuns of Regina Laudis. If you have any questions about the music program at St. John’s, please contact Scott Turkington at 324-1553, ext. 18, or STurkington@optonline.net.