Candlelight Concerts At St John’s

 WASHINGTON GREEN — Richard Busch, the new director of The Saint John’s Chorale, will direct the group in its fourteenth annual Christmas Candlelight Concerts at 8 pm on Friday, December 10, and at 4 pm on Sunday, December 12, at St John’s Church.

The concert will feature Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols, with Monte Stone of Sharon as the featured baritone soloist, and Pergolesi’s Magnificat, accompanied by a string quartet. Other seasonal favorites by Poulenc, Brahms, Byrd and Mr Busch himself will round out the concert.

Mr Busch, an award-winning composer with more than 30 years experience as an organist and choirmaster, became director of the chorale in September when he assumed the post of music director of St. John’s Church. The choir, sponsored by the church, is an auditioned group of singers whose members come from throughout northwest Connecticut.

The concert will also feature one of Mr. Busch’s own holiday pieces, “What Sweeter Music,” based on the poetry of Robert Herrick. A composition major at Juilliard, Mr Busch received a grant for composition from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1977, and fellowships in composition from the Massachusetts Artists Foundation in 1977 and 1982.

His compositions have been commission by the American Guild of Organists for its 2002 regional convention in Cape Cod, the Church in the Ascension in New York City for a motet to celebrate the 175th anniversary of its parish, and by Provincetown Art Association to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

The church is on Route 47 in Washington Green.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $8 for students, and may be purchased in advance or at the door. Contact the church, 860-868-2527, for additional information or ticket reservations.