Festival participants take a spin on Bushnell Park's carousel during the opening day picnic.

The Contemporary Choral Song: Great Music of Twentieth-Century Composers: A warm welcome awaits you as a participant or audience member in CONCORA's Festival 2008.

Our 10th Anniversary Choral Festival takes place July 20 – 26. We invite you to join members of CONCORA and singers from across the state as we rehearse evenings and weekends in Hartford, and present what is sure to be another amazing concert on Saturday, July 26 in Avon. Improve your choral singing skills and present beautiful contemporary works by Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Randall Thompson, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Gwyneth Walker. All rehearsals and the concert will be conducted by Richard Coffey.

The application deadline is fast approaching (May 15)! Download the registration form and get the complete schedule by clicking here; or call (860) 224-7500.

Scholarships are available for talented high school and college age students -- click here to download the student application.

The performance will be on Saturday, July 26 at 4:00 p.m.at Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Connecticut. General admission: $20; students: $10. Tickets are available now by calling (860)-224-7500. 

L to R: Ken Jacobson, Malcolm Morrison, Johanna Morrison, and Ruth Jacobson enjoy the festivities at Espressivo 2007.

Please join us on Friday June 13 and Saturday June 14, 2008 for Espressivo, our second annual art show and sale. This fundraising event will be held in Hubbard Hall at St. John's Episcopal  Church, 679 Farmington Avenue, West Hartford, and will feature the works of more than thirty established and emerging Connecticut artists.

You are invited to view and purchase paintings, jewelry, sculpture, and more at the Gala Opening on June 13th, when you will also have the opportunity to meet many of the artists. Gallery hours continue on Saturday, June 14th. A full list of participating artists and examples of their work will be available soon on the CONCORA website. Be sure to check in often as new artists are being added to the show each week.

Meet the Artists Preview: Friday, June 13th, 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Mingle with the artists and preview the art before the Opening. Tickets: $50 per person, which includes admission to the Opening Reception.

Gala Opening: Friday, June 13th, 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. The evening will include hors d'oeuvres, wine, and musical entertainment provided by members of CONCORA with Steve Metcalf, pianist. Tickets for the Gala Opening: $35 per person. Order by phone at (860) 224-7500 or by clicking here. 

Open Gallery: Saturday, June 14th, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Mark your calendars - CONCORA is singing its heart out with five fabulous concerts in 2008-2009 (all concert sites will be in the Hartford area and will be announced shortly).

Sunday October 19, 2008 at 4:00 p.m. - "The American Voice"  This will be an exciting collaboration with the young voices of Central Connecticut State University's Chamber Choir, featuring popular music, folk songs, and spirituals that celebrate American composers and poets. Enjoy a star-spangled a cappella program of works by Leonard Bernstein, Gwyneth Walker, Eric Whitacre, Nancy Galbraith, Jean Berger, Robert Cohen, and more.

Sunday, December 14, 2008 at 4:00 p.m. - "A New England Christmas"  Christmas with CONCORA this year is an invitation to celebrate music that is quintesentially "New England," by composers old and new from our own region.

Sunday, February 8, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. - "Happy Birthday, Felix Mendelssohn"  CONCORA will appear as guests of the Music Series at South Church, New Britain, presenting choral music composed throughout Mendelssohn's life. Works including the sacred and the secular, a cappella and accompanied, homophonic and antiphonal - fresh and compelling!

Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. - "Bach!"  Our very popular collaboration with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra continues! CONCORA and the HSO combine to present the glorious sounds of J.S. Bach's Cantata #79 ("Now Thank We All Our God") and two of the rarely-performed Missae Breves.

Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. - "A Sonic Spectacular"  Get ready: the combined sounds of organ, choir, and percussion will thrill you one year from now. It's going to be spectacular, indeed, with majestic music by Charles Ives, Flor Peeters, Benjamin Britten, Charles Widor, and much more.

The members of CONCORA-to-Go: Stacey Grimaldi, Jack Anthony Pott, Salli-Jo Borden, and Kenneth Downes

A 3rd-grade teacher on CONCORA-to-Go's performance at her school, April 2008:"Excellent use of modalities - visual, auditory and, with helpers from the audience, kinisthetic. The flags were wonderful, bringing in the social studies aspect. The program was age-approriate and kept the kids engaged."

Students in grades K-6 are invited to take a musical journey across the globe with CONCORA-to-Go. This quartet of CONCORA singers presents an interactive program of multi-cultural singing that includes children playing percussion, identifying flags of different countries, and asking and answering questions. Beautiful choral music from Singapore, France, Japan, Venezuela, China, Germany, Italy, the United States and more, teaches children about music, geography, history, and math! With CONCORA-to-Go, children begin thinking about singing as something they can enjoy on many levels, today and for the rest of their lives.

The Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism offers Arts Presentation Grants to fund our program. The next application deadline is August 1, 2008.

To schedule CONCORA-to-Go, please contact Stacey Grimaldi, Administrative Coordinator, at (860) 224-7500 or sgrimaldi@concora.org.