The Water Gap Singers will be showcasing selections from British composer John Rutter on Sunday, May 21, 2023. The concert, at the First Presbyterian Church, 1 Main St., in Blairstown, NJ, begins at 4 PM, with a reception following.

The British tradition of choral music is much more than rousing “pub songs”! The contemporary composer John Rutter follows such luminaries as Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar in writing and arranging songs for adult and children’s choruses, and for this work he was named to the Order of the British Empire in 2007.

In this concert, the Water Gap Singers will perform Rutter’s “Requiem” from 1985 and “The Sprig of Thyme” song cycle, published in 1994. Maestro Mello himself wants concertgoers to know “This is John Rutter at his best. Simply beautiful music that is a joy to sing.”

The concert is free, with a free-will offering gratefully accepted. Funding has been made possible, in part, by the Warren County Cultural and Heritage Division.