The adult choir plays an integral leadership role in the services at St. Johns Episcopal Church in Vernon, CT, in which they sing anthems, service music and hymns, as well as special music. The dedicated choir sings a wide variety of repertoire ranging from baroque, classical and romantic period repertoire, to folk, contemporary Christian and praise music. The choir sings at the 10 a.m. service from early September through mid June, with morning rehearsals at 8:45 and post-service rehearsals from 11:30 - 12:30 p.m. There are occasional extra rehearsals to prepare for special services, such as the Christmas Eve 5 p.m. service. During Holy Week, the choir sings on Palm Sunday, at both the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday evening services, and at the 10:30 a.m. Easter service. Throughout the year, the choir is joined periodically by instrumentalists and professional singers. All are welcome to join the adult choir at St. John’s, Vernon! Singers with some previous singing and/or choral experience are encouraged to join. Reading music is not a requirement! For information, please contact St. John’s music director, Zoe Vandermeer at zoevandermeer@gmail.com
Zoe Vandermeer is the music director at St. John’s, Vernon. Ms. Vandermeer enjoys working with a wide variety of voices and skill levels, bringing the music together into a cohesive whole, serving the liturgical themes each Sunday, and providing a moment of reflection and inspiration for the congregation. When selecting music for the choir, she takes into account the individual strengths of the choir members, their preferences, and enthusiasm to try new things. The choir has sung music by J.S. Bach, Saint-Saens, Natalie Sleeth, John Rutter, Mary MacDonald, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Frank Martin, Jay Althouse, Irish folk songs, and more!
Zoe accompanies the choral anthems primarily on the Steinway and Sons fully refurbished 1890 grand piano, and she has also played her beautiful Celtic harp with the choir, sometimes with flute. The choir has also joined in with handbells and percussion instruments on occasion.
Zoe sings professionally, has performed internationally as an operatic singing harpist, and is a prize-winning graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. On the Roster of the CT Commission on Culture and Tourism, she is currently studying for her Masters degree in Research in Performance Practice at the University of Birmingham United Kingdom (online program). She has been a recipient of numerous awards, scholarships, and prizes, and is a recording artist.