After a four-decade tenure, Richard Coffey, who founded CONCORA (Connecticut Choral Artists) as the region’s first all-professional choir in 1974, will step down as artistic director at the conclusion of the 2013–14 season. CONCORA’s board of directors will launch a national search for the next artistic director, who is expected to lead the ensemble for the 2015–16 season.
With the support of South Church, New Britain, Richard Coffey founded the South Church Choral Society, as CONCORA was then known, in 1974; the group has presented choral repertoire, especially the works of J. S. Bach and of contemporary composers. In his final performance with CONCORA in March 2014, Coffey will lead Bach’s Mass in B Minor.
Under Coffey’s leadership, CONCORA established educational and outreach programs. CONCORA-to-Go, a professional vocal quartet, takes choral music into the public schools. The Extraordinary Concert Series, established in 1993, features select high school and college choirs and CONCORA’s professional singers. The Summer Festival, now in its 15th year, brings together amateur singers, from high school age to adult, to work with Coffey and CONCORA singers. For 2013, Coffey has selected Brahms’s German Requiem.
This fall, CONCORA’s board of directors will establish the Connecticut Choral Artists Endowment Fund in Honor of Richard M. Coffey, to support the commissioning of new choral works, and live performances and recordings of contemporary classical masterworks.
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