Affordable Top-Quality Arts at St. John’s in the Village

NEW YORK – As 2019 comes to a close, St. John’s in the Village, an Episcopal Church in the heart of Greenwich Village, New York is completing an enriching year of art, music, drama, literature, and comedy with its curated presentations throughout December. Each program is thoughtfully planned out by the church’s respected and exuberant rector, Father Graeme Napier, and his devoted staff of clergy, students, volunteers, and interns. 

Bringing affordable arts to all those who live in New York City and surrounding areas, St. John’s in the Village represents the trend to feature diversity as part of its mission statement. All are welcome either to pray, meditate, enjoy the arts and, in the warmer weather, sample wine and food in the garden before and after selected events. A true community, which welcomes residents, day-trippers, or tourists visiting the Big Apple, St. John’s embodies the traditional charms associated with the life and art of the West Village.  

Offering local and touring artists the ability to share their talents, St. John’s makes available the church itself and Revelation Gallery as venues for concerts and exhibits. Each month there is either a new artist’s or photographer’s exhibit in the gallery; every Tuesday there are also concerts and/or shows there, and these in addition to four or five concerts in the church each week. Both the chapel and the gallery house impressive grand pianos; a harpsichord stands poetically in the solarium area, where people gather to converse while looking out at the enchanting garden. The acoustics in both church and gallery are comparable to those of small concert halls. 

In addition, the church’s St. John’s Theater currently hosts Rattlestick Playwrights. A review in the New York Times during the theater’s recent production of NOVENAS FOR A LOST HOSPITAL (a play about the demise of the West Village’s long-standing St. Vincent’s Hospital) helped to generate sold-out performances and an extended run. 

All performances have a suggested ticket price of between $10 to $20, a far cry from the current Broadway ticket prices, especially for such world-class talent. As the West Village becomes more and more gentrified with residential and commercial rental prices soaring, and trendy restaurants and boutiques aimed at the wealthy continuing to sprout, while other established legendary spots are closing, the city’s original famed bohemian flavor is still fresh at St. John’s in the Village. Below are a few of the exciting programs coming up in December.

December 3: Opening night in Revelation Gallery featuring the city landscapes of watercolorist Kaz Kazuya Morimoto. Website: https://www.kazuyamorimoto.com/

December 7: St. John’s Resident String Group Quartet performs Mozart Music for Piano and Strings; Jack Kulowicz, Music Director

December 14:  A celebration of Judith Baumel’s (Walt Whitman Award recipient) new book Passeggiate. An extraordinary new book of poetry with reading and concert of songs, featuring soprano Amber Evans. The program will also include new music from composer Sidney Boquiren, who has set three poems from Passeggiate, as well as a song by Tom Cipullo “Two Men Loved Me Once” from Baumel’s first book of poems. Author Website: http://www.judithbaumel.com/

For more information on times and tickets please visit: ARTS AT ST. JOHN'S / http://www.stjvny.org/