St. John’s Hosts Inaugural “Music for a Mission” Concert to Support Social Awareness

St. John’s Episcopal Church hosted its first-ever Music for a Mission concert, drawing over 200 attendees to its historic downtown Stamford sanctuary last Saturday night. The event, led by the Church’s acclaimed Music Director Chris Shepard—who also serves as Artistic Director of CONCORA, Connecticut’s oldest professional choir—featured a moving performance of Ed Tyler’s “An American Requiem.”

The benefit concert, offered free to the public, was designed to bring the community together through music while raising awareness and support for Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing violence in schools, homes, and communities. Donations from the evening will directly fund Sandy Hook Promise’s Know the Signs violence-prevention programs, which are often provided at no cost to schools. These include the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System and other initiatives that empower students and educators nationwide to recognize and intervene when warning signs of violence or self-harm appear.

In alignment with the evening’s message, Lieutenant Junes of the Stamford Police Department announced that his team will participate in the Annual Keep Kids Safe Gun Buyback program, scheduled for Saturday, November 1, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“An American Requiem” began as a deeply personal response by composer Ed Tyler, who spent more than a decade processing feelings of grief, anger, and helplessness in the wake of mass and school shootings. Originally written as poems, short essays, and reflections, these writings were later paired with the traditional Latin Requiem Mass and newly crafted poems to form the work’s libretto. Tyler composed the majority of the music in July 2023, and the piece premiered in May 2025 with Shepard and CONCORA at Hartford’s Asylum Hill Congregational Church as part of the Music for Humanity series.

Tyler, who recently retired after 35 years of teaching, has dedicated himself to composing music that provides solace and inspiration for those affected by gun violence. An American Requiem is dedicated to all victims of gun violence, and its performance at St. John’s was supported by the St. John’s Community Foundation, whose mission is to nurture the spiritual well-being of the community while addressing urgent needs that impact daily life.

“Music has the power to move us all,” said Shepard. “It is therapeutic and can foster a sense of peace, hope, and connection to something greater than oneself.”