Richard Coffey has announced his forthcoming retirement as minister of music and organist of the South Church in New Britain, Connecticut, effective June 2017, ending a tenure of 45 years.
Coffey came to South Church in 1972, just after receiving a master of sacred music degree from the School of Sacred Music of Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He established the Music Series at South Church in 1973, the South Church Choral Society (now known as CONCORA, Connecticut Choral Artists), the region’s first all-professional concert choir, in 1974, and the Main Street Children’s Choir (originally called the Main Street Singers), a non-sectarian, auditioned vocal ensemble, in 2002. CONCORA become an independent organization in 1985. Coffey was its artistic director for 40 years, stepping down from that role in 2014.
Coffey has presented choral workshops, masterclasses, seminars, and concerts for the American Choral Directors Association and the American Guild of Organists. In 1979 he won a premier prix in organ playing, following studies with organist Marie-Claire Alain at the Ecole Nationale de Musique in Reuill-Malmaison, France.
