R. Franklin Donohue Music Studio

This forty-minute program features a collection of “New Songs” and Hymns published in Connecticut during the American Revolution. From the time of the Stamp Act through the British surrender at Yorktown, Connecticut’s seditious colonists used these works to foment rebellion, commemorate victory, and give thanks for preservation. Richard Franklin Donohue, Tenor & Harpsichord, will explore this fiery repertoire that in the words of John Adams “cultivated the sensations of Freedom.” As many of these songs were also published in other areas,What a Glorious Crash They Made can be easily modified for performance throughout New England.

This program has been presented at the Granby Public Library ~ Lyme Public Library ~ Stone Ridge Retirement, Mystic ~ New London Maritime Society ~ Quinebaug Valley LIR, Danielson, CT ~ Commonwealth Senior Living, Haddam, ~ Vernon Senior Center ~ Elmwood Senior Center, West Hartford, CT ~ Canterbury Historical Society ~ Putnam Park, Redding ~ East Lyme Historical Society ~ Ashlar Village, Masonicare, Wallingford ~ Chester Public Library ~

Upcoming Dates:

Thursday, May 22, 2025 at 7:30 - Brooklyn Historical Society

Sunday, June 1, 2025 at 2:00 - North Stonington Historical Society

Tuesday, July 1, 2025 at 6:30 - Bristol Public Library

Thursday, July 3, 2025 - Private Events at Pomperaug Woods, Southbury

Saturday, July 12, 2025 at 3:00 - North Haven Historical Society

Saturday, August 2, 2025 at 7:00 - Blanford Historical Society, Blanford, MA

Wednesday, August 27, 2025 at 6:00 - Stonington Historical Society, LaGrua Center

Thursday, September 18, 2025 at 6:30 - Berlin-Peck Memorial Library, Berlin, CT

2026!

Saturday, May 2, 2026 - Town of Thomson, CT

June 7, 2026 - North Stonington, Historical Society

June 14, 2026 - Mary Clap Wooster D.A.R. - Hamden, CT

Cantica Nativitatis has been presented in the following places:

Covenant Living, Cromwell, Connecticut ~ Granby Public Library, Granby, Connecticut ~ Hall Memorial Library, Ellington, Connecticut ~ Manchester Public Library, Manchester, Connecticut ~ Chester Public Library, Chester, Connecticut ~Palmer House, Stonington, Connecticut ~ Naugatuck Historical Society, Naugatuck, Connecticut ~ Creamery Brook, Brooklyn, Connecticut ~ Caterbury Historical Society ~ Addison Place, Glastonbury ~ The Ivy at Ellington ~ Ashlar Village ~ The Residence At Glastonbury ~ The Mystic & Noank Library, Mystic ~ Stonebridge Retirement, Mystic ~ Colebrook Village, Hebron ~ Commonwealth Senior Living, Haddam ~ Somers Public Library~ Seymour Public Library ~ Ashlar Village, Wallingford ~ Bristol Public Library ~ Elmwood Senior Center, West Hartford, ~ Ashbel Woodward Museum, Franklin, CT

2025 Dates:

Wednesday, December 3, 2025 at 7:00 Old Saybrook

Sunday, December 7, 2025 at 2:00 Stanley-Whitman House, Farmington

Friday, December 19, 2025 - Private Event at Executive Square, Weathersfield

Saturday, December 20, 2025 at 2:00 - South Windsor Public Library

From a gracious audience member in Manchester last year:

Richard Donohue performed superbly, even transcendently. He presented a beautiful blend of familiar and unfamiliar selections evoking many different times and places, deftly handling half a dozen languages -- Latin, French, German, Middle English, even Basque (!!) -- and introducing several selections beyond what we typically hear at Christmas. His magnificent voice adapted effortlessly to each style of music -- from the rousing "Cantique de Noël" (O Holy Night), to a tender, heart-melting 16th-century lullaby to the Infant Jesus, to two jaunty wassail songs where he invited the audience of join in on the chorus. I think some of this new music is destined to become new favorites in my family. Today (the day after) I can't stop humming and singing the chorus of one of the wassails we heard last night!

But it wasn't just a fabulous concert. Donohue gave an introduction to each piece that was a perfect blend of erudition and accessibility. Piece by piece, he wove a narrative of Christmas celebrations throughout the centuries. It was a wide-ranging historical presentation that moved seamlessly across eras and that left you, at the end, with the sense that you understood all of history and all of humanity better. But the history wasn't only intellectually interesting -- it felt deeply personal and invited us to contemplate our own place in history and our connection with all who have gone before us in celebrating Christmas.

I'm not sure whether to rate Donohue's scholarship, delivery and audience rapport, or musicianship more highly! He did an amazing job blending the highest order of all three, and I hope you'll have him back again and again for more presentations.

This program has been presented throughout Connecticut in the following venues:

Cromwell Historical Society ~ Berlin Historical Society ~ East Lyme Historical Society ~ Andover Public Library ~ Branford Historical Society ~ Bridgewater Public Library ~ Covenant Living of Cromwell ~ Derby Historical Society ~ Derby Public Library ~ East Hartford Public Library ~ Ellington Public Library ~ Essex Meadows ~ Glastonbury Historical Society ~ Goshen Public Library ~ Manchester Public Library ~ Mansfield Public Library ~ Norwalk Historical Society - Southington Historical Society ~ Pomperaug Woods (Southbury) ~ Lutheran Home (Southbury) ~ Watermark East Hill ~ The Village at South Farms, Middletown ~ Granby Public Library ~ Evergreen Woods, North Branford ~ Salmon Brook Historical Society ~ Creamery Brook, Brooklyn ~ Atria, Waterford ~ The Hearth at Glastonbury ~ Old Lyme Historical Society ~ Naugatuck Historical Society ~ Westbrook Historical Society ~ Brooklyn Historical Society ~ Addison Place, Glastonbury ~ Thomaston Senior Center ~ Kent Historical Society ~

Upcoming Dates:

The Town of Iron Toys has been presented throughout the region in the following venues: Cromwell Historical Society ~ Covenant Living of Cromwell ~ Village at South Farms. Middletown ~Atria, Stamford~ Evergreen Woods, North Branford~ Village Gate of Farmington~ River Valley Retirement, Trumbull ~ Willington Historical Society ~ Crescent Point, Niantic ~ Woodbury Public Library ~ Stratford Public Library ~ Manchester Public Library ~ Creamery Brook, Brooklyn ~ Rockville Public Library ~ Granby Public Library ~Slater Library, Jewett City ~ Canterbury Historical Society ~ Masonicare at Ashlar Village, Wallingford ~ Kent Historical Society ~ Richard Storrs Library, Long Meadow, MA ~ South Hadley Public Library ~ Old Lyme Historical Society ~ Andover Public Library~ Granville Public Library, Granville, MA ~ Simsbury Public Library ~ Addison Place, Glastonbury ~ East Hampton Historical Society ~ Enfield Public Library ~ East Lyme Historical Society ~ East Providence Public Library ~ Derby Public Library ~ Newtown Historical Society ~ Dudley Farm, Guilford ~ Scranton Memorial Library, Madison ~ Brooklyn Historical Society~ Cromwell Senior Center~ Gladys E. Kelly Library, Webster, MA ~ Chapel Hill Retirement, Cumberland, RI ~ Turkey Hills Study Club, East Granby, CT ~ Plainfield Historical Society, Plainfield, CT ~ Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT ~ Selleck's Woods, Darien, CT,~ Hopkinton Historical Association, Richmond, RI ~ East Granby Historical Society

Upcoming Dates:

Friday, June 25, 2025 - South Windsor Senior Center

Richard Franklin Donohue

History & Music

2026!

The World War One Memorials of Connecticut

The Town of iron toys:

the mechanical banks of the J.&E. Stevens Company

Topics in Cromwell History

ROsetown Review

Monthly articles published in the Cromwell Life