St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Woodbury will fill its sanctuary with jazz standards, Broadway classics, and patriotic favorites on October 16, when veteran musicians Tony Nalker and Bob McDonald return for a benefit concert honoring the 250th anniversary of the United States. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., when guests can buy raffle tickets for gift baskets in the parish hall; a light reception follows the concert. The concert itself starts at 7 p.m. at the church, located at 294 Main Street South.
The event, billed as a reunion of sorts after a performance at St. Paul's last year, pairs pianist Nalker with vocalist McDonald and an ensemble the two musicians describe as their musical friends, according to Prime Publishers. Both are military veterans who have performed at the White House, the Super Bowl, the World Series, and for presidents and heads of state around the world, the outlet reports. The Very Reverend Tuesday Rupp, rector at St. Paul's, called last year's concert “wildly wonderful” and “a huge hit,” and the same report notes she's inviting veterans and music-lovers alike to this year's show — where she'll also step out from behind the pulpit for a guest turn as a jazz vocalist.
Two Decorated Military Musicians Share the Stage
Nalker spent nearly three decades as pianist and enlisted leader of the Army Blues, the U.S. Army's premiere jazz ensemble, serving from 1989 to 2016, according to the same Prime Publishers account. He's performed on USO tours to Iraq and Afghanistan and on State Department-sponsored musical diplomacy tours to Russia, Kenya, and Ethiopia, the report notes. Since retiring from the Army, he has become a fixture of Washington's jazz scene, serving as pianist for the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra since 2005 and as pianist for Hal Leonard Publishing's Jazz Play-Along series, which produced nearly 200 instructional books with CDs.
McDonald, meanwhile, led the U.S. Army Chorus as group leader for more than 26 years before retiring in 2020, per the same account. He and his father are the only father-son duo in the history of the Army Chorus, according to NHL.com, with McDonald's father also having served as a professional singer in the same elite unit. McDonald has sung the national anthem at the Super Bowl and World Series and, according to Prime Publishers' 2026 concert report, is in his 31st season singing the anthem for the Washington Capitals.
Songbook Spans Berlin, Gershwin and Broadway's Golden Age
McDonald said the concert will draw heavily from the Great American Songbook — the catalog of popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century written for Broadway, musical theatre, and Hollywood, per Prime Publishers. Expect material from Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, and Lerner and Loewe, the outlet reports, alongside well-known standards and patriotic favorites fitting the night's theme.
Suggested donation at the door is $30, with a $20 rate for active military and veterans, according to the same report. Raffle tickets for numerous gift baskets will be sold through a drawing at the end of the evening, and the night wraps with a light reception featuring beer, wine, prosecco, sparkling water, non-alcoholic punch, and desserts. Proceeds will support the mission and ministries of St. Paul's, Prime Publishers notes.
A Sanctuary Tied to the Episcopal Church's Founding
St. Paul's was organized in 1740, and in March 1783, ten Anglican clergymen gathered at the Glebe House to elect Samuel Seabury as the first Episcopal bishop in the United States — a meeting that earned Woodbury recognition as the birthplace of the Episcopal Church in America, according to Historic Buildings of Connecticut.
Seabury's path to the bishopric wasn't simple. British bishops refused to consecrate him in 1783 because he could not take an oath of allegiance to King George III, so he traveled to Aberdeen, Scotland, where Scottish Episcopal bishops consecrated him in November 1784, according to Today in Connecticut History. That Scottish connection is why the Episcopal Church flag today features the Cross of St. Andrew.
Rupp, who was installed as rector of St. Paul's in December 2019 after beginning her ministry there in 2018, brings a professional music background to her role leading the Woodbury parish, according to the church's own account on its website. That history makes her guest vocalist appearance at this particular concert feel less like a novelty and more like a continuation of the building's long relationship with music and ceremony.
Concert Proceeds Feed a Bigger Community Project
The timing also lines up with a broader statewide commemoration. Governor Ned Lamont established the America 250 | CT Commission by executive order on July 1, 2022, launching a multi-year initiative supporting local 250th-anniversary events across all 169 Connecticut municipalities through 2026, according to CT.gov. The commission is administered by CT Humanities.
Closer to home, St. Paul's completed a capital campaign raising nearly $500,000 for renovations to its lower parish hall, according to a St. Paul's Facebook post.
Woodbury itself, founded in 1673, is widely known as Connecticut's antiques capital. The church sits on Main Street South — the same road where, nearly 250 years after Seabury's election, neighbors will gather this month to sing through the Great American Songbook.
