Two upcoming concerts of Cache Valley's American Festival Chorus have personal connections for Craig Jessop, the group's conductor.

Famed English composer John Rutter has been a friend and musical colleague for more than 25 years, which gives the conductor unusual insight into works on the all-Rutter program on Nov. 7.

A Nov. 11 Veterans Day concert has significance, too, as Jessop is a retired military officer whose U.S. Air Force career included four years stationed in Europe.

"The purpose of this concert is to say we're not going to forget our veterans, or those currently on active duty," Jessop said. "I know their sacrifice, and I wanted to honor our veterans here in this region."

Lt. Col. Gary Griffin, USAF retired, will be master of ceremonies for the evening, which will feature military officers from the Cache Valley area. The Utah State University orchestra will accompany the chorus in a program of patriotic favorites.

Rutter's "Mass of the Children," written in 2003, is the centerpiece of the Nov. 7 concert. Jessop believes the piece was the composer's way of working through grief over the death of his son Christopher in an auto-pedestrian accident in 2001. "For any parent, that's a devastating experience," Jessop said. "There is a certain poignancy about 'Mass of the Children' that has to me a cathartic kind of effect. It celebrates the joy of life and the need to take advantage of every moment."

The Cache Valley Children's Choir will join the American Festival Chorus for the Mass, and in rehearsals, Jessop shared the meaning of the piece to the composer's life. "It makes it so much more meaningful to the kids to understand why they are singing the words they are and how it relates to what the composer was going through," said Jill DeVilbiss, director of the auditioned children's choir. "He doesn't talk down to them. He treats them like musicians -- which they are."

Other pieces on the program include Rutter favorites such as "All Things Bright and Beautiful" and "The Lord Bless You and Keep You."

Part of Rutter's genius is his ability to write music that spans a broad spectrum, including difficult masterworks as well as popular pieces accessible to school and church choirs, Jessop said.

"He is one of the great choral composers of the 20th century, now continuing into the 21st," Jessop said of Rutter. "The quality of his craftsmanship is superb, but he never loses his touch with the common man. It is no secret why he has become such a beloved composer among choral musicians."

Freelance writer Celia Baker has a daughter who sings in the American Festival Chorus.