Music

Sunday, November 23 there will be a contra dance at the “Stone Church” on Main St in Brattleboro. Dances will be called by Quena Crain, with live music from Everest Witman, Peter Siegel and Audrey Knuth. Witman, 16, is the youngest of this trio, and is a thoughtful, intelligent and clearly-spoken young man with the ability to laugh at himself. He and his band, Nova, appeared earlier this year at the Brattleboro Contra Dance to loud cheering and stomping from the crowd of dancers.

Witman is this year’s recipient of the Johnny Trombly Memorial Scholarship. The fund was established to support and encourage young musicians interested in playing instruments used for traditional New England dance music.

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present veteran folk/rock icon Jonathan Edwards plus singer/songwriter Lisa McCormick and newgrass/contemporary folk trio The Stockwell Brothers at Next Stage on Sunday, November 16 at 7:30 pm. Southern Vermont-based Lisa and brothers Bruce, Barry and Alan have toured with Jonathan in the past, and will again add their voices, guitars, banjo, mandolin and bass to “Sunshine,” Shanty” and a handful of his other hit songs.

The Vermont Jazz Center welcomes two treasured alumni to perform at the Vermont Jazz Center on November 15th at 8:00 PM as part of their Emerging Artist Series. After years of study and performance, vocalists Sarah Elizabeth Charles and Integriti Reeves have risen from dedicated students to seasoned professionals and in doing so have cultivated respect from peers and professionals throughout the national jazz scene.

When Integriti and Sarah Elizabeth began their studies with Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton at the VJC’s summer jazz workshop about 10 years ago, the seeds of their commitment, self-discipline, diligent effort and abundant talent were already bearing fruit. Both have recently completed their academic training and are currently “in the trenches,” teaching, recording and confidently performing at some of jazz’s most prestigious venues. Their hard work has paid off and “now is the time” for them to develop recognition amongst a wider public.

Please join us for another Friends of the Library fundraising concert on Friday, November 7, 7:30 PM, with Vermont folk-based traditions duo Hungrytown.

Hungrytown is the musical and married duo of Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson. They have released two highly acclaimed CDs, Hungrytown (2008) and Any Forgotten Thing (2011), both of which continue to receive much airplay on folk and Americana stations worldwide. Tickets are available at Main Circulation Desk and at Brattleboro Tix, $10, Friends of Library member; $15/non-member.

Electric Fence Halloween Dance

Reaper Madness – Dance , Drink, Scream

at Pleasant Valley Brewing

Halloween

8 to 10:30 pm

On November 1st at 8:00 PM, The Vermont Jazz Center will present 3-time Grammy Winner, Jeff Coffin, saxophonist for the Dave Matthews Band and Béla Fleck’s Flecktones. At the VJC, he’ll be performing with the Mu’tet, a group that reflects Coffin’s philosophy that “music must change and mutate in order to evolve.” Their repertoire consists of catchy tunes set over an array of complex feels: deep funk, New Orleans, Latin and swing. Their sound is propelled by rhythms you’ve never heard before and imbued with world music influences. The surprise factor is that the compositions are often in odd meters, delivered over precise, danceable grooves.

Twilight Music and Next Stage Arts Project present International Bluegrass Music Association award-winning mandolin prodigy Sierra Hull and her Tennessee-based bluegrass quintet Highway 111 at Next Stage on Sunday, October 26 at 7:30 pm.

Sierra Hull is a leading light in the new generation of bluegrass musicians. Her phenomenal mandolin playing, eloquent vocals and musical maturity well beyond her years have drawn comparisons to Alison Krauss. A seasoned performer, Sierra has appeared on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and the Grand Ole Opry radio and television shows, as well as at numerous music festivals including Merlefest, the Newport Folk Festival, Rockygrass and the Carnegie Hall Family Concert Series. She has shared the stage with the likes of Alison Krauss, Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs, Bobby McFerrin and Edgar Meyer.

All Souls Day falls on Sunday, November 2, and marks a collaboration between Brattleboro Area Hospice and Friends of Music at Guilford. FOMAG’s “Rest in Peace” concert, co-directed by Tom Baehr and Amy Cann, begins at 3:00 p.m. that afternoon in the sanctuary of Guilford Community Church. Two song series and a few instrumental interludes are featured in this first of four arts programs—including music, art, film, and theater—scheduled during the “Love Lives On” series honoring Hospice’s 35th Anniversary in November.

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present singer, guitarist, fiddler and banjo player Sam Amidon and his band at New England Youth Theatre on Wednesday, October 22 at 7:30 pm.

Sam Amidon grew up immersed in folk as part of a musical family based in Brattleboro, VT. His parents, Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, perform and teach traditional forms of song, dance and storytelling, and his brother Stefan plays drums with the Sweetback Sisters. Sam started on fiddle at the age of three and by eleven had formed a band called Popcorn Behavior, with childhood friend Thomas Bartlett and younger brother Stefan, to play New England fiddle tunes. They toured internationally, gathering attention from NPR, CNN and The Boston Globe, and released five albums. Sam’s first solo album, released in 2001, was a collection of traditional Irish fiddle tunes, simply titled “Solo Fiddle.”

Saturday, October 18th, the Brattleboro Farmers’ Market hosts live music by Mary Lea and friends from 11-1.

As always, there’s lots of great produce at the market and this time of year there are bountiful apples, pears, cider, donuts and pies from local orchards, plus pumpkins, winter squash (including bulk sales!), potatoes, onions, hardy fall greens, fresh lettuces and bunched carrots and beets, and lots more.

Brattleboro singer/songwriter and guitar instructor, Lisa McCormick, is teaching the world to how play the guitar. Senior faculty with the leading online guitar education provider, GuitarTricks, McCormick’s comprehensive new Guitar Fundamentals course went live on the internet on October 10. 

“Hundreds of thousands of people are going to learn to play the guitar from this course,” says Jon Broderick, Founder and CEO of GuitarTricks. The online education site has a subscription base of over two million members. 

McCormick has been teaching guitar in the Brattleboro area for over 20 years, combining her professional music skills with her Bachelors of Science degree in Education. 

The Vermont Jazz Center will present the Dafnis Prieto and his creative working ensemble called the Si o Si Quartet. This group features Prieto on drums and percussion with longtime collaborators Peter Apfelbaum on saxophones, Manuel Valera on piano and Johannes Weidenmueller on bass. Bass Musician states: To “hear such a world class quartet navigating this music live is an experience not to be forgotten.”

The Vermont Jazz Center will receive an Acclaim Award from Chamber Music America on Saturday, October 18th at 8:00 PM during a concert offered by Cuban drum virtuoso, Dafnis Prieto.  The concert and award ceremony will take place at the Vermont Jazz Center, 72 Cotton Mill Hill, in Brattleboro, Vermont.

The CMA Acclaim award recognizes “extraordinary cultural contributions in a locality or region.” The CMA Acclaim award is offered by Chamber Music America (http://www.chamber-music.org/) an institution that serves thousands of members through  grants, commissions, networking opportunities a monthly magazine and an annual conference in New York City. CMA’s definition of chamber music “encompasses myriad forms including contemporary and traditional jazz, classical and world genres.”  Their membership includes musicians, presenters, educators, patrons, managers and producers.

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present contemporary folk singer/songwriter Patty Larkin at Next Stage on Saturday, September 27 at 7:30pm.

Patty Larkin is a true phenomenon among singer/songwriters in the American folk music scene today. She has been described as “riveting” by the Chicago Tribune, “hypnotic” by Entertainment Weekly and a “drop dead brilliant performer” by Performing Songwriter.

The Legacy Continues: T.S. Monk to kick off VJC Season on September 20th @ 8 pm

Short Summary
Who: T.S. Monk Sextet: T.S. Monk on drums and vocals, Josh Evans (trumpet), Willie Williams (tenor sax), Patience Higgins (alto sax), Brandon McCune (piano) and Belden Bullock (bass).

What: Hard-bop jazz influenced by the music of Thelonious Monk

The Brattleboro Women’s Chorus has openings for its 19th fall session. A new Thursday morning rehearsal time is being offered to accommodate women who might not be able to participate in the evening.

Registration is still open for the 2014 fall session on Wednesdays from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at All Souls Church in W. Brattleboro or alternatively on Thursday mornings from 10:00-12:00 at the Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro.

All women and girls over 10 are welcome, and there are no auditions. Songs are learned mostly by rote and by ear, and music is an eclectic mix from around the world that is spirited and spiritual. The theme this session is songs about travel, both near and far and staying home.

Guilford, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford’s 49th annual Labor Day Weekend Festival presents organ music in an intimate rural barn and orchestral works on the lawn just outside by composers from five countries who span four centuries.

The Festival opens on Saturday evening, August 30, at 7:30 with “Bs of the Baroque & More” on the Guilford Tracker Organ by William McKim, who has performed a number of past recitals of solo and ensemble works on this instrument. McKim has been organist for Friends of Music’s annual Community Messiah Sing in Brattleboro for 28 of the past 32 seasons and also performed as featured pianist or piano accompanist for several other Friends programs.

Brattleboro Music Center Fall Lessons & Classes

If you’ve always wanted to play an instrument, take voice lessons, or return to an instrument you put down long ago, this fall at the Brattleboro Music Center is the perfect opportunity to do so.  

The BMC’s fall semester begins the week of September 8th and offers individual lessons, as well as classes for kids, teens, and adults; instrumentalists, singers, and non-musicians; absolute beginners and accomplished musicians.  

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present International Bluegrass Music Association Banjo Player of the Year Tony Trischka and his band, plus and double banjo bluegrass quartet Hot Mustard at Next Stage on Friday, August 22 at 7:30 pm. In a consistently adventurous musical career that spans nearly half a century, Tony Trischka has established himself as one of America’s foremost visionaries of the five-string banjo and perhaps the most influential banjo player in the roots music world. Widely regarded as the most innovative banjoist of his generation, Tony’s dexterity and restless creative spirit have inspired generations of fans and acoustic musicians, including Bela Fleck – one of his early students.

BRATTLEBORO MUSIC CENTER

enriching lives through music

Does this cool weather have you thinking about fall?

We have many opportunities to enrich your life and help you enjoy something new this September.

Below, please take a look at our Music School offerings for all ages. Then next week, I will share news with you about the really spectacular concert season we have coming up. If you can’t wait, please visit  where you can always find the most up-to-date concert and program information as we post it.