Culture

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present French-Algerian acoustic guitarist, singer and composer Pierre Bensusan at Next Stage on Friday, April 18 at 7:30 pm. If World Music is music that pays tribute to the spirit of a collection of human beings through distinct rhythms, traditional instruments and harmonic colors, Pierre Bensusan can be recognized as one of the most eloquent and diverse world musicians of our time.

Born in Oran, French-Algeria, in 1957, when France was decolonizing its Empire, Pierre Bensusan’s family moved to Paris when he was 4. He began formal studies on piano at the age of 7 and at 11 taught himself guitar. Influenced in those early days by the folk revival blooming in Britain, France and North America, Bensusan began first to explore his own diverse musical heritage and then moved to the horizons beyond. At 17, he signed his first recording contract, and one year later his first album “Pres de Paris” won the Grand Prix du Disque upon his debut at the Montreux Festival in Switzerland.

The Vermont Jazz Center will be presenting an evening dedicated to the memory of former board president, trumpeter and educator, Howard Brofsky on Saturday, April 19th at 8:00 PM. This special tribute will include performances by his close musical colleagues and family. In every community that Brofsky settled, be it Queens College, the Louis Armstrong House, the Vermont Jazz Center, or Brattleboro, Vermont, the people have benefited from his wisdom, charm and generosity. Like a single pebble in the water, his spirit lives on through the actions of his family, colleagues, students and friends who continue to channel his enthusiasm and his dedication to the spreading of jazz.

This Saturday evening concert will celebrate Howard’s life through music. Performers will include New York-based musicians Jay Clayton, Cordelia Tapping (voice), Alex Brofsky (horn), Tim Armacost (saxophones), Ray Gallon, Jorn Swart, (piano), Curtis Ostle (bass); local musicians will include Scott Mullett, Sherm Fox (saxophone), Draa Hobbs (guitar), Eugene Uman (piano), George Kaye (bass), Jon Fisher, Claire Arenius (drums). It is likely that surprise guests will appear at the last minute. It will be limited to two-hours.

Lee Chaney had a life-long love of musical instruments, especially those with keyboards.  Over the years he built a sizeable personal collection of instruments of a wide variety, even setting up a small museum in his home so that others could view his collection.  Formerly a Professor of Educational Psychology at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama for over 40 years, Chaney retired to Clinton, NC. He died there on March 4, 2012.

Recently, his son, John Chaney, decided that the Estey Organ Museum in Brattleboro was an appropriate home for a number of these instruments.  In addition to several Estey reed organs, the collection included instruments by other builders who had a historical relationship with Estey, notably Riley Burdett of Putney, as well as instruments illustrating the development of the American reed organ. Further, the collection consisted of framed posters about organ building and other important archival memorabilia.

The Estey Organ Museum will host a Tour of Estey Organs in Brattleboro, VT on Saturday, May 17, beginning at 1:00 PM. The tour will begin at the First United Methodist Church (home of Estey Opus 1 from 1901) on Putney Rd and conclude at the Museum, 108 Birge Street. Eight pipe organs will be visited, most of which are in playing condition.

The event will include brief demonstration programs on most of the organs. Participants will receive handout sheets describing each instrument and its history. Refreshments will be served at the Museum, and visitors will see and hear the Estey “walk-through” pipe organ as well as other reed organs on display.

1:00 First United Methodist Church, Putney Road
1:30 St. Michael’s Catholic Church, 47 Walnut Street

Kurn Hattin holds its 7th Annual Jazz Invitational TONIGHT at 7 PM in the Higbie Auditorium in the Mayo Memorial Center at Kurn Hattin in Westminster, VT. With performances by several special guests and area youth jazz ensembles, it’s sure to be an amazing evening of swinging entertainment! AND…admission is FREE with a canned food donation for Our Place Food Shelter in Bellows Falls.

Need more encouragement? Here are our top 5 reasons why you ought to be there!

1) You’ll enjoy the sultry New Orleans sounds of local jazz singer, Samirah Evans, up close and personal!

2) Scott Mullett and the Keene Jazz Orchestra really know how to bring the swing!

3) Master of Ceremonies, Eugene Uman of the Vermont Jazz Center, makes everything go down smooth.

Sacred Works of Schütz and Mendelssohn
Directed by Mary Westbrook-Geha 

This weekend, the Blanche Moyse Chorale will make a joyful noise with performances of sacred works by the German composers Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) and Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). The concert will be performed twice: at 8:00 P.M. on Friday, April 11, at the Immanuel Episcopal Church in Bellows Falls, VT, and at 3:00 P.M. on Sunday, April 13, at Centre Congregational Church, in Brattleboro, VT.

Under the direction of Mary Westbrook-Geha, the Chorale will treat its audience to a rich selection of a cappella works by Schütz , from the heart of the Baroque period, and by Mendelssohn, from the heart of the Romantic period. The selected texts used by both composers are similar — either psalms or shorter biblical excerpts — but their musical settings are strikingly different. The contrast between their dynamic, harmonic, and polyphonic treatment opens a fascinating window into the cultural evolution that took place over the two centuries between the composers’ births. The concert’s title, “Make a Joyful Noise”, is derived from the text of Psalm 100, which appears twice in the program, in contrasting musical interpretations by both Mendelssohn and Schütz.