Saturday night, I had the opportunity to go to the Latchis Theatre and see a live event.
The Latchis is a beautiful theatre, and I was very happy to see a live performance in the space.
The evening, properly titled "Collegiate A Cappella Evening" was birthed by BUHS junior Carolyn Wesley. Dede Cunmmings and Kevin Ryan assisted her in the assembly of an excellent evening of a cappella(why there was only one cappella, I'll never know), and it was a benefit for the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center.
The performance began with "Big Sky," directed by Seth Houston and Julia Slone. The chorus is 21 strong, and the singers are teenagers from Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. I found this group to be very talented, and well rehearsed(two important aspects of good groups- one cannot ride on talent alone-darn). The songs were well arranged, and sounded excellent in the old theatre.
The hand-picked BUHS Madrigals followed up with several songs, and they as well sonded excellent- a very well balanced group. Many kudos to Mitch Davis, their director of 25 years, for assembling such an excellent group. Music is not in so dire a state as I thought if these singers continue to contribute.
Shoulder Narrows, a student run and directed group of BUHS young men, equipped with glorious headgear, ssang well and ushered out the high-school-aged section of the performance.
The Five O'Clock Belles, now independant, formed five years ago at Marlboro. They sounded very good in their two numbers-one of which had only been practiced that morning.
Wesleyans's Quasimodal group, their oldest a cappella group, followed up, and provided even more excellent music. John Wesley, '06, is one of the locals who helped bring this show to Brattleboro.
Tufts University's Amalgamates continued the show, with Sean Ryan of Dummerston('07) their excuse for appearing.
The Jabberwocks, of Brown University, with Sam Carmichael(and his secret twin brother) representing their local connection, finished up the evening, with yet more fine singing.
This was an excellent event which packed the house, and I hope that the Latchis decides to organize more live performance events- the evening was memorable, and I was very happy to have been able to be present.