Vermont Jazz Center Presents: Friday Jazz Walk and Emerging Artist Fest

The Vermont Jazz Center received a generous Arts Impact Award from the Vermont Arts Council and further support from the Windham Foundation to sponsor its second annual Emerging Arts Festival. This weekend’s activities will include a Jazz Walk during Brattleboro’s first Friday Gallery Walk. Seven different student groups will perform jazz music in five venues. The Festival will also include a Saturday afternoon workshop and evening concert at the VJC with renowned Cuban pianist, Harold López-Nussa and his quartet.

See below for schedule.


Fourth Annual Brattleboro Youth Rock Festival Comes to Town Saturday, September 28; Official 2019 Line-up Announced

Youth bands and solo artists from around New England are gearing up to take the stage at the Fourth Annual Brattleboro Youth Rock Festival. BrattRock 2019 comes to 118 Elliot in downtown Brattleboro on Saturday, September 28. Gates open at 2:30 PM and performances take place on two stages, one indoor and one outdoor, between 3:00 and 10:00 PM.

In addition to non-stop live music, the festival features food vendors, interactive performances by the New England Center for Circus Arts, crafts and games, and plenty of family fun. All are invited to attend this all-ages community event.


Puppets in Paradise

Sandglass Theater announces the return of our most beloved community event: Puppets in Paradise! This year we are thrilled to present this biennial fundraiser in partnership with Retreat Farm in Brattleboro. Retreat Farm, Ltd., is an independent nonprofit working to restore this Farm as a place for you to learn, play, and gather. 


Aug. 31 & Sept. 1: Organ Recital & Orchestra on Lawn

Guilford, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford’s (FOMAG) 54th Labor Day Weekend Festival begins, by tradition, with a 7:30 concert on Saturday night, August 31, in The Organ Barn at Tree Frog Farm in idyllic rural Guilford. Organist Robert Barney, who is related to several Guilford families, performs a program entitled “Bach: Friends & Family” with assistance from Boston soprano Janna Maria Fröhlich and Vermont flutist Amara Cunningham. Then, at 2:00 on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 1, the Guilford Festival Orchestra performs “European Tour,” a program of works by French and German composers, some with an Italian flair. Kenneth Olsson conducts over forty instrumentalists from the region and beyond, as well as soprano soloist Julie Olsson.


Watermelon Wine Song

What is it called when a song keeps going round in your head for days? This is one of them.

It’s a good song, so I want to share it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqV9NZSGIa4

George Burns (yeah, THAT George Burns) made a cover. He actually did a good job. I didn’t know he could sing.


Brattleboro Women’s Chorus Concerts this Weekend: Walk With Me

The Brattleboro Women’s Chorus will present their 23rd annual spring concert, “Walk With Me,” on Mother’s Day weekend at Centre Congregational Church. Joining director Becky Graber and the 80-voice chorus of women will be Cathy Martin on piano and Connie Green on flute.

Last summer, a group of singers from the chorus traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan to participate in the Sister Singers Festival, a gathering of women’s choruses from across the country. The “Walk With Me” repertoire was inspired by that trip and features songs of travel, migration, community, and home. One of the concert’s songs, “Winnebago” by David Maddux, about an obvious means of hitting the road, was heard at the festival.


Annual Gala Dance Party with Soulsha at Next Stage

Next Stage Arts Project will host its annual Gala Benefit Dance Party, to benefit Next Stage programming, featuring the Afro-Celtic Funk band Soulsha on Saturday, April 6 at 7:30 pm. The party will include an online auction, great food and a beer and wine cash bar. Ticket price includes dinner by Smokin’ Bowls.

Soulsha is a party, a revolution, and an adventure through different traditions. It brings together some of Boston’s top musicians in Scottish, West African and Funk music to create a sound you won’t find anywhere else on the planet Soulful call and response singing, masterful improvisation, traditional Sengalese and Scottish dancing and incredible energy make every Soulsha show and unforgettable live experience.


Holi: The Festival of Colors An Evening of Indian Classical Dance and Music

21March 2019, Brattleboro, Vermont:  As a benefit for Brattleboro Planned Parenthood,  kathak dancer Veronica Simas de Souza and cellist Jake Charkey will present an evening of Indian classical dance and music entitled Holi: The Festival of Colors on Thursday, March 21 at 7:00 pm at 118 Elliot in downtown Brattleboro. Doors open at 6:00 pm. Suggested donation of $10.  


On Banning Baby, It’s Cold Outside

One of the by products of the new ban on Baby, It’s Cold Outside is that I can’t stop humming it. It’s so eminently hummable.  It doesn’t help that we listened to four hours of Christmas music last night, or that I’ve heard everyone from Dolly Parton to Dean Martin sing it in cover versions going back to the 1940s.  In our extensive seasonal music collection, we must have at least a dozen versions and there are many more. 


Joyeux Noël: A French Christmas on Dec. 7 & 8

Guilford, Vt. — Friends of Music at Guilford (FOMAG) presents “Joyeux Noël,” its 46th Christmas at Christ Church program, at 7:30 on Friday, December 7, and again at 4:00 on Saturday, December 8. Traditional elements of this event include vocal and instrumental music of the season, an entertaining story with a holiday or winter theme, and a short carol sing. 

This year’s program is dedicated in memory of Neil Quinn, who passed away in mid-September. He served as Guilford’s town moderator for many years and was a long-time member of Christ Church Guilford Society, the nonprofit group that maintains this historic site, performing much of that work himself. An avid cyclist and skier, he founded and ran the West Hill Shop in Putney from 1971 through 2004.


48th Community Messiah Sing on Dec 1: A Benefit for the Homeless

Brattleboro, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford (FOMAG) invites singers and music lovers in the Tri-State region to start their holiday season at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 1, with the 48th annual Community Messiah Sing, a benefit for the homeless. Centre Congregational Church, at 193 Main Street in Brattleboro, has been home for the Sing since 1982 and for a few prior seasons as well.

Kenneth Olsson, conducting the Sing for a second season, is well known in the region as a performer in opera and musical theater productions as well as pianist, organist, and choral conductor. He has led FOMAG’s season-opening Guilford Festival Orchestra concerts since 2012 and in 2014 co-founded the Southern Vermont Lyric Theatre.


Brattleboro Women’s Chorus Concerts: Keep Hope Alive

The Brattleboro Women’s Chorus will present their annual fall concerts, “Keep Hope Alive,” on November 17 and 18 at The Brick Church (formerly the Baptist Church). Joining the eighty women and director Becky Graber will be Cathy Martin on piano, Julian McBrowne on bass, and Lisa McCormick on guitar and with her ukulele orchestra.

Several songs will feature arrangements by local musicians – Andy Davis’s four-part arrangement of “Let the Life I’ve Lived” and Peter Amidon’s “Crossing the Bar.” Graber arranged the wondrous song by India Arie, “I Am Light.”


Vermont Jazz Center Presents: Emerging Artist Festival

The Vermont Jazz Center is excited to present its first annual Emerging Artists Festival on Friday evening, November 2nd in downtown Brattleboro during Gallery Walk and all day Saturday, November 3rd at the Vermont Jazz Center. This event is in collaboration with area schools and colleges, the Boys and Girls Club, Strolling of the Heifers, BrattRock, Youth Services, Gallery Walk and the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance. The VJC’s goal is to use this annual Emerging Artists Festival to cultivate a greater interest and deeper knowledge of jazz amongst younger audiences, to connect with our region’s youth and ultimately boost their attendance throughout the year. As a participatory event, VJC’s Emerging Artist Festival will break down barriers to accessing the arts, especially for the region’s young people.


Don’t miss the 3rd Annual Brattleboro Youth Rock Festival, Saturday, September 29; advance tickets on sale now

Sixteen youth rock bands and solo music artists from around New England will take the stage at 118 Elliot in downtown Brattleboro, Vermont on Saturday, September 29 for BrattRock 2018, the third annual Brattleboro Youth Rock Festival. Performances will take place on two stages, one indoor and one outdoor, between 5:00 and 10:00 PM. Gates open to the public at 4:30 PM. In addition to six continuous hours of live music, the festival will feature food vendors, arts and crafts activities, and games. All are invited to attend this fun-for-all-ages community event.


Ukulele-in-a-Day Workshops Return to Brattleboro!

UKULELE-in-a-DAY Workshop Returns to Brattleboro

Back by popular demand, Ukulele-in-a-Day, a 1-Day Quick-Start Workshop for Total Beginners, returns to the Brattleboro Music Center for two dates: Sat. Sept. 15 and Sat. Sept 22, from 10 am – 3 pm.


GinMillBill Classic Country Music Concert at Dummerston Community Center

Please jon us for a Classic Country Music Concert with Guitar and Vocals by GinMillBill on May 5th, 2-4 p.m.
Light Refreshments will be served. Donations welcome. All donations go to the Community Center Heating and Maintenance Fund. For more information, please call 802-254-9212. Dummerston Community Center, West Dummerston, 150 West Street, West Dummerston