Culture story sections
VAN WILE has some great stories of the BCTV culture – staff camaraderie, collaborations with other Brattleboro media, and the rigor – and fun – of what it takes to create, produce, film and cover all aspects of our community. Plus Van’s personal stories of “muscle cars”, silica gel paks, murder boards, and thrifting.
Guilford Chamber Singers, sponsored by Friends of Music at Guilford, is seeking voices for our June concert, A Cappella a la Carte (exact date TBA).
We are a well-regarded ensemble led by Tom Baehr, veteran director of multiple FOMAG concerts since 2014. Repertoire would be part-songs covering 5 centuries, 17th to 21st. The lyricists are quite varied, including Elgar, Campion, Thoreau, Emerson, Blake, Sterndale Bennett and more.
The unofficial tallies are in, from Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, and Putney.
The unofficial election results for the WSESD Board of Directors are as follows:
Vermont Timbre—Amelia Struthers and Mike Mrowicki—invite the community to an evening of music, poetry, and storytelling at their Open Mic on Sunday, March 29 at Next Stage Arts in Putney. Doors open at 6:15 PM, and the show begins at 7:00 PM. Admission is a $10 suggested donation, and RSVPs are encouraged at nextstagearts.org.
The night will feature a special performance by Peter Siegel of The Gaslight Tinkers, alongside open slots for local musicians, poets, and performers. Sets will run 10–15 minutes, depending on sign-ups, offering a supportive stage for sharing original work or favorite pieces.
Putney’s Twilight Music series continues its tradition of intimate, listening-room concerts with a standout Singer/Songwriter Showcase on Friday, March 20, at Next Stage Arts. The evening opens with a special in-the-round set from Early Risers, Jake Klar, and Lizzy Mandell, before culminating in Andrea von Kampen’s debut performance at the venue.
Doors open at 6:45 pm, with music beginning at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $22 in advance, $25 at the door, or $10 for the livestream, available at nextstagearts.org.
The opening set brings three distinct voices together in a collaborative circle. Early Risers—known for their close harmonies and roots-rich arrangements featuring banjo, mandolin, piano, guitar, and shruti box—reunited in 2015 after solo careers and quickly found national traction. Their debut album, Making Life Sweet, topped the Folk DJ Charts, with multiple tracks landing in the top ten.
PUTNEY — Music, memory, and meaning will take center stage at Next Stage Arts on Saturday, March 14, when the Opening Doors Project presents Race & Song: A Musical Conversation with Pamela Means and Alastair Moock.
The performance begins at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6:45 p.m., at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill in Putney. Tickets are available at nextstagearts.org for $20 in advance, $25 at the door, or $10 for the livestream option.
Wednesday, March 4th at 6 pm: “Come See Me in the Good Light”. This is a poignant and unexpectedly funny love story about poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley facing an incurable cancer diagnosis with joy, wit and an unshakable partnership. Through laughter and unwavering love, they transform pain into purpose, and mortality into a loving celebration of resilience.
This will be held on the Main Floor of Brooks Memorial Library.
HOWARD PRUSSACK works hard to produce vegetables, plants and hemp on his farm, High Meadows Farm in Westminster West – he serves our community and beyond. His bounty is available locally and at the Brattleboro Farmer’s Market which he co-founded. Howard also tells wonderful stories of his travels with an international farmer-to-farmer exchange program.
[WINDHAM SOUTHEAST, BRATTLEBORO, FEBRUARY 12, 2026] — The Windham Southeast Supervisory Union has developed a comprehensive interim plan to ensure continuity of learning for Oak Grove School students while repairs to the school’s heating system are completed.
Oak Grove School was closed on February 9th and 10th as crews worked to identify and repair a heating unit and conduct required safety testing. While progress is being made, the timeline for completion is likely another week.
To minimize disruption to students’ education, Oak Grove School students and staff are temporarily attending Academy School and Green Street School. The interim placements were thoughtfully designed with students’ academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs as the primary consideration.
On Friday, March 6, Next Stage Arts in Putney becomes a meeting place for tradition and daring invention when Twilight Music presents Kalos plus Dan Houghton & Rachel Clemente. With pipes, fiddle, guitars, harp, and fearless twists, this is high-energy traditional folk that respects its roots while gleefully pushing past their edges.
At the heart of the evening is Kalos, a trio known for reshaping Celtic roots music with rhythmic drive, intricate arrangements, and an infectious sense of joy. Eric McDonald, Ryan McKasson, and Jeremiah McLane are masters of tradition who deliberately explore its shadowed corners, creating music that feels both ancient and startlingly new. Their sound is complex yet inviting, propelled by pulse and precision, and grounded in deep artistic integrity.
On a cold winter night in late February, the blues will feel warm and close at hand in Putney.
On Saturday, Feb. 28, Next Stage Arts welcomes Corey Harris with Sunny Lowdown for an evening of acoustic blues that promises depth, groove, and soul. Doors open at 6:45 PM, with the show beginning at 7:30 PM, at 15 Kimball Hill in Putney. Tickets are available at nextstagearts.org for $22 in advance, $26 at the door, or $10 for the livestream.
Next Stage Arts invites you to a rare and powerful evening with one of America’s most iconic artists.
Filmed in 1968, Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music (1h 34m), directed by Robert Elfstrom, captures Johnny Cash at a pivotal moment in his career. Shot in an unvarnished, up-close cinéma vérité style, the film follows Cash on the road and in concert with June Carter, the Carter Family, the Statler Brothers, and Carl Perkins.
The film is also deeply personal. Viewers are taken inside Cash’s home life with June Carter in Hendersonville, Tennessee; introduced to his parents and children in California; and brought back with him to his childhood hometown in Arkansas. One of the film’s most moving sequences was shot at the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, including footage at the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre.
Next Stage Arts welcomes an intimate and adventurous evening of music on Friday, February 20, with a performance by the Queralt Giralt Soler Trio, a group known for its poetic fusion of cello, voice, jazz, and Catalan folk traditions. The concert begins at 7:30 PM, with doors opening at 6:45 PM, at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill, Putney.
Cellist, vocalist, and composer Queralt Giralt Soler creates music that resists easy categorization. Drawing from her classical training and deep roots in Catalan folk music, she blends lyrical cello lines with expressive vocals, jazz improvisation, and contemporary textures to form a sound that feels both expansive and deeply personal. Her performances invite listeners into a rich emotional landscape—quietly powerful, exploratory, and full of nuance.
BEN STOCKMAN has some great stories of his early years at NEYT, (New England Youth Theater); capturing the spirit and camaraderie that was the foundation which created his deep love of acting and directing. Now, as the Artistic Director at NEYT, Ben is continuing that tradition and creating inspired productions and new stories.
Please join Center for Solace (formerly Brattleboro Area Hospice) at the Brooks Memorial Library on Wednesday, February 4 at 6 to 8 pm to view the film “Holding Our Own”.
Vermont filmmaker Camilla Rockwell, a longtime collaborator with Ken Burns, created “Holding Our Own”, a beautiful exploration of the power of art on end of life. It highlights the work of Hallowell & Deidre Scherer, as well as interviews with our staff and Dr. Ira Byock, an internationally known author and Hospice MD.
Sandglass Theater Presents: Winter Sunshine Series
Puppet shows for the whole family!
Next Stage Arts’ NXT Gallery will open a new exhibition, Home Land: Paintings by Finn Campman, with a public reception on Sunday, February 15, from 3–5 pm at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill, Putney. The exhibition will remain on view through May 10.
In Home Land, Finn Campman explores painting as an act of orientation—both personal and geographic. His work reflects a deep attentiveness to place, memory, and presence, using the painted surface as a way to mark time and affirm connection. “My process is about the act of reaching out to make sure I know where I am,” Campman writes. “To check my coordinates, to mark a signpost for my memories—as if to say, ‘This is where I am now.’” The resulting paintings feel grounded and contemplative, tethered to the land and to the lived experience of being part of it.
Next Stage Arts will welcome an electrifying night of Nordic folk music on Thursday, February 5, when internationally acclaimed Finnish band Frigg takes the stage with opening set by fiddle duo Teho. The show begins at 7:00 pm, with doors opening at 6:15 pm, at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill, Putney.
Hailing from Finland and celebrated worldwide, Frigg is among the most exhilarating and innovative bands in contemporary folk music. The six-piece ensemble are true masters of the Finnish folk tradition, known for delivering heart-bursting, life-affirming tunes with astonishing precision and joy.
Named after the Norse goddess of love and fertility, Frigg has forged a singular sound they call “Nordgrass”—a captivating fusion of Nordic folk music and American bluegrass. Their violin-driven melodies soar over ringing strings and the deep, propulsive pulse of double bass, creating music that feels both ancient and entirely fresh. The result is hypnotic, infectious, and often impossible to sit still through.
A musician, songwriter, talk-radio host, and computer fix-it guy, STEVE WEST is a natural storyteller and all-round excellent human. He’s also served on many local boards, and is an advocate for our local media.
Tune in for a fun conversation and Steve’s take on life in Brattleboro.
The Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) celebrates the Lunar New Year of China, Korea and Vietnam Sunday, February 8, 1:00-3:00. You don’t have to be Asian or know anything about Asia to participate! Join us at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center to usher in the year of the Red Fire Horse ushering in a year focused on bold moves, exploration ,and potentially transformative change.
Join us for traditional Chinese Performances with Li Fei Osborne and her Mandarin language students, Chinese morning exercises and Qigong led by Cai Xi, and traditional New Year songs and crafts. We end our celebration with a Dragon parade up from the Museum towards Main Street to bring us luck for the coming year.
