Culture

Singer/songwriter Lisa McCormick, of Brattleboro, VT, is one of five artists selected to attend a four-week artist residency in Florida, for the month of February. 

McCormick will be dedicating the residency time to composing new original songs for her upcoming CD and concerts.

The Escape-to-Create artists are selected from an international pool of applicants, following a peer review selection process. Since 1993, Escape to Create’s multi-disciplinary residency offers artists the gift of time and space from a community engaged in furthering artistic expression. 

Twilight Music presents acoustic swing and alt gypsy jazz quartet Caravan of Thieves, plus fiddler Emma Walsh, at Next Stage on Friday, January 17 at 7:30 pm.

For the past five years, Caravan of Thieves has roamed the North American continent recruiting a family of avid thrill seekers at their high energy shows. Driving gypsy jazz rhythms, acoustic guitars, upright bass and violin lay the foundation for mesmerizing vocal harmonies and fantastic stories. It’s theatrical and humorous. It’s musical and intense. It entertains, dazzles and defies classification while welcoming the spectator to join the band throughout the performance in momentary fits of claps, snaps and sing-alongs.

Windham Orchestra

BRUCKNER & SIBELIUS in Brattleboro & Saxtons River 

On Friday, January 17 in Saxtons River, and Sunday, January 19 in Brattleboro, the Windham Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Hugh Keelan, presents a dynamic program ranging from Bruckner’s popular 19th century “Romantic” Fourth Symphony; to local composer Jan Norris’ new work “Melting Spring.”

Guitarist Freddie Bryant’s Kaleidoscope Quartet to feature the sounds of jazz from around the world at the VJC in a tribute to VJC founder, Attila Zoller

The Vermont Jazz Center kicks off 2014 with a concert featuring guitarist Freddie Bryant’s Kaleidoscope Quartet a band that features disparate grooves from around the world unified by Bryant’s simple truth that he is indeed an authentic global citizen. This show will be a tribute to VJC founder, the great guitarist, Attila Zoller.

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present a twin bill of award-winning contemporary folk singer/songwriters Antje Duvekot and Seth Glier at Next Stage on Friday, January 10 at 7:30 pm.

Antje Duvekot is a German-born, American-raised singer/songwriter whose songs have been critically praised for their hard-won wisdom, dark-eyed realism and street-smart romanticism. Her bicultural upbringing and relative newness to English have helped shape her unique way with a song, giving her a startlingly original poetic palette. They are the keys to the powerful, even revolutionary, empathy that informs everything she writes. She has won some of the top songwriting awards including the Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, the Kerrville Folk Festival Best New Folk Award and the Boston Music Award for Outstanding Folk Act.

BMC Chamber Music Series

PIANIST JONATHAN BISS 

FRIDAY, January 10, 7:30 pm

Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT  05301

Brahms, Chopin, Beethoven 

American pianist Jonathan Biss is widely regarded for his artistry, musical intelligence and deeply felt interpretations, winning international recognition for his orchestral, recital, and chamber music performances and for his award-winning recordings. Biss, whom The New Yorker describes as playing with “unerring sophistication”, made his New York Philharmonic debut in 2001, and since then has appeared with the foremost orchestras of North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He is a frequent performer at leading international music festivals and gives recitals in major music capitals both at home and abroad. Sponsored by Vermont Public Radio. Tickets:  $30, $20, $10