The Brattleboro Music Center and Retreat Farm continue their “Music Under the Stars” summer concert series Saturday. August 20. (Rain date is August 21.) Admission is free. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. at Retreat Farm, with the concert at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome to bring lawn chairs and a picnic, and to enjoy food truck fare and assorted beverages at The Thirsty Goat bar. Music Under the Stars series sponsors include Against the Grain, Guilford Sound, and Prentiss Smith…

The Blanche Moyse Chorale will perform Brahms’ German Requiem Sunday, October 9, in a concert at Persons Auditorium at Potash Hill in Marlboro. The program also features Brahms’ Nänie, Op.82. Tickets for the 2 p.m. concert are $22 general admission ($25 at the door) and $10 for students. The program also features Brahms’ Nänie, Op.82. Composed between 1865 and 1868, Brahms’ German Requiem is one of the composer’s most beloved works. While the soaring melodies and rich harmonies of this…

A two-in-one concert celebration of a new CD, Big Woods Voices: Poetry in Harmony, and Becky Graber’s songbook, All I Need is Here, Is scheduled Friday, October 21, at the Brattleboro Music Center. The concert is set for 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on a sliding scale, $10 to $25, at the door, and are available on the BMC website – bmcvt.org – or by calling 802-257-4523. Big Woods Voices celebrates a cappella vocal harmony through arrangements grown from American roots…

The Champlain Trio presents “Transfigured Night” Sunday, October 23, at the Brattleboro Music Center. The 4 p.m. concert will embrace the changing of the seasons with a program that transports the audience from sunlit evenings to the dark of winter. This musical journey will warm souls and excite imaginations as the Trio explores the sublime “Adagio” by Schubert and the incomparable “Ghost” trio by Beethoven, and ends with a moonlit walk through the woods with Schoenberg. Tickets are $20 in…

The Brattleboro Music Center’s Season Guest Concert Series welcomes In Stile Moderno Friday, October 28. The 7 p.m. concert, titled “Quia Amore Langueo,” will showcase 17th-century Italian settings of Song of Songs texts with the timbres of voice, cornetto, theorbo, and organ—the cornetto and voice intertwining as one in works for two sopranos. Complemented by instrumental works for theorbo, cornetto, and organ, these passionate and virtuosic works will make for an unforgettable evening. Performers include Agnes Coakley Cox, soprano; Nathaniel…

The Brattleboro Music Center’s Chamber Series features Musicians from Marlboro Monday, October 31. The concert is set for 7 p.m. Tickets are $30 general admission, and are available on the Brattleboro Music Center website – bmcvt.org – or by calling 802-257-4523. This is the first of the group’s three tour programs this season, and features nine outstanding musicians performing works from three centuries.  They include Lauren Pearl, soprano; Abigail Fayette, Alina Kobialka, Anna Lee, and Scott St. John, violins; Kei…

The EOS Project presents “Rising Seed,” Saturday, November 5, at the BMC. The 7 p.m. concert will feature Junko Watanabe, soprano; Susan Dedell, piano; Greg Diehl, violin; Heather Sommerlad, violin; Ashleigh Gordon, viola; and Julie Carew, cello. Performed works will include Tania Leon’s Oh Yemanja; Jessie Montgomery’s Source Code; Daniel Bernard Roumain’s I made up my mind not to move; Adolphus Hailstork’s Two Romances for Viola and Piano; and Florence Price’s Dawn’s Awakening, Hold Fast to Dreams, We Have Tomorrow.…

Chonghyo Shin, a longtime member of the Brattleboro Music Center faculty, will offer a program Sunday, November 6, including Bach’s French Suite, two Schubert Impromptus, and three Chopin Etudes, with additional selections by Grieg, Albeniz and Debussy. The concert is scheduled for 3 p.m. Admission is by donation, with proceeds benefiting the BMC Scholarship Fund. Mrs. Shin joined the BMC faculty in 1980 and says of her years on the faculty, “Playing and teaching piano are my passion!” Her love…

What could be better than one cello? A bunch of cellos! Join Zon Eastes, as he leads a Cello Workshop Saturday, Nov. 12, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the BMC. Spend quality time with your instrument and your colleagues, learn some pointers you’ve perhaps never run across, and play some wonderful music together.The group will explore its shared world, talk through tried and true techniques of awareness, facility, and musicality. This workshop is for adults 18 and over.…

Brattleboro native Jake Charkey, a cellist whose unusual career has led him to spend the last two decades immersed in the study of North Indian Classical music, presents a program featuring the rare sound of Hindustani cello at the Brattleboro Music Center Sunday, November 13. Charkey will be accompanied by Naren Budhkar on tabl, who has accompanied artists like Pundit Jasraj, Ashish Khan,Pundit Ramesh Mishra, Krishna Bhatt, Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, Anup Jalota, Terry Riley, La Monte and many others.…

Our Season Guest Concert Series continues with the Sarasa Ensemble’s program celebrating the clarinet Friday, November 18. “His Dear Nightingale: Piano Trios with Clarinet” is a program spotlighting the clarinet in two stellar chamber works: Beethoven’s own arrangement of his extremely popular septet, scored for clarinet, cello and piano, and Brahms’ late sumptuous trio with the same formation, inspired by the exquisite playing of the German clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld, whom he endearingly called “his dear nightingale.” Performers include Eric Thomas,…

Our Season Guest Series continues Friday, December 2, at 7:30 p.m. with a performance by Palaver Strings. The concert is titled “What If?” and will feature beloved string quartet repertoire and collaborations with mezzo-soprano Sophie Michaux, with works by Ravel, Bjork, Errollyn Wallen, Joe Hisaishi, and Caroline Shaw. Each work meditates on themes of missed connections, lost chances, and “what-ifs,” asking: “Is this the life you would have hoped for?” or “If you were gone, would I still know how…

The Brattleboro Camerata presents “Ensalada: Renaissance Music of Latin America” Sunday, December 11. The Brattleboro Camerata, with Music Director Jonathan Harvey, is a vocal ensemble devoted to exploring the beauty and power of Renaissance-era and Renaissance-inspired music. As Harvey explains about the December 11 concert, “Our exploration of Renaissance-era music in Latin America will include pieces by colonial composers who worked in modern-day Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru, and pieces in Latin, Spanish, and the Indigenous languages Quechua (associated with Inca…

Our Season Guest Series welcomes back Palaver Strings Friday, January 6, 2023.  Included will be a pre-concert ‘meet the composer’ talk. The 7:30 p.m. concert will be held at the BMC. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, and are available through the BMC website at bmcvt.org or by calling (802) 257-4523. Please note BMC concert attendance requires masking for all attendees. BMC Artist-in-Residence Ashleigh Gordon, one of the night’s performers, will give a pre-concert talk from 6:30…

Our Season Guest Concert Series celebrates the return of the Sarasa Ensemble with “Music of the Madonna” Friday, January 13. No doubt the life of the Virgin Mary, the Madonna, has been a focal point of sacred music in Western classical music, especially in the Baroque era. This 7 p.m. concert at the BMC will feature two beautiful Marian Cantatas, as well as glowing works for strings and continuo by Händel, Corelli, Rosenmüller, and Leonarda. Performers include Meg Bragle, mezzo…

“HELP! Music for Troubled Times” is the theme of two Brattleboro Concert Choir concerts, scheduled for Saturday, January 21, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, January 22, at 4 p.m. at the Latchis Theatre, Main Street, Brattleboro. According to Jonathan Harvey, BCC Director, “Our program is focused on the idea of asking for, and receiving, aid. In this turbulent age, seeking help is an act both of necessity and of bravery, and the pieces on the program all touch on this…

“HELP! Music for Troubled Times” is the theme of two Brattleboro Concert Choir concerts, scheduled for Saturday, January 21, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, January 22, at 4 p.m. at the Latchis Theatre, Main Street, Brattleboro. According to Jonathan Harvey, BCC Director, “Our program is focused on the idea of asking for, and receiving, aid. In this turbulent age, seeking help is an act both of necessity and of bravery, and the pieces on the program all touch on this…

The Brattleboro Music Center hosts the 16th annual Northern Roots Traditional Music Festival Saturday and Sunday, January 28-29. Now a cornerstone of the traditional music calendar in New England, the Festival offers a unique showcase of a variety of northern musical traditions including Irish, Scottish, English, French Canadian, Shetland, and Welsh. Saturday workshops are scheduled noon to 5:30 p.m. with an evening concert set for 7:30 p.m. Sunday will include pub sessions from 1 to 5:30 p.m.

The Brattleboro Music Center hosts the 16th annual Northern Roots Traditional Music Festival Saturday and Sunday, January 28-29. Now a cornerstone of the traditional music calendar in New England, the Festival offers a unique showcase of a variety of northern musical traditions including Irish, Scottish, English, French Canadian, Shetland, and Welsh. Saturday workshops are scheduled noon to 5:30 p.m. with an evening concert set for 7:30 p.m. Sunday will include pub sessions from 1 to 5:30 p.m.

The Brattleboro Music Center hosts the 16th annual Northern Roots Traditional Music Festival Saturday and Sunday, January 28-29. Now a cornerstone of the traditional music calendar in New England, the Festival offers a unique showcase of a variety of northern musical traditions including Irish, Scottish, English, French Canadian, Shetland, and Welsh. Saturday workshops are scheduled noon to 5:30 p.m. with an evening concert set for 7:30 p.m. Sunday will include pub sessions from 1 to 5:30 p.m.

Palaver Strings Explores ‘Collective Memory’ February 3 at the BMC Playing Instruments Made by Brattleboro Craftsman The Brattleboro Music Center’s Season Guest Series once again welcomes Palaver Strings Friday, February 3. Performers will be playing on instruments made by Brattleboro master craftsman Douglas Cox. The group’s 7:30 p.m. concert, titled “Collective Memory,” will explore the connection between our lives today and our roots, traditions, and collective memory. This program features music by contemporary composers in dialogue with tradition, including Terry…

The Brattleboro Music Center’s Chamber Series continues Saturday, February 11, with a visit from the Musicians from Marlboro Group II. The 7 p.m. concert at the BMC will include a work titled Moon Songs by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Shulamit Ran, who was in residence at Marlboro in 2018 and worked extensively on her music with these artists in Vermont. Also on the program is Haydn’s String Trio in G Major, Op. 53, No. 1 and Mozart’s Divertimento in E-flat Major,…

The Brattleboro Music Center’s Chamber Music Series features “Celebrating Valentine's with Love Songs Old & New” with British baritone Roderick Williams, OBE, accompanied by pianist Yi-Heng Yang, Thursday, February 16. The 7 p.m. concert at the BMC will include memorable works by Robert Schumann, Roger Quilter, Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, Josephine Lang, Caroline Shaw, and more. Roderick Williams is one of the United Kingdom’s most sought-after baritones and is constantly in demand on the concert platform and in recital, encompassing…

The Brattleboro Music Center’s Season Guest series welcomes Zara Bode's Little Big Band Friday, February 24. The group performs classic American swing to delight the ears, eyes and feet. Inspired by the likes of Duke Ellington, Django Reinhardt and Ella Fitzgerald, the Little Big Band features top shelf chanteuse Zara Bode (of Signature Sounds artists The Sweetback Sisters) and a sizzling horn section led by clarinetist and arranger Anna Patton. From chic to cheeky, the Little Big Band digs into…

The Brattleboro Music Center’s Season Guest Concert Series welcomes the return of In Stile Moderno Friday, March 3. The 7:30 p.m. performance at the BMC, titled “The English Orpheus,” spotlights the works of Henry Purcell. If Orpheus charmed humans, animals, and even the gods of the Underworld with his lyre, then Purcell, known as the “English Orpheus,” did the same for kings, queens, and commoners alike with his compositions. In his short 36 years, he created an astounding 850 works…

The Sarasa Ensemble returns to the Brattleboro Music Center Saturday, March 18. The 7 p.m. performance, part of the BMC Season Guest Concert Series, is “All About My Mother.” Taking its title from Pedro Almodóvar’s 1999 film, this program offers a musical reflection on the many facets of motherhood, and the impact of her presence during life’s various celebrations, rituals and trials. The program will include Matthew Locke’s Fantasy from Suite No. 5 in G minor from “Consort of Four…

Flutist Karen Kevra and pianist Jeffrey Chappell will offer a “French Connection” Saturday, March 25, performing music by French composers with connections to unexpected lands. The 7 p.m. performance at the BMC will include the French/Spanish connection revealed in Ravel's sultry Habanera as well as Bizet's virtuoso variations from “Carmen.” Also spotlighted will be Louis Moyse’s Introduction, Theme, and Variations (on a Japanese chant), showing his affinity and even a little ancestry from Japan. Other works will include François-Joseph Gossec’s…

Come and join a discussion about Beethoven’s wonderful Harp Quartet Opus 74 with Robbie Merfeld and Moby Pearson. Excerpts, demonstrations, and refreshments provided! While all are welcome to come, participants will get the most from the session if you have explored the following: Listening: Performed By: Budapest Quartet (1951): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=959hT-d_s8c Performed By: Danish Quartet (2014): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exMaWKVcCEs Performed By: Quartetto Italiano (1956): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cNpsdrbk0Xs Following: A copy of the score Exploring: Notes about the piece (includes links to the audio clips listed above) Questions? give the office a…

Musicians from Marlboro touring program, which has been lauded as a “virtual guarantee of musical excellence” by the Washington Post, returns to the BMC Saturday, April 8. The concert, set for 7 p.m. at the BMC, will include Mendelssohn’s Two Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 81; Wiancko’s Benkei’s Standing Death; Kurtág’s Duos for Soprano & Double Bass from “The Notebooks of G.C. Lichtenberg;” Kirsten’s “yes I said yes I will Yes;” and Beethoven’s String Quintet in C Major, Op. 29.…

The BMC presents “Music for the Flute by Women Composers” with flutist Deirdre McArdle and pianist Deiran Manning, joined by Robin Matathias and the combined Flute Ensemble of Keene State College and the BMC. The performance is set for Saturday, April 22, at 7 p.m. at the BMC. Works composed by Anna Amalie, Cecile Chaminade, Mel Bonis and Yuko Uèbayashi will be performed. Flutist Deirdre McArdle is the daughter of the noted Irish American modernist painter, Patrick McArdle. Founder of…

The Brattleboro Camerata presents the world premiere of a work by Vermont composer Kitty Brazelton Sunday, April 23. The 4 p.m. concert at the BMC, titled “The Want of You: Renaissance Music and the Future,” will feature pairs of Renaissance-era and later works, spotlighting the direct ties between music of the 16th century and music created 500 years later. Included will be the premiere of "The Want of You" by Brazelton. The Brattleboro Camerata is a chamber choir consisting of…

The Juno Orchestra presents a concert titled “Heaven's Border,” featuring works by women composers Sunday, April 30, at the Brattleboro Music Center. The 4 p.m. concert will present five works for string orchestra: Grazyna Bacewicz’s Concerto for String Orchestra; Libby Croad’s Suite for String Orchestra; Jessie Montgomery’s Strum; Barbara Strozzi’s O Maria and Salve Regina from Sacri Musicali Affeti; and Dobrinka Tabakova's Organum Light. The Strozzi work, composed for soprano and continuo, will feature soprano and BMC Faculty member Junko…

The Sarasa Ensemble returns to the BMC Friday, May 12. The Season Guest concert, set for 7 p.m. at the BMC, is “Take Four! Music for Cello Quartet.” With a tip of the hat to Dave Brubeck’s famous ground-breaking hit, “Take Five,” Sarasa brings the lush sound of the cello to the fore in music arranged and written for four cellos. It will feature a wide range of eras and styles, from Josquin des Prez to J.S. Bach to Beethoven…

The Brattleboro Concert Choir presents “POWER - Music of Defiance and Strength” at Persons Auditorium in Marlboro, Saturday and Sunday, May 13 and 14. Led by Director Jonathan Harvey, the group’s performances will feature Joseph Haydn's Lord Nelson's Mass and Marianne Martines's Dixit Dominus with orchestra. "The Concert Choir is particularly excited for these concerts, since they will be our first performances with full orchestra since January 2020 - over three years ago,” says Harvey. "The two pieces in these…

The Brattleboro Concert Choir presents “POWER - Music of Defiance and Strength” at Persons Auditorium in Marlboro, Saturday and Sunday, May 13 and 14. Led by Director Jonathan Harvey, the group’s performances will feature Joseph Haydn's Lord Nelson's Mass and Marianne Martines's Dixit Dominus with orchestra. "The Concert Choir is particularly excited for these concerts, since they will be our first performances with full orchestra since January 2020 - over three years ago,” says Harvey. "The two pieces in these…

The EOS Project explores “Undreamed Shores” at the BMC Thursday, May 25. The 7 p.m. concert will include Michi Wiancko’s To Unpathed Waters, Undreamed Shores, as well as Etan Nasreddin-Longo’s String Quartet for Benzaiten and Yoshi Campbell and Jose Lezcano’s Tango Overture for String Quartet. This EOS concert features and celebrates the talent and artistry of BIPOC composers from the tri-state region of southern Vermont, western New Hampshire, and western Massachusetts. Performing will be Kathy Andrew and Heather Sommerlad, violin;…

The BMC Chamber Series features the new quartet ESPRESSIVO! Friday, June 2, at 7 p.m. at the BMC. Four great artists with a passion for chamber music – violinist Jaime Laredo, cellist Sharon Robinson, violist Milena Pajaro-von de Stadt, and pianist Anna Polonsky -- formed this new group, and since they are known for their wonderfully expressive playing, ESPRESSIVO! seemed the perfect name for this collaboration of piano and strings. For decades, Laredo and Robinson, with their piano trio partner,…

The EOS Project returns to the BMC Sunday, June 11. The 4 p.m. concert, titled “Reflections,” is an exploration of compelling stories and wide-ranging musical styles of expression.  Some of the pieces on the program explore story narratives of motherhood, the meaning of “home,” the experiences of enslaved people, and cultural identity.  Others take their inspiration from poems such as U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adeboʼs “We Shine Bright,” Walt Whitman’s “A Farm Picture,” and Fred D’Aguiar’s “Wish.”  The program also highlights the relationship…

The Brattleboro Music Center’s Season Guest Series continues Thursday, June 15, with a performance by Ensemble Amphion Baroque. Ensemble Amphion Baroque is made up of world class musicians who specialize in music of the baroque. Using historically informed techniques and instruments of the period, Amphion aspires to capture the true spirit and sounds of the 18th century, music of passion and style. The June 15 performance, set for 7 p.m. at the BMC, will be a musical journey through 17th…

The Brattleboro Music Center and Retreat Farm kick off their popular “Music Under the Stars” summer concert series Saturday, June 24, with a performance by the PESO Pan Evolution Steel Orchestra. Admission is free. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. at Retreat Farm, with the concert at 6:30 p.m. The rain date is Sunday, June 25. All are welcome to bring lawn chairs and a picnic, and to enjoy food truck fare and craft beers at The Thirsty Goat bar, and…

The BMC presents a series of Summer Salons exploring the magic and method behind master musical works. Led by longtime BMC faculty member Moby Pearson, the salons will be held Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. in the air-conditioned BMC. Pearson will share remarkable recordings of music from across the ages – and share new musical perspectives along the way! July 13 - Music of Felix Mendelssohn A prodigy early on, attendees will see how Mendelssohn's timeline compared favorably with another wunderkind…

The Brattleboro Music Center presents a series of Summer Salons exploring the magic and method behind master musical works. Led by longtime BMC faculty member Moby Pearson, the salons will be held Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. in the air-conditioned BMC. Pearson will share remarkable recordings of music from across the ages – and share new musical perspectives along the way! July 27 - Quatre Compositeurs Francais The music of four influential French composers whose lives intersected and spanned the period…

The Brattleboro Music Center presents a series of Summer Salons exploring the magic and method behind master musical works. Led by longtime BMC faculty member Moby Pearson, the salons will be held Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. in the air-conditioned BMC. Pearson will share remarkable recordings of music from across the ages – and share new musical perspectives along the way! August 10 - Mozart's Arias for Aloysia Wolfgang fell head over heels for his 17-year-old student Aloysia Weber in 1777.…