BRATTLEBORO — On Friday, May 22, at 7:30 p.m., at the First Baptist Church in Brattleboro, the Starry Mountain Singers will be joined by Peter and Mary Alice Amidon and special guests Patty Meyer on piano, Keith Murphy on guitar/piano, and Becky Tracy on fiddle, in presenting “The Starry Mountain Singers Sing Amidon.”
This will be a concert of choral arrangements by Peter and Mary Alice Amidon. The event is a celebration of the Amidons' publication of two books with companion CDs: Fifty-five Anthems for the Small Church Choir and Twenty-five Anthems for Interfaith & Community Choirs.
John Feierabend, former President of the National Organization of Kodaly Educators, described The Amidons' choral arrangements as “absolutely beautiful.” They are being sung by church, community, hospice, high school, and college choirs throughout the United States and the UK.
Many of the arrangements were written originally for the Guilford Community Church choir, others for the Hallowell hospice choir; both of which Mary Alice sings in and Peter co-directs.
The concert will include the Amidons' choral arrangements of songs by Phil Ochs, Leonard Cohen, and Johnny Cash; arrangements of songs inspired by the singing of Sam Amidon; arrangements of traditional folk songs, spirituals and songs from the Sacred Harp; and some of the Amidons' original choral settings of ancient texts and newly composed poetry.
The Starry Mountain Singers, a group of eight singers who are all veterans of many Village Harmony and Northern Harmony tours, are: Stefan Amidon, Zara Bode, Emily Miller, Suzanah Park, Jeff Fellinger, Avery Book, Gideon Crevoshay, and special guest soprano Cora Kelly.
Members of the ensemble have worked with Meredith Monk and the Revels International, have performed on NPR's “A Prairie Home Companion” and “Mountain Stage,” and include three members of the Brooklyn-based country band, The Sweetback Sisters.
The Starry Mountain Singers have just released their third album of their performances of choral traditions from around the world. This website has examples of their music and music for sale: starrymountainsingers.bandcamp.com. They are on a May tour; their schedule is on Facebook.
The Amidons have been deeply involved in choral music since they toured the United States and Europe with Larry Gordon's “Word of Mouth Chorus,” later “Northern Harmony.”
Peter Amidon has been leading shape note singing for 30 years (“I have been singing Sacred Harp for 60 years and have never seen it led so well,” Pete Seeger once said on seeing Peter Amidon leading the Old Songs Festival Sacred Harp Sing) first in Brattleboro and then at major music and dance festivals and camps.
Peter and Mary Alice Amidon lead day-long, weekend, and week-long choral singing workshops in the United States and Scotland.