BRATTLEBORO — The Village Harmony Alumnae Ensemble will perform on Wednesday, Jan. 6, at 7 p.m., at Centre Congregational Church on Main Street.
This world music ensemble includes 14 college-aged and young adult Village Harmony veterans; many have sung and traveled with Village Harmony for several years.
The program features songs and dances from South Africa, American shape-note songs, quartet gospel and contemporary compositions, traditional songs from Corsica and the Balkans, Spanish Renaissance works by Guerro, and contemporary pieces by Estonian composer Urmas Sisask.
Village Harmony is an umbrella organization based in Vermont dedicated to the study and performance of ethnic singing traditions from around the world. Each summer, the group sponsors 10 ensembles such as this one, in New England and in numerous foreign countries, involving both teen and adult singers.
Each group develops its own sound with a different international team of leaders, but all share common traits: a powerful, natural, unrestrained, vocal sound; a variety of vocal styles and timbres, as appropriate to the many varieties of ethnic and traditional music; and the development of community between the singers and the audience as they celebrate music.
Village Harmony's many recordings and songbooks will be available for sale at the concert.