BRATTLEBORO — Some of the best undergraduate singing groups in the nation will perform at the Latchis Theater on Saturday, Feb. 6, at 7:30 p.m., in Brattleboro's 13th annual Collegiate A Cappella Concert.
A benefit for the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) sponsored by Brattleboro Savings & Loan, The Richards Group, and Twombly Wealth Management Group, the concert will feature the Dartmouth Aires, Tufts Beelzebubs, and four groups whose ranks include singers from Brattleboro - Castleton University Vocal Unrest, Skidmore Dynamics, Tufts Amalgamates, and Yale Society of Orpheus and Bacchus.
The all-male Dartmouth Aires and Tufts Beelzebubs are veterans of NBC's a cappella competition show, “The Sing-Off.”
Both groups finished in second place - the Aires in 2011, and the Bubs in 2009. Both groups make a point of including Brattleboro on their annual touring schedules, which also feature performances throughout the country and around the world, at major sporting events, and at such venues as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and The White House.
The Bubs were the real-life voices of the Dalton Academy Warblers on the hit TV series “Glee,” and they were the focus of the book Pitch Perfect, on which the recent Hollywood movies were based. BMAC director and concert emcee Danny Lichtenfeld is an alumnus of the group.
Each of the four other groups slated to perform on Feb. 6 features a singer who grew up in the Brattleboro area, starred in local musical productions, and graduated from Brattleboro Union High School.
They are Casey Greenleaf of the Skidmore Dynamics, Seth Keller Marcil of Castleton University Vocal Unrest, Benson May of the Yale Society of Orpheus and Bacchus, and Aurora Phillips of the Tufts Amalgamates. All but the 'Mates, who have taken part in this concert numerous times in the past, will be making their debut appearances in Brattleboro.
“Giving these kids a chance to return to their hometown and strut their stuff in front of a sold-out crowd is one of the best things about this event,” said Lichtenfeld. “It's exactly what former producer Dede Cummings envisioned when she founded this concert 13 years ago. The fact that so many local kids are involved in music at the college level and beyond is a testament to the outstanding teaching and performance opportunities available at BUHS, the Brattleboro Music Center, New England Youth Theater, and Vermont Jazz Center."