BRATTLEBORO — Becky Tracy and Keith Murphy, Stefan Amidon and Zara Bode, and Peter and Mary Alice Amidon present their 21st New Year's Eve concerts on Saturday, Dec. 31, at the Brattleboro Music Center.
Two performances - at 5 and 7:30 p.m. - are scheduled for this annual holiday (1)“Smorgasbord of Traditional Song & Dance Tunes,” with an evening of New England, Appalachian, Irish, and French-Canadian dance music, fiddling from around the world, and a feast of singing.
Keith Murphy (guitar, mandolin, piano, foot percussion) and Becky Tracy (fiddle) will “heat up the hall with fiercely intelligent and driving arrangements of dance tunes and traditional songs,” states a news release. The music of these two musicians has graced stages in dance halls and theaters around the country, and even appeared on the silver screen in Ken Burns's documentary on the Roosevelts.
Both have played important roles as tradition keepers and innovators in their teaching, playing, and arranging, say organizers at the music school. Tracy and Murphy are founders and teachers of the traditional music program at the BMC.
Zara Bode and Stefan Amidon, both of The Sweetback Sisters and The Devil Makes Three will be fresh off their sold-out Sweetback Sisters Country Christmas Singalong Spectacular tour. Amidon is described as a percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, and expressive bass singer, and Bode as “a powerful vocalist of rare versatility […] with her gorgeous interpretations of songs old and new.”
Devoted to traditional music and dance, Peter and Mary Alice Amidon are freelance musicians, dance educators, choral arrangers/leaders, and publishers of music and dance materials. (2)Mary Alice is a member of, and Peter is co-music director of the Guilford Community Church Choir, and of Hallowell, southeastern Vermont's hospice singing group. Their choral arrangements and compositions are sung by church and community choirs across the U.S. and U.K.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for those ages six to 14, and for children under 5, free. Seating is limited.
Advanced tickets are encouraged and are available through the BMC website at bmcvt.org or by calling 802-257-4523. All concerts require masking and proof of vaccination or negative test for those 12 and older.