Music
• Sweetback Sisters at Hooker-Dunham: Twilight Music presents The Sweetback Sisters Country Christmas Sing-Along at Hooker-Dunham Theater & Gallery on Friday, Dec. 3 at 8 p.m.
Led by Zara Bode and Emily Miller, New York's premier alternative country swing band performs a wide range of holiday music, from well-loved Christmas carols to classic winter-themed songs to lesser-known country Christmas gems. All the songs are presented with the Sweetback Sisters' signature mix of harmony singing, rollicking telecaster and twin fiddling along with a healthy dose of holiday cheer.
Words are provided so that everyone can sing along with Zara, Emily, Stefan Amidon (drums), Jesse Milnes (fiddle, guitar), Ross “Rolling Thunder” Bellenoit (guitar, lap steel) and Peter Bitenc (acoustic bass).
The Sweetback Sisters' high-energy stage show reveals the players' deep roots in traditional American music while at the same time betraying their youth. The band's line-up includes some of the rising young talent in today's old-time and traditional country music scenes: Stefan Amidon of Brattleboro's Amidon Family and Assembly; two-time West Virginia state fiddle champion Jesse Milnes; Ross Bellenoit, who recently finished a tour with Amos Lee opening for Bob Dylan; and Peter Bitenc, of Heather & The Barbarians and several other cutting edge bands.
The band was chosen as one of six finalists to play on A Prairie Home Companion as part of the program's 2007 People in Their Twenties talent contest, and more recently, began a partnership with independent record label Signature Sounds. Their latest CD Chicken Ain't Chicken mixes country classics with a handful of new songs, all topped with a healthy dash of winking irreverence and freewheeling enthusiasm.
Hooker-Dunham Theater & Gallery is located at 139 Main St. in downtown Brattleboro. Tickets for the show are $16 general admission/ $14 students and seniors. For ticket reservations and information, call 802-254-9276. For more information, visit www.thesweetbacksisters.com and www.hookerdunham.org.
• Nordic Harmoni joins Christmas in Weston celebration: As part of the Christmas in Weston (www.westonvt.com) festivities, the community is invited to Weston's Old Parish Church to hear a performance of seasonal music by Nordic Harmoni on Saturday, Dec. 4, at 1:30 p.m.
Nordic Harmoni is a Scandinavian-American chorus of more than 20 voices, whose Sankta Lucia Pageants and other local performances have been extremely popular ever since the group's formation in 2001. The program will include seasonal Christmas songs, a brief Sankta Lucia Pageant, as well as a community sing-a-long of traditional Christmas carols. Nordic Harmoni members belong to the American Union of Swedish Singers and are directed by Ken Olsson.
The Lucia Pageant, a Nordic festival, commemorates the martyrdom of an early Italian Christian, who is represented in the pageant by a young woman dressed in white wearing a crown of burning candles. Saturday's Lucia will be Stephanie Arndt.
In Sweden, the celebration of the Lucia Pageant is considered to be the true beginning of the Christmas season. There is no specified cost to attend and participate; any free-will offerings will graciously be accepted.
• Cohen, Merfeld at Marlboro College: The Marlboro College Music for A Sunday Afternoon series presents a performance by cellist Paul Cohen and pianist Robert Merfeld at 3 p.m. on Dec. 5 in Ragle Hall.
The first half of the program will consist of J.S. Bach's Cello Suite #1 in G Major, a premier of David Walther's composition, Crumb Cakes, for solo electric cello, and Robert Schumann's solo piano piece, Waldszenen. After the intermission, past members of the Apple Hill Chamber players, Betty Hauck on viola and Moby Pearson on violin will join Cohen and Merfeld for a reading of the Piano Quartet in A Major by Johannes Brahms.
Music for a Sunday Afternoon concerts are free and open to the public. All performances during the 2010-11 season are dedicated to Luis Batlle, who is retiring from the Marlboro College music faculty after 30 years. Batlle has handpicked many of his favorite performers for the season. A complete schedule can be found at www.marlboro.edu/batlle. In the event of inclement weather, call 802-451-7151 for cancellation information.
• Westmoreland Town Band in Westminster: On Sunday, Dec. 5, the Westmoreland (N.H.) Town Band will give its annual Christmas concert at the Westminster Congregational Church on Route 5 from 4 to 5:30 p.m.
There is no admission charge, but free will donations will be accepted.
• Holiday concert at Main Steeet Arts: Main Street Arts will offer Songs for a Winter's Eve, its annual musical gift to the community, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 10 and 11, at 7 p.m. at the Saxtons River community arts center.
The adult chorus will offer songs of the season, including Christmas Time is Here from A Charlie Brown Christmas and Andy Beck's version of In the Bleak Midwinter. An enthusiastic 30-member children's chorus will add its own magical touch to the program.
The evening will include a community sing and will conclude with the traditional Celtic blessing sung to a special light display. Elizabeth Giguere-Kimball is director of the adult chorus, and the children's chorus is directed by Valerie Kosednar.
There is no admission charge for the concert, but donations for Main Street Arts are welcome. Those attending are encouraged to bring a donation of non-perishable food for Our Place Drop-in Center in Bellows Falls. The Jelly Bean Tree crafts cooperative located in the MSA building will be open from 6 to 7 p.m. prior to the concert for holiday shopping.
Further information is available by contacting MSA at (802) 869-2960, e-mailing [email protected] or accessing the center's Web site at www.MainStreetArts.org.
• Pianist Jacqueline Schwab plays in Bellows Falls: Celebrate the holidays in traditional style and improvised with extraordinary skill and nuance. Jacqueline Schwab, pianist, will take up the keys of the Steinway, nine foot grand concert piano in a holiday concert at the Immanuel Episcopal Church, 20 Church St., at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 11.
She will perform her own arrangements of vintage American carols, as well as American “heart songs” and dance tunes from Mark Twain's era, plus some contemporary Scottish and English tunes.
Chosen by the renowned Ken Burns for numerous public television documentaries due to the emotional expression in her playing, Schwab has performed on the soundtracks for the Grammy award-winning The Civil War, the Emmy award-winning Baseball and Mark Twain, among others.
Admission is $17 for adults ($13 for seniors and children under 12) in advance and $20 ($15) at the door. Tickets are available at Village Square Booksellers (Bellows Falls), Toadstool Bookshop (Keene, N.H.), Brattleboro Books, Misty Valley Books (Chester), and at www.brattleborotix.com or available at the door. For more information, call 802-463-3100.
• Live at the Met presents Don Carlo: The Metropolitan Opera's first new production of Verdi's Don Carlo since 1979 will continue The Met: Live in HD series, transmitting the live performance on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 12:30 p.m. and an Encore presentation Sunday, Dec. 12 at 11 a.m. at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro.
This production of Verdi's monumental work - a dark and intense epic in which love, war, politics, and religion combine in Spain at the height of the Inquisition- stars Roberto Alagna, Marina Poplavskaya, Simon Keenlyside, and Ferruccio Furlanetto.
It is directed by Nicholas Hytner, the artistic director of London's National Theatre. Don Carlo will be conducted by Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Designate Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who led last season's Live in HD transmission of Carmen.
Met star soprano Deborah Voigt, currently in rehearsals for the title role of La Fanciulla Del West, is the HD host for Don Carlo. Gary Halvorson directs the transmission and Jay David Saks is music producer.
• Open Music Collective salutes Billie Holiday: On Dec. 12th at 5 p.m., the Open Music Collective will be hosting A Tribute to Lady Day. This concert will feature five vocalists who participated in OMC's vocal class dedicated to the music of Billie Holiday.
Sarah Ellis, Anushka Peres, Patti Smith, Molly Steinmark, and Anne Thomas will sing selections from Billie Holiday's repertoire with musicians Jamie MacDonald (bass), Kate Parsons (piano), and special guests Ben Carr (drums), and Mike Wakefield (saxophone).
Billie Holiday is known as one of jazz's finest female vocalists. Her use of phrasing, musicality, and emotional vulnerability are high standards most singers aspire to reach. These five vocalists have worked hard on these qualities throughout this course, each speaking to a different aspect of Billie's persona as a vocalist and a musician.
Tickets are (a suggested) $5 at available at the door. For any questions regarding this concert or other OMC events or courses, visit www.openmusiccollective.org or call 802-275-5054. OMC is located in the Cotton Mill in Brattleboro in Studio A335.
Books
• Lisa McCormick releases 3-Chord Christmas songbook, DVD: Singer/songwriter Lisa McCormick celebrates the release of her first songbook and DVD with a book-signing and singalong bash at The Book Cellar, 120 Main St., Brattleboro on Friday, Dec. 3, from 5-7 p.m.
The Easiest Holiday Songs Ever for Guitar: 12 Holiday Classics You Can Play with Just 3 Easy Chords features simple guitar arrangements using just the chords G, C, and D.
A Brattleboro resident and one of the lead instructors at online guitar lesson giant GuitarTricks.com, McCormick specializes in teaching guitar to beginners and intermediates. McCormick will offer free mini-lessons at the book-signing event, teaching songs from the holiday songbook.
• Archer Mayor at The Book Cellar: The Book Cellar welcomes the return of Archer Mayor on Saturday, Dec. 4, from 2-3:30 p.m. Mayor is the author of the highly acclaimed, Vermont-based mystery series featuring detective Joe Gunther. Mayor will be in the store chatting with folks and signing copies of his new novel, Red Herring. Copies of Mayor's most recent paperback release, The Price of Malice, as well as the rest of his catalog will also be available for purchase.
In Red Herring, VBI (Vermont Bureau of Investigation) head Joe Gunther and his team are called in to investigate a series of violent deaths that appear unrelated until telltale clues reveal a linkage between them and that all of the deaths are, in fact, murders. Faced with more questions than answers, the VBI must plumb the depths of every suspect's past, every victim's most intimate details, and examine each piece of evidence down to the smallest detail - an examination which includes a trip to the Brookhaven National Lab on Long Island and an exploration of cutting edge forensic technology.
The Book Cellar is located at 120 Main St, in downtown Brattleboro. For more information about this event or to reserve your copy of Red Herring, contact the store at 802-254-6810 or www.bookcellarvt.com.
Visual arts
• “5 Artists, 3 Days” exhibit: Artists Petria Mitchell, Mallory Lake, Jim Giddings, Carolyn Dinicola Fawley and Bobbi Angell will hold a joint show, “5 Artists, 3 Days,” at the Gallery at Headroom Stages, 17 Elliot St., Brattleboro, on Dec. 10-12.
An opening reception will be held on Friday, Dec. 10, from 5:30-7:30. The studio will be open on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 11-12, from noon-5 p.m., both days.
For more information, call 802-257-4021.