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Published: June 26, 2009
Johannes Quartet tonight
ROCHESTER – Tonight, the Rochester Chamber Music Society will celebrate the opening of its 15th anniversary season with a return of one of the finest string quartets, the Johannes Quartet. The evening performance will offer variety and a Vermont premiere of “The Rainforest,” a poem by Joan Hutton Landis, set to music by composer Luis Prado. The Johannes Quartet consists of four outstanding musicians: the principal cello of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the first American to win the Paganini Violin Competition in 24 years, and a Concert Artist Guild International Competition Winner, and has been praised by listeners and critics alike for its special combination of passion, warmth, elegance and poetry. Cynthia Huard has appeared in recital as a pianist and harpsichordist throughout the United States and in Europe. Soprano, Beth Thompson is well-known in the north country for her versatility and eclectic tastes. The Friday evening concert begins at 7 p.m. with a pre-concert talk at 6:30 p.m. at the Federated Church.
Admission is by donation; for information, call (802) 767-9234 or visit www.rcmsvt.org.
Burlington’s Waterfront Festival launches
BURLINGTON – After more than a year of planning, the 13-day Burlington International Waterfront Festival launches on Thursday with an opening ceremony, gallery exhibits, and a Flynn Theatre production of the variety show, “Queen City Radio Hour,” hosted by National Public Radio star Tom Bodett (“Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me”) and featuring Tantoo Cardinal, Gary Farmer, Rusty Dewees, The Horse Flies, and Anaïs Mitchell. The festival, which continues through July 14, was organized to commemorate the 400th anniversary of French explorer Samuel de Champlain’s river and lake expedition, led by Montagnais, Huron, and Algonquins from Quebec City to the southern reaches of what indigenous Abenaki people called “Bitawbakw” — “the waters in-between” — Lake Champlain. Champlain’s journey provides much of the festival’s focus, with a five-day history scholars’ seminar at Champlain College (July 2-5) and an extensive Native American program that will include a five-day El-Nu Abenaki encampment and Indigenous Signature Event (July 9-12) along with a concert by Grammy-winning Iroquois singer Joanne Shenandoah (July 11), a staged reading of award-winning Ojibwa playwright Drew Taylor Hayden’s dramatic comedy, “Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth” (July 5-7), and a solo dance performance by acclaimed Quebec Abenaki choreographer Marie-Claude Rodrigue (July 9-11).
Tickets are available at the Flynn Center Box Office (call (802) 86-FLYNN, or go to www.flynntix.org). Tickets and free festival programs are also available at Festival Headquarters at 90 Church St. Festival information is also available at (802) 264-0766, or by e-mail: Champlain400@gmail.com, or online at www.CelebrateChamplain.org.
Independence Day
MONTPELIER — The Montpelier Downtown Community Association is putting the finishing touches on the 10th annual Independence Day Celebration. With day-long activities throughout downtown and on the Statehouse lawn, the Friday, July 3 event is shaping. Perennial favorites include the Pancake Breakfast at Christ Episcopal Church and the Recreation Department’s free Family Fun Day at the Montpelier Pool. StoryWalk, an activity that combines children’s books with the joys of walking outdoors will be available at the North Branch Nature Center all day. Kellogg-Hubbard Library will host a lawn party with bubble pools, refreshments, games and music by D’Moja. The fourth annual Montpelier Mile Road Race will start at 6 PM, just prior to the parade and along the same route. Lost Nation Theater has scheduled a special matinee performance of Ira Levin’s thriller “Deathtrap,” at 2 p.m., at City Hall Arts Center. Activities get underway on the State House lawn beginning at 3 p.m.
For more information, visit the MDCA Web site at www.mdca.org.
Calling saxophonists, drummers and dancers
MONTPELIER – The 10th annual Independence Day parade will feature a special performing troupe and you’re invited to join in. Emily Lanxner is organizing interested saxophonists, drummers and dancers for two songs — “Mas Que Nada” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” She has created easy-to-read music plus MP3 files and a CD that will allow musicians of most skill levels to learn their part. A dance is being choreographed to go along with the songs so if you don’t play an instrument, you can still join in.
For more information, call Emily Lanxner at (802) 472-5913 or e-mail: panashe@hotmail.com.
Choir of Christ’s College
BURLINGTON – In this 800th anniversary year of the University of Cambridge, England, the Choir of Christ’s College performs at several east coast venues including St. John the Divine (NYC) and Washington National Cathedral. Their tour repertoire spans the range of English and European choral traditions from the Renaissance to the 20th century and includes Scarlatti Stabat Mater, motets by J.S. Bach, Parry Songs of Farewell, and Britten Rejoice in the Lamb. The choir will perform at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, 2 Cherry St., Thursday, July 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $20, $15 for seniors, $10 under 15; call the Flynn Regional Box Office, (802) 863-5966, or go online to www.flynntix.org.
‘Talley’s Folly”
COLCHESTER – The Pulitzer Prize-winning romantic comedy, “Talley’s Folly,” is on stage at the Saint Michael’s Playhouse, Tuesday, June 30, through Saturday, July 11, directed by Broadway veteran Kenneth Kimmins. Performances are Tuesday-Saturday at 8 p.m. each evening, and Saturday, July 4, and Saturday, July 11, at 2 p.m., in the McCarthy Arts Center on the campus of Saint Michael’s College. “This is a superbly romantic play — it is quite simply a valentine,” Kimmins said. “These two people, by themselves, sort through outside pressures and in 90 minutes all of that goes away — it’s just wonderfully romantic.” A poignant valentine to improbable love, “Talley’s Folly,” is a heart-warming love story. Set at the Talley family’s boathouse on a moonlit 4th of July in 1944, Jewish accountant Matt Freidman takes his one chance to win Sally Talley’s heart. What evolves has been deemed “one of the sweetest plays ever written.”
Tickets are $34, $28 for matinees; call (802) 654-2281, or go online to www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.
Players celebrate 50 years
MIDDLEBURY– The Middlebury Community Players invite you to come “Party with the Players” as they celebrate 50 years of music and theater in Addison County. “Gold and Glamour” is the theme of the Players’ golden anniversary show featuring song and dance from past and upcoming shows. The show takes the stage at the Town Hall Theater on Saturday, June 27, at 2 and 7:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity to stroll down memory lane, purchase memorabilia and enjoy the performances for which the Players have become famous. Food and refreshments will be served, and a DJ will provide dance music after the 7 p.m. show.
Tickets are $10, and may be purchased at the Town Hall Theater box office by calling (802) 382-9222, or online at www.townhalltheater.com.
Battery Park Concert Series
BURLINGTON – Starting Friday, July 3 as part of the Burlington International Waterfront Festival, celebrating 400 years of Lake Champlain, Battery Park will come alive with national and international acts people of all ages will enjoy. All concerts are free and open to the public, beginning each week at 6:30 p.m. This summer’s lineup features:
Friday, July 3: The Horse Flies – with The Lost Fingers
Thursday, July 16: Diane Birch
Thursday, July 23: Movement of the People: The Fela Kuti Project
Thursday, July 30: Green River Ordinance – with Tyrone Wells
Local food and drink vendors will be present at each concert, offering their wares. Please note that alcohol and glass containers are prohibited in the park. For more information about gallery exhibitions, special events, classes and workshops, call (802) 865-7166, or go online to burlingtoncityarts.com.
New musicals on trial
RUTLAND – The Paramount Theatre’s developmental theater initiative, 30 Center Stage, will continue this summer with “Room 16” – a new American musical — in development for two workshop presentations: Saturday, June 27, and Monday, June 29, both at 8 p.m. This new series, which presents new American musicals in developmental “presentations” follows on the success of last summer’s “Tales from the Bad Years,” which delighted and intrigued two enthusiastic audiences. This year The Paramount will be bringing celebrated composer/lyricist Stephen Sislen’s new musical, “Room 16,” which deals with the events surrounding the infamous Watergate break-in. This is the unbelievable story of Gordon Liddy and Howard Hunt, two former government agents who were hired by the White House to gather intelligence on Richard Nixon’s political enemies. Their subversive activities ultimately led to a break-in and burglary of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Hotel complex early in the morning of June 17, 1972. The perpetrators were caught and the subsequent cover-up by the White House created the biggest political scandal in modern history, culminating in the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
All seats are $10; call (802) 775-0903, or go online to www.paramountlive.org.
Frog and Toad
COLCHESTER – “Frog and Toad” wake up in the spring from a long winter’s hibernation and roll into numerous surprising adventures. An actual Broadway musical designed specifically for children’s theater, “A Year with Frog and Toad,” under the direction of Broadway actor/director Marc Tumminelli, will be staged Friday, July 3, at 11 a.m., and Sunday, July 5, at 10 a.m. and noon, in the McCarthy Arts Center at Saint Michael’s College. The production is part of the Saint Michael’s Playhouse series for young theater goers — Playhouse Junior. Arnold Lobel’s “A Year with Frog and Toad” follows two great friends, the cheerful and popular Frog and the grumpy Toad, through four seasons. They plant gardens, swim, rake leaves, go sledding and learn lots of wonderful lessons along the way.
All tickets are $9; call (802) 654-2281, or online at www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org. (There is a $2.50 fee per ticket for those bought by phone or on line, but no fee in using the walk-up window.)
Slaid Cleaves in concert
TUNBRIDGE – Acclaimed, Austin-based folk-noir singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves will perform on Saturday, June 27, at 7:30 p.m., at the Tunbridge Church, in a concert sponsored by MountainFolk. Simply put: Slaid grew up in Maine. Lives in Texas. Makes records. Travels around. Tries to be good. Having not played in Vermont for several years, Slaid is touring in support of his recent release “Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away.” Remarking on the recording’s downbeat theme, he says, “Whether it’s your loved ones, your way of life, or even just your sense of innocence and hope, every song in some way is about how it all gets taken away.” The River Front Times describes Cleaves’ songwriting skills by stating, “He phrases like a grifter trying to croon his low-down past away … and writes like he knows he never will.”
Advance tickets, $15, are available at www.mtnfolk.org; tickets will be sold at the door for $20. For further information, e-mail: folkbloke@hotmail.com, or phone (802) 431-3433.
Vermont Public Television
- Sunday: At 3:30 p.m., “Great Performances at the Met” continues its season with Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” Patricia Racette appears in the title role of Anthony Minghella’s stunning new production. Marcello Giordani is Pinkerton. Patrick Summers conducts. At 9 p.m., “Masterpiece Mystery!” presents the second of two new episodes of “Poirot.” As the detective joins forces with a famed crime novelist to save a man from the gallows, he doesn’t realize his own life is in danger.
- Tuesday: At 8 p.m., “Nova: My Musical Brain” airs. Through remarkable case studies from neurologist Oliver Sacks, the program investigates the extraordinary impact music can have on the human brain.
- Wednesday: At 8 p.m. “American Masters” presents “Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio with the Red Shoes.” For more than a year, the filmmakers followed the host of NPR’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and came away with an in-depth portrait. “A Prairie Home Companion” airs Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 11 a.m. on Vermont Public Radio.
- Saturday: At 7 p.m., by popular demand, the beloved Britcom series “As Time Goes By” begins at the beginning. At 8 p.m., the annual “Capitol Fourth” lights up Washington, D.C., with the Erich Kunzel and the National Symphony Orchestra and a lineup of musical guests.
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