Thursday, May 17 @ 7pm
Stowe Middle & High School Spring Concert
Tickets will be sold at the door

Members of the Stowe Middle School and Stowe High School choruses, concert bands and jazz band perform under the direction of Marty Lacasse and Jane Bouffard.  Performance selections include great big band tunes “In The Mood” and “Sing, Sing, Sing”, Mancini’s “Baby Elephant Walk”, a multi-cultural piece entitled “Egyptique”, Coldplay’s “Clocks”,  James Taylor “You’re Smiling Face”, “Sweet Caroline”, “By the Waters of Babylon”  and many others.

TICKETS TO TONIGHT’S PERFORMANCE WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR BEGINNING AT 7 PM

Featuring the VYO Chorus and the World Premiere of A New Eaarth
by Composer-in-Residence Robert Paterson
Jeffrey Domoto, conductor
Liam John, cello
Bill McKibben, narrator

Tickets are available by calling the VYOA office at 802-655-5030.
Tickets will also be available at the door on the evening of the performance.

Composer Robert Paterson’s three-year Music Alive residency with the VYOA culminates this spring with the world premiere of “A New Eaarth,” written for the VYO and our choruses. We’re joined by noted environmentalist Bill McKibben, whose writings and ideas inspired the creation of this work and who will serve as narrator at these premiere performances! This important event will also include orchestral works by Dvorak and Copland, with Essex cellist Liam John appearing as soloist for the first movement of Edward Elgar’s elegaic Cello Concerto. The concert will conclude with the VYO’s presentation of Gustav Holst’s dazzling orchestral showpiece, The Planets.

Friday, May 4 at 8:00 pm

Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, Stowe
Tickets: Adults/Seniors $10; Students $5
Tickets will also be available at the door on the evening of the performance.

Sponsors: Champlain Orthodontics, WCAX TV, Vermont Gastroenterology, People’s United Bank

“An exciting, boundary-defying performer – Pine displays a power and confidence that puts her in the top echelon.”- The Washington Post

In both art and life, violinist Rachel Barton Pine has an extraordinary ability to connect with people. Her performances exude passion and conviction, and her honesty in communicating the core emotions of great works moves listeners worldwide. Pine’s scholarly fascination with history enables her to bring informed interpretations to her extensive repertoire, while her innate ability to understand and perform music of many diverse genres captivates music lovers of all backgrounds. Audiences are thrilled and uplifted by her dazzling technique, lustrous tone, and infectious joy in music-making.

Click here to view the embedded video.

During her 2011-2012 season she will perform with Brazil’s Orquesta Filarmonica de Minas Gerais, Poland’s Beethoven Academy Orchestra, the Calgary and Las Vegas Philharmonics, and the Columbus and Tallahassee Symphonies among others. Throughout the season she will play works by Bernstein, Brahms, Bruch, Corigliano, Glazunov, Korngold, Ravel, Sarasate, Vaughan Williams and Vivaldi. She will also perform the five Mozart Violin Concertos with the New York Chamber Soloists in Florida, Texas and California.

This season Pine will play the complete Paganini 24 Caprices in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City as well as offer recitals at Wolf Trap and New York City’s Rubin Museum. Past recital performances have included all six Bach Sonatas and Partitas as well as the complete Brahms Sonatas in single evenings. In 2009 she gave the world premiere of the last movement of Samuel Barber’s long-lost 1928 Violin Sonata.

During 2011-2012, Pine will celebrate four CD releases. Her June, 2011, Capricho Latino on Cedille, is a stunning collection of 14 unaccompanied virtuoso pieces with a Latin flair, for which eight make their recording debut, including her own arrangement of Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz’s celebrated Asturias, which draws on both Francisco Tárrega’s familiar guitar transcription and Albéniz’s original but less-known score for piano. The CD also features a unique duet, Pine performing Alan Ridout’s Ferdinand the Bull score with the words of the beloved children’s story delivered by actor Héctor Elizondo (Pretty Woman, Grey’s Anatomy). In fall 2011, Pine’s period instrument ensemble Trio Settecento will release its album A French Soirée with works by Lully, Couperin, Marais, Forqueray, Rebel, Rameau and Leclair also on Cedille. Pine’s performance of Xavier Montsalvatge’s Poema Concertante for violin and orchestra recorded with the NDR-Symphony-Orchestra Hamburg conducted by Maestro Celso Antunes will be released in November 2011 by Hänssler Classics as part of an album of Montsalvatge symphonic works. She will also be featured on an album of works by renowned Ghanian composer J.H. Kwabena Nketia, performing his violin and piano repertoire with pianist George Francois.

CHRISTOPHER O’RILEY
SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 2012
8PM
Click here to visit artist website

As a prestigious artist, pianist and national media personality, Mr. O’Riley has dazzled the world over on stage,  the radio and his records. His memorable interpretations of traditional and popular repertoire make him a cherished bridge between musical tastes, genres and audience worldwide.

Mr. O’Riley’s exquisite and poetic interpretations have granted him phenomenal reviews and several recording contracts with labels like Sony Classical. His warm personality has brought him to host NPR’s “From the Top” for the last 10 years. Christopher O’Riley differs from other artists in two ways. First, his repertoire spans classical styles, from Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Chopin, Ravel and Busoni to contemporary artists such as Radiohead, Nirvana, Pink Floyd and Elliott Smith. He is the definition of a Classical Crossover artist.  Second, O’Riley ‘s unique, passionate and heartfelt piano interpretations of both classical and popular  music  create unforgettable musical performances and astonishing audience experiences.  His most famous recording, Radiohead “True Love Waits” album, was awarded four stars in Rolling Stone magazine, along with many other reviews available in the attached press kit. Most importantly, it has also created a dedicated and diverse fan base that appeals to all ages, uniting them through music.

From his groundbreaking transcriptions of Radiohead to his powerful interpretations of repertoire classic and contemporary, pianist Christopher O’Riley has redefined the possibilities of classical music. He has taken his unique vision to both traditional classical music venues and symphonic settings, as well as to entirely new audiences on the radio, at universities and even clubs. As host of the most popular classical music radio show on the air today, National Public Radio’s From the Top, Mr. O’Riley works and performs with the next generation of brilliant young musicians, demonstrating to audiences, with humor and a lack of pretense, that these young artists are as characterful and diverse in their personal lives as they are in their music-making. In 2007, From the Top was filmed for public television in Zankel Concert Hall at Carnegie Hall and debuted on PBS in the spring.  The series is now airing its third season.

RENT follows a year in the life of a diverse group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive in the East Village of New York.  It tells the unforgettable story of falling in love, finding your voice and living for today.  Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, RENT has become a pop cultural phenomenon with songs that rock and a story that resonate with audiences of all ages.  Recommended for mature audiences.

SPRUCEPEAK PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
FRIDAY, APRIL 27 at 8:00 pm &
SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 8:00 pm

Tickets: http://www.greenmountaintheater.org/

Sponsored by:  Minuteman Press

Frantic, frenzied, frenetic, funny, fantastic — these are just a few words that describe the madcap Waldo & Woodhead and Tom Murphy. Ultimately, the show is knock ‘em down, drag “em out, laugh till you cry slapstick sketch comedy. Think of… Robin Williams meets the Marx Brothers!

Masters of Mayhem
Saturday, April 7, 2012
7pm
Free Performance

The Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center is proud to present Chicago’s legendary comedy theatre The Second City on Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 8:00 pm at the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center.  The performance will feature some of the best sketches, songs and improvisations from Second City’s forty-five plus year history.

Founded in Chicago in 1959, The Second City has become the premier training ground for the comedy world’s best and brightest.  Their alumni list reads like a who’s who of American comedy, as it includes: Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Alan Arkin, Joan Rivers, Robert Klein, Peter Boyle, Harold Ramis, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, George Wendt, Martin Short, John Candy, Bonnie Hunt, Tim Meadows, Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hortaio Sanz, Ryan Stiles and countless others.

Not only an evening with The Second City provide audience with the chance to see comedy stars in the making, but they will also have the opportunity to see absolutely hilarious satire and cutting-edge improvisation.  No topic or subject matter is off limits for The Second City.  If your parents asked you not to speak about it at the dinner table, chances are it will be made fun of in an evening with The Second City. 

The Second City                                               
Saturday, March 31, 2012                            
8:00 pm
Price: $35

Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble is the second company of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, a world-renowned ballet company of African American and other racially diverse artists. The DTHE repertoire is comprised of classical, neoclassical and contemporary ballet and encompasses modern dance and Afro-Caribbean techniques.

On the evening of March 23 at 8:00 pm is the Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble’s performance at Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center.  The Ensemble will be presenting an interactive performance featuring five of their signature ballets: Joplin Variations, Adagietto, In the Mirror of her Mind, New Bach, and an exert from the Ballet Return, “Mother Popcorn”.

Founded in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook, Dance Theatre of Harlem was considered “one
of ballet’s most exciting undertakings” (The New York Times, 1971).  The Dance Theatre of Harlem is a leading dance institution of unparalleled global acclaim, encompassing the Dance Theatre of Harlem School, a leading arts education center, the Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble, a national touring company, and Dancing Through Barriers, a national education and community outreach program.  Each component of the Dance Theatre of Harlem carries a solid commitment toward enriching the lives of young people and adults around the world through arts.

The Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble was established in 2004 and began touring nationally under a “Dance for America” banner in 2009.  Since then, the Ensemble has toured to more than 35 cities in 26 states, and performed for more than 650,000 patrons, drawing positive notices from critics and audiences alike for its vibrant, energetic presentations of ballet for the 21^st century.

Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble                       
Friday, March 23, 2012                                  
8:00 pm
Price: $38

Danu                                                    
Sunday, March 18, 2012                               
7:00 pm
Price: $36 – Orchestra
Price: $29- Boxes/Mezzanine
Official Band Website – http://www.danu.net/

Hailing from historic County Waterford, Danu is one of the leading traditional Irish ensembles of today. Their standing room only concerts throughout Ireland are true events featuring high-energy performances and a glorious mix of ancient Irish music and new repertoire. Danu takes its audiences on a musical journey to their native Ireland, offering a moving a memorable concert experience.

9th Annual Fundraiser – TRIP Dance CO

Tickets can be purchased for $20 fromany TRIP member, at Stowe Dance Academy, at the door or by info@stowedance.com or 802.253.5151

S I L E N T  A U C T I O N  &  R A F F L E

Click here to listen to the Point Radio Clip of The Official Blues Brothers Revue

This live concert show combines the comedy and the hits from the original movie and pays homage to Chicago’s rich history of blues, gospel and soul music. Performed with the passion and precision that is the trademark of the original Blues Brothers Band.

“ Infectious and unbridled energy… blows the roof off”. 
Jeff Johnson, Chicago Sun Times

Click here to view the embedded video.

Official Blues Brothers Revue    
Thursday, March 15, 2012                            
7:00 pm
Price: $36– All

Sponsored by:

Sam Bush Radio Clip from The Point FM Radio

Sam Bush is a Grammy Award winning multi-instrumentalist.  He’s alternately known as the King of Telluride and the King of Newgrass, Bush has been honored by the Americana Music Association and the International Bluegrass Music Association.

Bush has helped to expand the horizons of bluegrass music, fusing it with jazz, rock, blues, funk and other styles. He’s the co-founder of the genre-bending New Grass Revival and an in-demand musician who has played with everyone from Emmylou Harris and Bela Fleck to Charlie Haden, Lyle Lovett and Garth Brooks.

And though Bush is best known for jaw-dropping skills on the mandolin, he is also a three time national junior fiddle champion and Grammy award winning vocalist.  For more information – http://www.sambush.com/about/

He plays on an antique Gibson mandolin, but in addition playing mandolin he’s also an accomplished musician on guitar & fiddle.

From Bowling Green, KY.  In March 2010, Legislation passed in Kentucky that officially named Bowling Green the “Birthplace of Newgrass” and Sam Bush the “Father of Newgrass.” 

 Sam is one of the main attractions at the annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, Colorado and plays the eight p.m. set on Saturday night as well as many guest appearances throughout the weekend. He is affectionately known as “The King of Telluride”

Sponsored by:

A Solo Acoustic Evening with Travis Tritt                                          
Thursday, March 8, 2012                              
8:00 pm
Opening Performance:  Lyndsey  Highlander
Price: $75 – Orchestra
Price: $60- Boxes/Mezzanine
Link to Official Website

Radio Clip of Travis Tritt

Two time Grammy Award Winning Artist, Travis Tritt joins us for an solo acoustic evening at the Spruce Peak Peforming Arts Center.

“Growing up just outside Atlanta, to the north of us you’ve got the Grand Ol’ Opry in Nashville, a little bit South you’ve got Macon, GA – home of the Allman Brothers, the Marshall Tucker Band and Capricorn Records. And off to west you’ve got Delta blues. Sprinkle Southern gospel over the top of that, and you’re talking about where I came from. I loved all of that music.” – Travis Tritt

A two-time Grammy winner, singer/songwriter Tritt has sold 25 million albums and performed for standing-room-only crowds coast to coast.  He has been on the country music scene since the ’90s. Unlike many other mainstream country acts, Tritt doesn’t wear a cowboy hat and includes elements of rock ‘n’ roll in his music. He has Seven certified platinum albums.  The single “Country Club” hit the top ten and “Help Me Hold On” hit number one on the country music charts. Tritt won two Grammy awards for his work on the singles, “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin’” and “Same Old Train.”  Tritt is also the winner of four Country Music Association Awards and has been a member of the Grand Ole Oprey since 1992.

His current tour features stripped down, solo acoustic versions of his hits. In a recent interview Tritt commented “It gives me more of an opportunity to show what I can do. You don’t have anything to hide behind, instrumentally and vocally,” he said. Looking back, Tritt notes many of his musical idols – John Denver, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett – occasionally performed acoustic shows.

Opening Performerance - Lyndsay Highlander – 8:00pm

Lyndsey has a style all her own, powered by massive vocal chops, soothing falsettos, and intimate story telling.  As a live performer, Lyndsey has been known to mingle with the audience, firing up the crowd and melting their hearts with verses as impressive as her colossal bridges.  Lyndsey comments, “Performing is indescribable, it’s God’s natural high… I love the music, I love the fans, I love absolutely everything about it!”  Lyndsey intends to share her music with fans worldwide.  The journey has already begun with landing opening slots and sharing festival stages with the likes of Travis Tritt, Brantley Gilbert, Blackberry Smoke,  and Randy Travis to name a few.

Reduced Shakespeare CO – The Complete World of Sports (abridged)
Saturday, March 3, 2012                               
8:00 pm
Price: $35 – Orchestra
Price: $28- Boxes/Mezzanine

 In 2010 the RSC, unveiled The Complete World of Sports (abridged), setting their comic sights on the lunacy of sports.  This merciless but affectionate satire reduces every sport ever played on every continent in the entire history of the world. The result is a tour-de-farce of vaudevillian physical comedy that will delight every sports lover and non-sports fan in the family.  The Boston Globe said the show “Owes as much to the insanity of Monty Python as to the inanity of actual sports programs.”  For more information about the RSC visit http://www.reducedshakespeare.com/.

The Reduced Shakespeare Company is a three-man comedy troupe that takes long, serious subjects and reduces them to short, sharp comedies.  Known as “Bad Boys of Abridgement”,  the troupe has created seven stage shows, two television specials, and numerous radio pieces – all of which have been performed, seen, and heard the world over.  The RSC’s first three shows, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), The Complete History of America (abridged) and The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) ran for nine years at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus. They were London’s longest-running comedies, and the RSC had more shows running in the West End than Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Celtic Crossroads is critically acclaimed as ‘the most exhilarating and authentic show to come from Ireland in decades – not to be missed’. It is an explosion of youthful energy and dazzling musicianship. Celtic Crossroads abounds with fusions of traditional Irish music, bluegrass, gypsy and jazz whilst pulsating with the rhythms of exciting Irish dance percussion.

Celtic Crossroads                             
Tuesday, February 28, 2012                        
7:00 pm
Price: $36– All

Blackberry Smoke                           
Saturday, February 25, 2012                       
8:00 pm
Opening Performance: Abby Jenne and the Enablers
Price: $32– All

Blackberry Smoke Radio Clip

Atlanta based Blackberry Smoke continues to grow into the premiere Southern Rock band of America. Over the last 12 months they have shared the stage with ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Shooter Jennings, Cross Canadian Ragweed and countless others. They strike the right balance between the original purveyors of Southern Rock and the legitimate second-generation revivalists.

Sponsored by:

SUZANNE VEGA
DATE: FEBRUARY 24, 2012
TIME: 8PM
TICKET PRICE: $45
Link to Official Website

Suzanne Vega Interview on the PointFM WNCS

With her sultry voice, Suzanne Vega seamlessly joins her poetry and contemporary folk song with a sound that is utterly unique and identifiable to her alone. A pioneer among singer-songwriters, Suzanne has embarked on a project to re-imagine her own songbook in a stripped down and intimate manner.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Widely regarded as one of the most brilliant songwriters of her generation, Suzanne Vega emerged as a leading figure of the folk-music revival of the early 1980s when, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, she sang what has been labeled contemporary folk or neo-folk songs of her own creation in Greenwich Village clubs. Since the release of her self-titled, critically acclaimed 1985 debut album, she has given sold-out concerts in many of the world’s best-known halls. In performances devoid of outward drama that nevertheless convey deep emotion, Vega sings in a distinctive, clear vibrato-less voice that has been described as “a cool, dry sandpaper- brushed near-whisper” and as “plaintive but disarmingly powerful.”

Bearing the stamp of a masterful storyteller who “observed the world with a clinically poetic eye,” Suzanne’s songs have always tended to focus on city life, ordinary people and real world subjects. Notably succinct and understated, often cerebral but also streetwise, her lyrics invite multiple interpretations. In short, Suzanne Vega’s work is immediately recognizable, as utterly distinct and thoughtful, and as creative and musical now, as it was when her voice was first heard on the radio over 20 years ago.

Sponsored by:

Title: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Date: Thursday, February 23
Time: 4pm
Price: Free

Title: Cars
Date: Thursday, Feb. 23
Time: 6:30pm
Price: Free 

All children under 11 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. All events and titles are subject to change. No food or beverages allowed in the theatre.

These free of charge events are made possible through the generous support of the Spruce Peak Resort Association and the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

TURTLE ISLAND STRING QUARTET ~ HAVE YOU EVER BEEN…? THE MUSIC OF JIMI HENDRIX
SAT. FEBRUARY 18, 2012
SHOWTIME: 8PM
TICKETS:
Orchestra  - $35
Mezzanine – $28
Special Student Rate – $18 (must show school i.d.)

WCLX Radio Clip of Turtle Island String Quartet

SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY & THE ASBURY JUKES
SAT. FEBRUARY 11, 2012
SHOWTIME: 8PM
TICKETS - $48
Link to Official Website

While often viewed by the outside world in the shadow of that other great New Jersey band leader, Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny Lyon is near royalty to Jersey-ites and has created a legacy of great soul-influenced rock spanning three decades. Johnny teamed with friend “Miami” Steve Van Zandt to form the Asbury Jukes in the mid-70s, creating a talented group that included both killer rhythm and horn sections.