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Fiddler Kyra Bleicher will perform at the Oasis of Music from 12:30-1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 12, at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston.
Submitted photo
Fiddler Kyra Bleicher will perform at the Oasis of Music from 12:30-1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 12, at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston.
Bleicher, a recent graduate from Bates College and contradance fiddling enthusiast, has thus far chosen to stay in the area post graduation. She is working for a second year as an AmeriCorps VISTA Member at the St Mary’s Nutrition Center in Lewiston, while also contributing as a team member of a local subsistence farm. At the Nutrition Center, Bleicher has worked to improve the organization’s volunteer system and to increase language accessibility for volunteers, while also offering direct support on the ground. She also helps connect people to services in the community, documents the Nutrition Center’s work for more effective storytelling, and
Christal Brown (left) and Lida Winfield in Same but Different
1. Compare and Contrast Christal Brown and Lida Winfield have a lot in common: They re both Vermonters, dance artists and Middlebury College faculty members. But in some things they contrast, including their race, geographical origins and experiences in education. Brown and Winfield team up in the dance and spoken-word duet
Same but Different, in which they explore their similarities and differences and comment on race, age and gender. A Q&A with the artists follows a free broadcast on Friday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m., presented as part of the Middlebury Performing Arts Series Spring 2021 Virtual Season.
Ya Never Know (Self-released, CD, digital, flash drive) Contra dancing is a popular pastime in the Green Mountains. And yet, unless you know to look for it, it s almost completely invisible. There s no dress code, no teenagers walking around Burlington blasting fiddle reels on their phone speakers. Pre-pandemic, its fans convened at town halls and barns, not clubs and bars. If not for the packed parking lots at rural granges, you d hardly know they were there. So if you ve never heard of Pete s Posse, it ain t necessarily your fault. The multigenerational trad roots power trio is built around the tutelage of master fiddler and local legend Pete Sutherland. A musician, educator and prolific producer, Sutherland s résumé spans decades of accomplishments and acclaim. He s also mentored some dynamite talent over the years, including multi-instrumentalists Tristan Henderson and Oliver Scanlon, who round out his handpicked Posse.
For the performing arts in Vermont, 2020 was the year that wasnât. Yet the COVID-19 pandemic revealed many arts organizationsâ ability to redefine themselves â and for others it meant a complete shutdown.
January began optimistically with a splendid performance by the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Anne Decker, of Menottiâs Christmas opera, âAmahl and the Night Visitorsâ at City Hall Arts Center. The Spice on Snow traditional music festival celebrated its 10th year, also in the capital.
Vermont Stage, the Burlington professional theater, mounted excellent productions of âRelativity,â by Mark St. Germain â in which Ron Crawford became Albert Einstein â and âMarie and Rosetta,â the rockinâ gospel of Sister Rosetta Tharpe.