With around 40 annual performances statewide in concert halls, beautiful natural settings, and historic and community buildings, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra has proven its value and sustainability, not only as the nation's oldest state-supported orchestra, but as one of the finest of its size.
Stowe is fortunate to be one of the stops on the TD Bank Summer Festival Tour by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. We welcome Guest Conductor Andrew Massey back to the podium to lead the orchestra in a program of music to help you “be happy!”
Bring your picnic and your sense of humor and join us for music that is joyful, witty, wacky, and fun. Selections guaranteed to tickle your funny bone feature a runaway broom, an eccentric timepiece, and an orchestral laugh track.
As always, the program will conclude with the spectacular 1812 Overture, fireworks, and marches.
Fireworks photo by Bill Jalbert
Program (Subject to change)
SMITH Star Spangled Banner
CHADWICK Jubilee from Symphonic Sketches
NICOLAI Merry Wives of Windsor Overture
STRAUSS Farmers’ Polka
KABALEVSKY Galop from The Comedians
DUKAS The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
STYNE/BENNETT Selections from Funny Girl
~ Intermission ~
TCHAIKOVSKY Cossack Dance from Mazeppa
SULLIVAN Overture to the Pirates of Penzance
ANDERSON The Syncopated Clock
MASSEY Summer Snooze
HOLST Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity, from The Planets
TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 Overture
(Encores)
SOUSA Liberty Bell March; Stars & Stripes Forever
This concert is a co-production of
Stowe Performing Arts and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.
"Vermont is fortunate to be home to one of the finest symphony orchestras in the country. The VSO has brought a love of classical music to all corners of our state, and should be a great source of pride to all Vermonters…."
-- Former Governor Jim Douglas
Learn more about the Vermont Symphony Orchestra by visiting www.vso.org.
July
15 at 7:00 pm
A FAR CRY
A Far Cry stands at the forefront of an exciting new generation in classical music. According to the New York Times, the self-conducted orchestra “brims with personality or, better, personalities, many and varied.”
A Far Cry was founded in 2007 by a tightly-knit collective of 17 young professional musicians – the Criers – and since the beginning has fostered those personalities, developing an innovative structure of rotating leadership both on stage and behind the scenes. By expanding the boundaries of orchestral repertoire and experimenting with the ways music is prepared, performed, and experienced, A Far Cry has been embraced throughout the world with more than two hundred performances across he United States, three albums, a powerful presence on the internet, and a European début tour in 2012.
The Criers are proud to call Boston home, and maintain strong roots in the city rehearsing at their storefront music center in Jamaica Plain and fulfilling the role of Chamber Orchestra in Residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Collaborating with local students through an educational partnership with the New England Conservatory, A Far Cry aims to pass on the spirit of collaboratively-empowered music to the next generation.
THE CRIERS
Annie Rabat
Ashley Vandiver
Courtenay Vandiver
Frank Shaw
Jae Young Cosmos Lee
Jason Fisher
Jennifer Curtis
Jesse Irons
Karl Doty
Liza Zurlinden
Loewi Lin
Margaret Dyer
Megumi Stohs
Michael Unterman
Miki-Sophia Cloud
Sarah Darling
Sharon Cohen
July
22
at 7:00 pm
Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers
Sultry chanteuse Lavay Smith evokes a sensuous era of glamorous Jazz divas and sexy pinups adding a modern, feminist twist. Whether singing her own compositions or drawing on a large repertoire of classics, Lavay and her all-star 8-piece band bake up an instant recipe for good times.
Lavay Smith, vocalist and bandleader of the Red Hot Skillet Lickers, grew up in Southern California and the Philippines. She has become known as a modern day Jazz and Blues diva with a singing style influenced by Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Bessie Smith and Little Esther Phillips. Her enticing stage style is a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Bettie Page.
Lavay approaches her material from the standpoint of an independent woman, combining world-class singing and musicianship with contemporary and provocative lyrics. Lavay’s musical stance is echoed in her real life role as owner of her own record label, Fat Note Records. Her debut smash hit CD; “One Hour Mama” received widespread critical acclaim and has sold over 40,000 copies in the United States. Her glamorous stage presence and high musical standards ensure that this diva will continue to be a best-selling independent phenomenon.
Lavay Smith’s 8-piece band features the finest musicians anywhere, consisting of four horns, piano, bass and drums. This is truly an all-star ensemble, Lavay’s musicians have performed and recorded with Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat “King” Cole, Frank Sinatra, Tito Puente, Lionel Hampton, Jay McShann, Johnny Otis, Wynton Marsalis, Big Joe Turner, Ray Charles, Big Mama Thornton, Taj Mahal, Little Esther Phillips to name a few.
The band first performed in 1989 and immediately began attracting crowds thanks to Lavay’s big, bluesy voice, exciting stage personality, and glamorous approach. According to Fox TV, the band has become “a San Francisco Institution”. In 1998, the reader’s of San Francisco’s two major newspapers, the Chronicle and the Examiner, voted Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers the “Best Band” in the annual reader’s poll.
Important publications have sung the praises of Lavay Smith and her band, including Jazz Times, Blues Revue, Jazziz, The New York Press, Living Blues, and the Alternative Press. Television and Radio appearances include “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer”, Fox TV’s “Fox Files”, and NPR’s “To the Best of Our Knowledge”. World famous celebrities have jumped on the Lavay Smith bandwagon as well. Johnny Otis says, “Lavay is wonderful! She and her band are a breath of fresh air.” Dan Aykroyd says of Lavay’s debut album “...this CD is guaranteed to make you feel better.” Even President Clinton has seen the light, proclaiming, “I love this band - they’re great!”
We welcome the United States Air Force Band of Liberty and Commander and Conductor Captain David A. Alpar back to Stowe! You were sorely missed last year!
The United States Air Force Band of Liberty is a select group of professional Airmen-musicians who support the global Air Force mission by providing outstanding musical products and services for official military, recruiting, and community relations events, and by fostering America's rich national heritage. It has been performing for military and civilian audiences throughout the New England region for over 30 years.
Known originally as the 541st Air Force Band of the Southwest stationed at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, the unit relocated to Pease AFB, New Hampshire in 1978. Renamed the Air Force Band of New England, the band brought its musical message of pride, patriotism, and professionalism to concerts and events throughout New England. In 1991, the band received its current name and was assigned to Electronics Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, in Massachusetts.
The United States Air Force Band of Liberty consists of 45 active duty personnel who are assigned to two primary ensembles--the Concert Band and the Afterburner popular music group. The band also has several subgroups, including the Ceremonial Band, Liberty Jazz Band, Colonial Brass, New England Winds, Mach Four, and the Bay State Winds. The band performs approximately four hundred engagements a year, and has appeared at such venues as Lincoln Center in New York City and the Hatch Shell in Boston.
The United States Air Force Band of Liberty is dedicated to using the power of music to inspire our Air Force members and the great nation we serve, producing innovative musical programs and products, and communicating Air Force excellence throughout New England and around the globe.
stant recipe for good times.
We welcome the United States Air Force Band of Liberty and Commander and Conductor Captain David A. Alpar back to Stowe! You were sorely missed last year!
roducing innovative musical programs and products, and communicating Air Force excellence throughout New England and around the globe.
