During the nearly 15 years that he tuned Bob Merrill’s piano, Dale Howe usually asked Merrill to test-drive the Yamaha C3 Conservatory Grand by playing one of Howe’s favorite songs.
To kick off the FaLaLa Holiday Revue at the Briggs Opera House in White River Junction on Friday night, Merrill will play one of those tunes, My Foolish Heart by Victor Young and Ned Washington, in tribute to Howe, who died in October at age 75.
And then Merrill will try to adjust to the idea of talking about Howe in the past tense.
“When he gets done tuning my piano, ballads are what I want to play,” Merrill said this week in a telephone interview from his home in Pomfret. “They require in-tune chords. Chocolate chords, I like to call them. As soon as they asked me to do this, I knew that this was the ballad I wanted to play.”
The request came from opera-house owner David Briggs, organizer of the revue.
“I couldn’t make the memorial service (in Tunbridge) in November, so I felt really bad about that,” Merrill said. “I was happy when David called. It was really a matter of an extreme stroke of luck that I’m able to do it at all. I’m playing at Skunk Hollow Tavern later that night.”
Merrill plays with a variety of ensembles around the Upper Valley when he’s not composing or publishing music or working as an audio engineer. For his work in his home studio, he found Howe as essential a collaborator as the musicians with whom he performed on stage and in recording sessions.
“There are two kinds of tuners,” Merrill said. “One kind uses a machine, and one kind uses their ear. Dale was one of the by-ear guys.”
Howe developed his ear while growing up on the family dairy farm in Tunbridge, playing piano whenever time allowed between chores. While he majored in agriculture economics at the University of Vermont after graduating from South Royalton School, Howe went on to earn a certificate in piano technology from the North Bennett Street School in Boston.
In 1965, according to his obituary, Howe began tuning for Frederick Johnson Pianos, then based in Norwich, and wound up becoming a partner in the company upon its move to White River Junction in 1972. His work included bringing a Steinway concert grand to venues around northern New England and tuning them for performances by the likes of Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles and Dolly Parton.
And he worked with equal diligence for his Upper Valley clients.
“When he first started tuning for me, he came every six months,” Merrill said. “Later on, it was once a year. Then one time when I was preparing for someone to come to the studio to record, Dale came over and checked his records and said, ‘I haven’t been here in two years.’ I had done two records with a lot of piano in both of them.
“That’s a real testament to his ability.”
Friday night, Merrill will testify with My Foolish Heart, then dash off to his next gig: a “holiday jazz jam” at Skunk Hollow with bassist Peter Concilio and drummer Tim Gilmore.
When Merrill sits down at the piano in the Briggs Opera House, he will inhabit a precinct Howe knew well. He first tuned a piano at the Briggs in February 1985, said David Briggs, “and provided one for the epic concert by the Butch Thompson Trio which launched the Briggs Opera House.” More recently, Howe tuned the hall’s Baldwin Hepplewhite grand.
“This is one of those not-uncommon, reassuring moments when one realizes what a caring and cohesive community we have here in the Upper Valley,” Briggs said. “I think I’ll head to the Skunk after the FaLaLa and celebrate Bob’s music and Dale’s legacy into the night.”
The FaLaLa Holiday Revue brings a variety of acts to the Briggs Opera House in White River Junction on Friday night, 6:30 to 8:30. Artists performing after Bob Merrill at the First Friday gathering include students from the Upper Valley Music Center, the White River Ballet Academy, the Raq-On Dancers and Valley Improv. To reserve tickets ($12), visit the Hotel Coolidge or call 802-295-3118.
The circus artists and acrobats of Cirque Mechanics perform “Pedal Punk,” wearing Victorian clothing and accessories while riding hoops, unicycles and many other devices around the stage of the Hopkins Center’s Moore Theater in Hanover, tonight at 7 and on Friday night at 8. For tickets ($13 to $40) and more information, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422. Before Friday’s show, the ensemble will stage a free makerspace at the Top of the Hop, at which participants can view some of the mechanisms behind the circus.
Her Majesty’s Secret Circus floods the stage of Randolph’s Chandler Music Hall with acrobats, jugglers, unicyclists and (eek!) clowns on Friday morning at 10. To reserve tickets ($6) and learn more, visit chandler-arts.org or call 802-728-6464.
Shaker Bridge Theatre stages the Patricia Kane play Float at Enfield’s Whitney Hall Auditorium starting tonight at 7:30. The play, which follows the joys and trials and tribulations of a Midwestern women’s club crafting their float for an annual holiday parade, continues Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 and on Sunday afternoons at 2:30 through Dec. 18. To reserve tickets ($16 to $32) and learn more, visit shakerbridgetheatre.org or call 603-448-3750.
South Newbury, Vt., fiddler Patrick Ross performs at West Newbury Hall three times over the weekend, starting Friday night at 7 with his Hot Flannel ensemble playing an acoustic concert of “newgrass.” Next comes a Cajun dance party with Hot Flannel at 7 on Saturday night, then a solo show for kids on Sunday afternoon at 3. For tickets ($20 for the Hot Flannel appearances, $10 per family for the solo show), visit hotflannel.com or patrickrossmusic.com.
On the theme of “For Each of Us,” the Thetford Chamber Singers ring in the holiday season by performing choral music about home, family and welcoming strangers on Friday night at 7 at Woodstock’s North Universalist Chapel, and at the First Congregational Church on Thetford Hill on Sunday at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Admission at the door is $8 to $15. To order advance tickets ($8 to $12) and learn more, visit thetfordchambersingers.org or inquire at the Norwich Bookstore or Woodstock’s Yankee Bookshop.
South Woodstock-based filmmaker Jim Sadwith brings Coming Through the Rye, a feature film based on his 1969 encounter with reclusive author J.D. Salinger in Cornish, back to Woodstock’s Town Hall Theatre for three screenings over the weekend: Friday night at 7:30, Sunday afternoon at 3 and Monday night at 7:30. Admission is $8 to $9.
Violinist Paul Hsun-Ling Chou joins Classicopia pianist Daniel Weiser for a marathon of “Vagabond Violin” performances of folk-influenced music from around Europe and the United States, starting Saturday afternoon at 2 at ArtisTree Community Arts Center in South Pomfret. Tickets for the opening show cost $20 at the door.
The tour, during which the duo will tackle compositions of George Gershwin, Edvard Grieg, Fritz Kreisler, Bedrich Smetana and Manuel de Falla, continues Saturday night at 7:30 in Lebanon’s First Congregational Church, with admission of $10 for church members and $20 for others.
And at 2 on Sunday afternoon, the pair will perform a house concert in Hanover, where food and wine will be served. To reserve tickets ($40) and learn more, visit classicopia.org or call 603-643-3337 or email marcia@classicopia.org.
Stardancer Studios stages Clara’s Cracked Christmas, a satirical adaptation of the Clara’s Dream passage of The Nutcracker, at the Claremont Opera House on Saturday night at 6 and on Sunday afternoon at 1. For tickets ($14 to $17) and more information, visit claremontoperahouse.org or call 603-542-4433 or drop into the opera house box office or to the studios in Newport.
Irish accordion master John Whelan, the Brattleboro-based roots trio Low Lily and fiddler Katie McNally explore the folk music of Ireland, Scotland, North America and Scandinavia during a concert on Saturday night at 7:30 at Alumni Hall in Haverhill. To reserve tickets ($20 for Court Street Arts members, $22 for others) and learn more, visit alumnihall.org or call 603-989-5500.
Breathe easy, Beatles fans: The Hopkins Center screens the new Ron Howard documentary Eight Days a Week at Loew Auditorium in Hanover on Sunday afternoon at 4. The scheduled showing earlier this fall was canceled because of technical problems with the theater’s projector.
On Saturday night at 7, the Hop also will show the 2016 remake of The Magnificent 7, starring Denzel Washington, which also had been canceled. For tickets ($5 to $8) and more information, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
Northeast Kingdom filmmaker Bess O’Brien screens and talks about All of Me, her new documentary about people struggling with eating disorders and body-image issues, on Monday night at 7 at the Center for Integrative Health on Lyme Road in Hanover. Her previous documentary, The Hungry Heart, won awards for its depiction of opiate addiction in Vermont. The suggested donation is $5. To learn more, call Annie Ross at 802-649-3544 or email annie@truepathyoga.today. To learn more about the movie, visit kingdomcountyproductions.org.
Northern Stage continues its production of A Christmas Carol at the Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction over the coming week, with performances at 2 this afternoon, at 7:30 tonight, at 7:30 Friday night, at 2 on Saturday afternoon, at 7:30 Saturday night, at 2 Sunday afternoon, at 11 on Wednesday morning and at 7:30 Wednesday night. For tickets ($14 to $54) and more information, visit northernstage.org or call 802-296-7000.
The Vermont-based impovisational ensemble Kamikaze Comedy goes all-out for laughs during a visit to the Upper Gallery of Randolph’s Chandler Center for the Arts on Friday night at 7:30. For tickets ($10 to $15) and more information, visit chandler-arts.org or call 802-728-6464.
Singer-guitarist David Greenfield performs at the Fat Hat Factory on Gates Street in White River Junction on Friday night from 6 to 8.
Classicopia pianist Daniel Weiser and instructor David Bisno of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Dartmouth lead “A Viennese Holiday Evening,” spotlighting the music and the lives and times of composer Johann Strauss and his family, on Friday night at 7:30 at Spaulding Auditorium in Hanover. Admission is $20 for Osher members (visit osher.dartmouth.edu) and $25 for others (classicopia.org).
Ellen Satterthwaite directs the Freelance Family Singers through two concerts of sacred and secular holiday music this weekend at the First Congregational Church in Woodstock. Performances are scheduled for Saturday night at 7 and on Sunday afternoon at 3. While admission is free, the church welcomes donations of non-perishables to the community food shelf. To learn more, call 802-457-3980.
The North Country Chorus performs works of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Arthur Honegger and other composers at the Congregational Church of Wells River on Saturday night at 7:30. To reserve tickets ($5 to $10), visit tickets.catamountarts.org. Tickets at the door cost $5 to $13. To learn more, visit northcountrychorus.org.
The Randolph Singers perform their annual holiday concert at the Chandler Music Hall in downtown Randolph on Sunday afternoon at 4. In addition to performing Schubert’s Mass in G for chorus, the ensemble will sing traditional carols. Admission is by donation.
City Center Ballet performs the Clara’s Dream passage of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker at the Lebanon Opera House five times over the weekend, starting tonight at 7:30. Subsequent performances are scheduled for Friday night at 7:30, Saturday afternoon at 1 and 4, and Sunday afternoon at 3. For tickets ($9 to $32 in advance, $5 extra at the door) and more information, visit lebanonoperahouse.org or call 603-448-0400. To learn more, visit citycenterballet.org.
Guitarist Ed Eastridge accompanies singer Lydia Gray at the Canoe Club in Hanover starting at 6:30 tonight. Next to the microphone are the Party Crashers, with their full repertoire of dance music, on Saturday night from 9 to 12. Following with evening performances from 6:30 to 9:30 over the coming week will be pianist Tom Lord on Sunday and pianist Will Ogmundson on Wednesday.
Exit 9 plays the blues at Windsor Station tonight starting at 7. Next to the microphone over the coming week are the “psychedelic prog-hop” band Binger on Saturday night at 9:30 and Royalton singer-songwriter Alison “AliT” Turner on Tuesday night from 6 to 9.
Singer-songwriter Chris Powers performs at Bentley’s Restaurant in Woodstock tonight at 7. Following him to the microphone will be singer-pianist Jamie Ward on Saturday night at 7.
Guitarist-songwriter Willy Porter and singer Carmen Nickerson join voices and compare notes at Flying Goose Brewpub and Grille in New London tonight at 8. To reserve tickets ($25) and learn more, visit flyinggoose.com or call 603-526-6899.
Bassist Peter Concilio leads pianist Bob Merrill and drummer Tim Gilmore into Skunk Hollow Tavern in Hartland Four Corners for a night of jazz on Friday starting at 8.
Bow Thayer plays his weekly set of Americana at the Skinny Pancake on Wednesday night at 7:30.
Ramunto’s Brick & Brew Pizza in Bridgewater hosts an open mic starting at 7:30 on Thursday nights. Participants get a free large cheese pizza.
String players of all ages and abilities are welcome at the weekly acoustic jam session at South Royalton’s BALE Commons on Friday night from 6:30 to 10.
Joe Stallsmith leads a weekly hootenanny of Americana, folk and bluegrass at Salt hill Pub in Hanover on Monday nights starting at 6.
Bradford’s Colatina Exit holds an open mic on Tuesday nights at 8.
The Seven Barrel Brewery in West Lebanon runs an open mic on Tuesday nights, beginning at 8.
Jim Yeager hosts an open mic at Hartland’s Skunk Hollow Tavern, at 8:30 on Wednesday nights.
David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.comand at 603-727-3304.