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Call it a harmonic convergence for both the Full Circle Singers and the Bel Canto Chamber Singers.
“I can’t believe how time flies,” East Thetford resident Jennifer Yocom said on Monday. She’ll direct Full Circle’s 23 voices through 25th-anniversary concerts in Bradford on Friday and in Lyme on Saturday. “I find it shocking that it’s been so long.”
It’s been even longer for West Lebanon resident Richard McGaw: He joined the Bel Canto Chamber Singers, founded by Katherine deBoer and Beverly Gaylord in 1977, and is now the only singer still in the group who was present at the creation. He will raise his tenor voice in song at the United Methodist Church in Lebanon on Saturday and Sunday.
“We discovered when we moved here that there were a lot of people who liked singing,” McGaw, a civil engineer by trade, recalled on Tuesday. “There was no problem setting up a group. We live in a community, a set of communities, of people who love music. And a lot of people tune in.”
For this weekend’s audiences, both choruses will premiere works they commissioned from contemporary composers, then mix in pop and dance music, in the case of Full Circle, and a parade of Renaissance songs and contemporary pieces, in the case of Bel Canto.
Yocom and nine other singers remain from the 16 who made up the original Full Circle. This weekend, the ensemble will commemorate its late accompanying pianist Scott Smedinghoff, a Dartmouth graduate student who died in an accident in his home in 2016, by performing Stars. Dartmouth College alumnus Michael T. Roberts composed the piece in Smedinghoff’s honor.
“We’re also going to do a piece called Constellations,” said Yocom, who teaches music at Thetford Academy and previously taught at Thetford Elementary School for 17 years. “Right before Scott died, my mother died, and he took over directing some of the rehearsals for me. He really liked Constellations. It was very modern. It sort of signifies his spirit. I think we’ll probably always have a song about Scott.”
In memory of Full Circle co-founding singer Phyllis Eva Murray, who died of cancer in 2004, Yocom added, “we’re doing a piece called Fair Phyllis, it’s a madrigal” by John Farmer.
Bel Canto, meanwhile, will premiere The Kingdom of the Human Voice, which Texas composer Joshua Shank wrote for the chorus, which currently has around 40 singers.
“We decided it was an appropriate time to commission a piece,” said Jane Woods, who directed Bel Canto from 1990 to 1997, then moved on to teaching and directing choruses at Hanover High School. She came back to Bel Canto three years ago. “We’re doing it with a string ensemble and piano.”
McGaw added, “We’re singing quite a few things that he’s written. That the sort of new music we do and support. It’s very interesting, innovative music. I wouldn’t call it modern, really. They’re really thoughtful compositions. They’re fun to learn and sing.”
Bel Canto, Full Circle and ensembles such as the Thetford Chamber Singers, which began in 1978 and is gearing up for several concerts over the first two weekends of May, have flourished in a community with a tradition of choral singing dating back at least to the founding, 210 years ago of the Handel Society of Dartmouth College.
“The Handel Society has quite a history, but they’re supported by the college,” Woods said. “They are formed by a certain director or core group and the group hangs together.”
Yocom said that she started Full Circle in part because “I wanted to be sure that kids knew that singing could still be fun. I worry that not a lot of people in their 20s and 30s who might have sung in school will do it if they don’t get into a cappella groups in college, which are very competitive.
“I want it to look like fun.”
The Full Circle chorus celebrates its 25th season with concerts at 7:30 on Friday night at the Bradford Congregational Church and at 7:30 on Saturday night at the Lyme Congregational Church. Admission is by donation. To learn more, call 802-785-4321.
The Bel Canto Chamber Singers mark the ensemble’s 40th anniversary with performances at the Lebanon United Methodist Church on Saturday night at 7:30 and on Sunday afternoon at 4. Admission costs $10 to $15.
Best Bets
In conjunction with White River Junction’s Center for Cartoon Studies, Dartmouth College’s Hopkins Center screens My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea, an animated comedy about teens struggling to survive a disaster on the scale of The Poseidon Adventure, tonight at 7:30 at Loew Auditorium in Hanover. Actors voicing key characters include Lena Dunham, Maya Rudolph, Susan Sarandon and Jason Schwartzman. Graphic novelist Dash Shaw will discuss his direction of the film. To reserve tickets ($5 to $10) and learn more, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
Shaker Bridge Theatre opens a three-weekend run of Becky Mode’s Fully Committed tonight at 7:30, at Whitney Hall in Enfield. Performances of the comedy, which follows a day in the life of an out-of-work actor juggling the competing demands of his family and of bigwigs pleading for reservations and special treatment at a Manhattan hotspot, are scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 and Sunday afternoons at 2:30 through May 14. To reserve tickets ($25 to $32) and learn more, visit shakerbridgetheatre.org or call 603-448-3750.
On tour to celebrate his 25th year in folk music, singer-songwriter Ellis Paul performs at Flying Goose Brew Pub and Grille in New London tonight at 8. Reservations are required; to reserve tickets ($25) and learn more, visit flyinggoose.com or call 603-526-6899.
On the theme of “London Migrations,” the Cameo Baroque trio of traverso player Leslie Stroud, harpsichordist Ernie Drown and recorder player/singer Beth Hilgartner plays works of emigre composers Handel, Jean Baptiste Loeillet and Guiseppe Sammartini, on Sunday afternoon at 4 at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College in Hanover. Admission is by donation to the church’s music programs.
Harpsischord virtuoso and composer Jeannette Sorrell leads her Cleveland-based Apollo’s Fire ensemble through a concert mixing works of J.S. Bach with his those of his contemporaries Vivaldi and Telemann, on Wednesday night at 7 at Spaulding Auditorium in Hanover. For tickets ($17 to $30) and information, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
Looking Ahead
Using instruments designed by Dartmouth College engineering students, the percussion trio TIGUE will collaborate with guest singers to premiere Molly Herron’s Hopkins Center-commissioned composition Assembly next Thursday afternoon at 5, in the Glycofi Atrium of the Thayer School of Engineering in Hanover. Admission is free. To learn more, visit hop.dartmouth.edu/Online/stemarts2017.
The Newport Opera House Association will stage Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun for its annual spring musical at the opera house with performances on May 5 and 6 at 7:30 p.m. and on May 7 at 2 p.m. For tickets ($15 to $20) and more info, visit newportoperahouse.com or call 603-863-2412.
Theater/Performance Art
Northern Stage continues its production of Mamma Mia, the musical built around the hit songs of ABBA over the next week, including performances this afternoon at 2 and tonight at 7:30. To order tickets ($14 to $54) and learn more, visit northernstage.org or call 802-296-7000.
JAG Productions and Pentangle Arts kick off their presentation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fences at the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre, starting with 7:30 previews tonight and Friday night, an official opening on Saturday night at 7:30 and a Sunday matinee at 2. The production continues May 4 through 7. To reserve tickets ($20 for the previews, $17 to $30 for regular performances), visit jagproductionsvt.com/fences.
Music
Pianist Sonny Saul hosts a session of jazz on the theme of “What is the Big Bang Doing Now?” at his Pleasant Street Books in Woodstock tonight at 7. Joining Saul and clarinetist Quincy Saul will be drummer Pete Michelenie and bass player Bill Martin. Admission is free.
Walt Cunningham directs the Dartmouth College Gospel Choir through a steady stream of traditional and cutting-edge spirituals on Saturday afternoon at 2, at Spaulding Auditorium in Hanover. For tickets ($10 to $15) and more information, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
Instructors from the Upper Valley Music Center perform works of Mozart, Bach, Dvorak, Caroline Shaw and Aaron Minsky at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Hanover on Saturday afternoon at 4. Admission is $10 for ages 18 and older, and additional donations to the music center’s tuition-assistance fund are welcome. To learn more, visit uvmusic.org.
Lou Kosma conducts the Vermont Philharmonic through a concert of works of Shostakovich, Sibelius and Dvorak at Randolph’s Chandler Music Hall on Saturday night at 7:30. General admission costs $5 to $15 plus sales tax. To order tickets and learn more, visit chandler-arts.org or call 802-728-6464.
The Paris-based Ensemble Itineraire and New York’s International Contemporary Music Ensemble perform on Tuesday night at 7 at Dartmouth College’s Spaulding Auditorium. Admission is free. For more information, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
Bar and Club Circuit
Pianist Bob Lucier commands the keyboard at the Canoe Club in Hanover tonight at 6. Musicians following him to the venue with 6 to 9 shows include guitarist Ted Mortimer on Friday and singers Cindy Geilich and Laurianne Jordan on Saturday.
Singer-songwriter Jim Hollis plays at Taverne on the Square in Claremont tonight at 7. Next to the microphone over the weekend are The Conniption Fits on Friday night at 9 and Moxley Union on Saturday night at 8.
The Occasional Jug Band performs at the tavern of the Lyme Inn tonight starting at 6:30.
The Wilder-based Harmony Hotel ensemble shares its take on folk and indie rock at the Skinny Pancake in Hanover tonight at 7. Stepping to the microphone over the weekend are the folk duo Strangled Darlings on Friday night at 8 and the Shana Stack Band with a set of country on Saturday night at 9. Danny & the Dinosaurs play the Bluegrass Brunch on Sunday from noon to 3, and Bow Thayer performs his weekly set of Americana on Wednesday night at 7:30.
Wild Roots pulls into Windsor Station tonight at 7:30 to play their brand of Americana music . Next to the microphone over the coming week are the indie-rock quartet Faux in Love on Friday night at 9:30, Bangkok Disco ranges among jazz, funk, boogaloo and avant-garde rhythms on Saturday night at 9:30 and singer-songwriter Johnny O on Tuesday night at 6.
The folk duo Second Wind performs at the tavern of Jesse’s in Hanover on Friday evening at 5.
The string band OctoPladd plays a set of bluegrass at the Sunapee Community Coffeehouse on Friday night at 7, downstairs at the Methodist Church in Sunapee. While admission is free, donations are welcome. To learn more, visit sunapeecoffeehouse.org
Bassist Peter Concilio performs sets of jazz at the Skunk Hollow Tavern in Hartland Four Corners on Friday night at 8 and then 9:40, with pianist Eugene Uman, saxophonist Matt Langley and drummer Tim Gilmore.
The Sullivan Davis Hanscom Band kicks off the weekend of music at Lebanon’s Salt hill Pub with a set of rock at 9 on Friday night. And on Saturday night at 9, The Squids rock the venue.
The weekend line-up at Salt hill Pub’s new branch in West Lebanon features doses of acoustic rock from Chad Gibbs on Friday night at 8 and from Chris Powers on Saturday night at 9.
John Lackard sings and plays the blues at Salt hill Pub in Hanover on Friday night at 8. And on Saturday night at 8, Stuart Ross & The Temp Agency meanders through its mix of New Orleans jazz, southwestern Americana and oldies.
Alex Smith & The Mountain Sound perform a set of folk at the Salt hill Pub in Newport on Friday night at 8. And at 9 on Saturday night, Tirade storms the venue with a session of rock.
Off the Rails plays blues, folk rock and ballads at the Stone Arch Bakery in Lebanon on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Royalton’s Alison “AliT” Turner sings with Soulfix at Mountain Meadows in Canaan on Saturday night starting at 8.
Open Mics
Jim Yeager hosts an open mic at ArtisTree Community Arts Center in South Pomfret tonight at 7.
Ramunto’s Brick & Brew Pizza in Bridgewater hosts an open mic 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 at 6.
Bradford’s Colatina Exit holds an open mic, Tuesday nights at 8.
Jim Yeager hosts his open mic at Hartland’s Skunk Hollow Tavern at 8:30 on Wednesday night.
David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.com and at 603-727-3304.
Correction
Richard McGaw is the only original member of Bel Canto Chamber Singers still singing with the ensemble, which was founded by Katherine deBoer and Beverly Gaylord in 1977. McGaw’s role in the origins of the community chorus was described incorrectly in an earlier version of this column.