Can people singing together save the planet?
While it seems like a long shot most days, Counterpoint is nevertheless taking a swing at the idea this spring, in the spirit of the civil rights activists who found strength and courage in We Shall Overcome and other anthems of inspiration while marching through the segregated South in the 1960s.
On Thursday night, the chorus brings the Vermont-wide tour of its “Six Degrees” program to Fairlee Town Hall auditorium, where it will collaborate with the Adventure Kids Choir, an a cappella ensemble of students from the Rivendell Interstate School District. The performance mixes narration and video with songs from around the world about nature, love and peace.
“The songs … express people’s love for their natural surroundings as well as their fears of catastrophe and desire to work together to make things better,” Counterpoint alto and Strafford resident Rebecca Bailey said this week. “The program lets kids sing and clap along and make scary wind noises on some songs, listen and soak in the sound on other songs, and, ultimately, feel hopeful that together we can change things for the better.”
The Adventure Kids Choir and the Counterpoint Chorus perform at the Fairlee Town Hall auditorium, on Thursday night at 7. Admission is $10 to $20. To learn more, visit counterpointchorus.org.
Two very different documentaries about life in Vermont hit movie screens in the Upper Valley this week.
If you’re game for some harsh reality, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health and Vermont Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman are co-hosting a free screening of Downstream: The Effect of Parental Incarceration, on Thursday night at 6:30 at the Briggs Opera House in White River Junction. Director Brad Salon’s film explores the effects on children of having parents in the prison system, as well as on the people who care for the children. A panel discussion follows. To reserve seats and learn more, visit downstreamfilm.com.
And if you need a lift, Woodstock native Mike Leonard hosts the Vermont premiere of his One Town at a Time on Friday night at 6:30, in Woodstock’s Town Hall Theatre. Following up on a similar tour of the Green Mountain State in 2006, which he wrote about for the weekly Vermont Standard, Leonard brought a movie camera to visit all 251 of the state’s cities and towns. Admission is by donation (Pentangle Arts recommends $10). To see a trailer and learn more, visit onetownatatime251.com.
■The Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra performs the premiere of Mexican-American composer Noah Luna’s The Epic of American Civilization: a Tone Poem for Cello and Orchestra, on Saturday night at 8 at Spaulding Auditorium. Guest cellist Gabriel Cabeza is the soloist for the concerto, which was inspired by the Orozco murals in the college’s Baker Library. For tickets ($10 to $25) and more information, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
■The Chad Hollister String Trio plays a benefit concert for the Student Rescue Project on Sunday night at 7, at The Engine Room in White River Junction. The $20 admission of $20 aids the project’s effort to find homes for rescued dogs. To reserve tickets, visit studentrescueproject.org/donate.
■The Upper Valley Music Center’s Juneberry Chorus plays a Memorial Day concert, on the theme of “A Garden Stroll,” on Monday afternoon at 4 at Lebanon Opera House. The ensemble will sing works of Bobby McFerrin, Vincent Persichetti, John Koch, Elizabeth Alexander, Andrea Ramsey, Karisha Longaker, Richard Farrant and Josef Hadar. Admission is by donation.
Women in Jeopardy, mystery/comedy, Shaker Bridge Theatre production at Whitney Hall in Enfield. Final weekend of performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and on Sunday afternoon. Admission $16 to $35.
The Hollands, folk/Americana, Friday night at 7 at Sunapee Community CoffeeHouse in Sunapee Harbor. Admission by donation.
■Harmony Hotel, folk-rock, Saturday morning and afternoon at Norwich Farmers Market.
Dartmouth Dance Ensemble and Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble, performances of choreographer Tyondai Broxton’s unfurl on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 in the Hopkins Center’s Moore Theater. Admission $7 to $15.
The Dinosaurs, roots/Americana, Thursday night at 6 at Peyton Place in Orford; singer-songwriter Sky King, Sunday night at 6.
■Singer-songwriter Alison “AliT” Turner, Friday night at 7 at Inn at Weathersfield in Perkinsville.
■Bassist Dave Clark and Juke Joynt, roots/Americana, Friday night at 7:30 at The Skinny Pancake in Hanover.
■Still Hill, bluegrass, Friday night at 8 at Skunk Hollow Tavern in Hartland.
■Singer-songwriter Tad Dreis, Friday night at 9 at Salt hill Pub in Lebanon.
■The Conniption Fits, rock, Friday night at 9 at Salt hill Pub in Hanover; singer-songwriter Chris Powers, Saturday night at 9.
■Arthur James, blues, Friday night at 9 at Salt hill Pub in Newport; Chad Gibbs, rock, Saturday night at 9; Marko the Magician, Monday night from 7 to 10.
■Better Days, rock, Saturday afternoon at 4 at Salt hill Pub in West Lebanon.
■ Binger, rock, Friday night at 9:30 at Windsor Station; Funkwagon, Saturday night at 9:30; The Rough & Tumble, Americana, Tuesday night at 6.
■Jim Yeager, rock/funk, Monday night at 7 at Woodstock Inn’s Richardson Tavern.
■Jazz pianist Sonny Saul, Wednesday night at 6:30 at On the River Inn in Woodstock.
Jim Yeager hosts open mics at ArtisTree Community Arts Center on Thursday night at 7; at The Public House Pub in Quechee on Tuesday night at 6; and at Skunk Hollow Tavern in Hartland on Wednesday night.
■Alec Currier’s open mic at Salt hill Pub in Lebanon, Thursday nights at 8.
■Joe Stallsmith’s weekly hootenanny of Americana, folk and bluegrass, Monday night at 6 at Salt hill Pub in Hanover.
■Fiddler Jakob Breitbach’s weekly acoustic jam session of bluegrass, Americana and old-timey music, Tuesday night at 7 at the Filling Station Bar and Grill in White River Junction.
■Tom Masterson’s weekly open mic, Tuesday night at 7 at Colatina Exit in Bradford, Vt.
David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.com or at 603-727-3304. Send entertainment news to highlights@vnews.com.