LEBANON — One of the great joys and challenges of programming Lebanon Opera House’s Nexus Music and Arts Festival each year, Executive and Artistic Director Joe Clifford said, is finding acts that fit together, even if their music is wildly different.
That was especially true last year, when the main stage for Nexus, a free, three-day celebration of music and art with more than 20 performances, moved from the parking lot behind the opera house to the west side of Colburn Park, opposite the park’s bandstand, which served as the festival’s second stage.
The hope, Clifford said, was that visitors could move easily one from show to the next, swaying to the jazz rhythms of a Québécois quartet before letting loose with an Upper Valley rock band.
The new orientation made the festival “so much more hospitable” than the previous setup, Clifford said.
As Clifford and his team prepare to unleash the sixth iteration of Nexus from Friday, Aug.7 through Sunday evening, the desire to create a cohesive but diverse lineup of burgeoning artists — many of whom are from the Twin States —remains central.
“I’m always looking for artists that complement each other,” Clifford said.
Perhaps the programming most illustrative of that effort this time around is a block of artists scheduled for Saturday evening. Eclectic in style, each of them brings a degree of strangeness or whimsy to their work.
At 6:45 p.m. there’s Baby Fearn, a flower-crown clad musician from Burlington. Baby Fearn’s sound is a mixture of indie, jazz and pop; it’s music for “the girls, the gays and the theys…For the burnt-out but still dreaming,” her website says.
Her set on the second stage will be followed by White River Junction artist Gabriel Q., whose large-scale butterflies will take flight across the park at 7:30 p.m. The winged insects owe their ascent to a group of dancers dressed as caterpillars who will parade them around on tall rods, Clifford said.
Overlapping with Gabriel Q. is an act from outside Vermont: the Canadian project Mélisande, which fuses centuries-old Québécois folk songs with fizzy electronic production.
Between these three fanciful acts, Clifford imagines “there’s going to be a lot of glitter.”
The rest of the festival is a mix of artists from the Twin States and farther afield, with about half in each camp.
In the former group is Lilly Golden, the Vermont singer-songwriter slated to open the festival at 4 p.m. on Friday.
Golden’s music is bright and melodic, with a focus on storytelling. Her 2025 album, “Roadside Attraction,” details the thrills and consequences of road tripping in songs that are lilting and clear like a trickling brook.
Golden will be followed by Joy Clark, a queer singer-songwriter whose music reckons with her religious upbringing in Louisiana.
Later that night DJ GenderEnder and DJ Sean, both of the Upper Valley, will provide the tunes for the silent disco at 9:30 p.m. This year’s headphones are $20 and can be reserved through the opera house’s website. Another silent disco aimed at families will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Another staple of Nexus is the Busker Stage. Located next to Three Tomatoes Trattoria, on the Lebanon Pedestrian Mall, it functions as an open mic, with several scheduled performances mixed in as well.
Among them is SingABLE, the White River Junction-based Special Needs Support Center’s inclusive community choir, formed in partnership with the Upper Valley Music Center, which will perform on the Busker Stage at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
High school students in the Upper Valley Music Center’s summer music program also will perform jazz and orchestral works on the second stage at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Every year Clifford closes the festival with a cover band and this year it’s the young musicians in the All Stars band from Tuck’s Rock Dojo, the Etna-based music school for all ages, who will recreate power anthems from the ’80s, ’90s and beyond.
Some of the kids in the All Stars band have cut their teeth performing on Nexus’ Busker Stage in previous years.
“It’s fun to see artists come up through the festival,” Clifford said.
That’s part of the magic of Nexus: it’s a place for burgeoning artists to get their reps in, and for audiences to see a step in their evolution, at no cost to themselves.
Lebanon Opera House’s Nexus Music and Arts Festival is scheduled for Aug. 7 through Aug. 9 in Lebanon. For more information go to lebanonoperahouse.org or call 603-448-0400. In case of rain, the festival will move inside the opera house.
Giddy up!
The Filling Station is hosting a “2 Honky 2 Tonk” dance party from 8 to 11 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 8. with music from DJ Cartiér and DJ BUCKAROOM. Cowboy-themed outfits (read: chaps) are preferred. Tickets are $5 and the party is 21+. Lalo’s Taqueria will also be serving tacos at the bar from 4:30 p.m. until they run out. Learn more on Instagram @thefillingstationwrj.
A ‘Pocketful of Sunshine’ in Fairlee
In case it somehow slipped off your radar, queen of 2000s pop, Natasha Bedingfield, is performing a free set at Lake Morey Resort on Thursday, Aug. 6. Gates open at 6 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m. No tickets required. For more information, go to lakemoreyresort.com.
‘All the way’
In White River Junction, Janna’s Gate Gallery is hosting an opening reception for an exhibit by the Vermont sculptor Scott Gordon called “Custom All The Way” from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 6, and 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday.
