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“I loved her programming,” Quigley, who followed Miller into the director’s role in 2013, recalled this week. “She had her elbows going in every musical direction. … She moved us from early Renaissance or chant to South African folk to Brahms, not just in the same program, but back to back.”
Thirty current members and eight former choristers will celebrate that eclectic tradition, and the completion of the ensemble’s 40th year, on Saturday afternoon at the First Congregational Church of Thetford. To prepare, Quigley has been leading them through rehearsals for a program ranging from spirituals and sixth-century Ambrosian chant to Quigley’s arrangement of James Weldon Johnson’s two-stanza poem Prayer at Sunrise.
More than 16 years into her tenure as an alto with the chorus, Strafford resident Rebecca Bailey continues to find novelty in such variety of music, and to take comfort in joining voices — even on the more challenging, contemporary compositions that Quigley has mixed into the repertoire over the last five years.
“Singing well with people is an emotionally supportive experience,” Bailey said. “When you’re going through a rough time or stress or loss, it really lifts you up to be a part of a good chorus.”
Even those who are no longer part of this chorus were excited when Quigley, who also sings professionally with the Vermont ensemble Counterpoint, put the word out that he was welcoming alumni for this reunion.
“I heard from about 30 singers who hoped they could make (rehearsals and the performance) work with their schedules,” he said. “I was thrilled that eight could make it.”
In addition to favorites such as Sweet Honey in the Rock’s We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For, Quigley spent more than a year preparing a program that opens with a shape-note song by 18th-century composer Jeremiah Ingalls and ends with contemporary composer Andre J. Thomas’ Fences, which includes this verse: Borders, boundaries, wall, and wire./Burn a soul with freedom’s fire./Hope is born when we decide/There shall be no fences.
“This is the only group I’ve ever paid dues to sing in,” Quigley said of the chamber singers. “Over the years the singers have showed a willingness to develop a taste for new musical food. They’ll try it, and they’ll try it for real.
“There’s a level of courage within TCS.”
The Thetford Chamber Singers celebrate the completion of the ensemble’s 40th season on Saturday afternoon at 4:30, with a concert at the First Congregational Church of Thetford on Thetford Hill. Admission is by donation. Birthday cake will be served at 3.
Best Bets
Interplay Jazz & Arts heads into the homestretch of its week of music workshops with three public performances, starting this evening at 5:30 with a free brown-bag concert by faculty and students on the back lawn of the Woodstock History Center.
And on Friday night, faculty members play two shows at the Suicide Six ski lodge in South Pomfret. Admission is $75 for the 6 p.m. show, which includes a New Orleans-style buffet dinner, and $25 for the set at 9, at which dessert will be served. To reserve tickets and learn more, visit interplayjazzandarts.org.
World Under Wonder kicks off its two-weekend run of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible with performances on Friday and Saturday nights at 7 at The Windsor Farmer’s Exchange building. The ensemble also will perform the drama on July 6 and 8. Admission is $12, with proceeds going toward completion of the troupe’s new playhouse in Weathersfield.
Billings Farm and Museum in Woodstock screens the documentary Peter and the Farm on Saturday evening at 5 and 7. After each showing of the 91-minute documentary from 2016, about an aging, troubled Springfield, Vt., resident struggling to hold onto his land and his way of life, director Tony Stone and producer Melissa Auf der Maur will answer questions. The museum recommends ordering tickets ($6 to $11) in advance, by calling 802-457-2355.
The Vermont Symphony Orchestra’s summer tour stops at the Suicide Six ski lodge in Pomfret on Sunday night at 7:30. The orchestra is scheduled to play works of Strauss, Handel, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens, John Williams, Bedrich Smetana, Fritz Kreisler, Percy Grainger and John Philip Sousa. Adult admission costs $28 in advance and $35 at the gate; tickets for kids ages 5 to 17 are $5. To order tickets, visit pentanglearts.org or call 802-457-3981.
Looking Ahead
The Zimbabwe-based roots band Mokoomba will perform during the Feast and Field Market next Thursday evening. The ensemble will host a workshop at 5:30 before the concert starts at 6:30. Admission is by donation.
Theater/Performance Art
Boston-based comedian Bob Marley performs at Court Street Arts in Haverhill tonight at 7. For tickets ($26) and more information, call 603-989-5500, email info@alumnihall.org or visit courtstreetarts.org.
The New London Barn Playhouse stages the Broadway adaptation of Little Women through July 8, including a 7:30 performance tonight. To reserve tickets ($20) , visit nlbarn.org or call 603-526-6710.
Italy’s Compagnia de’ Colombari stages The Merchant of Venice tonight at 8, at Dartmouth College’s Bema Outdoor Amphitheater in Hanover. Trumpeter and keyboard player Frank London, a veteran of the Klezmatics, provides the live soundtrack. For tickets ($20 to $45) and more information, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
The BarnArts Center for the Arts wraps its production of It Can’t Happen Here with three performances this weekend on the outdoor stage at Fable Farm in Barnard. For tickets ($15 to $20) and more information, visit barnarts.org or call 802-234-1645.
The Dartmouth College Department of Theater stages four new plays by Dartmouth graduates this weekend, as part of its VoxFest residency at the Warner Bentley Theater in the Hopkins Center. Admission is free to all performances. To learn more, visit hop.dartmouth.edu.
Music
The folk-rock duo of Dana and Sue Robinson visits Fable Farm in Barnard this afternoon at 5:30, to serenade the weekly Feast and Field Market.
The bluegrass trio Lula Wiles trio plays tonight at 7, on the bandstand in Lebanon’s Colburn Park.
The South Royalton Town Band performs on the lawn of the First Congregational Church of Royalton tonight at 7, and during Randolph’s Independence Day parade on Wednesday morning.
The Moonlighters share big-band and pop favorites from Haddad Bandstand in New London on Friday night at 6:30.
The indie-pop/rock/folk duo of guitarist Don Sinclair and singer Jenn Grossi serenade the Bradford (Vt.) Strawberry Festival on the lawn of Bradford Academy on Friday night at 7. Joining them for the occasion will be the Northeast Kingdom tandem of Jim Musty and Pam McCann.
Singer Lydia Gray, guitarist Ed Eastridge, drummer Marcus Copening and bassist Andy Bourke perform Brazilian-infused pop music and jazz on Friday night at 7, at the ArtisTree Community Arts Center in South Pomfret. Admission is $10.
The annual Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar ends this weekend with two free performances in Mary Keane Chapel, at the Enfield Shaker Museum. Stephanie Richards performs on Friday night at 8. And on Saturday afternoon at 4, seminar faculty member Jeroen Berwaerts, Edward Carroll and Pacho Flores play on the theme of “Everybody Loves Difficult Music.”
Pianist Bob Merrill, bassist Peter Concilio and drummer Tim Gilmore play jazz at Gallery on the Green in Woodstock village on Sunday afternoon from 1 to 4.
Performing works of Hummel, Beethoven, Mozart and other classical composers on Sunday afternoon at 2, the chamber ensemble of soprano Angela Biggs, violinist Lisa Ferrigno, flutist Peter Bloom, cellist Timothy Roberts and pianist Steven Sussman opens the summer series of concerts at the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish. Admission is covered by the $10 entry fee to the historic site.
The East Bay Jazz Ensemble kicks off the summer Concerts on the Common series in Newport on Sunday night at 6.
The Upper Valley Community Band performs big-band standards at Colburn Park in Lebanon on Monday night starting at 7.
The Wyld Nightz Band plays a set of danceable rock on Tuesday night at 6:30, on the bandstand at the Fairlee common.
The Click Hornung Trio plays at the Flanders Stage on Sunapee Harbor on Tuesday afternoon from 2 to 4.
During Hartland’s Old Home Day celebration at the town recreation center on Wednesday, the River Road Blues Band and the Hartland Community Band play during the afternoon, before the Moonlighters enter the gazebo at 7 to play big-band and pop hits ahead of the Fourth of July fireworks.
Dance
The Mark Morris Dance Group channels the vibe of The Beatles at the Hopkins Center’s Moore Theater tonight, Friday night and Saturday night, with performances Pepperland, jazz composer Ethan Iverson’s adaptation of songs from The Beatles’ groundbreaking 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. To reserve tickets ($12.50 to $60) and learn more, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
The Flock Dance Troupe is looking for kids to participate in its annual performance on July 21 at Star Mountain in Sharon. Rehearsals are scheduled to run from 5:30 to 8:30 the weeknights of July 16-20. The theme of this year’s performance is “What is Missing? What Do We Need? How Are We Going to Get It?” To learn more, visit flockdance.org or call 802-765-4454 or email carolang@aol.com.
Bar and Club Circuit
Saxophonist Mike Parker and singer-guitarist Alison “AliT” Turner perform at Peyton Place restaurant in Orford tonight between 6 and 9. On Sunday night at 6, the Wild Roots duo of Rowe Williams and Thomas Chapin play folk and alt-country.
Still Hill pulls into Windsor Station to play a set of bluegrass tonight starting at 7. Carter Glass performs acoustic rock at 9:30 Friday night, and Maiden Voyage appears on Saturday night at 10. Singer-songwriter Sean Kehoe plays on Tuesday night at 6.
The Handsome Hound quintet plays folk, rock, pop, Americana and country at The Skinny Pancake in Hanover on Friday night at 8. And on Saturday night at 8, The Pillsbury Slow Boys set a bluesy rhythm for dancing.
Moxley Union rocks Skunk Hollow Tavern in Hartland Four Corners on Friday night at 9.
The Squids perform soul, R&B and rock at Salt hill Pub in Lebanon on Friday night at 9.
Singer-storyteller Ryan Alvanos appears at Newport’s Salt hill Pub on Friday night at 9, and About Gladys plays a set of rock and funk on Saturday night at 9.
Acoustic rocker Rich Thomas performs at Salt hill Pub in West Lebanon on Friday night at 9, followed on Saturday night at 9 by The Jerry Manders.
Arthur James sings and plays the blues at Hanover’s Salt hill Pub on Saturday night at 9.
Pianist Sonny Saul performs jazz at On the River Inn in Woodstock on Saturday and Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 9.
Soulfix plays the Crossroads Bar and Grille in South Royalton on Saturday night at 9.
Keyboardist Doc Winslow, bassist Tom Lord, guitarist Kit Creeger and drummer Bryant Harris play Americana music during the weekly brunch at Poor Thom’s Tavern in Meriden on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Saxophonist Michael Parker, bassist Peter Concilio and guitarist Billy Rosen play jazz at Carpenter & Main in Norwich on Tuesday night at 7. Parker and Wolfe team up again at the Quechee Inn at Marshland Farm on Wednesday night at 6.
Open Mics
Woodstock musician Jim Yeager hosts open mics tonight at 7 at the ArtisTree Community Arts Center in South Pomfret; at Bentley’s Restaurant in Woodstock on Monday at 7:30; and at the Public House in Quechee on Tuesday at 6.
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 his weekly hootenanny of Americana, folk and bluegrass on Monday night at 6 at Salt hill Pub in Hanover.
Fiddler Jakob Breitbach leads a weekly acoustic jam session of bluegrass, Americana and old-timey music on Tuesday nights at 7 at The Filling Station Bar and Grill in White River Junction.
David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.com and at 603-727-3304. Entertainment news also can be sent to highlights@news.com.