Big Woods Voices is thrilled to announce its inaugural public performance, to be held at Sandglass Theater in Putney, VT, on Saturday, June 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Big Woods Voices is the union of four veteran area singers celebrating their common passion for a cappella harmony. The Voices are, from soprano to bass: Liz Rogers, an internationally-touring singer-songwriter who started out with the Metropolitan Opera’s child chorus; Becky Graber, leader of the Brattleboro Women’s Chorus, music director at The Putney School and New England Youth Theater, and lifelong teacher; Will Danforth, an award-winning, multi-instrumental solo acoustic artist; and Alan Blood, longtime member of countless area groups such as the Blanche Moyse Chorale, the Brattleboro Concert Choir, and House Blend.
Big Woods Voices is also the culmination of a creative transition for Will Danforth from his life as a roots-oriented performing songster to that of composer/arranger/style-stealer (á la Woody Guthrie). This marries two loves: his love of American roots music, and his love of the vast harmonic palette absorbed while singing in an a cappella world music chorus. The results are lyrical settings of poetry by David Whyte, Mary Oliver, W. B. Yeats, and others; richly-harmonized standards of the American roots lexicon; and completely original compositions. Add to that pieces by musicians such as Pete Sutherland, The Finest Kind, and Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, and you have the ear-thrilling experience called Big Woods Voices.
Please bear in mind that Sandglass Theater is a wonderfully intimate space, perfect for unamplified voices, with only 58 seats. Tickets are $10 for this inaugural performance. It’s best to reserve seats ahead of time, which you can do by calling Sandglass at (802)387-4051 or by visiting sandglasstheater.org.
