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A Cappella à la Carte: Supper & Songs

Guilford, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford (FOMAG) presents its 51st season finale on Saturday, June 17, an annual three-part event dubbed “A Cappella à la Carte.” Set at Guilford Community Church, just off Rt. 5 near Exit 1 off I-91, the evening includes a short meeting, a potluck dinner, and a 7:30 concert of vocal music. Each optional segment is open to the general public; admission to the concert is by donation.
The FOMAG Annual Membership Meeting at 6:00 p.m. is typically short and entertaining, about 30 minutes, and offers a summary of the year, a look ahead to next season, and election of the board of trustees.
The ensuing Community Potluck Dinner, from about 6:30 to 7:30, is open to all who contribute to the meal. Entrées, appetizers, salads, side dishes, and desserts are welcome; the desserts are put aside for a post-concert reception.
The A Cappella Concert at 7:30 features two ensembles this year, the Guilford Chamber Singers and Singcrony. Under Tom Baehr’s direction for a fifth season, the Chamber Singers’ current members are sopranos Christina Gibbons and Robin Wolf; altos Evelyn McLean and Joy Wallens-Penford; tenors Steven John and Bill Johnson; and basses Calvin Farwell and Peter Shea. Their half-hour set of a dozen songs is by regional composers and arrangers, many of national and international renown, who have been featured in a variety of FOMAG programs over the years. These include founders Don McLean and Nick Humez; also Peter and Sam Amidon, Tom Baehr, Elise Grant, Alice Parker, Anna Patton, and Gwyneth Walker. Texts include biblical passages and hymns; poems by Ilona Bodmer, William Cowper, Franz Kafka, Alice Oswald, Henry David Thoreau, and T. Hunter Wilson; and a Bilbo Baggins walking song from the Middle Earth legendarium by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Singcrony, a Brattleboro-area women’s quartet known for close a cappella harmonies, syncopated rhythms, and musical blend, presents Sounds of the Swing Jazz Era. Featuring old tunes with new arrangements by Anna Patton, Becky Graber, Andrea Matthews, and Carrie Walker, this set of songs celebrates the vocal swing jazz sound of the 1930s and ’40s, and salutes the local women who reinterpret that sound for singers and audiences today. Singcrony members Ruth Allard, Beth Kiendl, Andrea Matthews, and Carrie Walker started singing together seven years ago this month, yet another reason to celebrate.
Guilford Community Church is at 38 Church Dr. and is handicap-accessible. An elevator takes wheelchair-bound or mobility-impaired visitors to the Sanctuary on the second floor.
For further information, contact the Friends of Music office at (802) 254-3600 or office@fomag.org. Visit online at www.fomag.org.