44th Annual Middlebury Festival on the Green

Schedule:

Sunday July 9th, 2023

7:00pm: Durham County Poets

BLUES, ROOTS, SOUL ~ Durham County Poets grew out of the lively music scene in Ormstown. The five seasoned musicians, all of whom are also songwriters, manage to work together individually and collaboratively in composing their music. Delving into various styles and genres, their musical influences include a broad range of artists from The Band to Dire Straits and James Taylor to Muddy Waters. They have managed to weave it all together to create their own musical style.

The obvious joie-de-vivre they express in performance is reflected in the excellent time feel the band creates, captivating audiences consistently since their inception in 2011.

Monday July 10th, 2023

12:00pm - ?Noon Brown Bag with Magician Tom Verner

We love Tom Verner! He is a national treasure living right here in Addison County. Magician Tom Verner’s Magicians Without Borders performs magic shows for children in refugee camps, orphanages and hospitals around the world – often in war torn places where love, laughter and magic are desperately needed. Tom says, “I like to think that the magic brings not only laughter and surprise, but on some deeper level perhaps, magic plants seeds of hope. Hope that the impossible is possible. Hope that after years of waiting in refugee camps, the waiting will end and the people will go home again.” Since 2002, Magicians Without Borders has traveled to over thirty countries using magic to entertain, educate and empower.”

7:00pm - The Faux Paws

From raging fiddle tunes, to saxophone solos and unrequited love songs, the music of The Faux Paws would be hard to pin down with standard genre descriptions.  The trio’s contagious groove, and feel-good melting pot folk music has been honed over ten years of playing together, and is the sound of three close friends (two of which happen to be brothers), who feel a musical kinship that transcends any stylistic limitations.   Now, after nearly a decade of music making, the bi-coastal trio are releasing their self-titled debut album “The Faux Paws”

8:30pm - Kyshona

Kyshona has always lent her voice and music to those that feel they have been silenced or forgotten. She began her career as a music therapist, writing her first songs with her patients -- the students and inmates under her care. She soon found the need to write independently and find her own voice, and endeavor which led her to the fertile ground of the Nashville creative community and songwriting culture.

Kyshona is an artist ignited by untold stories, and the capacity of those stories to thread connection in every community. With the background of a licensed music therapist, the curiosity of a writer, the resolve of an activist, and the voice of a singer – Kyshona is unrelenting in her pursuit for the healing power of song.

Kyshona blends roots, rock, R&B, and folk with lyrical prowess. She is both a sought after collaborative vocalist working with artists like Margo Price whom she accompanied on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Adia Victoria who features Kyshona, Price and Jason Isbell in her single “You Was Born to Die”, and a burgeoning performer in her own right whose 2020 release Listen, was voted BEST PROTEST ALBUM of 2020 by Nashville Scene.

Kyshona’s non-profit organization “Your Song” offers songwriting programs for youth empowerment programs, detention, re-entry, recovery, mental health, and veterans centers and organizations.

Tuesday July 11th, 2023

12:00pm Noon Brown Bag - ?Comic Mime Robert Rivest

Comic Mime with Robert Rivest Highlights the best of Robert Rivest's 20 year career as a master mime performer, comic actor and improv artist. Through humorous mime stories, spoken word physical comedy and a zany cast of characters, Robert Rivest transforms an empty stage into pure hilarity! His true gift is his ability to turn everyday situations into hysterically funny experiences that all ages can relate to! Robert’s engaging stories bring bursts of laughter and tears of joy! This is an interactive cultural arts comedy event that you will never forget. Every gets to learn how to do the Wall, Robot, Tug-of-War and many Classic Mime Illusions. A fun way to bring the whole community together through smiles, giggles, and roaring laughter.

Robert Rivest's energy and enthusiasm is so infectious that people of all ages eagerly volunteer for his audience participation segments and interactive activities.

"An amazing, silly, hysterical, funny, magical performance

7:00pm - Yacouba Sissoko Trio

Master kora player Yacouba Sissoko devotes his musical gift to expand the awareness of West African history and culture, spread the word of peace, and empower his listeners to take charge and realize their imagined futures. His performances have a magical effect on audiences as he skillfully transforms traditional songs and stories that he learned from his forefathers into modern day messages of peace, love, and harmony.

His flexible virtuosity, which enables him to move seamlessly from one musical genre to another, has attracted the attention of an array of musicians who have sought him out as a collaborator.

All the while, Yacoba exposes new audiences to the enchanting sounds of the kora—a 21-stringed instrument that is plucked and produces a distinctive sound that is quickly associated with West Africa.

?Rooted to give back to the community, Yacouba regularly performs cultural programs and benefit concerts. He works in partnership with La Maison d’Art Gallery in Harlem as a collaborator inviting other world musicians to take part in the gallery’s events. He regularly performs for the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial, Educational, and Cultural Center. He also provides workshops and presentations to primary school and university students. Recognizing his educational contributions, in 2007 he was selected as a Teaching Artist by the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall and Carnegie’s Musical Explorers program.

Yacouba continues to blend his virtuosity effortlessly with other musical styles, whether in Indian ragas or Appalachian tunes. Currently, Yacouba can be seen performing regularly with Regina Carter and his own band, SIYA.

8:30pm - Bombajazzeando

Bombajazzeando is corazón y alma, heart and soul: the joyous bomba drumming and dancing of Puerto Rico, plus the soulfullness of jazz. Three dancers, four drummers, and five jazz musicians create a big sound that bursts through stylistic boundaries. The band is lively and interactive, teaching the audience song choruses and traditional bomba dance moves.

Based in the large Puerto Rican community of northwestern Massachusetts, Bombajazzeando is led by dancer Brendalíz Cepeda, drummer Saúl Peñalosa and composer/arranger Julian Gerstin. Brendalíz is the granddaughter of Rafael Cepeda, the most important bomba musician of the late 20th century; she started dancing with him at the age of 5, and has herself held hundreds of workshops teaching her island’s heritage.

For the Puerto Rican and North American members of the group alike, it’s all about connection: tradition and creativity, island and mainland, musicians and audience.   

Wednesday July 12th, 2023

12:00pm - Noon Brown Bag-No Strings Marionette Company

No Strings Marionette Company has been an anticipated part of our festival for years. Don't miss this Brown Bag performance. Puppeteers Dan Baginski and Barbara Paulson's traveling stage transforms any space into an intimate theater where the seamless blend of movement, music, and masterful manipulation captivates young and old alike. With puppeteers in full view, the audience sees how the puppets are brought to life. These Vermont artisans lovingly hand craft the marionettes, props and scenery, whether for an original tale or an adaptation of a classic. Shows begin with an interactive song featuring audience members, and finish with demonstrations sparked by the audiences' curious questions. Once the mind believes there are no strings...this realm becomes real...and the Adventure begins! This year they will present Jack and the Beanstalk.

?In No Strings Marionette Company's version of the classic tale a prolific painter, a sensational singer, and an industrious architect are faced with the non-stop taunting of a puffed-up bully. As each pig deals with the pushy tactics of the Big Bad Wolf; Pablo Pigcasso, Beverly Swills and I.M. Pig each develop a more successful strategy to effectively deal with the Wolf's bullying behavior. A cast of hand crafted marionettes romp through an artist's studio, an opera stage, and the problem solving mind of a builder of buildings, providing a feast or the eyes, ears and imagination.

7:00pm - The Garifuna Collective

The band consists of the best musicians in the fertile Garifuna music scene. They bring together the deep cultural roots of Garifuna music, mixed with modern grooves, arrangements, and instruments like the unique hand drums, the "primera" and "segunda", turtle shells and jawbones, guitars and bass. The musicians create a powerful energy on stage, building hypnotizing rhythms that form the backbone for the haunting melodies and powerful vocals that characterize the project. ?

The Garifuna are the Afro-Amerindians of Central America, the descendants of a group of West African slaves who were shipwrecked off the coast of St. Vincent in the 1600s. They live in small communities in places like Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras, along the Caribbean coast. And their music is an extraordinary blend that layers soulful indigenous and African rhythms with sweet, lyrical melodies.
Singing in Garifuna – an endangered language that blends indigenous Arawak and Carib with French, English and Spanish – they take on a political and social issue that extends far beyond the Garifuna community in "Ubou."

Thursday July 13th,2023

12:00pm - Noon Brown Bag-Jon Gailmor

We love Jon Gailmor and welcome him back to our stage. Jon has been playing at Middlebury Festival on the Green for over 25 years! Children of all ages love his show and are engaged until the last note.

7:00pm - The Ruta Beggars

The Ruta Beggars infuse traditional bluegrass and early swing to create a timeless act filled with intricate vocal harmonies, fiery instrumentals, and plenty of fun. They have been praised for their creative yet tasteful arrangements and charming performances, winning Thomas Point’s band competition in 2019. The Ruta Beggars have been featured on the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Showcase, Steve Martin’s Unreal Bluegrass, Brian O'Donovan's A Celtic Sojourn and the main stages of Joe Val, Grey Fox, Thomas Point, and Ossipee Bluegrass Festivals.

Brought together by their passion for bluegrass, The Ruta Beggars are Micah Nicol (guitar), Sofia Chiarandini (fiddle), Ariel Wyner (mandolin), Trevin Nelson (banjo), and Noah Harrington (bass) who met while studying at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in the American Roots Program.

8:30pm - ?Genticorum

With multiple Canadian Folk Music Awards, as well as Juno and ADISQ nominations, GENTICORUM have earned a reputation as a leading voice in the evolution of Québécois traditional music.

For over twenty years, the trio has earned a place of privilege on world, traditional, folk and Celtic music stages. Known for their unbridled energy, their musicianship and their magnetic stage presence, the trio has won over audiences at such prestigious events as Celtic Connections in Scotland, the Tønder Folk Festival in Denmark, the National Folk Festival in Australia, the Independent Music Festival in Alexandria, Egypt, the Rain Forest Festival in Malaysia, as well as countless venues across North America.

Pascal Gemme (fiddle) and Yann Falquet (guitar), the group’s two founding members, are both recognized individually as major contributors to the trad music scene in Québec. Since 2015, they have been joined by accomplished multi-instrumentalist and composer Nicholas Williams (flute, accordion). Weaving intricate fiddle, flute and accordion lines, gorgeous vocal harmonies, subtle guitar textures and exhilarating foot percussion, the pleasure that these three musicians have creating and playing together is palpable, both in the studio and on the concert stage.

Friday July 14th, 2023

12:00pm - Noon Brown Bag-Middlebury Community Center's Steel Drum Camp Band

We welcome Middlebury Music Center’s Steel Drum Camp for this Brown Bag concert. Through drumming and singing they will present Caribbean music and culture. Working together as an ensemble they will create thier own musical production on steel drums from Trinidad

7:00pm - ?Sarah King

Known for her powerhouse voice and “fiery, vulnerable songs,” Ripton's Sarah King creates thought-provoking, versatile Americana music. Her genuine stories about real-life emotions and situations also draw on classic folk-blues themes, balancing songs about the devil and booze with hard-won moments of reflection and acceptance. Her acclaimed 2021 EP The Hour, produced by Simone Felice and David Baron, earned her recognition as the New England Music Awards Songwriter of the Year and performances at the 2022 Folk Alliance International and Philadelphia Folk festivals, as well as supporting slots for acts including Blues Traveler and The Steel Woods.

8:30pm - Krishna Guthrie Band
The Guthrie family story is interwoven into the fabric of American music. While Krishna Guthrie incorporates elements of his lineage, from the folk roots of his great-grandfather, Woody to the masterful storytelling of his grandfather Arlo, he’s not afraid of adding influences from his own generation as he carves his own initials in the family tree.

At a young age, Krishna began touring internationally with his family as well as playing in local bands when off the road. Becoming skilled at several instruments, he also started writing his own songs. In the winter of 2013/14 Guthrie found himself playing regular gigs with a band in Vermont, and he decided to make Vermont his home.

Krishna started paying his dues, without fanfare, in local bars and restaurants around the Rutland area, determined to make a name for himself. He played supporting roles in several local bands as well, and soon started putting together his own band, which has become the Krishna Guthrie Band, or KGB. 

While never leaving behind the roots of his family’s music, Krishna’s turns it up a notch, infusing rock, blues and modern influences. The Krishna Guthrie Band is a collection of like-minded individuals, each with influences of their own, who value what music offers to the world and strive to make each show better than the last. Bobby Maguire (fiddle), Nicky Fitz (drums), Josh LaFave (bass, vocals) and Josh Cote (guitar, vocals) blend their varied musical experiences together to create a musical tapestry on which Krishna weaves his stories.

Saturday July 15th, 2023

7:00pm - Vermont Jazz Ensemble Street Dance

Since 1984, our capstone event has been the Street Dance, featuring big-band selections by the always-popular Vermont Jazz Ensemble. The Vermont Jazz Ensemble is a 17 member instrumental music group that performs music, most of which is in the jazz or big band style. This is a wonderful event for the whole family. 

Main street will be closed from Merchants Row to the post office for the dance.

Date: July 9-15, 2023

Location: Middlebury Festival On The Green - 3 Main Street, middlebury, VT 05753

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