James (Jim) Thomas, president of the U.S. Slave Song Project Inc., will direct the Spirituals Choir in performance on Wednesday, June 9 at 7 p.m. at the Vineyard Haven Public Library.
Mr. Thomas has earned the American Red Cross’s National Diversity Award and President’s Award for Leadership.
The Spirituals Choir was created in 2005 as a diverse and educational choir who sing examples of the tunes presented by the narrator.
After weeks of stifling heat, Dave Brubeck brought relief to Edgartown society types on Sunday night with his eminently cool brand of jazz in a performance at the Field Club. One of the pioneers of West Coast jazz in the 1950s, Mr. Brubeck led his quartet through an evening of stylish standards and thrilling improvisation to help raise money for the new YMCA.
“This guy doesn’t just play music, he is music,” said Kate Taylor in her introduction.
Back in 1996, yes that is now a long time ago, the Island Community Chorus sounded its first note. Since that time the choral group, led by director Peter Boak, has performed year-round on the Island. The group has gained a loyal following and by staying true to its roots as a group open to anyone with no auditions required, it has remained an Island institution.
The Martha’s Vineyard High School Minnesingers are coming and, well, the holiday season on the Island wouldn’t be complete without them. Go hear the concert this weekend or go one better and hang out with high schoolers at the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust soiree held tonight, Dec. 9, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Dr. Daniel Fisher House in Edgartown.
The concerts take place at the Old Whaling Church today, Dec. 9, at 8 p.m. and tomorrow, Dec. 10, at 4 p.m.
As A Witness, a Christmas pageant for the 21st century, will be performed at the Old Whaling Church on Sunday, Dec. 18, and Monday, Dec. 19.
The production features music ranging from medieval carols such as The Angel Gabriel Came Down, and O Come All Ye Faithful to modern gospel music including Rise Up Shepherd and Follow, and He Had Done Great Things for Me.
The Martha’s Vineyard Poets Society presents a Winter Solstice celebration of poetry and song, beginning at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 21.
The evening features twelve poets including Justen Ahren, Ellie Bates, Jill Jupen, Francesca Kelly, Lee McCormack, Clark Myers, Fan Ogilvie, Barbara Peckham, Valerie Sonnenthal, Daniel Waters, William Waterway and Michael West.
The Tisbury School fourth graders are getting set to take you inside the minds of the ant and grasshopper and also up the beanstalk with dear Jack as he tries to search for his missing cow. The results are not your grandfather’s well-worn fables.
The kids have written the story, built the sets, created the music; heck they have done everything but fill the seats. That’s where you come in.
For those on the Vineyard who have witnessed the past two summer productions from the PigPen Theatre Company you know what it means to be completely transported, body and soul, to, without gilding the lily one bit, a place of imagination so powerful adults have been known to become toddlers on the spot: mute, with finger outstretched and prone to falling down in fits of giggles and wonderment. Kids, well, they simply become transfixed, the feeling so strong they refuse to watch television for weeks afterwards. It just doesn’t compare.
“Listen Local” might be the theme of the evening on Monday, July 18. That’s when Jemima James hosts her third annual Variety Show at Featherstone Center for the Arts, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The show is part of Featherstone’s Musical Mondays concert series.
It was hard to believe the witty and talented musician who played at the Yard last Tuesday night to promote the release of his first CD heard his own music on the radio for the first time that very morning. The artist, Ollie Childs, and his wife and manager, Alix, had been out driving around the Island when WMVY radio debuted a song from All in Good Time.
It was an emotional moment for the young couple, and, as Mr. Childs put it, quite “surreal.”
