STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS

      ArtBits always features a calendar of the goings on of Franklin County artists. Check out these events around Franklin County. Each issue includes the entire text of our weekly newspaper column.

---

      Stop in for live music and more at the Fairfax Music Sessions at the Foothills Bakery in Fairfax most Saturday afternoons at 1 p.m., at various restaurants around Franklin County throughout the week, at the Bayside in St Albans Town most Sunday afternoons, and the Cambridge CoffeeHouses at 7 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of every month.
     These gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and occasional workshops. The booked performances and acoustic Open Mike Nights feature music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.

      Find links to these events and more in our Spotlight!

... FROM THE ARTBITS DESK ...
E-Mail Delivery
Sign up to receive the free weekly ArtBits
newsletter by e-mail
or by RSS feed.

---

CHRISTMAS ROSES

ST. ALBANS--First Congregational Church presents the Vermont Choral Union with the harmonies and soaring melodies of a Rose in Winter on Saturday at 3 p.m.
      The 40 member a capella choir will offer a special set of carols for the centennial of Vaughan William's Fantasia on Christmas Carols, with texts quoting traditional singers from British countryside in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The program also brings together the Renaissance and early Baroque music of Palenstrina, Mouton, Praetorius and Lassus with Rachmaninoff, Durufle and Vaughan Williams, and contemporary composers Rutter, Chilcott, Lauridsen, Meader, Gjeilo and Middlebury's Peter Hamlin, to tell the stories of Christmas, Chanukah, and the New Year.
      Cellist Michael Close joins the Choral Union as soloist in O magnum mysterium by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo. Mr. Close teaches at the Monteverdi Music School in Montpelier and also at Moretown Elementary School and the Vermont String School. Jeff Rehbach directs.
      The 35 to 40 musicians, drawn from Burlington and surrounding communities, have grown to be the oldest choral group still in existence in the area. They perform mostly a capella works with a repertoire that covers five centuries of music. The Choral Union performs at least two concerts per year, one in Fall and one in Spring.
      Admission at the door is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, or $40 for the entire family. Call 802.777.5529, email, or click here for more info.

---

      The Choral Union will reprise the concert in its first appearance at St. Paul's Cathedral in Burlington, on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.

---

ART ON THE WALLS

MONTPELIER--Berlin Mall will host a Holiday Pop-up Art Show with Local 64 on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
      Works on display will be arts and crafts, including small paintings, prints, sculpture, mixed media and collage work, hand bound books, and more. The show of local artists has no work costing more than $100.
      After hours, they become a space for community engagement with talks, workshops, and social happenings between entrepreneurs, technology, and artists.
      Click here for more info.

---

ON STAGE LIVE

MONTGOMERY CENTER--Snow Shoe Lodge presents the Missisquoi River Band on Saturday at 8 p.m.
      The Missisquoi River Band includes Cindy Weed on stand up bass, Jim Weed as lead and rhythm guitar, and artist Pat Murphy on guitar. They all sing and write many their own songs.
      It's great music and great pub fare, Ms. Weed said.

---

MORRISVILLE--River Arts presents Long Gone, a live dance performance by Lida Winfield and Ellen Smith Ahern, on Friday at 7 p.m.
      The dance draws on our colorful memories of family members long gone, the people we've never met, and people we've never seen beyond photographs. With both dance and text, this performance will share funny, heartfelt, or irreverent stories of the dead with the living.
      Ms. Ahern and Winfield have worked as collaborative artists for two years. They will host a public workshop this evening. The hour-long dance on Friday will be followed by a discussion and question-and-answer period with the artists.
      Admission is by a $10 suggested donation for the performance. Click here for more info about Long Gone.

     River Arts also holds a Farmers and Artisans Market at the River Arts Center every Wednesday from 3 - 7 p.m. Click here for more info.

---

STOWE--Trapp Family Lodge presents John Cassel on piano with Will Patton on string bass and jazz and musical theater vocalist Taryn Noelle in the lounge on Saturday at 7 p.m.
      Click here for more info.

---

BURLINGTON--The UVM Folk Music Club hosts a Shape Note Sing in Ira Allen Chapel at UVM every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Mason Gohl holds pitching/leading/sight-reading lessons before the Sing at 6 p.m. Check for occasional changes in time, date and location. Email for more info.

---

MORRISVILLE--Moog's Place has "live music every night we're open, starting between eight and nine p.m." with open mic night scheduled most Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m.
      Click here for more info.

---

ST. ALBANS--J & L Guitars hosts Singer/Songwriter Night every Thursday evening.
      Call 802.527.9951 for more info.

---

ST. ALBANS--Chow Bella has a programming change as their next Open Mic Night will be held December 12. Sign-ups will start at 6:30 p.m.
      The downtown restaurant offers Music to Dine By with relaxed music and the arts. They may have live piano, violin, or light guitar any day of the week. The Chow! Cabaret offers live performances by musicians, visual artists, poets, and more. The regular Chow Open Mic Night normally repeats on the first Wednesday of every month. Their Open Comedy Night for comics 18 and older is held on the third Tuesday of every month. Vern Colburn is Live on the Piano on Friday Nights, Dayve Huckett on the guitar on the first and third Saturday, and the Best Little Border Band plays some of the best jazz in Vermont on the second and fourth Saturdays, starting at 5:30 p.m.
      Call 802.524.1405, email, or click here for more info or booking requests.

---

FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF

     "Libraries are the heart of the community"

HIGHGATE--The Highgate Public Library wants parents and children ages 3-9 to build a gingerbread house on Saturday at 10 a.m.
      The library will also hold the holiday-themed Minute to Win it Teen Game Night for students in grade 5 and up on Saturday at 6 - 7:30 p.m. Based on the TV show, the clock is ticking and you only have a Minute to Win it ... do you have what it takes?
      Space is limited for both Saturday events. Call Liza Comiskey (802.868.3970) or Email to register today.
      The Polar Express returns to Highgate again this year. Space is extremely limited. Tickets will be available starting Monday, December 3, from the library. Children will be dropped off at the North Pole for a reading of the book, The Polar Express.
      Click here for more info.

---

CLICK HERE: ART SITE OF THE WEEK

     Laura Bittel and the Bennington Beledi Tribal Bellydance includes the locally acclaimed, professional Sahidi Sisters as well as the Sisters of the Shawl, a troupe of aspiring students as well as full sister dancers. Both troupes fuse traditional tribal, alternative, cabaret and gypsy movement, dancing to a mix of traditional and alternative music. The site includes their vision, a calendar and rates, class info, videos, and contact info.

---

FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF

      ArtBits features a quick weekly peek at the bookshelf or night stand of the folks you know in and around Franklin County. That popular feature has a page of its own at the Franklin County Bookshelf here on the AAC site.

SUPPORT LIVE ARTS IN YOUR TOWN!

All Arts Council of Franklin County

Dick Harper, Chair
P.O. Box 1
Highgate Springs, VT 05460
email us