Meetinghouse Café Concerts
A series of Folk Music Nights offered at the Meetinghouse. Dates and performers are listed below. All concerts are at 8 p.m. For more information, call the Fellowship at (802) 440-9816.
The Meetinghouse Café is an intimate setting with a maximum of 100 seats. Advance purchase tickets are available by calling 802-440-9816 and leaving a reservation request, name and phone number or by emailing info@uubennington.org. Doors open 1 hour before each concert.
2011-2012 Season
September 16
Bill Staines: For 35 years, Bill has traveled back and forth across North America, singing his songs and delighting audiences at festivals, folksong societies, colleges, concerts, clubs and coffeehouses. A New England native, Bill became involved with the Boston- Cambridge folk scene in the early 1960's and, for a time, emceed the Sunday hootenanny at the renowned Club 47 in Cambridge. Bill quickly became a popular performer in the Boston area. In 1971, after one of his performances, a reviewer for The Phoenix stated that Bill was "simply Boston's best performer." A decade later, both in 1980 and 1981, the annual Reader's Poll of The Boston Globe selected him as a favorite performer. In 1991, Bill entered his forth decade as a folk performer with an international reputation as an artist.
October 7
Cindy Kallet and Grey Larsen : Cindy and Grey, each well known and loved for their decades of music making, have joined musical forces. Cindy is a superb singer, guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Grey is one of America's finest players of the Irish flute and tin whistle, as well as an accomplished singer and concertina, fiddle, piano and harmonium player. As composers each has contributed to the unique tapestry of contemporary folk and world music as it exists and flourishes in America today. Together, they weave songs and tunes of vibrant color and rich texture. The duo's repertoire includes Cindy's sparkling original songs, distinctive settings of traditional Irish music, Scandinavian fiddle duets, old-time fiddle and guitar tunes from southern Indiana, and new music that Cindy and Grey are inventing together.
November 4
Viva Quetzal:Viva Quetzal performs music of the Americas as it truly is today: an eclectic mixture of traditional, folkloric and pop themes performed on a fascinating array of ancient and modern instruments. Viva Quetzal emphasizes the contributions of the four major cultural influences that have shaped modern Latin American music; the indigenous, the West African, the Iberian, and of the United States. Traditional rhythms and melodic forms from these diverse cultures fused over the centuries, creating that which is today’s South American popular music. Viva Quetzal uses that music as a base with which to blend North American Jazz and Rock with the music of South America.
December 2
Woods Tea Company: Woods Tea Company is an acoustic trio that performs fiery Celtic tunes, bluegrass, sea shanties, and American folk songs with ease and skill. All three members are fine vocalists and audiences often leave in awe of their wonderful harmonies.
Members are Howard Wooden: bass, guitar, bodhran; Tom MacKenzie: hammered dulcimer, banjo, guitar, ukulele, keyboard; and Patti Casey: guitar, flute, penny-whistle, and clogboard.
January 27
Claudia Schmidt: For almost four decades Claudia Schmidt has been exploring the nuances of acoustic music with her voice, 12 string guitar and mountain dulcimer with an exciting collection of original, traditional, and contemporary writing. From small clubs to large concert stages, her craft is at its height in live performance...She has been featured on PRI's A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, a television documentary on KTCA-TV in St. Paul called "I Sing Because I Can't Fly", and has written music for and acted in the musical "Bag Lady Tendencies" with Friends Mime Theater in Milwaukee and Frank Galati's production of "Good Person of Szechuan" at the Goodman Theater in Chicago, for which she won a Jefferson Award. All those elements of performing are brought to bear at a Schmidt performance as she mines the humor and poignancy of our lives and shapes it into a 'one-woman revitalization movement', as a journalist from Oakland, Ca. described her. The stage is her natural habitat, and every member of her audience is made to feel welcome and energized by her presentation.
February 17
Dafé Brudäjo: Dafé Brudäjo plays a mix of originals, contemporary folk and jazz with Ferrilyn Sourdiffe on vocals and hand percussion, David Fowle on bass, mandolin and vocals, Josh Kleederman on electric guitar, Bruce Wheat on guitar, vocals and sax, and David Norman on percussion. Dafé is known for their 3 and 4 part harmonies and eclectic repertoire and has performed in the tri-state area for over ten years. Awhile back, Caffe Lena reported that "These folks are wonderful. Their entire sound is smooth as silk, their harmonies crisp and their rhythms richly engaging. Ferrilyn's voice is reminiscent of Billy Holiday and Tracy Chapman - a bit more accessible I'd say."
March 23
Abby Newton and Celtic Crossing: Abby Newton and Celtic Crossing returns for an evening of Celtic music led by Abby’s extraordinary cello. Abby is well-known for her recordings with the Scottish singer Jean Redpath and other leading folk musicians. She has appeared several times on National Public Radio's Prairie Home Companion. Fiona Ritchie recently devoted an entire program to her career accomplishments on The Thistle and Shamrock, a nationally syndicated broadcast on NPR. She is joined by singer Lyn Hardy, Deborah Nuse on the fiddle, Scottish small pipes and Border pipes, and accordionist David Hormung.
April 20
Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen: Our local favorites, Steve and Cindy have traveled back and forth across North America, singing their songs and those by others, and delighting audiences at festivals, folksong societies, colleges, concerts, clubs and coffeehouses. Before their marriage in 1989, Steve and Cindy had extensive careers as individuals. Since they joined forces they have been traveling, performing and recording together. Their album Live In Concert, recorded at The Ark in Ann Arbor in 1991, is available from their own company, Compass Rose Music. A second duet album, The Light Of The Day, was named Top Folk Album of 1996 by Rich Warren (WFMT) and Matt Watroba (WDET). Their third duet recording, A Sense Of Place, was released on Redwing Music in 2001. Their latest CD together is called Being There (Compass Rose, 2006). Steve and Cindy also collaborated with Anne Hills and Michael Smith on a quartet recording of story-songs, Fourtold (Appleseed Records, 2003).
May 18
Kerry Ryer-Parke: Kerry brings together family and friends for a night of eclectic folk and contemporary music. Kerry Ryer-Parke grew up hearing performers at a folk music club south of Boston which her parents helped found, and by age 6 was performing at folk festivals all around New England with her twin sister and father. While Kerry doesn't often get the chance to sing traditional songs, she credits those early folk years for her love of telling a story, her ear for harmony and for her ability to find the emotional heart of a song. Last year this was sold out..