SO MUCH GOOD STUFF, UPPER VALLEY!
Friday, Oct. 23
A Halloween events guide. It’s still a week away, but the observances have begun. The Valley News’s Liz Sauchelli does yeoman’s work pulling together a town-by-town guide, from Spooky Science at the Montshire on Friday at 5:30 pm to Saturday’s Haunted Story Walk at the Etna Library, rePlay After Dark costume making at rePlay Arts in WRJ, and Halloween Pipe Organ Concert by organist Aaron Richter at the West Lebanon Congregational Church. You’ll find those and more at the link.
The Oak Hill Music Festival’s Dyad at the Howe Library. Dyad is bassoonist Leah Kohn and violinist Niv Ashkenazi. They’ll be performing Paganini’s Duetto No. 2 for Violin and Bassoon, Saint-Saëns’s Danse macabre, and Mussorgsky’s dramatic Night on Bald Mountain. 3:30 pm in the New Books Area.
A Taste of Gullah Cuisine at the Top of the Hop. In conjunction with the Kronos Quartet’s “Three Bones” performance later in the evening, Dartmouth Dining Services will give a cooking demo of red beans and rice arancini, drawing on Gullah culture. 5:30 pm. No charge, but you’ll need to reserve a ticket.
At the Wilmot Library, “Becoming Wolf: The Eastern Coyote in New England.” Canid expert and conservation biologist Chris Schadler on how the eastern coyote has come to fill an ecological niche left empty by the eradication of eastern wolves. 6 pm.
The Trouble With Harry live reading. “A dead body in the woods of the fictional Vermont town of Highwater is where the trouble begins…” Randolph’s Alia Quart Khan has pulled together a stellar cast—including Tom Bodett and Myra Flynn—to take the stage, scripts in hand, to present Hitchcock’s small-town classic. At the Latchis Theater in Brattleboro, 7 pm. The film itself is Nov. 8.
The Kronos Quartet with “Three Bones” at the Hop. The world-renowned quartet has been in residence, and performs a Hop-commissioned piece that “combines music, storytelling, vintage recordings, video elements and visual arts to share vivid histories and amplify. Kronos is joined by an array of luminary special guests to bring three of these American stories to life”—including Laura Ortman and Wu Man. 7 pm in Spaulding, and there are still tix available, but not many.
The Anonymous Coffeehouse. This week’s show gets going at 7:30 pm with Cuchulain, a single-named singer-songwriter originally from the Carolinas and now based in Ithaca, NY; at 8 pm, singer Julia Friend and traditional Québec guitarist Yann Falquet, whom you might remember from the New World Festival; and at 9 pm it’s central VT progressive bluegrass (plus whatever they feel like playing) band Still Hill. At the First Congregational Church of Lebanon.
Peter Antoniou’s “Pretty Psychic Tour” at Lebanon Opera House. The America’s Got Talent star and “psychic” comedian combines “razor-sharp British wit with a stunning ability to know exactly what you are thinking [with] shows that are interactive and unforgettable.” 7:30 pm.
Superman: The Movie at the Randolph Playhouse. It’s the start of a five-flick weekend Special Effects Film Series with guest curator and special effects creator Greg Butler, two-time BAFTA Award winner. He’ll be leading post-screening discussions about special effects and career-defining films. Friday night at 7:30 is the Christopher Reeves/Gene Hackman/Margot Kidder Superman; Saturday are Jurassic Park and Starship Troopers; and on Sunday it’s The Return of the King and 1917.
Saturday, Oct. 24
Chili & Chowder Fest at Whaleback. Just what it says, from 11-4, with music from noon to 3. There’s also a ski swap kicking things off at 9 am.
BowlFest at CraftStudies. A slew of Upper Valley restaurants provide food, offered up in handcrafted bowls to take home, with proceeds going to scholarships and CraftStudies’ community partnerships. The evening event is sold out, but there are still tickets available for “Early Eats” from noon to 2 pm.
Michael Caduto with The Day The Pond Flew South at the Norwich Bookstore. The author and storyteller’s new book features a loon who lands on a small pond “from which there is no escape.” As winter sets in, her friends “invent an ingenious plan that will take every single wingbeat to save their friend.” 2 pm.
Hoots & Howls at VINS. A sunset tour through the Canopy Walk lined with lighted pumpkins, plus Lindsay and her Puppet Pals, stories by Simon Brooks, a nature skit by the VINS troupe of woodland creatures, and more. 5:30 pm.
Dan Nichols in a concert of upbeat Jewish music at Kol ha’Emek, the Upper Valley Jewish Community. The classically trained musician and touring singer-songwriter will lead a sing-along with lyrics projected. “The vibe,” the UVJC writes, “will be relaxed and joyous.” 7 pm at the Roth Center in Hanover, sign up at the link.
Oak Hill Music Festival Presents: A Halloween Evening with the Founders. Leah Kohn and Niv Ashkenazi with “eerie and otherworldly” classical favorites for violin and bassoon. Grieg, Mussorgsky, Beethoven, Saint-Saens, Gounod, William Bolcom, and others. 7 pm at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon.
Hop Film screens Is God Is. Aleshea Harris’s new film adapts her Obie award-winning play into a neo-Western revenge thriller “infused with myth,” the Hop writes. Starring Sterling K. Brown, Vivica Fox, Kara Young, and Mallori Johnson as a family with some very serious issues to work through. 7 pm in the Loew.
Stash Wyslouch and Noah Harrington at the Chandler. An evening of traditional bluegrass, original compositions, reworkings of bluegrass, folk, and Americana, with Wyslouch on guitar and Harrington on bass. 7 pm in the Esther Mesh Room.
Tab Benoit brings his Soul of the Swamp Tour to Lebanon Opera House. The southern blues rocker performs songs from his vast catalog, joined by special guest Ghalia Volt. 7:30 pm.
Classical concert in Chelsea Town Hall. In a benefit for the Chelsea Public Library (by donation), pianist Alison Cerutti will be joined by contralto Maria Lamson and soprano Sudie Marcuse in a concert of solo piano and vocal solos and duets. The autumn-themed program will feature Chelsea's historic 1892 Mason & Hamlin piano, and includes works by Robert Schumann, Cecile Chaminade, Alberto Ginastera, Scott Joplin, and more. 7:30 pm.
Sunday, Oct. 25
The 2026 Walk to End Alzheimer’s. 78 teams with over 500 participants so far, with the $219K fundraising goal within reach. Things kick off in Lebanon’s Colburn Park at 10 am with a Promise Garden Ceremony, and two walks—a one-mile route and a two-mile route—leaving after the ceremony’s done.
ChamberWorks at the Hop. Dartmouth's jazz faculty (Michael Zsoldos, Jason Ennis, Jesse Taitt, Zack O'Farrillis) is joined by bassist Mimi Jones for a performance of jazz standards and original compositions. 2 pm in the Morris Recital Hall. No charge but ticket required.
Chamber concert at the UU church in Woodstock. In the second concert of the North Chapel’s fall series, pianist Diana Fanning will play works by Beethoven, Leoš Janáček, and Fredric Chopin. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged. 2 pm.
Hop Film screens the Broadway in HD version of Fallen Angels. Tony nominees Kelli O'Hara and Rose Byrne “are happily married to charming men when a message arrives from a former flame, sending their perfect lives into a tizzy. It appears a man with whom they'd each had a passionate tryst in the past is planning a visit, and they are both questioning whether they can—or want to—withstand his charms.” 4 pm in Spaulding.
In Brookfield, historian J. Kevin Graffagnino and “Ira Allen and the Green Mountain Frontier.” Based on his new biography, the longtime VT historian will talk about the land speculator, revolutionary, pamphleteer, politician, and empire-builder. It’s the featured part of the Brookfield Historical Society’s annual meeting, which begins with a brief meeting before Graffagnino’s talk. 4 pm in Brookfield’s Pond Village Church.
In Woodstock, “Strangers: Live with Roy Wood Jr.: Comedy, conversation, and unexpected encounters.” Pentangle Arts hosts the comedian and current host of CNN’s Have I Got News For You, who “will perform comedy and interview people from the community and strangers from the audience, turning the room itself into part of the show.” 7 pm at the Town Hall Theatre.
Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it stick around by hitting the maroon button:
And always, if you’re not a subscriber yet:
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt
And if you think one or more of your friends would like Daybreak, too, please forward this newsletter and tell them to visit daybreak.news to sign up.
Thank you!
