STUFF TO DO, UPPER VALLEY!
Friday
The Halloween ramp-up continues. There’s Bradford’s haunted house opening this weekend, Brownsville’s Trick or Treat Walk, Enfield’s fourth annual Halloween Night on Friday, the Montshire’s Spooky Science on Friday, trick-or-treating along Hanover’s Allen Street on Friday and a haunted story walk at the Etna Library on Saturday, VINS’s Halloween celebration on Saturday, organist Aaron Richter performing spooky selections including Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” at the West Leb Congregational Church on Sunday, and much, much more. The first link takes you to the Valley News’s encyclopedic round-up.
The Sameer Gupta Trio at the Claremont Creative Center. The Brooklyn-based jazz percussionist and tabla maestro has been in the area for a BarnArts global music residency. Friday at 6:30, he and his trio take the stage in Claremont to “offer a truly multi-cultural experience that bridges countries and continents,” as the West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts puts it. And if you can’t make it Friday, Gupta will be at Woodstock’s North Chapel on Saturday performing Indian classics with Arun Ramamurthy and Ben Tyree at 7 pm.
Two silent films with live organ accompaniment at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College. Co-sponsored with the Hop, conductor, organist, and master silent-film accompanist Peter Krasinski will provide the music for the beloved 1950s childhood fable The Red Balloon at 7 pm, and then Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera at 7:45 pm. Free, no tix needed.
The Anonymous Coffeehouse at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon. The biweekly showcase starts up at 7:30 pm with Japanese-born, Berklee-trained fingerstyle guitarist Hiroya Tsukamoto, combining agile string-picking with lyrical performance. At 8 pm, it’s Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Erin Ash Sullivan. And at 9, Grace Morrison makes her debut with what she calls Saltwater Country: “the storytelling of country, the twang, but also the raw, unshakable spirit of a Swamp Yankee.”
Meanwhile, at the Chelsea Town Hall, a celebratory concert. Pianist Alison Cerutti of Northfield, VT will be joined by Counterpoint singers Sudie Marcuse of Chelsea and Maria Lamson of S. Royalton for music of Brahms, Debussy, Joplin, and more. It’s all to celebrate the renovation of the town’s 1892 Mason & Hamlin piano; no charge, but they happily accept donations toward the cost of the piano renovation. 7:30 pm.
At the Claremont Opera House, “FJ – A Tribute to Foreigner & Journey”. Vocalist and American Idol finalist Rudy Cardenas and his buddies bring you “I Want to Know What Love Is”, “Feels Like The First Time”, “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Cold As Ice”, and lots more. 7:30 pm. As the opera house puts it, “Get your wine coolers, mullets, and stone washed jean vests ready…”
Pointless Culture at Sawtooth Kitchen. The Concord-based four-piece indie rock band was formed in 2022 by Harrison Fantasia and Harrison Hinman with a sound, as Sawtooth puts it, that “blends the raw energy of early 2000s alt-rock with modern indie — loud, melodic, and packed with emotion and energy.” 9 pm.
Saturday
VT Center for Ecostudies youth birding walk at Lake Runnemede, Windsor. For young people between the ages of 8-14 with an interest in birds and with or without a parent or grandparent. The walk around the birding hotspot will be led by legendary Upper Valley birders Kyle Jones, Siler Russ, Alexander Van Engelen, and Chris Rimmer, and will meet at 8 am at the gated entrance to Lake Runnemede on Route 5, just north of and across from the Price Chopper grocery store. It’ll formally last until 9 am, but continue until 10 for kids who are really interest. Registration required, at the link.
Oktoberfest at Whaleback. A family-friendly festival with live music from Chris Powers, lots of food and drink, local vendors, and activities for all ages: stein-holding contests, keg tossing and rolling, cornhole tournaments, and the Das Boot challenge for adults, and a bounce house, sack races, bobbing for apples, doughnut string races, crafts, and old-fashioned cider pressing for kids (or the young at heart). 11 am to 6 pm.
The Hop presents the Met Opera in HD and La Sonnambula. Bellini's “poignant tale of love lost and found” with Nadine Sierra as Amina and Xabier Anduaga as her fiancé, Elvino, with Riccardo Frizza conducting. In Spaulding Auditorium, 1 pm.
In New London, John Peterman with “Joni Mitchell: Observer of Friends, Lovers, and Us”. Peterman, a music and film educator, will “explore the genius of Joni’s lyrics combined with her unique melodic song structure and singular guitar tunings,” touching on everything from “Big Yellow Taxi” to what he labels “her more acerbic work.” 3 pm at the Center for the Arts.
Upper Valley Music Center presents Eloise & Co. with Rachel Aucoin. Becky Tracy (fiddle) and Rachel Bell (accordion) formed Eloise & Co. to explore everything from gritty French tunes to Celtic and Quebecois melodies. They’ve joined forces with Quebec pianist Aucoin for concerts and an album due to be released this weekend. 7 pm, First Congregational Church of Lebanon.
Mountainfilm on Tour at the Hop. Documentary shorts of skiers, mountain-bikers, urban climbers, an intrepid surfing photographer and others pursuing adventure. Marine conservation, an alpine highline in the North Cascades, Tlingit skier and scientist Ellen Bradley heads into the mountains of southeast Alaska… 7 pm in Spaulding.
Bob Marley at the Claremont Opera House. The Maine-based comedian returns. As of earlier this afternoon, there were still a couple (literally) of seats left. 7:30 pm.
Sunday
At Dartmouth, a three-day global symposium: “A Global Turning Point: Why Youth Well-Being Is in Crisis — and What We Must Do About It”. This is a big deal, with the college co-hosting with the United Nations Development Programme to explore the decline in youth well-being both in the US and around the world. Sunday’s events include hikes and panels on what the college is doing to promote student well-being. Monday, discussion about the breadth and depth of the challenges, including a panel discussion with six former US surgeons general (Antonia Coello Novello, M. Joycelyn Elders, David Satcher, Richard H. Carmona, Jerome M. Adams, Vivek H. Murthy); on Tuesday, roots of the crisis and possible solutions, including a panel moderated by Robert Putnam of Bowling Alone fame. A livestream will be available for events beginning Monday morning at 9 am.
Guitarist William Ghezzi at Artistree in S. Pomfret. The classical guitarist, who lives in West Leb, performs both with others—in orchestras, chamber ensembles, choruses, dance companies, theater and opera—and solo. Sunday he’ll be performing solo works by François Couperin, Carl Friedrich Abel, Georg Philipp Telemann, Manuel Ponce, and jazz guitarist George Van Eps. 3 pm.
The Barbershop Harmony Society’s 2025 showcase, “Navigating Charts by Chords and Stars”. The North Country Chordsmen with barbershop, VoxStars with contemporary a cappella, special guests Daily Special (international quarterfinalists), and other Upper Valley quartets and ensembles, along with a pirate mini-musical, “Harmony on the High Seas”. 4 pm, Mascoma Valley Regional High School.
The Best Mother in the World at the Hop. Anna Muylaert’s new film follows a São Paulo trash collector who flees an abusive relationship with her kids and her pushcart. “Pretending they are on a grand adventure in the streets of São Paulo rather than confront her children with the reality of being homeless, [she] attempts to bring a spirit of playfulness to a dire situation.” 7 pm, Loew Auditorium.
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