SO MUCH GOOD STUFF, UPPER VALLEY!
And just a note: You’ll also get a separate Heads Up for next week on Monday afternoon, while Daybreak’s on a week’s break.
Now then…
Friday
Community Circus Workshop on the Dartmouth Green. Circa, the talented Australians circus troupe that’s at the Hop, gives a free circus skills workshop. 4 pm.
Eight musicians from the Oak Hill Music Festival rehearse at the Howe Library. They’ll be working on Mendelssohn’s octet for strings, with a chance for listeners to ask questions and get a preview. 3 pm in the New Books Area.
Enfield Family Fair in Huse Park. The Enfield Lions Club’s annual event, with rides, music, and food Friday through Sunday. Music schedule at the link.
The Thetford Arthouse Cinema screens This is Spinal Tap. As organizer Art Kahn writes, Rob Reiner’s 1984 film “is a mockumentary so close to the cloth of a hard rock band fighting to stay relevant that — if you didn’t know otherwise — you could believe it’s non-fictional.” 7 pm in the Martha Rich Theater at Thetford Academy.
Opera North begins its season in the tent at Blow-Me-Down Farm in Cornish with La Cenerentola. Rossini’s Cinderella “with a twist: The wicked stepmother is replaced by a stepfather and the ‘Fairy Godmother’ is a philosopher and tutor to the Prince.” 7:30 pm Friday, 5:30 pm Sunday, 7:30 pm Wednesday, July 1.
At Lebanon Opera House, “Let’s Sing Taylor: An Unofficial Live Tribute Show.” “Taking the country by storm, Let’s Sing Taylor brings the communal experience of celebrating Taylor’s music in a live setting to Swifties near and far.” 7:30 pm.
“20/20 Foresight” at the Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar. Featuring Clément Saunier, Mireia Farrés, Stephen Burns, participants, and ensembles. 8 pm in the Mary Keane Chapel at the Enfield Shaker Museum.
Saturday
The Upper Valley Land Trust celebrates 40 years with a “Raise the Roof” gathering, picnic, and hike. It starts at 9 am with raising the new pavilion at the Ely Mountain Conservation Area in Thetford, then a full afternoon of guided walks, talks by naturalists, music, and lots more. Rain date Sunday.
Hanover Center Old Timer’s Fair. Things like the book sale and white elephant table start at 9 am; parade at 10:30, then crafts and food and ox pulls and, starting at noon, an afternoon-long music lineup.
Billings Farm’s Dairy Celebration. A pasture walk, cheese tasting, butter and ice cream-making, creamery tour, and, oh yes, lots of cows. 10 am to 5 pm.
In Norwich, master gardener Bill Noble opens his garden to visitors. It’s a rare chance: On a former hillside farm, Noble’s sprawling garden has grown to include a main flower garden, perennial and shrub borders, rock gardens, a vegetable garden, and orchard. 10 am to 4 pm, and you’ll need to buy tickets in advance through the Garden Conservancy, at the link.
Grantham Old Home Day. Pancake breakfast starting at 8 am, parade at 10:30, music by the Flames, magician Dylan Tenney, and more starting up at 11 am. Plus, of course, a chicken bbq. Mostly at Grantham Recreation Park, 19 Shedd Rd.
The Blake Memorial Library in E. Corinth hosts “Secret Gardens of Corinth and Topsham.” A self-guided driving tour of six local gardens (kept secret until the actual day), an eighteenth century restored tavern that’s now a home, and an artist’s studio. Noon to 5 pm. Details at the link.
The First Congregational Church of Lebanon hosts a reading of Frederick Douglass’s “What to the American Slave Is Your Fourth of July?” Noon on the church’s front lawn. In conjunction with the Black Heritage Trail of NH. The Claremont Historical Society is also hosting one, same time, Broad Street Park.
Interplay Arts jazz festival. The jazz summer camp’s concert “highlights the true, ageless spirit of jazz, featuring a remarkably diverse lineup of musicians. Local and regional jazz students will be hitting the stage, ranging in age from 15 to 95.” 1 to 4 pm at Colburn Park in Lebanon, or if it’s raining, at the Barrette Student Center at KUA.
TEDxWoodstock with “Art Is…” Twyla Tharp, Rodney Marsalis, Mica Celeste and others explore creativity as a force for connection, leadership, and change. In the Woodstock Town Hall Theater, 2 pm.
The Junction Dance Festival’s ChoreoLab Showcase. Works by residency artists Sophia Hancock and Aida Claire Bauer, alongside performances by guest artists Elizabeth Kurylo and Jessica Lee, with a short presentation by Calvin Walker. 3 pm and 7 pm at The Barn Studio in Corinth.
A roller derby double-header at the Wendell A. Barwood Arena in WRJ. At 4 pm, Twin State Derby's B team, the Bandits, takes on Shoreline Roller Derby. Then at 6 pm, the A team, the Vixens, face off against Queen City Roller Derby. “The Vixens are currently ranked 46 out of 151 in the Northeast region, so there are sure to be some big hits and fast jams!”
At Chosen Vale, “Everybody Loves Difficult Music.” It’s the final concert in this year’s International Trumpet Seminar. 4 pm in the Mary Keane Chapel at the Enfield Shaker Museum.
Court Street Arts in Haverhill presents Reese Fulmer & the Carriage House Band. “Their shows are always fresh, full of joy, and hard to describe. Think Wilco with hints of Prine and Zappa.” 5 pm on the lawn at the Wentworth Brown House, or in Alumni Hall if it’s raining.
At AVA Gallery, a PRIDE in the Upper Valley exhibition reception. With, the gallery writes, “art made by LGBTQIA+ artists from the Upper Valley and surrounding New England regions.” 6-10 pm in Gallery 3.
Hop Film screens the National Theatre in HD’s production of Playboy of the Western World. A timid young man becomes a local celebrity in a rural Irish village after boasting that he killed his domineering father… until his supposedly dead father reappears. 7 pm in Spaulding.
Pizza Night at Crossmolina Farm in W. Corinth. With bluegrass band Otter Creek. Food at 5, music at 6, you’ll need reservations.
The Folksoul Band at Star Mountain. Sharon’s Seven Stars Arts moves outdoors for the summer, with the NH-based band dedicated to creating “new music from old traditions, combining horns, vocals, wild rhythms, and New Orleans Mardi Gras spirit.” 6 pm, 139 Star Mountain Rd in Sharon.
Weathersfield Center Community Contra Dance & Social. Erin Smith calling, open band led by fiddler Naomi Morse, Amy Englesberg on piano, and Emmet McGowan on drums. All dances taught. 6 to 10 pm in the Weathersfield Center Church and Meeting House in Perkinsville, VT.
New London’s Summer Music Associates kick off their season with the Boston Civic Symphony. With Francisco Noya conducting Mendelssohn and Elgar, and guest violinist Keila Wakao. 7 pm in the Sawyer Theater at Colby-Sawyer College.
The Oak Hill Music Festival continues. With Charles Martin Loeffler’s Two Rhapsodies for Viola, Oboe, and Piano fusing “medieval and folk influences with Brahms and French Impressionism”; Valerie Coleman’s Afro Cuban Concerto for wind quintet; and Antonín Dvořák’s “Dumky” piano trio. 7 pm in the Norwich Congregational Church.
Contra dance at the East Thetford Pavilion. 7:30 pm with Nils Fredland calling and music by Pascal Gemme and Yann Falquet. Walk-throughs for new dancers at 7:10 pm.
Sunday
Braintree Bluegrass Brunch kicks off with Hot Pickin’ Party and the Kathleen Parks Band. It’s the first of three last-Sunday brunches, starting as always with a 10 am bike ride; gates open at 11, music starts at noon. At the Braintree Hill Meetinghouse.
Mendelssohn, Bach, and more at the Oak Hill Music Festival. Selections from J.S. Bach’s The Art of the Fugue arranged for woodwind quintet and string quartet; Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s recently rediscovered Nonet for winds, strings, and piano; and Mendelssohn’s Octet for strings, “one of the composer’s most beloved works, and an icon of the string repertoire.” 2 pm at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Hanover.
Woodstock’s North Chapel hosts the third of its Chamber Concert series. With clarinetist Jonathan Cohler and pianist Rasa Vitkauskaite performing Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata in G Minor and works by Florence Price (the first African American woman to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra) and Simon Sargon, “a major creative voice in contemporary American Jewish music.” 2 pm.
“PatchWork” in Lebanon’s ArtWays Tunnel. Choreographer Ellen Smith Ahern’s multi-disciplinary work enlisted help from everyone from the Northern Lights Quilt Guild to Mascoma Bank. “Hands-on art” with quilters and muralists, performances, a barn dance, a dance party, and food all begin at 3 pm.
Burger Night at Flying Dog Farm in Tunbridge. With music by the Corinth-based bluegrass, swing, and folk band Turnip Truck. 4-7 pm.
Community contra dance at Green Mountain Perkins Academy in S. Woodstock, VT. With David Millstone calling and traditional tunes from fiddler Thal Aylward; Carol Compton on piano; and Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki on fiddle and mandolin. Strawberry shortcake at the break. 4-6:30 pm.
Sunday Summer Soirée at Loch Lyme Lodge. The Occasional Jug Band, plus dinner by Glenn Ferriot and Fresco Catering, on the Post Pond waterfront. 5:30 to 7 pm.
An Artist Responds to War at the Briggs Opera House. Filmmaker Robbie Leppzer’s documentary about Peter Schumann and Bread and Puppet Theater traces Schumann’s childhood in Nazi Germany to the founding and growth of Bread and Puppet to Schumann’s continuing work at the age of 91. Leppzer and Mohsen Mahdawi will talk after the screening. 6 pm.
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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt
