Friday, Jan. 3 at 7:30 p.m.—RANDOLPH—A very special musical event will be taking place at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 3 in the Upper Gallery of the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. The second annual Vermont String Summit features world-class bluegrass, new acoustic, and old-time musicians celebrating the new year by collaborating together on new compositions and traditional favorites. The concert will include an array of styles, from Ladino songs and jazz-infused instrumentals to original songwriting and award-winning Texas-style fiddling. This year’s participants include Lily Henley, Joe K. Walsh, Tristan Clarridge, Grant Gordy, Duncan Wickel, Tashina Clarridge, Ben Krakauer, and Dan Klingsberg.
While these musicians are already familiar names and faces at music festivals around the world, they’ve toured with and worked beside some of the best known musicians in the contemporary bluegrass, old-time, Irish, Cape Breton and Americana genres, including Laurie Lewis, Darol Anger, David Grisman, Bruce Molsky, Mike Marshall, Natalie McMaster, John Doyle, and The Gibson Brothers. While they stand on the shoulders of giants, the Vermont String Summit is less about where each of them has been, and more about where they are going.
For most of these musicians, this will be a return visit to Chandler. Last year’s String Summit grew out of banjoist Ben Krakauer’s desire to hold a concert to provide a venue for presenting new material that emerged from a several day musical retreat. He also hoped to connect with the local community of musicians and to raise money to help defray travel expenses for the group. His initial vision of a house concert quickly gained the support of members of Chandler’s board, and the Vermont String Summit was born.
This year’s String Summit is being presented as part of Chandler Center for the Arts’ Live & Up! series, regular concerts that take advantage of the informality and intimacy of the Upper Gallery (a.k.a Esther Mesh room) to give audiences a very personal musical experience. Admission at these events is by donation ($10-$20 suggested), and there are no advance ticket sales. The concert will run from 7:30 to 9:30, with an open jam session running until 10:30. All are welcome to bring instruments and join in the jam. Doors will open at 7 p.m. The Chandler is located at 71 North Main Street in Randolph. For more information visit chandler-arts.org.
