Sing & Play: Festival 2019

Hundreds of people came out to sing and play together on May 18, 2019. We were lucky to have beautiful weather for our outdoor activities: the Instrument Petting Zoo, hosted by Vermont Violins, the arts & crafts tent, with an eager bunch of button-designers, and the Traditional Music Jam led by Amy Cann.

An eager bunch of sight-readers joined Mark Nelson in the First Congregational Church Parish Hall for a pick-up orchestra and pick-up band playing Oom-Pah music, with thanks to Maurice LeBlanc for sharing sheet music. Parents got in on the Suzuki fun, playing orchestra parts while students from the Suzuki program played together in the FCC Sanctuary. The Piano studio showcased their hard work in a recital, and then an eager bunch of singers joined a pick-up chorus led by Patricia Norton. The notes continued to ring out in the sanctuary through the end of the event as the Upper Valley Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia, Vivace, and several chamber music ensembles performed.

Suzuki Play-in with Orchestra at the Sing & Play Festival

The Bach room was busy all afternoon with recitals, from the guitar studio and fiddle classes to soloists on violin, viola, flute, clarinet, and voice, to the Singing for the Stage class and a host of chamber music ensembles. Jane Woods led a sing-along of favorite musical theater songs, and Katie Kitchel led a family jam to favorites from the Music Together collections. Interplay Jazz and Arts hosted a jazz jam for singers and instrumentalists.

Thank you to everyone who made Sing & Play Festival a success! To our faculty, for organizing and leading events; To the volunteers for their energy and enthusiasm; To everyone who came to sing and play beautiful music; To Scratch for lending a button maker; To Martha’s On a Roll and Boisvert’s food trucks for keeping us well-fed; and to our sponsors for supporting music education!