GRAFTON — The Nature Museum will present a benefit concert showcasing Big Woods Voices on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 4 p.m., at the White Church, 55 Main Street, in the heart of Grafton.
The Voices are a purely a cappella vocal ensemble composed of: Alan Blood, long-time member of countless area groups including the Blanche Moyse Chorale, I Cantori, Blue Moon, and House Blend; Will Danforth, singer-songwriter and traditional acoustic artist; Becky Graber, leader of the Brattleboro Women's Chorus and Animaterra Women's Chorus in Keene; and Amanda Witman, co-leader of the Brattleboro Pub Sing with Tony Barrand.
Big Woods Voices is the fulfillment of a creative transition for Danforth from his life as a roots-oriented songster to that of composer/arranger, which has married two loves: his love of American roots music and his love of the vast harmonic palette absorbed while singing with the world music chorus The River Singers.
The results are lyrical settings of poetry by David Whyte, Mary Oliver, W.B. Yeats, and others; richly-harmonized standards of the American roots lexicon, and completely original compositions. Add to that mix pieces by musicians such as Pete Sutherland, The Finest Kind, and Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, and you have “the ear-thrilling experience called Big Woods Voices,” according to a news release.
Since this is a benefit concert to support the important all-ages educational work of The Nature Museum, tickets are priced on a sliding scale from $10 to $25. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 22, and tickets may be purchased in advance on the museum website at www.nature-museum.org or in cash at the door.