Victoria Chertok
Putney artist opens barn gallery
Artist Carol Keiser moved to the area in 1970 to attend Antioch Graduate School and liked it so much she never left.
On Saturday, Sept. 30, Keiser will realize a longtime dream: the opening of her own art gallery to showcase her four decades of work.
‘Beaten up but not beaten’
Three Windham County orchards report the loss of almost all their apples, other crops
As a headline in the June 7 issue of The Commons reported, "Hard-hit Windham County farms hope for federal relief for an overnight devastating loss of fruit, berry, and vegetable crops." Beneath a close-up photo of brown and shriveled buds on trees at Green Mountain Orchards in Putney, a...
A community party for a farm in need
Eloise & Co. will lead a French tunes jam session and bal folk dancing to benefit Scott Farm, one of many whose apples were wiped out by a late freeze this year
When Brattleboro residents and musicians Rachel Bell and Becky Tracy heard about Vermont's apple crop devastation, the fans of Scott Farm Orchard decided to do something about it. "We were so distressed to hear how they lost 90% of their apple crop this year due to the deep freeze...
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Martin Sexton returns to Brattleboro on tour for new EP
Billboard calls him "the real thing, people." Singer-songwriter Martin Sexton returns to the Stone Church for the second time, on Friday, Sept. 15 with what Rolling Stone calls his "soul-marinated voice," along with his acoustic guitar and a suitcase full of heartfelt songs. His 2023 tour has taken Sexton across North America in support of his latest release, 2020 Vision, produced by three-time Grammy nominee John Alagía, whose work includes collaborations with Lukas Nelson, John Mayer (who guests on Sexton's...
‘Traditional jazz at its best is played live, and it’s social, and there’s dancing’
Tuba Skinny brings its world-renowned traditional New Orleans jazz to the Latchis Theatre on Thursday, Aug. 31st at 7 p.m. "Tuba Skinny came to our attention through a super fan who encouraged us to book them," says Jon Potter, executive director of Latchis Arts, in an email to The Commons. "Since then, I've become absolutely hooked on their music. It's fun, very tuneful, and very rhythmic. They get your toes tapping." Potter described Tuba Skinny as "some of the premier...
Sixty years of addressing ‘the urgency of the day’
Bread and Puppet Theater Cofounder and Director Peter Schumann, 89, bakes bread for each performance ahead of time, using a sourdough starter that is 150 years old. Think of all the loaves he's baked in the last 59 years as the company celebrates its 60th anniversary this summer, and how much history each loaf represents. "It's a type of bread that you can't find in the grocery store; it uses an old way of baking. People are usually pleasantly surprised...
A world unto themselves
Hugh Keelan isn't daunted by the herculean task of bringing not one but two of Richard Wagner's most famous operas to the Latchis. He's done it before - twice. Tundi Productions' Wagner in Vermont 2023, the festival's third visit to the Latchis Theatre, will assemble more than 70 performers from near and far from Friday, Aug. 18, to Thursday, Aug. 24. Keelan, the music director and the festival's orchestra conductor, and his wife, General Director Jenna Rae, co-founded Tundi, which...
Artistry and power
Forever Simon & Garfunkel, a musical tribute group, will perform at Next Stage Arts Project on Wednesday, July 12. This duo of Sean Altman, 62, and Jack Skuller, 27, has been called a “Spring-Winter musical bromance,” since the two have a three-decade age difference. Next Stage co-founder Billy Straus, a Putney resident, met Altman in college in the early 1980s. The two have enjoyed a lifelong friendship and musical collaboration, including work on the PBS television series Where in the...