Midwinter Spirits Concert

Twilight Music presents an evening of acoustic music to lighten the midwinter spirits by Julia Josephine Slone, Libby Garofalo, Iain MacHarg and Charity and Dan Houghton at Hooker-Dunham Theater & Gallery on Sunday, February 19 at 7:00 pm.

The Midwinter Spirits Concert features dazzlingly harmonized vocal music and thrilling sets of traditional Celtic tunes played on bagpipes, whistles, Irish flute, guitar and bouzouki. The five Vermont-based performers bring their sounds together on several pieces for a lush harmonic feast that includes quartets of pipes and voices, compositions by Julia, Dan and Iain, and original arrangements of songs from Tori Amos’ acclaimed “Midwinter Graces” record.

Since touring in 2011 with her indie rock & soul show, and being dubbed “among the state’s top young female stars” by Vermont’s Seven Days, Julia J. Slone has reconnected with her a cappella roots as a choral director and arranger. Her soon to be released disco and vocal jazz infused pop record "Wow Me" follows her 2010 CD "The Baby And The Bath Water," described by The Brattleboro Reformer as “irrepressibly rich...with…shiny sound and abundant spirit, warmth and wisdom.“

Julia is partnered on vocals by the luminous Libby Garofalo, of Atom Planet and Brattleboro’s biggest Afro-funk band Fenibo, and versatile powerhouse singer/songwriter Charity Houghton, who has taken to the stage and studio over the last two decades singing gospel, blues, rock and the music of Appalachia. The three voices together have a profound and joyful resonance that will warm your very bones.

Dan Houghton, of the bands Cantrip, Parcel of Rogues and Prydein, is a Scottish piper, flautist, guitarist and winner of the Scottish Lowland and Border Piper’s Society Open Borderpipes and New Composition events. He has toured and taught extensively throughout Britain, Europe, Ireland, America, Asia and the Antipodes, and recorded a solo CD "The Long March Home."

Iain MacHarg is a champion piper and director of the Vermont Institute of Celtic Arts. Vermont’s only full-time piping instructor, and a music professor at Norwich University, Iain has founded three Highland pipe bands in Vermont (Catamount Grade 3 & 4, Green Mountain Highlanders), and published a collection of original tunes for the bagpipe called "Feadan Mor." Iain has recorded two albums, "Rooted in Tradition" and "Celtic Christmas."

Hooker-Dunham Theater & Gallery is located at 139 Main Street in downtown Brattleboro, VT. Tickets for this concert are $12 General / $10 Students and Seniors. For ticket reservations and information, call 802-254-9276. For more information, visit www.JuliaMusic.com, www.cantrip-music.co.uk, www.vtcelticarts.org and www.hookerdunham.org.