Social Band celebrates winter in song!

Social Band presents a concert combining ancient and modern-day songs and carols to honor this season, rich with the contrasts of light and dark, outer cold and inner heat. Join us for this contemplative and celebratory evening of song.

Deep Midwinter: Songs from Winter’s Heart

Saturday, December 21, 2019 ~ 7:30pm ~ United Church of Hinesburg

Sunday, December 22, 2019 ~ 3:00pm ~ Charlotte Congregational Church

Social Band, Burlington’s lively band of singers, presents its annual winter concert series unapologetically smack dab in the middle of the holiday hubbub. There is no better time to join in song then when we are collectively yearning for a time to be still, to listen, to sing, to reflect and to celebrate.

Social Band tells the story of this beautiful, rich, yet stark season with beautiful carols you may have never heard, contemporary works by Vermont composers that spur the imagination and local pride, stirring songs from the American shape-note tradition and joyful sing-alongs that allow each and every one of us to sing in community.

Social Band, weaves together poetry and song to create a sometimes thoughtful, sometimes joyful, sometimes irreverent hour of choral music. The group strives to draw upon the strengths of classical and folk traditions, and offers a performance that is both refined and a direct expression of feeling – feeding listeners’ hearts and heads.  Encouraging composition has been part of Social Band’s mission from the outset, and much of its repertoire comes from Vermont composers – many of them members of the group. Social Band is directed by Amity Baker.

Advance Tickets: $15 online at https://socialband-dec19.eventbrite.com

Day of the concert: $18 online and at the door

All of our venues are wheelchair accessible. For more information, visit www.socialband.org, find us on Facebook, or call (802) 355-4216.

Social Band, Burlington’s lively band of singers, is singing about roots this spring. Roots are a source of vitality and strength. Roots are the places from which we come – the places that know us by name. Join Social Band as we dig down into those muddy, springtime roots with poetry and song.

“Mother Root” : Songs of Source and Sustenance

• Saturday, April 6, 2019 – 7:30pm ~ Richmond Free Library
• Sunday, April 7, 2019 – 3:00pm ~ College Street Congregational Church, Burlington
• Saturday, April 13, 2019 – 7:30pm ~ United Church of Hinesburg
• Sunday, April 14, 2019 – 3:00pm ~ Charlotte Congregational Church

Social Band will think of roots in all sorts of ways using many genres of music. What better way to think about roots than to go back in time? Social Band’s menfolk go all the way back to the 12^th century to sing mystic Hildegard von Bingen’s, “O Sapientiae” in praise of wisdom’s life-giving channels. Other early music selections include the rich and flowing “O Radix Jesse” by 16^th century composer Jean Barra. And then from ancient to modern as Social Band features two premieres by Social Band members. Bruce Chalmer’s song “My Mother’s Dream” is accompanied by recorder, clarinet and cello and sets a poem he wrote about how our roots live with us even after leaving our homeland. Michael Kellogg’s song “Remembrance” adapts biblical verses from Ecclesiastes and touches on how the passage of time brings an anonymous, ever-changing permanence: “There is nothing new under the sun…. All streams run to the sea but the sea is not full, to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.” Other selections include songs from folk traditions as well as works by Vermont composers Tom Cleary, Don Jamison and Robert Keller.

Admission is $15 in advance, $18 the day of concert. Tickets are available online (no fees) at https://socialband-spring19.eventbrite.com and at the door.

Winter is upon us!  Social Band, Burlington’s lively band of singers, presents its annual winter concert series unapologetically smack dab in the middle of the holiday hubbub. There is no better time to join in song then when we are collectively yearning for a time to be still, to listen, to sing, to reflect and to celebrate.

Saturday, December 22 ~ 7:30pm ~ College Street Congregational Church, Burlington

Sunday, December 23 ~ 3:00pm ~ Richmond Free Library

Social Band tells the story of this beautiful, rich, yet stark season with beautiful carols you may have never heard, contemporary works by Vermont composers that spur the imagination and local pride, stirring songs from the American shape-note tradition and joyful sing-alongs that allow each and every one of us to sing in community.

Social Band, weaves together poetry and song to create a sometimes thoughtful, sometimes joyful, sometimes irreverent hour of choral music. The group strives to draw upon the strengths of classical and folk traditions, and offers a performance that is both refined and a direct expression of feeling – feeding listeners’ hearts and heads.  Encouraging composition has been part of Social Band’s mission from the outset, and much of its repertoire comes from Vermont composers – many of them members of the group. Social Band is directed by Amity Baker.

Advance Tickets: $15 online at https://socialband-dec18.eventbrite.com

Day of the concert: $18 online and at the door

All of our venues are wheelchair accessible. For more information, visit www.socialband.org, find us on Facebook, or call (802) 355-4216.

Social Band Comes of Age (almost)!
Social Band, Burlington’s lively band of singers, has been up and running for 20 years! Over the past two decades Social Band has sung its collective heart out, sharing vibrant and varied songs from all walks of life with our audiences – using our performances not only to entertain but to engage with our listeners with beautiful ideas, words and harmonies. Come celebrate with us as we sing in gratitude to the wonderful choral works we’ve had the privilege to make into living, breathing music and the camaraderie that shines through and has defined our years as a “social band”.

“With Songs and Honors Sounding Loud!”
• Social Band’s 20th Anniversary Concerts….and Reunion!
• Saturday, November 3, 2018 – 7:30pm ~ Richmond Free Library
• Sunday, November 4, 2018 – 3:00pm ~ First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington
• Saturday, November 10, 2018 – 7:30pm ~ Charlotte Congregational Church – Special Alumni Concert!
• Sunday, November 11, 2018 – 3:00pm ~ United Church of Hinesburg

Social Band will celebrate in concert by featuring the songs and genres that have defined us as a group. As a special treat, we’ll swell our ranks with Social Band alumni for a few numbers at the November 10 performance. For those knowledgeable in the ways of Social Band, it will come as no surprise that this program is rife with all the music that has been written by and for us over the years. Songs by Mary Alice Amidon, Peter Amidon, Bruce Chalmer, Tom Cleary, Sara Doncaster, Billy Drislane, Lily Jacobson, Don Jamison, Anna Patton, Will Patton, Mark Pendergrast, Larry Read, Pete Sutherland. Golly! If only we could cram everything into one program.

We’re fun, we’re inexpensive, and we’re like nothing else going on in choral music (in a good way). Come spend some time with us and partake of our excitement as we share all the gifts we have been given over the years from singers, composers, poets, and audiences.

Unfamiliar with Social Band? What a great time to see what we are all about! This Burlington-based chorus performs a cappella choral music, encourages new compositions especially by local composers, and fosters the joyful and thought-provoking expression of music. Social Band organizes its programs around themes, weaving poetry and song to create an experience that feeds listeners’ hearts and heads. And, while we take the power of music very seriously, we tend to take ourselves a little less so, bringing a sense of exuberance and fun to our singing.

Admission is $15 in advance, $18 the day of concert. Tickets are available online (no fees) at https://socialband-fall18.eventbrite.com and at the door.

Social Band in Concert at the Meeting House on the Green
53 School Street, East Fairfield, VT 05448
Sunday, October 14, 2018 at 3:00pm

Social Band, Burlington’s lively band of singers, is delighted to make its first visit to East Fairfield as part of the Meeting House on the Green 2018 Concert Series. Join us as the members of Social Band raise their voices in song, revel in poetry and encourage everyone to sing along. In this program, Social Band will sing feisty songs of the Spanish Renaissance and even feistier songs in the Gospel tradition interspersed with songs homegrown in Vermont, including songs composed by Will Patton of Bakersfield, Sara Doncaster of Irasburg and many more. Please share an hour with us as Social Band offers the magic of the “naked voice” in this charmed setting with songs old and new on Sunday, October 14, 2018 at 3:00pm at the Meeting House on the Green in East Fairfield, Vermont.

Unfamiliar with Social Band? This Burlington-based chorus performs a cappella choral music, encourages new compositions especially by local composers, and fosters the joyful and thought-provoking expression of music. Social Band organizes its programs around themes, weaving poetry and song to create an experience that feeds listeners’ hearts and heads. And, while we take the power of music very seriously, we tend to take ourselves a little less so, bringing a sense of exuberance and fun to our singing.

Suggested Donation: $10 at the door.