BRATTLEBORO — Some of the best undergraduate singing groups in the nation will perform at the Latchis Theatre on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m., in Brattleboro's 11th Annual Collegiate A Cappella Concert.
A benefit for the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) sponsored by Brattleboro Savings & Loan, the concert features the Dartmouth Aires, Tufts Beelzebubs, Amherst College Zumbyes, University of Vermont Cat's Meow, Clark Bars, and one other group to be announced.
The all-male Dartmouth Aires and Tufts Beelzebubs are veterans of NBC's a cappella competition show, “The Sing-Off.” Both groups finished in second place: the Bubs in 2009 and the Aires in 2011.
Both groups make a point of including Brattleboro on their annual touring schedules, which feature performances throughout the country and around the world at major sporting events - and at such venues as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the White House.
The Bubs were the real-life voices of the Dalton Academy Warblers on Fox's smash hit “Glee,” and were the focus of the book “Pitch Perfect,” on which the 2012 blockbuster Hollywood movie of the same name was based.
The Bubs count among their alumni Brattleboro native Penn Rosen, BMAC Director Danny Lichtenfeld, Putney School Director of Admissions John Barrengos, and Saxtons River physician Gary Clay.
Making their first appearance in Brattleboro are the co-ed Clark Bars of Clark University in Worcester, Mass., whose members include Julia Stevens, a 2013 graduate of Brattleboro Union High School.
Returning to the Latchis stage are the UVM Cat's Meow, with Christine Lanoue, a 2010 graduate of Mt. Anthony Union High School in Bennington.
Rounding out the lineup are the all-male Amherst Zumbyes, which the New York Times has called “the most dangerous a cappella group on the planet,” and a group to be announced.