GUILFORD — Friends of Music at Guilford, now in its 48th season, presents an “A Cappella à la Carte” evening on Saturday, June 14, as the finale to its annual calendar.
As usual, the evening's three-part menu of membership meeting, all-community potluck, and a cappella concert takes place at Guilford Community Church, just a short distance from Exit 1 off Interstate 91.
The festivities begin at 6 p.m. with a brief and merry Friends of Music membership meeting. Folks can sign up on the spot and participate in voting for the upcoming year's board of trustees, as well as symbolically ratify the current board's actions in the fiscal year just ending. Preliminary plans for the 49th annual season of concerts are shared with everyone present.
This half-hour gathering leads at 6:30 p.m. to an All-Community Potluck created by those who have come to break bread together. Hors d'oeuvres, salads, side dishes, and entrées of all kinds make for an eclectic, often multinational meal. An assortment of warm-weather beverages is supplied. Desserts are reserved for a post-concert reception.
At 7:30 p.m., the diners, and others coming just for the music, converge on the church's sanctuary for an hour-long concert. This year three performing groups are on the musical menu, including The WhatAreWeDoingThis Four, a barbershop-style quartet; Honest Harmony, a quartet who will perform Renaissance madrigals and drinking songs; and the Guilford Chamber Singers, a 10-member group performing a variety of part-songs and four works being premiered at this event.
This musical “smorgasbord” is capped off by a festive potluck dessert reception.
The public is invited to attend one, two, or all three of the evening's “menu” items. Guilford Community Church, which is handicapped-accessible, is at 38 Church Drive in the Algiers village of Guilford. Pass the Guilford Country Store on Route 5 heading south, take the first left on Bee Barn Rd. and another left on Church Drive.
Admission is free, with donations encouraged to support the Friends of Music organization, which offers its core annual programs on a donations-only basis and provides community outreach programs for both the Guilford Central School and area seniors through grants and fund-raising. Its annual Messiah Sing raises money for organizations offering services to the homeless at holiday time.
For further information, contact the Friends of Music office at 802-254-3600, office@fomag.org, or visit www.fomag.org.