GRAFTON — The River Singers, southern Vermont's dynamic 90-voice world-music choir led by Mary Cay Brass, will host two members of the French Canadian band, Genticorum, for a Quebecois-focused concert on Sunday evening, May 6, at 7 p.m., at the Grafton Community Church.
Each spring, the choir invites guest musicians from a unique music tradition to do a residency with the choir and then lead and accompany the singers in their spring concert. This spring's concert will feature two well-known musicians from the Canadian band Genticorum: Pascal Gemme, fiddle, and Nicholas Williams, accordion, piano, and flute.
Firmly rooted in the soil of their native land, Genticorum incorporates the dynamism of today's North American and European folk cultures in their music. They weave “precise and intricate fiddle, flute, and accordion, gorgeous vocal harmonies, and energetic foot percussion into a jubilant musical feast,” according to a news release.
Gemme is a leading light in Quebec's traditional music scene who has been immersed in the playing, collecting, and recording of his country's music for more than 20 years.
Williams has developed a reputation as a versatile, dynamic musician in Quebec and New England. He is sought after as an instrumentalist and song leader. He also arranged and taught the choir the set of Quebecois songs that will headline this concert.
The River Singers is known for presenting a wide variety of traditional music in many languages. In addition to the French Canadian music they will present a cornucopia of hauntingly beautiful music from South Africa, Lithuania, and Bulgaria, as well as social justice songs and New England shape note songs.
Every River Singers concert is a benefit for a global or local peace-building organization. Each spring their concerts raise scholarship money for the CONTACT (Conflict Transformation Across Cultures) Program at the SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro. Peace-builders from around the world gather there each summer for this three-week program.