Author Archives: melissa

Saturday 10/28— HOPSTOP & Celebration of All Hallows and Dia de Muertos (and more!)

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HOPSTOP : Celebrate Dia de los Muertos (The Day of The Dead) with music and mask making.

Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated by people of Mexican heritage. People make shrines to honor the deceased relatives featuring the person’s favorite food and drink, and gifts. This holiday is a joyful celebration of those who have passed instead of a day of mourning. 

We welcome you to join us for music and mask making with the Grammy-winning Villalobos brothers who have captured the hearts of audiences around the world with their virtuosic musicianship, infectious energy and profound messages of love, brotherhood and social justice. You will learn more about the Day of the Dead and how to create traditional Mexican masks found at the celebration.

This workshop is best suited for youth ages 7 and up, but children 5 or younger can participate with adult assistance. 

This workshop is free. Please make sure to wear clothes which can get dirty as we will be using paint and other materials which can damage clothing.

Saturday 10/28 at 11AM — CSB Community Center at 152 South St., Claremont, NH
Sunday 10/29 at 11AM — RWB Community Center at 48 Lebanon St., Hanover, NH

No tickets are needed for the HopStop events. All are welcome.

Celebration of All Hallows and Dia de Muertos

October 28, 2023 @ 6PM at WCCMA at Union Church

A very special celebration of music and tradition with the Villalobos Brothers

Join us for a very special performance of music inspired by All Hallows Eve, Día de Muertos, Samhain, and Harvest. Music performed by the grammy winning Villalobos Brothers and Melissa Richmond. Earlier in the day families can participate in a mask making HopStop event in partnership with the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College in both Claremont and Hanover. Costumes welcome! This event will be presented in person and livestream/available on demand after the show. If tickets are sold out on Eventbrite please contact us for additional tickets, there will be tickets available at the door. We recommend making reservations for the event to ensure that seats will be available.

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SAVE THE DATE : Friday, November 3rd at 6:30PM — Sayon Camara

In Partnership with BarnArts: Join us for a culminating celebration of Sayon Camara’s week of school residencies as BarnArts Fall Global Music Residency artist! 

Performing with Dave Kobrenski and Grant Ellerbeck as Sayon Camara & Landaya, they will bring you to the heart of Sayon’s culture through drumming, fula flute, bolon, song and story in a participatory performance of traditional music from Sayon’s home village in the Sankaran region of Guinea, West Africa. 

There will also be a performance with BarnArts on Nov 4th.

Get ready to respond in song in Sayon’s original language, Malinke, to hear the rich oral stories behind the music, and to feel the irresistible pull of the rhythms bringing you to move and dance.

We wish you a happy fall! Stay warm, and see you soon!

Coming up: Jazz Listening Hour, Dia de Muertos, Big Drum Taiko Performance

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Taylor Ho Bynum’s Music Appreciation Hour/Questions & Improvisations

October 2; October 16; Nov 6; Nov 20

@ 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM at WCCMA at Union Church Hall

Musician & educator Taylor Ho Bynum will lead open sessions dedicated to introducing listeners to jazz and other forms of improvised music.

Online participation is available, if registered in advance. Contact [email protected]

On the first and third Mondays of October and November, musician and educator Taylor Ho Bynum will lead open sessions dedicated to introducing listeners to jazz and other forms of improvised and creative music. The first hour will consist of listening to classic albums in their entirety, with introductory comments and post-listening discussion around the history and aesthetics of the recordings. The second hour will consist of musical and verbal dialogues prompted by audience questions, with THB performing solo and occasionally with invited guests. Attend in person in Claremont, or join us online via zoom (advanced registration required). The series kicks off on October 2 with “And His Mother Called Him Bill”, Duke Ellington’s tribute to his compositional partner Billy Strayhorn, and will conclude on November 20 with a live performance of Bynum’s collaborative duo with acclaimed drummer/composer Tomas Fujiwara. Registration for the first three sessions is sliding scale donation suggested at $10-50, with all proceeds going to support WCCMA, and sliding scale tickets for the November 20th concert.

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Burlington Taiko Group Performance: Big Drum performance!

* RAINLOCATION *

Due to the weather condition, the performance will be at the Claremont Savings Bank Community Center, 152 South St, Claremont, NH 03743

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October 22, 2023 @ 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at Claremont Savings Bank Community Center at 152 South St, Claremont, NH 03743

Celebrate WCCMA’s 15th Anniversary with a performance by Burlington Taiko Group and a Japanese taiko demonstration.

Celebrate WCCMA’s 15th Anniversary with a performance by Burlington Taiko Group and a Japanese taiko demonstration. After more than a decade of annual performance with Burlington Taiko Group we are pulling out all the stops: See the biggest contingent of drummers and drums yet performing at Broad Street Park! Stay tuned for more information about anniversary festivities during this very special event. Suggested donation: $40 per family. No tickets required. Rain location TBD. This Burlington Taiko performance and residency is funded in part by the New England States Touring prograrm of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.

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Celebration of All Hallows and Dia de Muertos

October 28, 2023 @ 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM at WCCMA at Union Church

A very special celebration of music and tradition with the Villalobos Brothers and Melissa Richmond

Join us for a very special performance of music inspired by All Hallows Eve, Día de Muertos, Samhain, and Harvest. Music performed by the grammy winning Villalobos Brothers and Melissa Richmond, flute. We will have special food in honor of the celebration. Earlier in the day families can participate in a mask making HopStop event in partnership with the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College in both Claremont and Hanover. Costumes welcome! This event will be presented in person and livestream/available on demand after the show. If tickets are sold out on Eventbrite please contact us for additional tickets. We recommend making reservations for the event to ensure that seats will be available.

Check back for more information on this festive event!

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Tuesday Sept 12 – Ethiocolor! Sept 17th Newmont Military Band, and TAIKO!

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Ethiocolor

September 12, 2023 @ 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at WCCMA at Union Church

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Join us for Melaka Belay and Ethiocolor’s ecstatic symbiosis of dance and music, of tradition and modernity for the first stop on their US tour. Admission is sliding scale donation: pay what you can: $5-60, students free. Seat is available indoors and on the lawn (bring your own chair for outdoors). Registration for this event in advance is encouraged to ensure seating and timely check in. Livestream/on demand video will be avaialble for this concert. Ethiocolor is part of Center Stage, a public diplomacy initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs with funding provided by the U.S. Government, administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts in cooperation with the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations. General management is provided by Lisa Booth Management, Inc.

 About Ethiocolor: Founded in 2009 by the charismatic Melaku Belay, who has made his Fendika Cultural Center in Addis Ababa a global gathering place, Ethiocolor draws deeply from the bardic well of Ethiopia’s diverse heritage. Their revelatory practice is an ecstatic symbiosis of dance and music, of tradition and modernity. Nourished by diverse Ethiopian music and dance traditions and cross-cultural exchange, Ethiocolor presents energetic, free-spirited sounds and movements that are at once culturally specific and internationally resonant. Ethiocolor routinely shares the stage with traditional Azmaris and jazz musicians. From this dynamic musical home, Ethiocolor also builds partnerships with international musicians such as the Ex (Dutch punk band) and Large Unit (Norwegian Jazz band). The band regularly tours abroad. Its CDs include Ethiocolor (2014), Birabiro (2016), and Dildiy (upcoming). Melaku Belay received a 2015 French Medal for the Arts, a 2020 Prince Claus Award, and is a 2022 TED Fellow. Lead singer Nardos/Wude Tesfaw is the central character in Stand Up, My Beauty!, a 2021 European film exploring music and gender in Ethiopia.  Invoking ancestral blessings and contemporary experiences, Ethiocolor reveals how Ethiopian music and dance have evolved to transcend time and space. Says Melaku: “We’re here to remind audiences everywhere of our shared human desire and capacity for peace, love, joy, and justice.” They damn near brought the house down with their exuberant, dance-filled live set at the January 2017 globalFEST in New York. – ROOTS WORLD

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Newmont Military Band

September 17, 2023 @ 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM at WCCMA at Union Church

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Join us for a skip back in time with the Newmont Band. Performing on period instruments, the band plays music of the 19th C as it would have originally been heard on the town greens. This will be an outdoor concert (bring a lawn chair), in the event of poor weather the concert will be held inside Union Church. All donations go to benefit the West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts’ community programs.

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Claremont Taiko Club – Open rehearsal

September 26, 2023 @ 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM at WCCMA at Union Church

Join the Claremont Taiko Club for Japanese Drumming! An introduction will be held on the first practice to learn or refresh your skills! Thsi event will be held outdoors, conditions permitting, or indoors at Union Church Hall if needed. Suggested donation $25, or $50 for family (for those able) This program is funded in part by the New England States Touring prograrm of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.

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Intro to Japanese Taiko Drumming

September 26, 2023 @ 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM at WCCMA at Union Church

Learn, or get a refresher, on the basics of Japanese taiko drumming with Paton Sensei of Burlington Taiko Group. Suggested donation $10 (if able). Then you are welcome to stay after and learn more along with the Claremont Taiko Club! Weather and outdoor conditions permited this event will be held outdoors, otherwise it will be held at the Union Church Hall (upstairs) This residency is funded in part by the New England States Touring prograrm of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.

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