Vermont’s 2026-27 Performing Arts Season Is in Full Swing

It doesn’t look like much, not yet. And even when it’s done, when the walls are painted and lights are hung, when the seats are arranged and the stage is set, the tiny new Vermont Comedy Arts performance space still might seem, to the untrained eye, kinda underwhelming.

Don’t be fooled. As any performer knows, the magic lies precisely within such unassuming voids. An empty stage isn’t empty at all: It’s full of promise.

For Natalie Miller and Nathan Hartswick, the married couple and comedians who opened Vermont Comedy Club in Burlington a decade ago, their nonprofit Vermont Comedy Arts venture will operate on a very small scale. When the basement theater opens at 118 Main Street later this fall — maybe in October, maybe November; the couple isn’t really sure or terribly concerned about setting a date — it will seat about 35 people. The cozy, low-ceilinged room next to a nail salon will largely cater to the growing local improv comedy and sketch scenes that have blossomed at the comedy club across the street. But if history is any indication, the new venue could have an outsize impact.

Vermont Comedy Club has been an incubator through several eras of local comedy, launching a number of comics who are now plying their trade on bigger stages — you can read about one of them, Tina Friml, here. It’s also where you might have seen certain rising national acts before they graduated to the big stage up the street,
such as profane puppet Randy Feltface, who headlines the Flynn next month, or Lucas Zelnick and Maria Bamford later in the season.. It’s not a leap to think Vermont Comedy Arts might one day pay similar dividends for comedy artists and fans — and, just maybe, other venues around the state.

In the following pages, you’ll read about dozens of artists of regional, national and international renown who are on their way to thrill audiences all over Vermont in the coming months. You’ll find iconic singer-songwriters and genre-smashing jazz players; a theater performance so moving it requires a decompression area after the show; dancers and circus artists redefining the limits of human athleticism and creativity. There’s also a purple puppet who swears a lot.

But here’s the thing: Every single one of them started on a stage that’s probably not so different from what awaits audiences in the basement of a defunct bar on Main Street in Burlington. In the past several years, following a pandemic and seemingly unending social and political strife, we’ve learned how fragile our institutions are. That’s especially true in the arts — just ask our friends in the Burlington music scene grappling with the closures of cornerstone venues Radio Bean and Nectar’s.

So when a new theater opens, even a tiny one — and even if it’s not entirely clear when it will actually open — it’s reason for celebration. Because to see the importance of those places, one need look no further than the marquees of our grandest ones and remember that everyone starts somewhere

— D.B.

Samantha Bee: “How to Survive Menopause”

Friday, February 5, 7:30 p.m., at Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H.
$42.50-52.50. lebanonoperahouse.org

When Samantha Bee was in her mid-forties, she started crying for no reason, chocolate tasted like cat turds, and whenever she went out in public without makeup, people asked if she had cancer.

She didn’t. Bee was perimenopausal, in the transition phase before menopause. At the time, the Emmy Award-winning comedian, writer, producer and television host knew little about what she now calls “reverse puberty,” due to the cultural taboos and dearth of information surrounding the hormonal changes that women in their forties and fifties typically experience.

“There is so much practical advice out there for every problem you can imagine,” Bee says in her one-woman show “How to Survive Menopause.” “You can go online and find out how to survive tornadoes, zombie attacks, an erection that lasts more than four hours. But when it comes to menopause, everyone’s like, ‘I don’t know. Have you tried water?’”

Bee has had an impressive career of bringing her rapid-fire comedic insights to hard-to-joke-about subjects such as gun violence, abortion and immigration enforcement. She rose to fame in 2003 as a correspondent on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” then left after 11 years to host her own series, “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee,” which ran seven seasons on TBS. Time magazine once listed her among its “Top 100 Most Influential People,” and the New York Times called her “fiery and fierce” for the agility with which she tackles hard truths and societal double standards.

Launched as an off-Broadway show in 2024, “How to Survive Menopause” is part standup comedy, part public service announcement — for the women who endure it and their loved ones who experience it vicariously through them.

— K.P.

Also try…

• Sam Jay: For topical comedy with edge and empathy, don’t miss this Emmy-nominated former “Saturday Night Live” writer and host of “Pause With Sam Jay.” Thursday, October 22, 6:30 p.m.; and Friday, October 23, and Saturday, October 24, 6:30 & 8:30 p.m., at Vermont Comedy Club in Burlington. $25. vermontcomedyclub.com
• Adam Conover: Appearing a week after the election, the creator of the Netflix docuseries “The G Word With Adam Conover,” about how the federal government works, will have some thoughts. Thursday, November 12, 6:30 p.m.; and Friday, November 13, and Saturday, November 14, 6:30 & 8:30 p.m., at Vermont Comedy Club in Burlington. $30. vermontcomedyclub.com
• Josie Leavitt, “Trigger Warnings: A Comedy About Death”: The matriarch of Vermont’s comedy scene debuts her new one-woman show on the most taboo subject of all. Friday, April 16, and Saturday, April 17, 8 p.m., at Flynn Space in Burlington. $18.50-29.25. flynnvt.org
• Maria Bamford: The comic, best-selling author and voice actor is beloved for her idiosyncratic and deeply personal comedy. Saturday, May 8, 6:30 p.m., at the Flynn in Burlington. $42.50-96. flynnvt.org

Waterwell: The Ford/Hill Project

Wednesday, September 30, and Thursday, October 1, 7:30 p.m., at Wright Memorial Theatre, Middlebury College. $5-30. middlebury.edu/events

Art isn’t always pretty. It often entertains and amuses, but it can also present uncomfortable truths, as in the case of The Ford/Hill Project. Created by stage and screen actor Elizabeth Marvel and director/choreographer Lee Sunday Evans of New York City theater company Waterwell, the play juxtaposes the testimonies of Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford in the Senate confirmation hearings of U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh.

Dialogue is drawn verbatim from the hearings. To augment authenticity, the four cast members wear earpieces that allow them to listen to the testimony and deliver their lines in tandem with the person they play. In 1991, Hill recounted claims of sexual harassment by her former boss, Thomas; in 2018, Blasey Ford testified that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her when they were in high school.

Listening to their testimonies side by side, Marvel told Vogue, “you see how many of the same players are in both hearings. You have the Lindsey Grahams, the Joe Bidens — so many people present in both. And then you realize so many of them are saying exactly the same thing.”

“The Ford/Hill Project,” writes website DC Theater Arts, “performs one of theater’s most noble and necessary functions: to shine a light on character itself, to attune the populace to how a person’s acts betoken who they are, and to prompt the polis to pay attention.”

A 30-minute conversation follows the 70-minute performance at Middlebury College’s Wright Memorial Theatre. In addition, the theater will offer a “professionally staffed decompression space.”

— M.A.L.

Also try…

• All Things Equal: The Life & Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Michelle Azar stars as the Notorious RBG in this unconventional biographical play about the late Supreme Court justice. Thursday, September 24, 7 p.m., at the Flynn in Burlington. $37.75-63. flynnvt.org
• Tartuffe: Middlebury Acting Company plucks Molière’s iconic con man from 17th-century Paris and drops him in present-day New England in a modern retelling of the comedic classic. Thursday, November 5, through Sunday, November 15, at Town Hall Theater in Middlebury. $15-39. townhalltheater.org
• George Emilio Sanchez and Patty Ortiz: To E Pluribus Unum, With Love: This multimedia theatrical work interrogates the ideal of America through conversations between an Indigenous character and historical figures ranging from Jesus to Abraham Lincoln to Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Thursday, January 21, and Friday, January 22, 7:30 p.m., at Daryl Roth Studio Theater, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $24-40. hop.dartmouth.edu
• Furlough’s Paradise: Inseparable as children, cousins reunite as adults and explore how their lives drastically diverged in Vermont Stage’s production of a.k. payne’s two-hander. Thursday, March 18, through Sunday, April 4, at Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center in Burlington. $34-54. vermontstage.org

Lorelei Ensemble

Friday, December 11, 7:30 p.m., University of Vermont Recital Hall in Burlington. $5-45. uvm.edu/laneseries

Since 2007, Boston’s Lorelei Ensemble have been one of the preeminent vocal groups in the country. Singing early music and newly commissioned classical works alike, the all-female choir of deeply accomplished singers champions a mission that extends well beyond the concert hall.

The ensemble’s repertoire of live and recorded material highlights the power and character of the female voice while speaking to broader cultural themes and moments — for instance, in composer Julia Wolfe’s Her Story, a setting of key texts from the history of the women’s rights movement. Lorelei’s deep roster of collaborators includes artists and thinkers from an array of genres and disciplines. Most important of all, Lorelei aim to educate and inspire new generations of singers and artists with what the Boston Globe called “impeccable musicality and pure-voiced precision.”

For a December appearance at the Lane Series, Lorelei Ensemble present their winter solstice program, a secular seasonal celebration featuring a blend of traditional and contemporary works.

— D.B.

Also try…

• Maiden Vermont: Music Can Change the World: Specializing in close harmony, Middlebury’s 35-member female a cappella group presents a program of uplifting tunes. Saturday, October 24, 7 p.m., and Sunday, October 25, 2 p.m., at Town Hall Theater in Middlebury. $10-20. townhalltheater.org
• Choir of Clare College, Cambridge: The renowned mixed-voice choir performs sacred choral music from around the world. Thursday, December 17, 7 p.m., KCP Presents at Fuller Hall, St. Johnsbury Academy. $18-49; free for students. catamountarts.org
• Windborne: Music of Midwinter: The New England vocal quartet presents seasonal music from U.S. and British Isles folk traditions. Thursday, December 17, 7 p.m., at Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. $20-40; students, $10; free for ages 12 and under. chandler-arts.org
• Ndlovu Youth Choir: This South African ensemble grew out of an afterschool program for vulnerable children in 2009 and has inspired audiences around the world with its powerful music and choreography. Saturday, April 24, 2 p.m., at Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $15-25. hop.dartmouth.edu. Sunday, April 25, 6 p.m., at the Flynn in Burlington. $22-63. flynnvt.org

Ragamala Dance Company: Ananta, the Eternal

Thursday, January 28, and Friday, January 29, 7:30 p.m., at Daryl Roth Studio Theater, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $12-40. hop.dartmouth.edu

Ananta is a Sanskrit word meaning “without end” or “infinite.” It can also refer to a number of figures and concepts across Hindu, Yogic and Jain traditions, from describing one of the four states of being to the snake on which Vishnu rests in the cosmic Ocean of Milk to the sneaky serpent who assumed human form and taught humanity yoga.

Got all that?

For Ragamala Dance Company, the multifaceted term is a guiding principle of its critically acclaimed show Ananta, the Eternal, which debuted in 2024 and began touring earlier this year. Through classical bharata natyam choreography as well as musical and physical improvisation, dancers and sisters Aparna and Ashwini Ramaswamy explore connections between the earthly and the celestial.

The show marks the sisters’ first duet with Ragamala, the South Indian dance company founded by their mother, Ranee, in 1992. The New York Times has called Aparna’s work “rapturous and profound,” while Ashwini “wove together, both fearfully and joyfully, the human and the divine” in a solo show. Mom is surely proud.

— D.B.

Also try…

• BalletX: The New York Times described this contemporary ballet as “three-dimensional dancing that you feel as you watch.” Sunday, October 4, 7 p.m., at the Flynn in Burlington. $24.75-63. flynnvt.org
• Noli Timere: Large-scale sculpture and choreography combine in this stunning aerial dance performance. Friday, October 9, 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, October 10,
  2 p.m., at the Moore Theater, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $35-55. hop.dartmouth.edu
• Dorrance Dance: MacArthur fellow Michelle Dorrance leads this groundbreaking tap-dance ensemble. Friday, November 6, 7 p.m., KCP Presents at Lyndon Institute Auditorium in Lyndon Center. $18-65; free for students. catamountarts.org
• Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre: The nuances of Arab male friendship inform the latest work from Palestinian American choreographer Samar Haddad King. Friday, March 5, and Saturday, March 6, 7:30 p.m., at Mahaney Arts Center at Middlebury College. $5-30. middlebury.edu

Randy Feltface: “Gimmick”

Saturday, October 10, 7 p.m., at the Flynn in Burlington, $39.50-92. flynnvt.org. Sunday, October 11, 7:30 p.m., at Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H. $38-58. lebanonoperahouse.org

Randy Feltface is what a Muppet would be like if he moved to Australia, got a dual degree in philosophy and comparative literature, then went sober and vegan and became a standup comic.

To the uninitiated, Randy Feltface, aka Randy the Purple Puppet, is created and voiced by Aussie comedian and puppeteer Heath McIvor. Despite his resemblance to a wide-eyed lavender turtle with a wrinkly neck and no nose, ears or eyebrows, Randy is remarkably expressive and lifelike.

“Some of you may have never seen me before. There’s probably a couple of you wondering what the fuck is going on right now,” Randy says at the beginning of “Randy Writes a Novel,” his 2018 standup special. “A couple of people up the back probably regretting smoking that spliff before they came in.”

But audience members catch on fast. Randy’s three-minute summary of the life of Ernest Hemingway — “the quintessential antihero; the talented, charismatic, belligerent, suicidal, alcoholic genius that can’t keep his dick in his trousers, [who] still found time to write about 15 books!” — is worth a YouTube search on its own.

Erudite, hilariously irreverent and brilliantly executed, Randy Feltface is emotive physical comedy with a message. The Arts Desk declared his 2022 performance at Edinburgh Fringe “clever, inventive and thought-provoking as well as being snortingly funny.” The Scotsman called him “gifted with manic muppet energy and colourful vocabulary.”

Needless to say, the purple plushie works blue, so this show isn’t recommended for children or the easily offended.

— K.P.

Also try …

• Kendall Farrell: Before moving to New York City and writing viral jokes about the gender spectrum, the Vermont native cut his teeth on local stages. Thursday, October 15, and Friday, October 16, 6:30 p.m.; and Saturday, October 17, 6:30 & 8:30 p.m., at Vermont Comedy Club in Burlington. $15-20. vermontcomedyclub.com
• Now Clap! Bob the Drag Queen’s on Tour: Don’t miss this Broadway star, New York Times best-selling author and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner, who describes himself as “hilarious, beautiful, talented, and humble.” Saturday, October 17, 6 p.m., at the Flynn in Burlington. $39.50-150.50. flynnvt.org
• Peter Antoniou: Pretty Psychic Tour: We see hilarity in your future with this British comedian and psychic whose act melds standup and mind reading. Friday, October 23, 7:30 p.m., at Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H. $30-40. lebanonoperahouse.org
• Matt Braunger: You’ve seen this veteran comedian and actor everywhere from “Mad TV” to “Garfunkel and Oates.” Thursday, December 10, 6:30 p.m.; and Friday, December 11, and Saturday, December 12, 6:30 & 8:30 p.m., at Vermont Comedy Club in Burlington. $25. vermontcomedyclub.com

Judy Collins: The Sweet Judy Blue Eyes Farewell Tour With the Vermont Symphony Orchestra

Saturday, November 14, 7 p.m., at Paramount Theatre in Rutland. $70-175. paramountvt.org

It’s been a glittering six-decade career for folk musician Judy Collins. She’s left an indelible mark with songs such as her 1967 rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” which helped catapult both women to fame, and her massive 1975 hit “Send in the Clowns.”

Known for a gorgeous soprano voice that inspired poet Richard Fariña to describe her singing as “not terribly unlike the melodies you’d hear if jewels like amethysts could bloom,” Collins has also been a strong advocate for social justice and activism throughout her career. And she inspired the Crosby, Stills & Nash hit “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” written by her former lover Stephen Stills in an attempt to win her back.

The tribute failed to convince Collins, but it left a sweet enough memory for her to name her farewell tour after the song. The Sweet Judy Blue Eyes Farewell Tour is billed as the singer’s final romp on the road, though she hasn’t written off playing live again in the future. For the tour’s lone Vermont date, Collins is backed by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.

— C.F.

Also try…

• Ann Wilson: The founder and lead singer of iconic rockers Heart will go crazy on you if you miss this show. Tuesday, October 6, 7:30 p.m., at the Flynn in Burlington. $52.75-105.25. flynnvt.org.
• Lucinda Williams: On her new album, World’s Gone Wrong, the “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” singer turns her formidable songwriting gaze to modern politics. Thursday, October 8, 7:30 p.m., at Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H. $69.50-79.50. lebanonoperahouse.org
• Suzanne Vega: The “Luka” and “Tom’s Diner” singer tours behind her critically acclaimed 2025 album, Flying With Angels. Friday, October 23, 8 p.m., at Barre Opera House. $29-195. barreoperahouse.org
• Dom Flemons & the Traveling Wildfires: The Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops founder leads a string-band supergroup with members of Old Crow Medicine Show, New Dangerfield and Gangstagrass in this Lane Series show. Friday, October 23, 7:30 p.m., at the University of Vermont Recital Hall in Burlington. $5-35. uvm.edu/laneseries

Gravity & Other Myths: Ten Thousand Hours

Tuesday, April 13, 6 p.m., at the Flynn in Burlington. $22-63. flynnvt.org. Thursday, April 15, and Friday, April 16, 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, April 17, 2 p.m., at the Moore Theater, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $21-60. hop.dartmouth.edu

In his 2008 book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea of the 10,000-hour rule: Mastering any skill requires at least 10,000 hours of practice. Eight acrobats and a musician from Australian circus company Gravity & Other Myths pay homage to such dedication in Ten Thousand Hours.

The company started as “just a bunch of mates hanging out and playing” and doing circus training together as kids, founding member and director Lachlan Binns recalled in a video. When they graduated from training, they put together a show, and, in 2009, the troupe was born. About four years later, members planned to disband and get on with their lives, but someone in a tiny audience in a tiny town had a connection to the Edinburgh Fringe. So they went — and sold out shows. “Real jobs” remain on the back burner.

Ten Thousand Hours incorporates improv, audience participation and humor. In this family-friendly offering, writes Edinburgh magazine Fest, “the ensemble eschews gimmicks and clumsy plots for a series of displays that variously expose the workings behind the balances and bundles, occasionally exploding into intense choreographic sequences that suggest the levels of trust and confidence that the performers have in themselves and each other.” The Guardian is more succinct: There’s “a good bit with a trick shot of throwing a water bottle and getting it to land upright,” the UK paper writes. “Then, of course, the troupe casually do the same thing with people.”

— M.A.L.

Also try…

• The Baffo Box Show: A Compact Cardboard Comedy: What’s in the box? Audiences of all ages will discover a heady mix of puppetry, comedy and Dadaist ventriloquism in this production from Vermont’s Modern Times Theater. Saturday, September 26, 3 & 7 p.m., at York Street Meeting House in Lyndonville. $10-15; free for kids 5 and under. catamountarts.org
• Cirque Alfonse: “La Noce”: Caribbean rhythms and Québécois folk music unite with ’70s vibes in the latest acrobatic romp from this Canadian circus troupe. Thursday, October 8, 7 p.m., at the Flynn in Burlington. $24.75-63. flynnvt.org
• Peking Acrobats: Chinese tradition meets modern athleticism when this internationally renowned company touches down in Vermont. Friday, March 26, 7 p.m., KCP Presents at Dibden Center for the Arts, Vermont State University-Johnson; and Saturday, March 27, 7 p.m., KCP Presents at Alumni Gymnasium, Vermont State University-Lyndon, in Lyndonville. $32-42. catamountarts.org
• HanUnder Arts Festival: Music, dance, theater, poetry and other performances that defy categorization highlight this annual three-day public festival. Thursday, April 29, to Saturday, May 1, at Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. Free. hop.dartmouth.edu

Maryna Krut

Friday, November 13, 7:30 p.m., at Mahaney Arts Center, Middlebury College. $5-30. middlebury.edu/events

For as long as there has been folk music, it has documented the best and worst of humanity. No matter the era or origin, it is music of the people, chronicling love and loss, triumph and tragedy, struggle and transcendence.

For most of her career, Maryna Krut interpreted the centuries-old folk traditions of her native Ukraine with a step of remove, modernizing its music with an almost anthropological approach. Since the Russian invasion of her homeland in 2022, however, the singer and bandura virtuoso no longer merely preserves Ukraine’s folk music history. She’s become part of it.

Krut, 30, grew up steeped in music and drew early attention for appearances on the Ukrainian versions of “The X Factor” and “The Voice.” Armed with her bandura — a Ukrainian stringed instrument that resembles a zither or lute — she’s now something of a modern-day bard, traveling to the front lines to perform for Ukrainian troops and relating what’s happening in Ukraine to audiences around the world.

— D.B.

Also try…

• Ordinary Elephant: Rich storytelling, delicate harmonies and instrumental skill recommend this award-winning Americana duo — as do the likes of folk legends Mary Gauthier and Tom Paxton. Friday, October 2, 7 p.m., at York Street Meeting House in Lyndonville. $15-20; free for students. catamountarts.org
• Stash Wyslouch: Fusing heavy metal, jazz and bluegrass, the Polish Colombian guitarist does “things that just don’t seem possible on acoustic instruments,” according to guitarist Billy Strings. Saturday, October 24, 7 p.m., at Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. $20-40. chandler-arts.org
• Punch Brothers: Mandolinist extraordinaire Chris Thile leads this transcendent group that the Washington Post credits with taking “bluegrass to its next evolutionary stage.” Sunday, November 8, 7 p.m., at Paramount Theatre in Rutland. $59-99. paramountvt.org
• Stundom: With style, charm and uncommon skill, this Danish trio explores Scandinavian folk music tradition through a modern lens. Thursday, March 4, 7 p.m., KCP Presents at Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro. $40; free for students. catamountarts.org

Welcome to Night Vale: Murder Night in Blood Forest

Friday, December 4, 7 p.m., at Spruce Peak Arts in Stowe. $34.89-38.10. sprucepeakarts.org

Sometimes, a podcast nails the pop-culture moment so perfectly that its universe expands into other art forms. Such is the case with “Welcome to Night Vale,” an absurdist supernatural fiction podcast (turned novel turned stage show) from the super-brain of creative wizards Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor.

Hailed by the Guardian as “a place where a love of the bizarre meets a love of language,” the podcast captures imaginations with a simple but unique premise: We’re listening to a community radio broadcast for a fictional desert town in the American Southwest. In Night Vale, every kooky conspiracy theory and bone-chilling urban legend that’s ever entered the paranormal zeitgeist is real. (Think Bigfoot, UFOs, time travel … all those freaky subjects of which Rod Serling would surely approve.)

Since its 2012 inception, the podcast has evolved into nine distinct theatrical tours, totaling 400 individual live events globally — including its current production, Murder Night in Blood Forest. You don’t have to be a superfan to enjoy this stand-alone plot following a former teen militia member working to solve the mystery of a masked murderer bumping off carefree party people. As host Cecil Baldwin frequently reminds us, “If you see something, say nothing, and drink to forget.”

— R.D.

Also try …

• Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue: Saucy seniors Sophia, Blanche, Rose and Dorothy are back — and somehow still alive in 2026 — in this riotous present-day drag tribute to the classic sitcom. Friday, November 20, 7 p.m., at Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H. $38-58. lebanonoperahouse.org
• Manual Cinema: The 4th Witch: Shakespeare’s Macbeth inspired this fantastical production that fuses shadow puppetry, cinema techniques and innovative sound design. Friday, January 15, 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, January 16, 2 p.m., at the Moore Theater, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $35-55. hop.dartmouth.edu
• Miss Holmes: Sherlock Homes and Dr. Watson are reimagined as Victorian women in this rousing Vermont Stage murder mystery. Thursday, January 28, to Sunday, February 14, at Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center in Burlington. $39-59. vermontstage.org
• The Getaway Driver: Northern Stage hosts the world premiere of this crime thriller based on a true story. Wednesday, February 3, to Sunday, February 21, at Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction. $10-81. northernstage.org

The Ivalas Quartet

Sunday, January 24, 3 p.m., Northeast Kingdom Classical Series at Grace United Methodist Church in St. Johnsbury. $6-20. catamountarts.org, nekclassicalseries.org

The Ivalas Quartet formed in 2017 with the aim to change the face of classical music and highlight the work of BIPOC composers past and present alongside the likes of, well, centuries-dead white guys.

The group’s CV would be the envy of many emerging string quartets: Following a residency under the tutelage of the Takács Quartet at the University of Colorado-Boulder, Ivalas was the graduate resident string quartet at the Juilliard School, studying with the Juilliard String Quartet. The group was the first Fellowship Ensemble of the Kaufman Music Center in New York City and a resident ensemble of the New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers program. It works closely with public schools around the country through educational organizations such as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and New Latin Wave, also in NYC.

For its Northeast Kingdom Classical Series appearance, the Ivalas Quartet presents works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven — you’ve heard of them, right? — as well as a string quartet by Venezuela’s Teresa Carreño (1853-1917), aka the “Valkyrie of the Piano,” who is regarded as one of the first South American composers of Hispanic descent.

— D.B.

Also try…

• Trio Bohémo: This young Prague trio is quickly becoming an international chamber music sensation. Friday, October 16, 7:30 p.m., Lane Series at the University of Vermont Recital Hall in Burlington. $5-40. uvm.edu/laneseries
• Kronos Quartet: Three Bones: Hearing the US: In a special commission, the famed quartet honors America’s 250th with a provocative multimedia performance of music, storytelling, video and visual art. Friday, October 23, 7 p.m., at Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $40-70. hop.dartmouth.edu
• Katarina Quartet: The New York City string quartet presents “The Rest Will Change,” an exploration of European, Asian and Québécois classical music. Friday, November 6, 7:30 p.m., at Mahaney Arts Center, Middlebury College. Free. middlebury.edu
• Imani Winds: Through innovation and peerless skill, this Grammy-winning quintet redefines the boundaries of wind ensembles. With Stewart Goodyear, Wednesday, November 18, 7:30 p.m., at Mahaney Arts Center, Middlebury College. $5-30. middlebury.edu/events. Wednesday, April 7, 5 & 7:30 p.m. ($18-40); with BodyVox, Thursday, April 8, and Friday, April 9, 7:30 p.m. ($35-60); and KidsHop Family Show (free), Saturday, April 11, 11 a.m., at Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. hop.dartmouth.edu

Billy Childs’ Jazz Chamber Ensemble With Isidore String Quartet

Wednesday, February 3, 7:30 p.m., at Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $45-75. hop.dartmouth.edu

Pianist Billy Childs is one of America’s most decorated composers. Moving between Western neoclassical traditions and modern jazz, he has developed a style he’s dubbed “jazz/chamber.” Along the way, Childs has amassed 17 Grammy Award nominations and six wins, including Best Jazz Instrumental Album in 2024 for his record The Winds of Change. He’s collaborated with everyone from cellist supreme Yo-Yo Ma to jazz master Chick Corea to rock stars such as Sting.

Now 70, Childs was a prodigy who started his career as a teenager in the 1970s Los Angeles jazz scene. He joined legendary trumpet player Freddie Hubbard’s band when he just 21, began releasing records on the hallowed Windham Hill Jazz label in the ’80s and never looked back. On the aptly named Triumvirate, his first trio album in 25 years, Childs revisits material from early in his career alongside imaginative covers of Miles Davis, Benny Golson and Thelonious Monk.

Past and present prodigies join forces when Childs’ Jazz Chamber Ensemble and New York City’s Isidore String Quartet perform at the Hopkins Center for
the Arts. The members of the latter group met as students at the Juilliard School in 2019 and won the Banff International String Quartet Competition just three years later.

— C.F.

Also try…

• House of Jazz Festival: John Pizzarelli’s tribute to the late Tony Bennett is a highlight of this inaugural three-day fest. Friday, October 9, to Sunday, October 11, at Town Hall Theater in Middlebury. $10-250. townhalltheater.org
• Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band: Hailed as a “songbird of a jazz vocalist” by the New York Times, Keefe celebrates the legacy of Indigenous musicians in jazz. Wednesday, October 14, 7:30 p.m., at Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $30-45. hop.dartmouth.edu
• John Scofield’s ELECTROSPECTIVE: The three-time Grammy Award-winning jazz guitarist and composer revisits his popular fusion groove projects with an all-star band. Saturday, November 14, 7:30 p.m., at Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H. $69.50-79.50. lebanonoperahouse.org. Wednesday, November 18, 7:30 p.m., at the Flynn in Burlington. $32-69.75. flynnvt.org
• House of Waters: Max ZT— aka the “Jimi Hendrix of the hammered dulcimer,” according to NPR — leads this innovative, Grammy-nominated jazz trio. Wednesday, April 7, 7:30 p.m., at Mahaney Arts Center, Middlebury College. $5-30. middlebury.edu/events

The original print version of this article was headlined “High Notes | From iconic dancers and musicians to literal high-wire acts, Vermont’s 2026-27 performing arts season is in full swing”

This article appears in Performing Arts Preview • 2026.

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