THIS CAUGHT MY EYE …
First of all, I love the name of this singing group: The Joyful Chorus. I also love the concept behind it: the chorus comes to us from Whole Children, a Hadley afterschool program for children of all abilities.
The group received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to mount a concert Sunday that will feature the music of famed American folk singer/songwriter Woodie Guthrie. What’s more, the singers will be onstage with Guthrie’s granddaughter, Sarah Lee Guthrie (daughter of the also-iconic Arlo), as well as her husband, Johnny Irion.
“The concert serves to unify people with and without disabilities through the power of song and, in the spirit of Woodie Guthrie, to give voice to those who are not always heard,” organizers say. Hear, hear!
3 p.m., First Churches, Northampton. Tickets: $15 ($50 for a 4-pack) at www.wholechildren.org. Proceeds go to Whole Children.
AND THIS …
Come on! An event in November that invites you to bring a picnic? Yes, indeed, you can get your cozy on with “Tellebration,” a storytelling event, Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at Mill 180 Park, at 180 Pleasant St. in Easthampton. The space is an indoor hydroponic park.
Amherst storyteller Motoko will perform (she was a featured guest at this year’s National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee) as will Eshu Bumpus, Bob Reiser, Tim Van Egmond, Gail Herman and others. An open-mic storytelling session will follow. The event is free and picnicking is welcome.
AND THIS …
As part of its Fall Faculty Dance Concert, the Smith College Department of Dance will present a resetting of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company’s “Story/Time,” an intriguing collage of dance, music and story that is arranged anew, by chance, at each performance. It is inspired by John Cage’s “Indeterminancy,” a performance of 90 one-minute stories interrupted by a chance musical score. Remaining performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. in Theatre 14 on the college campus. Tickets at www.smith.edu/smitharts or 585-2787.