Vermont’s Performing Arts Scene Readies for a New Season

From the days of Bill Shakespeare putting on Macbeth at the Globe to Anaïs Mitchell transporting Hadestown from Barre to Broadway, the performing arts have never been a smooth ride. Even at the best of times, artists and presenters know they face long odds of drawing an audience, let alone (gasp) of turning a profit.

Still, you could forgive Vermont’s performing arts community for sighing a collective “What now?” in recent years. One existential crisis after another has threatened their efforts, each looming like the vaudeville hook of Damocles.

Whether facing a global pandemic, biblical floods, federal funding cuts or the turmoil of downtown Burlington, the state’s arts presenters have been tested lately. And they’ve proved their resolve and resilience by doing something remarkably simple: their jobs.

“The arts have a critical role to play,” said Jay Wahl, executive director of the Flynn in Burlington. “Our job is to continually teach empathy for each other and to remind people about that and our collective humanity.”

That’s more than a snappy soundbite. It’s a mission statement shared by artists and organizers throughout the state who believe that the arts have a responsibility not only to entertain but to enlighten, educate and unify — perhaps now more than ever. It’s a hard job that seems unlikely to get any easier in the months ahead.

In Burlington, the usual challenges are compounded by a two-headed hydra wreaking havoc on the streets. A necessary but seemingly never-ending construction project to replace an ancient water main has turned Main Street into an unnavigable maze of chain-link fences, concrete barriers and orange traffic cones. Even getting to the Flynn feels like it requires a map, steel-toed boots and a hard hat.

Meanwhile, perceived safety concerns stemming from the city’s struggles with homelessness, drug use and crime have made audiences hesitant to go downtown, especially at night.

“I can’t sugarcoat it,” Wahl said. “It’s really challenging and affects us in all sorts of ways.”

A block down Main Street at Vermont Comedy Club, co-owner Nathan Hartswick echoed Wahl’s sentiments and noted a change in audience behavior over the past year or so. Early and late shows at the club used to draw roughly similar crowds. Now, early shows significantly outperform late ones. Hartswick attributes the shift to a decline in walk-up traffic because fewer people are coming downtown.

“I don’t get the sense people are out and about, wandering around after dark in Burlington anymore,” he said. “You don’t get that nightlife feeling that you used to.”

Eventually, of course, the construction will end. And when it does, the Flynn, Vermont Comedy Club and other local arts institutions will hopefully still be standing and offering world-class entertainment.

Vermont Comedy Club celebrates its 10th anniversary this fall — one of several area performing arts organizations observing significant milestones or receiving upgrades this year.

Just up the hill at the University of Vermont, the Lane Series marks its 70th season. In those seven decades, it’s gone from hosting the likes of Simon & Garfunkel for 3,000 people at Memorial Auditorium to carving out a niche as one of the region’s premier presenters of chamber music at the intimate UVM Recital Hall. The diversity of offerings — classical, jazz and folk from all over the world — is central to the series’ artistic and social missions, according to director Natalie Neuert.

“This year … with what’s happening on a national level, I felt really, really strongly about showing that all artists and all audiences of all identities are welcome on our stage and in our hall,” she said.

Over the border in New Hampshire, the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College in Hanover unveils extensive renovations to its theater complex. Meanwhile, in Middlebury, Town Hall Theater is breaking in a new wing this season, hoping to cement its status as Addison County’s arts hub and community center.

A similar story is playing out farther south along Route 7 at Rutland’s Paramount Theatre. The 830-seat downtown theater is nearing completion of a $6 million expansion that includes a multiuse space and a 3,000-square-foot second-floor lobby.

The theater has been a cornerstone of downtown revitalization in Rutland. In executive director Eric Mallette’s view, it’s a testament to the role the performing arts can play in strengthening communities.

“What we do matters,” he said. “I love that I can sit in a room with 829 strangers and not give a damn about how they voted, if they’re vegan, whatever the reasons are that would generally put us in our own little silos.

“For 90 minutes,” he continued, “we’re all in the same silo, appreciating something in front of us. And I don’t know where else that’s replicated.”

Except, of course, in other venues throughout the region — where, in the coming months, presenters will entertain and challenge audiences with gut-busting comedy, moving music, thought-provoking dance and theater, and productions that defy categorization. Read on for a sampling of what local stages have in store for the 2025-26 season.

— D.B.

Margaret Cho: ‘Choligarchy’

Friday, October 10, 7:30 p.m., at Flynn Main Stage in Burlington. $32-53. flynnvt.org

“I strive to be a bitch,” Margaret Cho once said, “because … not being a bitch means not having your voice heard.” For more than three decades, Cho has been raising her voice, often on behalf of those who typically are silenced by the dominant (read: heterosexual white male) culture.

Throughout her groundbreaking career as a standup comedian, actor and social commentator, Cho has worn her traumas — rape, addiction, self-hatred — on the outside like the tattoos that grace her body. Growing up, the San Francisco-born Korean American was bullied, beaten, and ridiculed as ugly, lazy and queer. Even after she starred in the first-ever sitcom to highlight an Asian American family, ABC’s “All-American Girl,” she was regularly criticized as too heavy, too political, too Asian — or not Asian enough. Last year, Forbes asked her if the rumor of her suicide attempt in a hotel room was true.

“I tried to hang myself on the shower curtain rod,” she confirmed. “The rod was bending, and I’m thinking, Oh shit, I’m too fat to kill myself. I’ll get down and try again when I reach my goal weight.”

Cho, 56, seems in a much better place now. In October, the five-time Grammy and Emmy nominee, whom Rolling Stone named one of the top 50 standup comics of all time, returns to her political roots with her new show, “Choligarchy.” In it she takes aim at racism, menopause, Donald Trump and tiny genitalia. As she joked about Trump in 2017, “I don’t know how he’s president, because he can’t even blend his under-eye concealer with the rest of his makeup.”

Cho, snap!

— K.P.

Also try…

• Hari Kondabolu: The Brooklyn comic is a regular panelist on the NPR quiz show “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” Thursday, September 18, 7:30 p.m.; and Friday, September 19, and Saturday, September 20, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., at Vermont Comedy Club in Burlington. $25. vermontcomedyclub.com
• Adam Cayton-Holland: The comedian drew literary acclaim for his 2018 memoir, Tragedy Plus Time, which is being adapted into a movie. Thursday, October 16, 7 p.m.; and Friday, October 17, and Saturday, October 18, 7 & 9 p.m., at Vermont Comedy Club in Burlington. $25. vermontcomedyclub.com
• Josh Johnson: Wired called Johnson “the funniest guy on the internet,” and we can’t argue. Sunday, October 26, 4 & 7 p.m., at Flynn Main Stage in Burlington. $43.75-64.75. flynnvt.org
• Dulcé Sloan: You’ve seen this rising comic as a correspondent on “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah.” Friday, December 5, and Saturday, December 6, 7 & 9 p.m., at Vermont Comedy Club in Burlington. $25. vermontcomedyclub.com

The Other Mozart

Friday, September 26, 7:30 p.m., at Wright Memorial Theatre, Middlebury College. $5-30. middlebury.edu

Say the name Mozart and most people think of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But the 18th-century Austrian composer had a sister. “Virtuoso,” “prodigy” and “genius” were used to describe pianist and composer Maria Anna Mozart, who was five years older than her famous brother. The siblings toured Europe together as “wunderkinder,” and she got top billing — but that ended when she turned 18. Touring as a woman would have besmirched her reputation. Her compositions have been lost to history, and her gravestone reads “sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.”

Sylvia Milo refused to let Maria Anna remain a footnote in her brother’s story. Drawing on hundreds of family letters, she wrote and performs The Other Mozart, a one-woman play the Los Angeles Times called “hauntingly beautiful.” Its solo-performer format is “uniquely suited to depicting the solitary, alienated life of Maria Anna, nicknamed Nannerl,” the Times wrote.

Visually centered on an 18-foot dress that spills over the stage and metaphorically cages Nannerl, the play has toured in 30 U.S. states and around the world — including in Mozart homes in Vienna and Salzburg. Its off-Broadway run earned two New York Innovative Theatre awards, as well as Drama Desk and Off Broadway Alliance award nominations.

“Like Virginia Woolf’s imagined Shakespeare’s sister, Nannerl was not given the opportunity to thrive,” Milo wrote in the Guardian in 2015. “We will never know what could have been, and this is our loss.”

— M.A.L.

Also try…

• Trouble in Tahiti: Opera Company of Middlebury’s Bernstein Festival culminates in stagings of the Broadway composer’s rare one-act musical. Friday, October 3, 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, October 4, and Sunday, October 5, 2 p.m., at Town Hall Theater in Middlebury. $61-94. townhalltheater.org
• A Bayou Legend: Set in Mississippi, this story of love and revenge blends the physical and spiritual worlds. Friday, November 14, and Saturday, November 15, 7:30 p.m., Opera Vermont at Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. $25-55. chandler-arts.org
• Hadestown: Anaïs Mitchell’s Tony Award-winning musical about the Orpheus myth returns to Vermont. Saturday, December 13, 1 & 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, December 14, 1 p.m., at Flynn Main Stage in Burlington. $41-106. flynnvt.org

Red Hot Chilli Pipers

Saturday, September 20, 7 p.m., at Paramount Theatre in Rutland. $30-35. paramountvt.org

Red Hot Chili Peppers fans who aren’t necessarily eagle-eyed might expect gratuitous mentions of California, or perhaps dudes running around with socks on their private parts, at a Red Hot Chilli Pipers show. Rather than any of those hallmarks of the mega-popular funk-rock band, they will find a wall of sound featuring a fiery ensemble of Scottish pipers, backed by a powerful rock-and-roll rhythm section.

Part Scottish highland anthems and part foot-stomping hard rock, the Pipers describe themselves as “AC/DC meets the poet Robert Burns.” The group of internationally renowned pipers took the top prize on the UK talent show “When Will I Be Famous?” and became a phenomenon, performing traditional Scottish songs such as “The Hills of Argyll” alongside their versions of classics by the likes of Queen, Deep Purple, Coldplay and, of course, the Chili Peppers. The band has drawn rave reviews from no less a luminary than Sir Paul McCartney, as well as actor Ewan McGregor, who has sat in on drums with the group.

So pull on your kilt, work on your best brogue and channel Scotland over California for a night of hard-rockin’ pipes.

— C.F.

Also try…

• The Breakers — A Tribute to Tom Petty: The country’s premier Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers tribute band won’t back down. Saturday, October 18, 7:30 p.m., at Barre Opera House. $32-42. barreoperahouse.org
• Flamy Grant: More than a send-up of Christian-pop star Amy Grant, this drag show is as sincere as it is silly. Thursday, November 6, 7:30 p.m., at First Congregational Church of Lebanon in Lebanon, N.H. $23. lebanonoperahouse.org
• Story of a Song: A ’90s Unplugged Experience: Chris Barron (Spin Doctors), Brian Vander Ark (the Verve Pipe), Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge) and John Hampson (Nine Days) swap songs and stories. Friday, November 7, 7:30 p.m., at Paramount Theatre in Rutland. $48-68. paramountvt.org

time/life/beauty

Friday, March 6, and Saturday, March 7, 7:30 p.m., at Dance Theatre, Mahaney Arts Center, Middlebury College. $5-30. middlebury.edu

Do you enjoy A) postwar, avant-garde Japanese dance; B) hip-hop music; or C) multimedia theater performances? If you answered yes to any of the above, then the Vermont premiere of time/life/beauty should be at the tippy-top of your can’t-miss list for 2026.

Interdisciplinary artist Michael Sakamoto and electronic-experimental musician Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky) merge their talents to present a contemplative original work inspired by the legacy of late Japanese composer and activist Ryuichi Sakamoto (no relation to Michael). Through fusion of manifold art forms — including mesmerizing butoh dance — the pair tackles weighty, hot-button themes without flinching.

This timely project — distilled into three chapters titled “Gods and Monsters,” “asymm,” and “Beautiful Blue Sky” — channels the creators’ distinct approaches to intercultural dialogue and the performing arts. The resulting triptych holds up a mirror to society, imploring the audience to confront the acute social and environmental unrest of both today and the future.

Chapter 1 employs Miller’s music and Michael Sakamoto’s dance to explore cultural flash points — such as the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — and consider human beings’ relationships to each other and the planet. In Chapter 2, Sakamoto offers a more intimate, semiautobiographical meditation. Chapter 3 calls upon contemporary dancer Mohammed Smahneh (aka Barges) to present a cross-cultural conversation that merges movement, text and visuals.

No matter your origin, age or creed, time/life/beauty delivers the feels.

— R.D.

Also try…

• The Institute for Folding: Three dancers, 30 sheets of cardboard and so many existential questions lie at the heart of Michael Bodel’s interdisciplinary work, presented by Vermont Dance Alliance. Wednesday, September 17, 7:30 p.m., at Dance Theater, Mahaney Arts Center, Middlebury College. $5-20. middlebury.edu. Saturday, September 20, 7:30 p.m., at Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro. $20. highlandartsvt.org. Friday, September 26, 7 p.m., at Next Stage Arts in Putney. $20. nextstagearts.org. Friday, October 3, 7:30 p.m., at First Congregational Church of Burlington. $20. vermontdance.org. Wednesday, October 29, 7:30 p.m., at Briggs Opera House in White River Junction. $20. vermontdance.org
• Chrybaby Cozie & Harlem Lite Feet: Chrysolation: The pioneering street dancer and members of the Bomb Squad share the origins of a New York City hip-hop tradition. Wednesday, January 7, 7:30 p.m., at Daryl Roth Studio Theater, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $18-30. hop.dartmouth.edu
• Parsons Dance: Athleticism and jaw-dropping ensemble work are the calling cards of this internationally renowned troupe. Saturday, March 28, 7 p.m., KCP Presents at Lyndon Institute Auditorium in Lyndon Center. $18-54; free for students. catamountarts.org
• Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company: Still/Here: Thirty years after its premiere during the AIDS epidemic, the groundbreaking dance theater piece returns. Friday, April 10, and Saturday, April 11, 7:30 p.m., at
  the Moore Theater, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $40-65. hop.dartmouth.edu

Puuluup

Friday, October 3, 7 p.m., at Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. $10-40; free for kids 12 and under. chandler-arts.org

The Estonian Finnish duo Puuluup play what they describe as “zombie folk.” No, there’s no bloodthirsty dulcimer player, marauding in search of flesh, but Marko Veisson and Ramo Teder do specialize in reanimating once-dead sounds.

Their latest album, Viimane Suusataja, translated as “The Last Cross-Country Skier,” features the talharpa. The formerly extinct Swedish instrument is essentially a lyre in wooden-box form that’s both fingerpicked and bowed. Puuluup use looping pedals to layer their voices atop the talharpa, creating a style that is equal parts traditional, experimental and surprisingly funky, often with a humorous bent.

“The instrument is made of dead wood, we are inspired by a dead tradition, and we also are on our way to death,” Puuluup said in a press release. What else would you expect from a duo with songs such as “Paala Järve Vaala Baar,” about a whale pulling up to its favorite bar to get drunk?

Puuluup’s cross-generational appeal earned them a spot in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest finals, representing Estonia.

— C.F.

Also try…

• Sierra Hull & John Craigie: The Americana duo combines top-notch chops with idiosyncratic songwriting. Thursday, October 2, 7:30 p.m., at Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H. $42.50-52.50. lebanonoperahouse.org. Friday, October 3, 7 p.m., at Spruce Peak Arts in Stowe. $53.15-69.20. sprucepeakarts.org
• Sam Reider & the Human Hands: Songlines Magazine called this group “a mash-up of the Klezmatics, Quintette du Hot Club de France and the Punch Brothers.” Friday, October 10, 7:30 p.m., Lane Series at the University of Vermont Recital Hall in Burlington. $7.50-38.50. uvm.edu/laneseries
• Sunny Jain: Love Force: The Red Baraat founder calls for compassion in a new storytelling work fusing Punjabi rhythms and American jazz. Thursday, April 16, 7:30 p.m., at Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $30-45. hop.dartmouth.edu

‘A Taste of Ireland: The Irish Music & Dance Sensation’

Thursday, September 11, 7:30 p.m., at Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H. $45-65. lebanonoperahouse.org. Friday, September 12, 7:30 p.m., at Flynn Main Stage in Burlington. $42-73. flynnvt.org. Saturday, September 13, 7:30 p.m., at Dibden Center for the Arts, Vermont State University-Johnson. $42-62. catamountarts.org. Thursday, September 18, 7:30 p.m., at Paramount Theatre in Rutland. $42.80-74.90. paramountvt.org

Wait — can you hear that? Pack your metaphorical bags and buckle up for some major craic, because the pipes, the pipes are calling you to “A Taste of Ireland.”

Fresh from a successful off-Broadway run, former Irish dance world champions unite with performers from renowned companies Lord of the Dance and Riverdance for this must-see spectacle of light, movement and sound, transporting American eyes and ears to the Emerald Isle without the chaos and drama of an international flight.

Thousands of years of lore and landmark events in the Celtic motherland — from ancient mythology and Vikings to famine and the Easter Rising — come to life through showstopping storytelling and costumes, relaying the island’s rich history with gusto. Electric moments of seamlessly executed song and dance, including revamped ballads such as “Danny Boy” and “The Wild Rover,” capture the traditions and heritage of the hope-filled country, reminding viewers of the importance of passing down nonverbal art forms through the generations.

Katie Hagan of Dance Art Journal said it best: “As Irish dance is rooted in community and resilience, performing these stories, especially ones about famine and uprising and courage, feels more relevant than ever.”

You don’t have to be named Danny to agree with that sentiment.

— R.D.

Also try…

• Grand Kyiv Ballet Presents The Sleeping Beauty: The Ukrainian company stages a three-act ballet based on Charles Perrault’s fairy tale of the same name. Thursday, October 16, 7 p.m., at Flynn Main Stage in Burlington. $48.75-69.75. flynnvt.org
• Grand Kyiv Ballet Presents Swan Lake: This one is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s classic tale of a prince who falls in love with a beautiful swan princess under a spell. Saturday, October 18, 7 p.m., at Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. $39-69. chandler-arts.org. Sunday, October 19, 4 p.m., at Spruce Peak Arts in Stowe. $39.24-76.69. sprucepeakarts.org
• American Ballet Theatre Studio Company: Thrill to the next generation of professional ballet dancers. Monday, November 3, 7 p.m., KCP Presents at Lyndon Institute Auditorium in Lyndon Center. $18-54; free for students. catamountarts.org
• Boston Dance Theater: Red Is a Feeling: The color red inspires a series of short, interwoven works by internationally acclaimed dancers. Saturday, March 14, 7 p.m., at Spruce Peak Arts in Stowe. $29.08-63.85. sprucepeakarts.org

Jeff Tweedy

Monday, October 13, 7:30 p.m., at Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington. $39.50-44.50; sold out. highergroundmusic.com. Tuesday, October 14, 7:30 p.m., at Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H. $68-88. lebanonoperahouse.org

Jeff Tweedy has a lot to say. How else to explain the Wilco leader’s prolific output in his nearly 40-year music career? The Chicago songwriter has released dozens of records, from his early days with alt-country pioneers Uncle Tupelo and supergroup Golden Smog in the late ’80s; to his later collaborations with the likes of Mavis Staples, the Handsome Family and Rosanne Cash; to his voluminous Wilco canon — some 13 studio albums, five EPs, three live albums and scads of singles. And then there are his three New York Times best-selling books.

On September 26, Tweedy releases his fifth solo album. But Twilight Override isn’t just any solo record — it’s three of ’em. The triple LP was actually pared down from five, its 30 songs largely centered on acoustic guitar and Tweedy’s signature rasp, accented by droning violin, organ and pedal steel. His sons Sammy (vocals) and Spencer Tweedy (drums), along with guitarist James Elkington, bassist Liam Kazar, and singers Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart back him on the record and in his touring band — Cunningham and Stewart will also open shows on the Twilight Override tour.

A meditation on the past, the present and the future, on aging and ennui, the album strikes a notably compassionate tone. As Tweedy told Mojo magazine, “It’s a big open-hearted outpouring, the defining statement of my solo career so far.”

Until the next one, anyway.

— D.B.

Also try…

• Violent Femmes: The legendary acoustic punk band goes on like a blister in the sun. Saturday, October 11, 8 p.m., at Flynn Main Stage in Burlington. Sold out. flynnvt.org
• The Barr Brothers: The Montréal indie rockers create endlessly creative music that ignores genre boundaries. Tuesday, November 4, 8 p.m., at Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington. $25. highergroundmusic.com
• The Wood Brothers: The “masters of soulful folk” (Paste magazine), tour in support of their new album, Puff of Smoke. Saturday, December 13, 7:30 p.m., at Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H. $43.50-62.50. lebanonoperahouse.org
• Neko Case: Fun fact: The Vermont indie rocker and cofounder of the New Pornographers is working on a Broadway adaptation of Thelma & Louise. Sunday, January 11, 7:30 p.m., at Flynn Main Stage in Burlington. $50-71. flynnvt.org

The Second City: ‘Laughing for All the Wrong Reasons’

Saturday, October 4, 7 p.m., Catamount Arts and KCP Presents at Fuller Hall,
St. Johnsbury Academy. $11.40-43.20; free for students. catamountarts.org

Chicago has long been known as “the Second City,” in part because of its rivalry, in population size and cultural influence, with New York City. But since its inception in 1959, the Second City theater and touring company has been anything but second-rate. For decades the famed improv and sketch-comedy troupe has launched the careers of dozens of comedians and actors, many of whom went on to star on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Among them: Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Catherine O’Hara, John Belushi, Amy Sedaris, Mike Myers, Tina Fey and Steve Carell.

Prior to joining the Second City cast, Stephen Colbert worked in its box office, where he reportedly set a record for selling the most merchandise. And long before “SNL,” or America, knew the name Chris Farley, he was honing his now-famous motivational speaker character, Matt “Down by the River” Foley, on the Second City stage.

“You never know where [the cast] is going, and you never know where the night’s gonna go, because the audience is part of the show,” Second City and “SNL” alum Rachel Dratch told NBC’s “Today” show in 2024.

For the uninitiated, the Second City blends scripted sketches, live music and audience-suggested improv to deliver hilarious, razor-sharp political and social commentary. Check out the latest crop of up-and-comers from the touring company that Time magazine once called “a temple of satire.”

— K.P.

Also try…

• Big Pond Improv Festival: Improv teams from around the world converge on the Queen City for four days of “yes, and…” shenanigans. Thursday, September 11, through Sunday, September 14, at Vermont Comedy Club in Burlington. Free-$60. vermontcomedyclub.com
• “Parent on Board”: Parenting is the focus of this sketch-comedy revue written and performed by local comedians and directed by Second City alum Andrew Ritter. Thursday, September 18, and Friday, September 19, 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, September 20, 4 & 8 p.m., at Town Hall Theater in Middlebury. $17-55. townhalltheater.org
• “Whose Live Anyway?”: The current cast members of the Emmy-nominated TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” deliver 90 minutes of off-the-cuff improv comedy. Wednesday, October 1, 7:30 p.m., at Paramount Theatre in Rutland. $55-77.50. paramountvt.org

Alex Cuba

Friday, October 3, 7:30 p.m., Lane Series at the University of Vermont Recital Hall in Burlington. $7.50-35.50. uvm.edu/laneseries

Music reviewers invariably lavish praise on Alex Cuba for his sun-baked guitar riffs, velvety-smooth vocals and grooving Latin rhythms, all of which evoke mojitos sipped at sunset on a white sand beach. The 51-year-old Cuban-born singer-songwriter lives in Canada and has garnered a mantelpiece full of accolades, including two JUNO Awards for world music album of the year, four Latin Grammys and a 2022 Grammy for best Latin pop album, Mendó.

But Cuba’s most ringing endorsements may come from his own fans. Peruse the (mostly Spanish-language) comments on his YouTube videos, some of which have been viewed more than 1 million times, and you’ll discover the potency of his music.

“This song in the background, a dinner with wine, 16 years of not seeing each other, and now we’re together. Thank you!” writes one listener of Cuba’s 2019 release “Solo Mía.” “The love of my life dedicated this song to me,” writes another Cuba fan. “I spent 20 years with him … but God called him two months ago. Now I listen to it and I can’t stop crying.”

Writes another about “Dividido,” Cuba’s 2019 collaboration with Mexican singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada: “It’s the color of voice I’ve been looking for all my life.”

Cuba, who usually plays larger venues such as Radio City Music Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, will perform in the 300-seat University of Vermont Recital Hall— a rare, intimate setting for a world-class artist whose music is both uplifting and soulful.

— K.P.

Also try…

• Spruce Peak Unplugged: Teddy Thompson: The son of British folk icons Linda and Richard Thompson trades in a blend of country and rock tinted with shades of ’60s doo-wop and ’80s synth-pop. Saturday, October 11, 7 p.m., at Spruce Peak Arts in Stowe. $38.71-53.15. sprucepeakarts.org
• The Tallest Man on Earth: The Swedish singer-songwriter is actually only five foot seven, but his acoustic sound is big and beautiful. Saturday, October 11, 7:30 p.m., at First Unitarian Universalist Society in Burlington. $44.40. highergroundmusic.com
• Jerron Paxton & Dennis Lichtman: This acclaimed duo interprets a spectrum of early American jazz, folk and acoustic blues through a modern lens, making it sound as fresh as the day it was written. Saturday, November 1, 7:30 p.m., Lane Series at the University of Vermont Recital Hall in Burlington. $7.50-33.50. uvm.edu/laneseries
• Kishi Bashi: The violin virtuoso has played with indie rockers of montreal, Sondre Lerche and Regina Spektor, along with his own electro-rock outfit, Jupiter One. Saturday, February 7, 7:30 p.m., at Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $25-45. hop.dartmouth.edu

Patty Griffin & Rickie Lee Jones

Monday, October 20, 7:30 p.m., at Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H. $62.50-82.50. lebanonoperahouse.org. Tuesday, October 21, 7:30 p.m., at the Flynn Main Stage in Burlington. $42.50-74. flynnvt.org

The co-headlining tour of acclaimed singer-songwriters Patty Griffin and Rickie Lee Jones could easily be called the “Too Many Grammys Tour.” Both have decades-long careers that have placed them among the most influential American women in the music industry.

Jones broke out with her 1979 self-titled debut, which went platinum on the back of hit singles such as “Chuck E.’s in Love” and her career-making performance as a then-unknown on “Saturday Night Live.” Since Griffin hit the scene in 1996 with her debut album, Living With Ghosts, her songs have been performed by everyone from Bette Midler to Kelly Clarkson.

Both women are known not just for incredible voices but also for their storytelling gifts. “There has always been something defiant about Rickie Lee Jones,” an Independent critic wrote in 2011, calling her singing “a voice from a dream, elusive yet familiar, transcendent, a messenger from another place.”

Griffin creates “complete emotional portraits of specific people,” the New York Times wrote. “[Her] songs have independent lives that continue in your head when the music ends.”

Neither singer is resting on her laurels: Griffin released the critically acclaimed album Crown of Roses in July, and Jones’ most recent album, Pieces of Treasure, was nominated for the 2024 Grammy Award for best traditional pop vocal album.

— C.F.

Also try…

• Amy Grant: The six-time Grammy Award winner and philanthropist performs hits such as “Baby, Baby” and “Lucky One.” Tuesday, October 7, 7:30 p.m., at Flynn Main Stage in Burlington. $76.25-86.75. flynnvt.org
• The Bluegrass Gospel Project Reunion Concert: The locally legendary outfit returns after an eight-year hiatus with original vocalist Patti Casey. Saturday, October 25, 7:30 p.m., at Barre Opera House. $40. barreoperahouse.org
• Leroy Preston: After starting his career in Vermont, the guitarist cofounded the Grammy-winning Western swing group Asleep at the Wheel and wrote hits for the likes of Rosanne Cash and k.d. lang. Saturday, November 8, 7 p.m., at Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. $10-40. chandler-arts.org
• Rosanne Cash: The “Seven Year Ache” singer and four-time Grammy winner is country music royalty. Friday, March 20, 7 p.m., KCP Presents at Fuller Hall, St. Johnsbury Academy. $32-72; free
  for students. catamountarts.org. Saturday, March 21, 7 p.m., at Spruce Peak Arts in Stowe. $72.41-138.75. sprucepeakarts.org

Reconstructing

Thursday, April 2, and Friday, April 3, 7:30 p.m., at the Moore Theater, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $40-65.
hop.dartmouth.edu

“If you put a bunch of people who are passionate and smart and rigorous and come from different backgrounds in a room, something’s gonna happen.” That’s what Matt Ross said about the TEAM, the Brooklyn ensemble that collectively creates new works about the experience of living in America today. Ross chairs the board of the company that was founded in 2004 by six New York University alumni.

The TEAM believes that “how we make is as important as what we make.” A multiracial group of 21 artists ages 29 to 99 wrote its latest work, co-commissioned by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College and partially developed during the TEAM’s 2020 residency there. Reconstructing “weaves dramatic text, music, movement, historical artifacts, and transcripts from our creative process to tell a story of a multi-racial group of artists trying to move through American history together in the aftermath of slavery,” TEAM producing director — and Dartmouth grad — Emma Orme said in an email.

Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown, 2019) and Obie Award winner Zhailon Levingston (Cats: The Jellicle Ball, 2025) direct and perform in the cast of the meta theatrical work that Vulture called a “complex and combustible project.”

— M.A.L.

Also try…

• The World Is Not Silent: A funny and touching drama explores the connection between Don, a first-generation Vietnamese American astrophotographer, and his father, Dau. Wednesday, February 4, to Sunday, February 22, Northern Stage at Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction. $10-80. northernstage.org
• Uncle Vanya: David Mamet’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s tragicomic tale features unrequited love, lots of vodka and musings about the meaning of life. Saturday, February 28, to Friday, March 6, Vermont Repertory Theater at the Black Box Theater, Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, in Burlington. $20-40. vermontrep.com
• Rhinoceros: Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist classic — about a town whose residents turn into rhinos — is a hilarious and piercing satire. Thursday, April 30, to Sunday, May 17, Vermont Stage at Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center in Burlington. $34-54. vermontstage.org

Magic Rocks! With Illusionist Leon Etienne

Friday, October 3, 6:30 p.m., at Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H., $25-58. lebanonoperahouse.org. Saturday, November 15, 7 p.m., at Barre Opera House. $22-45. barreoperahouse.org

You’ve seen him on “America’s Got Talent,” “Penn & Teller: Fool Us!” and “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” — or have you? Leon Etienne is among the world’s foremost illusionists, but it’s not just his jaw-dropping feats of magic that have thrilled audiences worldwide. It’s the creativity, attitude and pervasive air of impending doom with which he approaches his illusions that set him apart.

When he was 13 years old, Etienne was struck by lightning. No, the near-death experience didn’t give him magical powers — or his awesome spiky hair. But it did instill a sense of living life to the fullest and taking risks. That’s evident in his chosen craft, which he calls “danger magic.”

As the title of Etienne’s touring show suggests, “Magic Rocks!” is a magic act with a rock-and-roll heart. Take, for example, his riff on escaping a straitjacket. Etienne does the trick while suspended upside down in midair from a set of giant steel jaws that will snap closed on him like a mechanical shark if he doesn’t free himself in time.

Now that’s metal.

— D.B.

Also try…

• CatVideoFest: It’s 70-plus minutes of cat videos. What more do you need? Sunday, September 28, 4 p.m., at Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H. $13-15. lebanonoperahouse.org
• Champions of Magic: Holiday Spectacular: Embrace the magic of the season through illusions, tricks and comedy with a holiday twist. Sunday, November 29, 7 p.m., at Paramount Theatre in Rutland. $45-65. paramountvt.org
• Wonders: Scottish illusionist Scott Silven casts a spellbinding fusion of magic and theater. Thursday, January 15, through Saturday, January 17, 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, January 17, and Sunday, January 18, 2 p.m., at Daryl Roth Studio Theater, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $35. hop.dartmouth.edu
• Puppy Pals Live: As seen on “America’s Got Talent,” rescue dogs perform paw-dropping stunts. Saturday, February 14, 2 p.m., at Paramount Theatre in Rutland. $26.50. paramountvt.org

Christian McBride & Brad Mehldau

Saturday, October 4, 7:30 p.m., at Flynn Main Stage in Burlington. $48.75-69.75. flynnvt.org

Individually, Christian McBride and Brad Mehldau are two of the most respected and accomplished jazz musicians on the planet. But together, they are otherworldly.

McBride is a bassist and composer with nine Grammy Awards, among roughly a gazillion other accolades. It’d be easier to list the jazz giants he hasn’t collaborated with than all of those he has, but a short list would include McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall, Roy Haynes, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis and Joshua Redman. That’s in addition to forays into pop and hip-hop with the likes of the Roots, Queen Latifah, Sting, Paul McCartney and James Brown.

For all those marquee names, McBride’s favorite collaborator is likely the pianist Mehldau, his friend of 35 years who is almost as decorated as he is. The two have made several acclaimed albums together including MoodSwing in 1994, RoundAgain in 2020 and LongGone in 2022, with Joshua Redman and Brian Blade. “Brad is justifiably revered as one of the greatest pianists of all time,” McBride told Glide Magazine, “and it continues to be an uplifting experience every time we play together.”

— D.B.

Also try…

• The Branford Marsalis Quartet: You can’t go wrong with America’s first family of jazz. Wednesday, November 12, 7:30 p.m., at Barre Opera House. $32-68. barreoperahouse.org
• Ute Lemper Sings Kurt Weill: The world’s greatest living interpreter of Weimar cabaret pays tribute to the iconic “Mack the Knife” composer. Friday, December 5, 7:30 p.m., Lane Series at the University of Vermont Recital Hall in Burlington. $43.50; $7.50 for students.
  uvm.edu/laneseries
• Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents: Great American Crooners: Vocalists Robbie Lee, Shenel Johns and Benny Benack III do Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and more, backed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center band. Thursday, April 9, 7 p.m., KCP Presents at Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro. $45. catamountarts.org
• Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap: Two giants of jazz come together for an intimate evening of unforgettable music. Saturday, April 25, 7:30 p.m., at Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H.
  $35-65. hop.dartmouth.edu

Ruckus

Tuesday, February 24, 7 p.m., KCP Presents at Fuller Hall, St. Johnsbury Academy. $18-54; free for students. catamountarts.org

Imagine, if you will, a performance of early music played on period instruments. Now, add a healthy helping of rock. That’s Ruckus.

Billed by San Francisco Classical Voice as “the world’s only period-instrument rock band,” the collaborative New York ensemble revamps early music with a lively injection of modern American roots. The end result is a fresh twist on Renaissance and baroque works that pulls listeners in and doesn’t let go.

Audiences can expect an energized, punched-up version of 18th-century British abolitionist Ignatius Sancho’s “Strawberries and Cream,” among many other spritely compositions and two trio sonatas by crowd-favorite George Frideric Handel. The group’s signature groove — what the New Yorker describes as “rough-edged intensity” — lends these works of yore new meaning but without sacrificing the composers’ spirit and intent.

And how ’bout them instruments? Most ensembles tackling a similar repertoire employ music makers of a certain vintage (read: very old), such as the harpsichord and the viola da gamba. Ruckus use those, too, but with the addition of more modern inventions such as the synthesizer.

For virtual music journal the Boston Musical Intelligencer, Ruckus take continuo playing to “not simply a new level, but a revelatory new dimension of dynamism altogether … an eruption of pure, pulsing hoedown joy.”

Listen for yourself and discover a whole new sonic world.

— R.D.

• Dreamers’ Circus: The Danish trio plays Nordic folk with an improvisational jazz streak and pop sensibility. Friday, October 24, 7:30 p.m., Lane Series at the University of Vermont Recital Hall in Burlington. Sold out. uvm.edu/laneseries.
  Saturday, October 25, 7:30 p.m., at Robison Concert Hall, Mahaney Arts Center, Middlebury College. $5-30. middlebury.edu
• Horszowski Trio: The dynamic trio performs music by Leonard Bernstein and Bedřich Smetana. Saturday, January 10, 5 & 7:30 p.m., at Morris Recital Hall, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $21-35. hop.dartmouth.edu
• Väsen and the Fretless: This unique double bill features a world-renowned Swedish duo and an award-winning Canadian string quartet. Saturday, February 14, 7:30 p.m., at Barre Opera House. $27-39. barreoperahouse.org
• yMusic: This Gen Y ensemble has collaborated with John Legend and Paul Simon, blending chamber music and pop. Tuesday, February 17, 5 & 7:30 p.m., at Morris Recital Hall, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. $21-45. hop.dartmouth.edu

The original print version of this article was headlined “Starring Role | Despite roadblocks both metaphorical and literal, Vermont’s performing arts scene readies for the 2025-26 season”

This article appears in Sept 10-16, 2025.