July arts events keep the summer celebration going in Vermont
July just shouts summer fun. Not only does the month contain the easiest-to-remember celebration on the calendar (no one ever asks, “What day is July Fourth this year?”), it’s when citizens of often-chilly Vermont assiduously avoid sitting inside and make sure to get out to enjoy all the sunshine and warmth.
It’s also a great time to get out and enjoy the plentiful arts and entertainment Vermont has to offer. Sometimes that can happen while enjoying sunshine and warmth, especially at the many outdoor concerts on the schedule for July.
Here’s a summation of some of those events that could have you basking in the glow of a great performance or exhibition this month.
St. Michael’s Playhouse returns
Through July 9, the first production by St. Michael’s Playhouse since 2019, the comedic “Into the Breeches,” continues its run, McCarthy Arts Center, St. Michael’s College, Colchester. $36.50-$45.50. www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org
Stephen Sondheim revue
Through July 10, the musical revue “Side by Side by Sondheim” celebrates the work of the theater legend who died in November, as presented by Northern Stage, Courtyard Theater, White River Junction. $19-$45. www.northernstage.org
Plastic-themed art exhibit
Through July 24, the exhibition “Bubbles and the Big Head – a meditation on plastic” continues at the Susan Calza Gallery, Montpelier. Free. www.susancalza.com
Guantanamo Bay art
Through Aug. 21, an exhibition that opened June 22, “Art from Guantanamo Bay,” remains on display, Spotlight Gallery, Vermont Arts Council, Montpelier. Free. www.vermontartscouncil.org
Retrospective exhibit in Burlington
Through Aug. 22, another exhibition that opened June 22, the memorial retrospective “John Douglas: A Life Well Lived,” presented by the Northern New England Museum of Art, continues at the Gallery at Karma Bird House, Burlington. Free. www.nnemoca.org
Leon Golub, Lois Dodd displays
Through Nov. 27, two exhibitions — one featuring the figurative paintings of Leon Golub and another titled “Lois Dodd: Natural Order” — remain on display, Hall Art Foundation, Reading. $10-$15. www.hallartfoundation.org
Carillon concerts come calling
6 p.m. Friday, July 1, Middlebury College launches its 37th-anniversary carillon series (featuring the musical instrument that produces sound from cup-shaped bells), which runs through Aug. 19, with a performance by George Matthew Jr., carillonneur for the college and for Norwich University, Middlebury Chapel. Free. www.go.middlebury.edu/carillon
Brahms and more at festival
7:30 p.m. Friday, July 1, the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival continues its lineup of Tuesday and Friday concerts (which run through July 22) with performances of works by Brahms and Kodaly, Elley-Long Music Center, Colchester. $35. www.gmcmf.org
Comedy Central comic hits Burlington
7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday, July 1-Saturday, July 2, Comedy Central veteran Nore Davis performs, Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington. $20. www.vermontcomedyclub.com
Vermont Symphony Orchestra visits Shelburne
7:30 p.m. Monday, July 4, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra’s summer tour pays an outdoor Independence Day visit to the Shelburne Museum. Sold out based on the rain-site capacity; in the event of sunny skies, tickets will be available at the gate. $35 for adults, $5 for ages 6-17, free for ages 5 and under. www.vso.org
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Circus Smirkus takes big top on the road
1 and 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, the youth group Circus Smirkus presents the first two of eight performances (through Sunday, July 10), Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction. $20-$24; free for children under 2. www.smirkus.org
Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate swings in
1 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, the Vermont musician Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate is touring more than 20 libraries around the state this summer, including this stop at the St. Albans Free Library. Free. www.rockinronthefriendlypirated.com
‘Marry Me a Little’ in Weston
7 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, the Weston Theater Company begins its run (through Saturday, July 30) of Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Marry Me a Little,” Walker Farm, Weston. $50-$74. www.westontheater.org
Andrea McArdle of ‘Annie” appears
8 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, the original “Annie” on Broadway, Andrea McArdle, performs as part of the “Broadway in Vermont” concert series hosted by Tony Award-winner and Vermont resident Christian Hoff, Arkell Pavilion, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester. www.svac.org
Art exhibit at Vermont Supreme Court
4-7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 7, an opening reception takes place for Alisa Dworsky’s exhibit of large-format drawings, “The Folded Line,” Vermont Supreme Court gallery, Montpelier. Free. https://curator.vermont.gov/
Burlington City Arts lunchtime concerts
12:30 p.m. Friday, July 8, the Nashville husband-and-wife duo Twangtown Paramours — consisting of MaryBeth Zamer and Mike Lewis, who’s a former resident of Waitsfield — performs as part of the lunchtime summer-concert series presented by Burlington City Arts, City Hall Park. Free. www.burlingtoncityarts.org
Singer-songwriter premieres music video
6 p.m. Friday, July 8, Vermont singer-songwriter Marcie Hernandez premieres her new video trilogy, “Tres Pedazos,” and presents a full band concert, Shelburne Vineyard. $10. www.shelburnevineyard.com
Canty, Pikelny and the VSO
7:30 p.m. Friday, July 8, banjo player Noam Pikelny of the Punch Brothers joins Vermont-raised singer-songwriter Caitlin Canty and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra String Quartet in a concert presented by the Paramount Theatre, Pittsford Village Farm. $35; free for ages 12 and under. www.paramountvt.org
Jeezum Crow Festival at Jay Peak
7:30 p.m. Friday, July 8, the seventh Jeezum Crow Festival starts with music from Railroad Earth and Jacob Green and continues at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 9, with Dark Star Orchestra, G Love & Special Sauce, Fruition, Kitchen Dwellers and Beg, Steal, or Borrow, Jay Peak Stateside Amphitheater. $15-$55; free for ages 6 and under. www.jaypeakresort.com
Bay Ledges plays Higher Ground
8:30 p.m. Friday, July 8, the Maine indie-pop artist Zach Hurd brings his musical project Bay Ledges, with openers Bobbie Coe & the Hive and Monk Gyatso, to the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington. $15. www.highergroundmusic.com
ArtsRiot offers ‘Deck Series’
Noon Saturday, July 9, Erin White of Burlington rockers Father Figuer presents her solo venture, Wintre, as part of the “Deck Series” at ArtsRiot, Burlington. Free. www.artsriot.com
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Tedeschi Trucks Band headlines a show
6 p.m. Saturday, July 9, the roots-rocking Tedeschi Trucks Band joins Los Lobos and Gabe Dixon in a show presented by Higher Ground on the midway lawn at the Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction. $54-$58. www.highergroundmusic.com
‘America’s Got Talent’ comic in Vermont
7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 9, “America’s Got Talent” comic Al Ducharme and Comedy Central performer Bernadette Pauley present a comedy night, Barnard Town Hall. $22. www.eventbrite.com/e/comedy-night-bernadette-pauley-and-al-ducharme-tickets-359021792847?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
Village Harmony sings in Champlain islands
2 p.m. Sunday, July 10, the Village Harmony Teen World Music Ensemble — including singers from nine states and Canada plus their three adult leaders — performs before a potluck picnic supper takes place, South Hero Congregational Church. Admission by donation. www.villageharmony.org
Farm to Ballet dances in Shelburne
6 p.m. Sunday, July 10, the Farm to Ballet Project brings the arts and agriculture together in a performance at the breeding barn at Shelburne Farms. $10-$35. www.balletvermont.org
A cappella in the islands
6:30 p.m. Sunday, July 10, a trio of choral groups — Counterpoint, the Green Mountain Chorus and the barbershop quartet Chordination — perform in an event titled “A Cappella Lollapalooza” following a 5:30 p.m. picnic on the green, Island Arts Center, North Hero. $25. www.islandarts.org
Ray Vega plays Essex Junction
7 p.m. Sunday, July 10, Vermont trumpet master Ray Vega and his quartet play a benefit for Dismas of Vermont, First Congregational Church, Essex Junction. $20 suggested donation; free under age 18. www.facebook.com/firstcongregationalej/events
Middlebury Festival on the Green begins
7 p.m. Sunday, July 10, the Middlebury Festival on the Green runs through Saturday, July 16, and begins with this concert by the African group Kaleta & Super Yamba Band, Middlebury Village Green. Free. www.festivalonthegreen.org
Jackson Browne plays sold-out show
7:30 p.m. Monday, July 11, legendary singer-songwriter Jackson Browne performs a benefit concert for the film “Lost Nation” by Vermont director Jay Craven, presented by Higher Ground at the Flynn, Burlington. Sold out. www.highergroundmusic.com
More ‘Broadway in Vermont’
6 p.m. Tuesday, July 12, not to be confused with the “Broadway in Vermont” featuring Andrea McArdle in the southern part of the state (see above), national Broadway tour veteran and Vermont native Merritt David Janes brings friends to his “Broadway in Vermont” performance at Moose Meadow Lodge, Duxbury. $25-$35. www.moosemeadowlodge.net.
Wednesdays in Winooski
5 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, the Onion City celebrates “Winooski Wednesdays" this summer, including this event featuring local acts Danny and the Parts and Quasar Valley Band, Rotary Park, Winooski. Free. www.facebook.com/downtownwinooski.
Vermont Studio Center exhibit
6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, artist Heather Guertin takes part in a gallery talk and reception for her show “New Stage for a City,” which will be on display through Aug. 2, Red Mill Gallery, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson. Free. www.vermontstudiocenter.org
Jewish Film Festival in Stowe
7 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, the Stowe Jewish Film Festival, which offers four screenings through July 30, begins with “Yerusalem,” which tells the history of Ethiopian Jewry, Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, Stowe. $10-$15. www.sprucepeakarts.org
Martin Luther King Jr. play
8 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, a play about Martin Luther King Jr.’s final night, “The Mountaintop,” continues the St. Michael’s Playhouse season with its run through July 23, McCarthy Arts Center, St. Michael’s College, Colchester. $36.50-$45.50. www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org
A classic from Stowe Theatre Guild
7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 14, the classic Thornton Wilder play “Our Town” opens its run through July 30, presented by the Stowe Theatre Guild, Town Hall Theatre, Stowe. $15-$20. www.stowetheatre.com
Sailing with Ryan Montbleau and more
2 p.m. Saturday, July 16, the third Bolton Memorial Flotilla Concert that lets listeners join the fun in all sorts of watercraft features the Ryan Montbleau Band, Jen Hartswick & Nick Cassarino, Harsh Armadillo and MC Craig Mitchell, Community Sailing Center, Burlington. $50. www.communitysailingcenter.org
X Ambassadors at Do Good Fest
4 p.m. Saturday, July 16, the Do Good Fest returns with music from X Ambassadors, American Authors, Forest Blakk and Moxie, the lawn at National Life Group, Montpelier. Free; donations suggested. www.dogoodfest.com
The Sweet Remains in Essex
6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 16, harmonic trio The Sweet Remains performs at the Old Stage at the Essex Experience. $30. www.essexexperience.com
Bikini Kill (finally) at Higher Ground
8:30 p.m. Saturday, July 16, Washington state punk-rockers Bikini Kill, due to play a sold-out show in May of 2020 until the COVID-19 pandemic wiped it out, finally make it to Vermont for a show with Brontez Purnell, Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington. Sold out. www.highergroundmusic.com
Another night of punk at Higher Ground
8 p.m. Sunday, July 17, another show postponed by COVID (when leader Keith Morris contracted the virus in April) finally happens when punk veterans Circle Jerks join 7 Seconds and Negative Approach, Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington. $35 in advance, $39 day of show. www.highergroundmusic.com
The National makes it to Shelburne
7 p.m. Tuesday, July 19, the theme of Higher Ground-presented shows delayed by COVID continues with indie-rockers The National — who were due for a Vermont gig in the summer of 2020 — follow opener Lucy Dacus to the outdoor stage at the Shelburne Museum. $60 in advance, $64 day of show. www.highergroundmusic.com
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Burlington City Arts reception
5 p.m. Wednesday, July 20, the Burlington City Arts summer exhibitions “More Than an Object: The Contemporary Still Life” and “Sky Hopinka: Fainting Spells” are celebrated with a reception at the BCA Center, Burlington. Free. www.burlingtoncityarts.org
Vermont Stage presents its ‘Bake Off’
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 20-Saturday, July 23, 2 p.m. Saturday, July 23-Sunday, July 24, Vermont Stage concludes its season with “The Bake Off,” which this year breaks the Yasmina Reza play “God of Carnage” into three segments led by three directors to show how each approaches the production, Main Street Landing Black Box Theatre, Burlington. $31.50-$38.50. www.vermontstage.org
Courtney Barnett plays rescheduled show
8 p.m. Wednesday, July 20, one more COVID-delayed concert features Australian rocker Courtney Barnett — whose February gig was postponed when she contracted the illness — takes place with opener Shamir, Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington. Sold out. www.highergroundmusic.com
The Steel Wheels back in Vermont
8 p.m. Wednesday, July 20, at the same time Courtney Barnett fills the adjacent Ballroom, Southern roots-rockers The Steel Wheels — who last year played the Backside 405 series in Burlington — headline the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington. $15 in advance, $18 day of show. www.highergroundmusic.com
Duo plays Radio Bean
9:30 p.m. Thursday, July 21, the duo Garrett Gleason & Niko Wood plays music from its debut album “An Abundance of Compassion,” Radio Bean, Burlington. Free; donations accepted. www.radiobean.com
Music festival at a sweet location
4 p.m. Friday, July 22, noon Saturday, July 23, the second-annual Maple Roots Music Festival features acts including Carlton Livingston, Barika, Michael Chorney’s Freeway Clyde and the Morse/Davidian Band, Morse Farm Sugarworks, Montpelier. Free; parking fee $20. www.maplerootsfest.com
Rootsy duo plays farm concert
7 p.m. Friday, July 22, the folk duo April Verch & Cody Walters performs as part of a picnic concert series at Knoll Farm, Waitsfield. $20-$30. www.knollfarm.org
Reggae in South Burlington
8 p.m. Friday, July 22, reggae act Kenyatta Hill featuring the Culture Band, following opening act Soulstice, hits the stage at the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington. $20 in advance, $25 day of show. www.highergroundmusic.com
Laughs fill the Ballroom
9 p.m. Saturday, July 23, comedian Chris Fleming grabs the mike at the Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington. $35 in advance, $39 day of show. www.highergroundmusic.com
‘Lullaby Project’ comes together
3 p.m. Sunday, July 24, Scrag Mountain Music presents a performance titled “Healing Together: A Lullaby Project Celebration Concert,” following a community-art project at 1:30 p.m., Vermont Statehouse lawn, Montpelier. Free. www.scragmountainmusic.org
Dance performance in a granite quarry
5:30 p.m. Monday, July 25, public dress rehearsals begin for “The Quarry Project,” a pandemic-delayed performance led by Vermont choreographer Hannah Dennison that begins full performances Friday, Aug. 5, Wells Lamson quarry, Websterville. $10 for dress rehearsals, $30 for full performances. https://thequarryproject2022.com/
Backseat Lovers take center stage
8 p.m. Monday, July 25, Utah rockers The Backseat Lovers follow Over Under at the Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington. Sold out. www.highergroundmusic.com
St. Michael’s Playhouse strikes again
8 p.m. Wednesday, July 27, the St. Michael’s Playhouse season resumes with the musical comedy “Desperate Measures,” which runs through Aug. 6, McCarthy Arts Center, St. Michael’s College, Colchester. $36.50-$45.50. www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org
More comedy at Higher Ground
9 p.m. Wednesday, July 27, comedian Chris Distefano, whose Netflix special “Speshy Weshy” premiered in May, performs in the Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington. $42-$55. www.highergroundmusic.com
Insect-themed concert in Stowe
6 p.m. Thursday, July 28, Rhode Island rockers Deer Tick headline a show with Lightning Bug as part of the Spruce Peak Summer Concert Series, Stowe. $40-$50 for adults, $5-$10 for children 12 and under. www.sprucepeakarts.org
A delicate Skullcrusher in Winooski
7 p.m. Thursday, July 28, Los Angeles musician Helen Ballentine makes softly atmospheric songs under the oxymoronic moniker Skullcrusher, which performs at the Winooski Methodist Church. $18. www.facebook.com/events/400918375291308
Norah Jones sells out
7 p.m. Thursday, July 28, multiple Grammy-winner Norah Jones follows opener Sasha Dobson (her bandmate in the side project Puss N Boots), Shelburne Museum. Sold out. www.highergroundmusic.com
Myra Flynn and a gospel choir
8 p.m. Friday, July 29, Vermont musician Myra Flynn performs in concert with the Plattsburgh State Gospel Choir, ArtsRiot, Burlington. $13 in advance, $15 day of show. www.artsriot.com
The Ramble ambles into town
10 a.m. Saturday, July 30, the Old North End neighborhood celebration known aptly as The Ramble returns with a (still-developing) schedule that starts with a field-days celebration at Battery Park and concludes with a party from 6-10 p.m. at the Old North End Community Center parking lot, Burlington. Free. www.theramble.org
Music and arts in Cabot
Noon Saturday, July 30, another day-long event unfolds when the Cabot Arts and Music Festival features performances by the Chad Hollister Band, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, Mikahely, Reggie Harris, Modern Times Theater, Nulhegan Abenaki Drums and more, Cabot Village Common. $20-$40; free for ages 16 and under. www.cabotarts.org
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Things to do in Vermont: Arts and music events in July 2022
