The Middlebury College Performing Arts Series welcomes back the Jupiter String Quartet, performing with violist Roger Tapping and cellist Natasha Brofsky, at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, in Robison Hall at the Mahaney Center for the Arts. They will perform works by Schubert and Brahms, as well as Schoenberg’s haunting and beautiful “Transfigured Night.”
The Jupiter String Quartet is known around the world for blazing, passionate and energetic performances. Now in their 13th year of making music together, the members of this tightly knit ensemble perform across the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and the Americas. They have enjoyed playing in some of the world’s finest halls. They are winners of the Cleveland Quartet Award from Chamber Music America, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. The Jupiters are the String Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where they maintain private studios as well as responsibility for running the chamber music program.
Professor of Music Larry Hamberlin will offer a free pre-concert lecture at 6:30 p.m. in room 125 at the Center for the Arts.
Tickets are $25 for the general public. For more information, or to purchase tickets, call 443-6433 or go to middlebury.edu/arts.
ARIOSO IN BRANDON
Central Vermont’s critically and audience acclaimed chamber music ensemble, Arioso,  returns to Brandon Music on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with a concert of varied and entertaining music for piano, voice and viola.
Arioso will perform music of Granados, Ives, Saint-Saens, Shostakovich, Hoiby and Vermont composer Kathy Eddy. All the works on the program have an animal title or theme. The featured work is the premiere of “A Child’s Book of Animals” by Worcester composer Michael Close. It is the mission of Arioso to highlight new works by contemporary Vermont composers in all the group’s concerts.
The members of Arioso are Elizabeth Reid, viola; Alison Cerutti, piano; and Linda Radtke, voice. The group was formed in 2008, and debuted in May 2009.
“Deeply beautiful … simply a pleasure,” says Jim Lowe in the Barre-Montpelier Times-Argus.
Tickets are $20. Reservations are recommended for the show. Dessert is available. Venue is BYOB. Call 247-4295 or e-mail [email protected] for reservations or for more information.
PATRICK FITZSIMMONS
Acclaimed Vermont singer-songwriter Patrick Fitzsimmons will be performing at The Café at the Marquis Theater in Middlebury on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Over the past decade Fitzsimmons has shared the stage with some of the biggest names in the acoustic music scene including Shawn Colvin, Ellis Paul, Steve Forbert and Roger McGuinn. He is a three-time finalist in the Ploughshares national songwriting competition and a two-time finalist in the SolarFest national songwriting competition.
Fitzsimmons, who now lives in Weybridge, grew up in New Jersey and was signed to RCA Records with the folk/rock band From Good Homes in the late ’90s. After the band’s break-up in 1999, Fitzsimmons moved to Vermont and started a solo career.
There is a $15 cover charge. A full bar and dinner menu at the Café will be available. Call 388-4841 for more information or make reservations.
‘SHE SINGS TO THE STARS’
A new Vermont feature film titled “She Sings to the Stars” will screen in Middlebury on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Marquis Theater at 7 p.m.
Produced by Circeo Films of Monkton, the film has won “Best Feature” at the Toronto Independent Festival, and the “Audience Award” and “Best Actor” at the Vermont International Film Festival this past fall.
A story that values soulfulness, foregrounds simplicity, quiet and stillness, “She Sings to the Stars” offers a glimpse into an unknown America: Without water, a Native-American grandmother lives alone in the desert. Her half-Mexican grandson is caught between worlds. A down-on-his-luck magician finds himself lost at her door.
There will be a Q&A session with the audience after each screening, and a “Meet the Filmmakers” event at 6 p.m. at the Marquis’ Southwest Café on Thursday.
Tickets are $10 adults, $8 seniors, at the box office. For more information, call the Marquis at 388-4841 or visit the film’s website at shesingstothestars.com.
‘THE LAST WALTZ’ AT THT
Town Hall Theater will finish the inaugural leg of its Rock On Film series with the acclaimed film “The Last Waltz” on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Seventeen years after joining forces as the backing band for rockabilly cult hero Ronnie Hawkins, Canadian roots rockers The Band call it quits with a lavish farewell show at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom on Nov. 25, 1976. Filmed by Martin Scorsese, this documentary features standout performances by rock legends such as Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell and Muddy Waters, as well as interviews tracing the group’s history and discussing road life.
“The Last Waltz” is not only “the most beautiful rock film ever made” (The New York Times), it’s “one of the most important cultural events of the last two decades” (Rolling Stone).
Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at townhalltheater.org, 382-9222, at the THT box office (noon to 5 p.m., Monday-Saturday) and at the door, if available.
RUANE & DUQUETTE
The Mud Season Music Series continues on Friday at Lincoln Peak Vineyard with a performance by Beth Duquette and Richard Ruane at 7:30 p.m.
Duquette and Ruane play original music with a strong foundation in the traditional music of America and the British Isles. They are known for their “finely written songs, with wonderful vocal performances, and solid instrumental backing” (Oliver di Place, “Musings on Music”). With their vocal blend, which has drawn comparisons to sibling harmony groups, they swap off on lead, harmony and full duets based on the needs of the songs.
Admission is free. Doors open at 7 p.m. A selection of Vermont cheeses will be available. Wine is sold by the glass. Lincoln Peak Vineyard is located at 142 River Road in New Haven. More information is at lincolnpeakvineyard.com.
‘DiSCLOSURES’ EXHIBIT
An artists’ reception for the current exhibit, “Disclosures: Coming out of obscurity,” will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday in the Jackson Gallery at Town Hall Theater.
Lily Hinrichsen and Karla Van Vliet bring to light parts of their past, which have lived in darkness and obscurity, through the strength and delicacy of their assemblages, works on paper and mixed media.
The exhibit, which runs through May 7, is free. The Jackson Gallery is located in the lower level of Town Hall Theater in Middlebury. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday noon to 5 p.m. and an hour before any public events in the building. For further information, call 382-9222 or consult the website, townhalltheater.org.
TWO BROTHERS TAVERN
There will be two live performances this week at Two Brothers Tavern in Middlebury. On Friday at 9 p.m. The Remedy takes to the stage. This dance/pop/hip-hop band based out of the Burlington area tackles a huge variety of covers including but not limited to Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Adele and Sublime.
There is a $3 cover charge.
Then, on Saturday, the tavern presents an independent band from Burlington, The Grift, at 9 p.m. With a deep catalogue of original music that blends roots-rock and pop and jam, The Grift throws their diverse array of musical influences into the oven and cooks up tasty sonic treats. There is a $5 cover. For more information, call Two Brothers at 388-0002.
LIVE MUSIC AT 51 MAIN
There will be two live musical events this week at Middlebury’s 51 Main. At 8 p.m. on Friday, the Paul Asbell Jazz Group takes to the stage. This quartet’s blend of bluesy swing, New Orleans grooves, lush melodies and fiery Latin tempos is a genuine Vermont standout.
Then, at 8 p.m. on Saturday, the DuPont Brothers will perform. Lush finger-style guitar work is complimented by elegant prose and a vocal blend that could only be matched by blood relation, producing a unique Vermont-made folk-Americana sound.
All ages, no cover. For additional information visit www.go51main.com or phone 388-8209.
ZOLOTOI PLES
The popular Russian folk troupe Zolotoi ples (“Golden Strand”) will return to the Middlebury College campus for a concert of lively instrumental and vocal music in Mead Chapel at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The concert is free and open to the public. All are welcome. Children will be delighted with the bright colors and unique, hand-made instruments.