MIDDLEBURY/RUTLAND — Ladies’ Night Out Women’s Chorus will present spring concerts in Rutland and Middlebury on May 4 and 5. The program, “The American Songbag, Plus!” includes traditional American folk music, popular music from the 1940s and ’50s, and some other special “plusses” like “Jolene” by Dolly Parton and “Silvy” by Huddy Ledbetter (known as Lead Belly,) arranged with body percussion by Moira Smiley, and a beautiful arrangement of “Hard Times.”
Accompanied by Castleton University Professor of Music Charles Madsen on piano, Glendon Ingalls on bass viol, and Mary Barron on fiddle, the group of 16 women make a real statement with choral music. Many individuals in the group are stepping up to take solo parts in several of the songs. Gwyneth Walker’s music is represented, as is true every spring, with “How Can I Keep From Singing?” This year she will solo in “Careless Love” in an unforgettable arrangement.
There will be a trio of women singing Andrews Sisters-style music, and a special performance during the interval between songs by Jonathan Pendragon, who is styled “Magician and Master of Imagination!”
 Performances are both at 7:30 p.m., and will take place on Friday, May 4, at Grace Church, Rutland, and on Saturday, May 5, at Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society on Duane Court in Middlebury.
A donation at the door of $10 is requested to cover accompanists, music and use of the performance venues. After paying the accompanists and venue fees, Ladies’ Night Out will split their Grace Church donations with the local non-profit, New Story Center, a shelter for victims of domestic violence. In Middlebury the same donation will go to WomenSafe.
Call, email or text Artistic Director Lucy Tenenbaum for more information; she is at 802-342-8348 or [email protected].