December 14, 2025

The Windham Philharmonic will honor Martin Luther King Jr. with a special concert on Monday, January 19, 2026, at 7:00 PM at Latchis Theatre, presenting a program that celebrates dignity, imaginative freedom, and the complex histories that music can illuminate.

The evening features:

Franz Schubert – Overture in E minor, a work of expressive reflection and restless energy

Richard Strauss – Horn Concerto No. 2 in E‑flat, showcasing virtuosic dialogue, and the dignity of an individual voice supported by a communal soundscape; with distinguished French Horn soloist from TUNDI’s 2025 Ring Cycle, Noah Fotis Larsson

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – Symphonic Variations on an African Air, a work rooted in African-American spiritual tradition that invites audiences to consider questions of identity, cultural inheritance, and creative responsibility.

“The program is built around the idea of dignity — for individuals, for communities, and for the music itself,” says Music Director Hugh Keelan. “Coleridge-Taylor’s variations, in particular, ask us to engage seriously with inherited material, to reflect on its origins, and to imagine how music can honor resilience and humanity across time and place.”

This performance continues the Windham Philharmonic’s tradition of connecting audience and orchestra as co-travellers in an intense musical and cultural exploration. This concert offers a rare opportunity to experience works that range from the intimately lyrical to the cross-cultural, all within a framework that celebrates ethical, humanistic, and artistic inquiry.

Admission is by donation.

November 6, 2025

The Windham Philharmonic returns to the Latchis Theatre with Beethoven in December…with Holiday Treats — a concert of light, generosity, and also joy-filled resistance to a darkening season.

Led by Music Director Hugh Keelan, the orchestra opens with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, a work of unstoppable vitality and force-of-nature rhythm. Often described as the “apotheosis of the dance,” the Seventh moves with elemental energy; it is an affirmation of life.

From there the program unfolds through luminous contrasts and delights:
the fairy-tale enchantment of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel Overture, the quiet - and boisterous! - wit of Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours,” the serene tenderness of Berlioz’s “Shepherds’ Farewell” from L’Enfance du Christ, and the comforting sparkle of Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride.”

Each work opens a space for shared delight — the qualities that sustain a community through winter and darkness.

“This concert,” says Keelan, “is about belonging and generosity — Beethoven’s unstoppable vitality meets Berlioz’s compassion and Anderson’s laughter, with much fantasy and scintillation in between. Let’s enjoy this reminder that joy is in our nature, therefore profoundly satisfying to experience in community, and is also its own form of vigorous protest.”

Program:

Ludwig van Beethoven — Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92
Engelbert Humperdinck — Hansel and Gretel: Overture
Amilcare Ponchielli — Dance of the Hours
Hector Berlioz — The Shepherds’ Farewell
Leroy Anderson — Sleigh Ride

Admission: By donation, please
Date & Time: Monday, December 8, 2025, at 7:00 PM

Venue: The Latchis Theatre, Brattleboro, Vermont

September 23, 2025

The Windham Philharmonic, in collaboration with Epsilon Spires, announces a concert for
Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2025: an evening where music speaks as protest, as reckoning, as
survival.

At its heart stands Raven Chacon’s Voiceless Mass, a Pulitzer Prize–winning work by the Diné
composer that confronts the silences enforced by colonialism, by Christian churches built on
stolen land, and by the machinery of extractive power that still dominates, and wishes to expand
its domination. This music is not decorative: it is resistance against systems that consume land,
bodies, and cultures while refusing to hear their voices.

Protest here is not abstract—it is embodied in our performers and in our community. Kirsten C.
Kunkle, soprano (and remembered as TUNDI’s luminous and amusing Wellgunde), will raise
her voice in her own Mvskoke music, joined by her daughter Stephanie, age 5. A mother and
child singing together is an act of defiant and tender love in a world that we can see is too
interested in severing bonds, even family bonds.

We gather, also, in celebration and remembrance of Alice Abrahams, beloved violinist with the
Philharmonic who died this past year. Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Andante for Strings is our
musical act of witness: grief transformed into collective sound, refusal to forget, and Alice’s
personal relationship with the composers and musicians that included the Seegers, and RCS
herself.

Julius Eastman’s Stay On It explodes with persistence and survival. Eastman, a Black, queer
composer, created works in defiance of an art world structured by white supremacy, exclusion,
and erasure. His voice—hypnotic, furious, joyful—is a refusal to be disappeared by systems that
profit from extraction: of labor, of genius, of lives.

Haydn’s Symphony No. 46, “Farewell”, is a protest, bringing the disobedience of extended
beauty to disrupt the assumptions of the privileged – which means OUR assumptions! In
Haydn’s sad and unresolved ending we encounter defiance and refusal.
Together, these works form a concert of justice and injustice, protest and affirmation, absence
and presence.

“This is not likely to be experienced as a concert program,” says Music Director Hugh Keelan.
“It is a gathering: of voices silenced and unsilenced, of our community in grief and in joy, of the
future rising from the children among us. It is a reckoning, and a chance to listen with our whole
selves.”

This event takes place at Epsilon Spires, 190 Main St., Brattleboro. Tickets are available for $25,
or sliding scale tickets starting at $15, from Epsilon Spires:
https://www.epsilonspires.org/event-info/the-windham-philharmonic-presents-voiceless-mass

June 23, 2025: 4th of July Celebration

Brattleboro - Windham Philharmonic invites you to a rousing outdoor concert on Friday, July 4 th at 3 p.m. at the Winston Prouty Center, conducted by Music Director Hugh Keelan. Come hear the dramatic 1812 Overture of Tchaikovsky, with Sousa marches and more! Joined by members of the American Legion Band and the Brattleboro Union High School band, and BUHS band director Alex Brady, the orchestra brings you stirring patriotic marches by John Philip Sousa: “El Capitan,” “Nobles of the Mystic Shrine,” and “Stars and Stripes Forever,” as well as J.F.  Wagner’s “Under the Double Eagle” and Morton Gould’s “American Salute.” We acknowledge the challenges of our contemporary world with the reflective, mournful “Adagio” of Samuel Barber, arranged for winds and strings.

This is a perfect event for families! The concert lasts about an hour; admission is by donation. Baked goods and beverages will be available to purchase. Bring chairs or blankets to sit on.

April 28, 2025: Red Door Concerts of Wilmington, VT

Brattleboro—The Windham Philharmonic, in collaboration with Red Door Concerts of Wilmington, VT, presents music of two cornerstone figures of the Baroque: Handel and J S Bach; also, music by Mozart and Haydn, the essential composers in the Classical Style. The concert is at St. Mary’s in the Mountains on May 24 at 7 p.m. Organist Michael Pennington joins the strings to perform Mozart’s ‘Church’ Sonatas for organ and small orchestra. Also on the program are a Sonatina by Bach, from his Actus Tragicus, serene and inspiring, and three bright dance movements by Handel. The concert finishes with Haydn’s witty and thought-provoking Symphony No. 47, nicknamed the “Palindrome.”

Admission is by donation for this hour-long concert at St. Mary’s in the Mountains, located at 13 E. Main St. Wilmington.

Red Door Concerts benefit area nonprofits, and the Windham Philharmonic is a very grateful recipient.

April 17, 2025:  Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 1

Brattleboro—The Windham Philharmonic, with Music Director Hugh Keelan, performs Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1 at the Latchis Theatre on Monday, May 5 at 7 p.m.

The Windham Philharmonic is committed to bringing our communities rich and varied programs. After grace and good humor, we dig deep into intense emotional states. Rachmaninoff composed his dramatic First Symphony in 1895. It was not appreciated or well received, causing creative crisis and trauma for Rachmaninoff. Since then, listeners and critics have praised it as “a dynamic representation of the Russian symphonic tradition,” as well as a forceful, gloriously triumphant work.

The symphony lasts approximately 50 minutes. Admission is by donation; baked goods will be available to purchase.

February 22, 2025: GILBERT & SULLIVAN AND LIGHT OPERA

Brattleboro—Topsy-turvy and true love are on the menu for the Windham Philharmonic in a
concert of Gilbert & Sullivan gems complemented by Viennese operetta. Hugh Keelan conducts
selections from The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore, alongside music by Johann Strauss II—The
Waltz King—and Franz Lehar. 

Many stars join us, including a favorite of the Windham Philharmonic, soprano Elizabeth Wohl,
amongst a constellation of solo singers including Marietta Formanek, Zoe Mickle, Nyx Del
Prado and Finnegan Pucciarello. Jenna Rae and tenors James Anderson and Alan Schneider,
known for their stunning performances in Brattleboro’s own TUNDI, also join us for this light
and melodious evening.

This hour-long concert takes place March 24th at the Latchis Theatre at 7 p.m. Admission is by
donation; baked goods will be available to purchase.

February 9, 2025: BRATTLEBORO WINTER CARNIVAL

BRATTLEBORO - The Windham Philharmonic, in collaboration with Brattleboro Winter Carnival, presents a Winter Carnival Concert at the Latchis Theatre on Monday, February 17, 2025. The orchestra will perform Ravel’s famous Bolero, a large work that has been ensconced in popular culture from the 1979 Dudley Moore-Bo Derek film 10 to the torch-lighting ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

Favorites from last year’s popular concert include the Skater’s Waltz by Waldteufel and Frosty the Snowman (of course). Families are welcome! Also on the program are the second movement of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1, Bacchanale by Saint-Saëns, and two Debussy pieces: The snow is dancing, from the Children’s Corner, and Des pas sur la neige (Footprints in the Snow). 

The concert is at 7 p.m. and lasts about an hour. Admission is by donation; baked goods will be available for purchase. Expect an appearance by Frosty!

November 13, 2024:  BEETHOVEN IN DECEMBER - WITH HOLIDAY TREATS

BRATTLEBORO — The Windham Philharmonic, under the direction of Hugh Keelan, presents Beethoven in December—with Holiday Treats. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 is the centerpiece of this delightful program; holiday treats include Victor Herbert’s Babes in Toyland, Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride and excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.

Keelan called the 8^th symphony, in a recent message to orchestra musicians: “joyful, cryptic, enigmatic.”

The concert is Monday, December 9 at the Latchis Theatre, 7 p.m. and lasts about one hour. Admission is by donation; baked goods will be available for purchase.

May 2, 2024:  WINDHAM PHILHARMONIC PERFORMS MOZART AND RAVEL

BRATTLEBORO—The Windham Philharmonic, Music Director Hugh Keelan, performs Monday, May 20, 2024 at the Latchis Theatre. On the program are W. A. Mozart’s Symphony No. 36 in C (“Linz”)—composed in four days during a stopover in that Austrian town—and Maurice Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole.

Rapsodie espagnole is Ravel’s first orchestral work. Ravel, whose mother grew up in Madrid, draws on his familiarity with Spanish music and traditions for his musical imagery. The third movement, “Habanera,” began as a piece for two pianos and was orchestrated later that year, adding three other movements. The lively fourth movement, Feria, which means “festival,” concludes this work with a flourish.

The concert is at 7 p.m., and lasts approximately one hour. Admission is by donation; baked goods will be available for purchase.

March 6, 2024: WINDHAM PHILHARMONIC WELCOMES NEW STRING PLAYERS FOR APRIL CONCERT

Brattleboro—The Windham Philharmonic performs on Monday, April 1, 2024 at 7 p.m. at the Latchis Theatre. Hugh Keelan, Music Director, conducts Haydn’s “Surprise” Symphony and Stravinsky’s Divertimento from the Fairy’s Kiss.

Haydn’s Symphony No. 94 made its debut in 1792, with Haydn’s aim being to give the public something new and exciting. Stravinsky’s Divertimento is a suite of four movements arranged from his ballet, The Fairy’s Kiss (Le Baiser de la fée). He wrote it in homage to his predecessor, Tchaikovsky, for whom he had deep admiration.

The orchestra has enthusiastically welcomed new violinists in recent months. Bobby Crocker, Maddie Grant and Anna Carson join the orchestra for this April concert.

Interested musicians are invited to inquire about joining by visiting our "Volunteer" page.

Admission to the concert is by donation, and baked goods will be on sale. The concert will last about an hour.

January 26, 2024: BRATTLEBORO WINTER CARNIVAL PRESENTS FOR THE FIRST TIME:

Windham Philharmonic Winter Music from Around the World Feb. 19

Brattleboro—On Monday, February 19, 2024, the Windham Philharmonic performs a concert of winter music at the Latchis Theatre at 7 p.m. under the direction of Hugh Keelan—the first time the orchestra will take part in the Brattleboro Winter Carnival.

The program includes Tchaikovsky’s “February” from The Seasons, “Winter Dreams” from his Symphony No. 1, Mozart’s Sleigh Ride (Three German Dances K. 605), Debussy/Caplet “The snow is dancing,” and Skater’s Waltz by Waldteufel.

Michelle Liechti, concertmaster, will perform the violin solo in Vivaldi’s “Winter” from the famous Four Seasons.

Admission to this family-friendly event is by donation. The concert will last approximately one hour.

November 16, 2023:  Windham Philharmonic Holiday Concert December 18

Brattleboro—You’re invited to celebrate the winter holidays this year with the Windham Philharmonic! On Monday, December 18, at Winston Prouty’s Thomas Hall at 7 p.m., the full symphony orchestra will entertain and delight listeners with seasonal favorites “Sleigh Ride” and “Waltz of the Flowers” from The Nutcracker, and the grand and stirring Fifth Symphony by Beethoven under the direction of Hugh Keelan. Whether you know every note of this music or it’s all new to you, you’ll enjoy a feast for the ears.

If you were a fly on the wall at a Windham Philharmonic rehearsal, you would have felt the “Beethoven buzz,” as the musicians anticipated the raising of the conductor’s baton. Beginning with the most famous four notes in all of music, the symphony opens with a moment Beethoven described as Fate knocking at the door. Passionate tenderness, mystery, triumph—all are present in this monumental piece.

The concert lasts about an hour. Admission is by donation and you’ll find tasty treats at our bake sale.