Vermont Symphony Orchestra and Kat Wright Join Forces for “Made in Vermont” Concert Tour

The Vermont Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is thrilled to announce the much-anticipated return of its signature “Made in Vermont” concert tour, this time featuring the sensational soul singer Kat Wright. Curated and conducted by the VSO’s Artistic Advisor and Project Conductor Matt LaRocca, this series will deliver a unique fusion of classical and contemporary sounds that celebrate the amazing musicians who call Vermont home.

Concerts will take place at Higher Ground in South Burlington on November 3 starting at 8:30 p.m., Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center in Stowe on November 4 starting at 7 p.m., and Bellows Falls Opera House (in partnership with Next Stage Arts) on November 5 starting at 4 p.m.

The concert program will feature a diverse selection of musical favorites by renowned composers, such as Henry Purcell, Manuel De Falla, Maurice Ravel and Erik Satie expertly interpreted by the VSO’s chamber orchestra. Wright will give her interpretation of the famed aria “Dido’s Lament” from Purcell’s tragic opera Dido and Aeneas. It also features new works by two Vermont composers, Kyle Saulnier and Erik Nielsen. Saulnier is a unique and innovative composer whose style fuses modern orchestral techniques with jazz and industrial rock, and Nielsen’s new piece for string orchestra is a tribute to Pete Sutherland, a friend and mentor as well as a Vermont legend.

“The VSO is excited to partner with Kat Wright again after an amazing concert in 2019. Her soulful voice is a perfect match to lush string and orchestral arrangements, and we hear her music in a new way,” said Matt LaRocca, Artistic Advisor and Project Conductor at the VSO.

New for the “Made in Vermont” tour, the concerts will also feature local area youth from schools including Stowe High School and South Burlington High School. These students will have the unique opportunity to sing alongside Wright.

Hailed as one of Vermont’s brightest musical talents, folk publication Red Line Roots extols Wright for her “…special balance of power and grace in her voice that can shimmer and float to the top…” In her sound, listeners will detect influences from legends such as Bonnie Raitt and Amy Winehouse, seamlessly interwoven with the echoes of contemporary luminaries like Brandi Carlisle and Norah Jones.