Accentuate the Positive!
Great Songs of the 20s, 30s and 40s
Jubilee Children's Chorus, Susan Dedell, Director

On Saturday, May 1, at 7 p.m. at the River Garden in downtown Brattleboro, the public is warmly invited to an evening of uplifting songs sung by the exuberant singers of the Jubilee Children’s Chorus, directed by Susan Dedell.

The songs on the program include some of the best songs of the 20s and 30s and 40s, with songwriters including Harold Arlen and Ray Henderson.

“The songs of this era, many of which are hopeful, cheerful, and somewhat innocent in text, sound perfect in the children’s voices. There is an innate timeless nature to the tunes and lyrics of these songs, which the kids immediately understand,” says director Susan Dedell.

In the program, songs like Bye, Bye Blackbird and Side by Side, which were written prior to the Great Depression, emphasize the value of friendship and home. The depression era songs in the concert, like Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries and Wrap your Troubles in Dreams, underscore that era’s hope for a return to a simpler time with non-materialistic values. And as the title song Accentuate the Positive indicates, songs from the immediate post depression years celebrate the innate goodness and resilience of the human spirit.

These songs and more are sung by the Brattleboro Music Center’s Jubilee Children’s Chorus, a group of young singers ages 8-13. The chorus will be joined by musical guests Michelle Liechti, violin; Paul Dedell, guitar; and Finn Campman, trashcan percussion.

The Jubilee Children’s Chorus’ Accentuate the Positive concert is free of charge, with donations gratefully accepted. For more information, please call the Brattleboro Music Center at 802-257-4523.