BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – The 2024 Ray Massucco Concert Series gets underway this month at the Bellows Falls Opera House. Mark Erelli and his String Quintet, with special guest Phil Henry, kick off the series on Thursday, July 18, with a very special concert, partially underwritten by the Massucco family.
“Mark Erelli has always been a Massucco family favorite,” says Charlie Hunter, volunteer consultant for the series. “Mark had always been one of Ray’s favorites, and after Mark made a special trip up to play at Ray’s Celebration of Life at the Rockingham Meeting House last year, the family let us know how much it would mean to start our second season with him.”
Massucco, a civic-minded attorney, part-time concert promoter, and full-time music lover, passed away unexpectedly in September 2022. Members of the team who had worked with Massucco on Rockingham’s beloved Roots on the River music festival quickly coalesced around the idea of a concert series under the name Ray’s the Roof Productions. “These were the folks who oversaw much of Roots on the River, and they were eager to keep Ray’s spirit and vision alive,” says Hunter.
2023, the debut year for the series, was hugely successful. Monies raised went to deposits for this year’s artists, and also contributed significantly to the donation, at no cost to taxpayers, of a sound system for the Opera House, capable of amplifying live performances throughout the hall. That system is being installed before the Erelli concert.
The second show in the series will be Garrison Keillor, long-time host of NPR favorite “A Prairie Home Companion,” in a matinee performance on Sunday, Aug. 4. Sept. 28 sees Roots on the River favorite Mary Gauthier pairing with Texas’ renegade poet and roadhouse saint Ray Wylie Hubbard. Legendary acoustic bluesman Chris Smither, currently riding high on the Billboard blues charts with his new recording “All About The Bones,” rounds out the series with a special band show on Nov. 14.
The Bellows Falls Opera House has become known as one of the best movie houses and performance venues in the region. “The sightlines and acoustics in the room are fantastic,” boasts Hunter. “Movies are, and will continue to be, the bread and butter of the opera house,” says Hunter, “but between the Massucco concerts, Wild Goose Players’ annual theatrical presentation, conferences, and a classical series that is coming in, there’s a lot going on here.”
The Bellows Falls Opera House is located at 7 Village Square, Bellows Falls, Vt. Tickets and information at www.bellowsfallsoperahouse.com. The Ray Massucco Concert Series is presented by Ray’s the Roof Productions in association with Next Stage Arts.