2026 marks a momentous year for Brattleboro Harmonia. Not only did we celebrate our 30th Anniversary, but our founder and Musical Director, Becky Graber, has passed her pitch pipe on to our next Musical Director, Anna Patton. Becky has been mentoring Anna on directing this large, beautiful chorus since fall of 2024. The singers have marveled and fallen in love with their camaraderie and watching Anna’s incredible leadership and musical talents grow and flourish as director.
Anna Patton
Anna grew up singing and playing with her musical family in Northern Vermont, learning songs from her parents and grandparents from Motown to Mozart, Shape-note to Barbershop. In her teens she joined the world-polyphony choruses Village Harmony and Northern Harmony as a singer/clarinetist and spent many weeks and sometimes months on the road with these groups touring the US, Canada, and Europe.
Looking to get a little more rooted in a place in her 20’s, Anna gravitated to Brattleboro VT for its vibrant music scene and wound up studying at Marlboro College, staying busy on the weekends with the wealth of community singing, jamming, and dancing in the area. After college, the Vermont Jazz Center invited her to join their faculty by starting a vocal ensemble, and she began the choir now known as The Soubrettes, singing Anna’s swing- and gospel-inflected close-harmony arrangements.
Anna has a lifelong interest in learning and teaching music by ear. Besides studying oral traditions like fiddle tunes and folk songs, she also completed a Masters of Music at New England Conservatory in a department that focuses heavily on aural skills. She is a sought-after performer and leader of workshops on topics like “finding vocal harmonies” and “playing tunes for social dancing.” She plays clarinet with Zara Bode’s Little Big Band and travels with Contradance and English Country Dance bands such as Topspin and Murmuration. Anna also writes original music for these projects and for other groups including Brattleboro Harmonia, Social Band, Northern Harmony, and her quartet Doozy Jane.
Anna began to work with Brattleboro Harmonia in 2024 as a guest director, collaborating with founding director Becky Graber. Becky retired in May 2026 and Anna feels very grateful to have this period of mentorship and collaboration before she becomes the sole musical director in the fall of 2026. She loves the creativity of planning a program of music, loves the rhythm of the weekly rehearsals and seasonal concerts, and is excited to get to know the community better year by year. Looking forward, she is thrilled that she will be in this role of helping to continue this strong, fun, and big-hearted community of song.
For more information on Anna’s many talents, visit her website at: www.annapatton.com
Becky Graber
Becky founded the Brattleboro Women’s Chorus in 1996. A storyteller, music teacher, accomplished musician (piano, french horn, accordion), accompanist and a musical theater director, Becky’s multiple musical talents and vibrant personality draw many to her various projects.
After 30 years directing Brattleboro Harmonia, Becky retired in June 2026 and now spends her time teaching piano to young children at the Brattleboro Music Center; she leads singalongs and glee clubs at local senior and day care facilities; she sings alto with “Big Woods Voices” and soprano with the Hallowell singers; she is the accompanist for the Brattleboro Concert Choir, and she leads the newly-founded Good Trouble Street Choir, which sprouted from the need to sing in community at protests and beyond.
For more information on Becky’s programs, visit her website at: www.beckygraber.com
