Photograph by Chuck Terranova
Watch a video of the Prize presentation event
produced by Media Factory
A tribute to Michael Chorney by arts writer Pamela Polston
On his website, this year’s Herb Lockwood Prize winner notes a string of past occupations, including but not limited to assembly line worker, librarian, janitor, carpenter and house painter. However, most Vermonters have likely known him in more celebrated roles: musician — on saxophone and guitar — composer, dance program collaborator at Middlebury College, arranger and producer, teacher. And many probably know he’s the recipient of a Tony Award.
Our winner has had a long and fruitful journey in the Vermont music scene and beyond. I first became aware of him back in the 1980s, when he was performing in an acoustic band called Feast or Famine. Several bands, genres and years later, as he led the “acid jazz” group viperHouse, I began to recognize not only his incredible versatility and musical curiosity but his significant mentorship of other, younger musicians. Some of the players who came into their own in viperHouse would become in-demand jazz musicians in Vermont, and doing their own original work.
In nearly a dozen ensembles, in styles ranging from folk to jazz to what he dubs “instrumental psych-rock film scores for nonexistent movies,” our man has continued to compose original works, to surpass himself in creativity, and to influence and collaborate with many others. That fake film-score band is his current project, named Freeway Clyde. Their latest record, reviewed by Seven Days music editor Chris Farnsworth earlier this year, features music from the “lost” film Sept Etoiles (Seven Stars), allegedly recorded in Portugal. Unfortunately, the director was arrested on smuggling charges — again allegedly — and the film fell apart.
“Even if the fake film never saw the light of day, the very real soundtrack fortunately did,” Farnsworth writes. “It's some of the band's best work: a clever, rarely still record that moves between sunny jazz and ambient electronica with ease.”
Terrific music for apocryphal films aside, our man’s best-known collaboration was with singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell on the wildly successful folk-rock opera Hadestown. Still running on Broadway, the show, which is an expansive retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, had its more stripped-down debut in Vermont. I had the good fortune to see the nascent production in a small Burlington venue, then a bigger and longer version off-Broadway, and finally the fully developed show on Broadway, which was utterly thrilling. Hadestown was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and took home eight, including Best Musical, in 2019. Among them also was the award for Best Orchestration, which our man shared with New York musician Todd Sickafoose.
“I am the only person who has played every live performance of Hadestown,” he told Eva Sollberger for an episode of her video series “Stuck in Vermont.” “There’s a lot of heart,” he added. “Maybe that’s the Vermont part of the show.”
There is probably little doubt among this audience who I mean by “our man.” A resident of both Lincoln, Vt., and a remarkable place called Hadestown, Michael Chorney is the 2024 recipient of the Herb Lockwood Prize.
2024 Winner
Michael Chorney
