Joel Banner Baird

Free Press Staff Writer

HINESBURG - Half an hour before the 6 p.m. show, an audience of mostly adults jammed the auditorium at Champlain Valley Union High School.

Backstage, out of earshot, hundreds of student choral singers raised their voices — with questions for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont.

The pre-show gathering was billed as a town meeting on arts and education. The rehearsal room hummed with excitement.

Sanders began by promising the throng that he would do everything he could to ensure that federal funding for the arts and humanities would remain in place.

"But what can I do, what can my classmates do, to make sure that the arts stay healthy and alive in Vermont?" asked a student from Colchester High School.

"Do your best to stand up and fight for the arts," the senator replied. "You've got to make your case to the local school board, and to your state legislature - that the arts are equally important to a good education"

How about another run for the president, in 2020?

Sanders said it was too early to begin thinking about that.

What about low-voter turnout? Big money?

Sanders reiterated his call for civic engagement — no matter how old the artist might be.

An aide signaled the approach of showtime.

Several dozen performers hustled the senator into place for a group photo, then regrouped to perform.

Before the concert began, Sanders addressed the audience.

"I believe and I know that you believe that when we talk about education is not just math, science and English — as important as all those subjects are," he said. "When we talk about a true education, about educating the whole person, we must never forget that art and culture are an integral part of that."

Sanders continued: "In Vermont and all over the country, schools are being forced to make really painful decisions. Do we hire a language teacher or do we continue with the arts?

"We are the wealthiest country in the history of the world. And right now in Washington there are people talking about hundreds of billions of dollars for the top two-tenths of one percent.

"No school in America should have to make a choice about whether we fund the arts or languages or athletics. We can do it all, and for the sake of our kids, we've got to do it all."

The music that followed echoed those sentiments.

Wowing the crowd was the Champlain Valley Union High School chorus, during which Sanders could be seen mouthing the words to their rendition of "Bridge over Troubled Waters". There were also choruses and musicians Stowe Elementary School; Colchester High School, Barre City Elementary and Middle School, Essex High School, a consortium of college students from Castleton University, St. Michael's College and the University of Vermont.

The finale, fittingly, knit all those voices together for "These Green Mountains."

Contact Joel Banner Baird at 802-660-1843 or joelbaird@freepressmedia.com, and on Twitter at @vtgoingup.