McGRATHPR.com – Falling leaves and cooler weather usher in inspiration for cultural respite for autumn and the quickly approaching holiday season in Boston, the South Shore and Cape Cod regions.
Fall and Holiday 2021 Events and Entertainment
The James Library & Center for the Arts
Jazz Pianist Laszlo Gardony
Saturday, October 23, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30 Adults, $25 Seniors 65+, $15 Students
Tickets on sale at jameslibrary.org on September 6, 2021
Space is limited due to Covid-19 safety protocols.
Acclaimed jazz pianist, composer, and James Library favorite Laszlo Gardony returns to celebrate his live solo album La Marseillaise (Sunnyside Records) with a solo piano concert. Hailed by JazzTimes as “one of contemporary music’s truly original voices,” Laszlo’s performances convey the joy of inspired creation, audience connection, and moving spontaneous improvisations. Gardony’s concerts are one-of-a-kind performances drawing from deep feeling, prodigious technique, and a playful curiosity that thrives on interpreting each unique moment. He will perform new compositions, his own arrangements of standards, a classic Italian song, a re-imagination of an iconic French revolutionary song and spontaneously created pieces. Gardony has said, “Music has a direct effect on our emotions and also on our well-being.” Not to be missed!
UnPRESSedented: Coastal Printmakers
Open House Art Gallery Opening Friday, October 8, 1-7 pm
On view October 8 to November 13, 2021
Free and open to the public
Featuring work from over 13 of the South Shore’s most accomplished artists, this exhibition will show a variety of printmaking techniques and will include etchings, solarplates and monoprints.
Weekend Classics Concert: Argus Quartet
Sunday, November 7, 3:00 pm
Tickets: $35 Adults, $30 Seniors 65+, $20 Students
Tickets on sale at jameslibrary.org on September 6, 2021
Space is limited due to Covid-19 safety protocols.
Praised for playing with “supreme melodic control and total authority” and “decided dramatic impact” (Calgary Herald), Argus Quartet has quickly emerged as one of today’s most dynamic and versatile ensembles, winning First Prize at both the 2017 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition and the 2017 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. The Argus Quartet is dedicated to encouraging the joys of human connection, community, and discovery by bringing a wide-ranging repertoire to life through bold and meaningful programming and a vibrant commitment to collaboration and education.
Pastel Gems: Small Works for the Holidays
Open House Art Gallery Opening Friday, November 19, 1-7 pm
On view November 19, 2021 to January 8, 2022
Free and open to the public
This exhibit will feature small but exceptional pieces of art perfect for holiday gift giving. All pieces are original works created by well-recognized and accomplished local pastel artists who have been painting and exhibiting together for years. Small Works shows are a popular event due to the small scale and affordability, and with the holidays right around the corner, you will not want to miss this show!
Author Stephen Puleo: Voyage of Mercy
Sunday, November 21, 2:00 pm
Tickets: $20 Adults, $10 Students
Tickets on sale at jameslibrary.org on September 6, 2021
Space is limited due to Covid-19 safety protocols.
The remarkable story of the mission that inspired America to donate massive relief to Ireland during the potato famine, which sparked America’s tradition of providing humanitarian aid around the world. Voyage of Mercy tells the incredible story of the famine, the Jamestown voyage, and the commitment of thousands of ordinary Americans to offer relief to Ireland, a groundswell that provided the collaborative blueprint for future relief efforts and established the United States as the leader in international aid.
For more information about The James Library’s programs and events, please call 781-659-7100, visit jameslibrary.org or follow The James Library on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Jon & Juli Finn
julifinn.com/jon-and-juli-jazzy-bluesy
The Great Guitar Night
Friday, November 5, 7:30-10:30 pm
The Regent Theatre, 7 Medford Street, Arlington
Tickets: Email box.office@regenttheatre.com or call 781-646-4849 for ticket prices or to order tickets.
The Great Guitar Night showcases some of the Boston region’s greater guitarists all under one roof! Hear the exceptional music of professional performing artists Paul Bourgelais, Erin Harpe, Max O’Rourke, Jack Soref, Gerry Beaudoin, Brad Faucher, Jon Finn and Juli Finn in a performance to remember! Celebrate the fine art of guitar playing with some of the greats!
For more information about The Great Guitar Night, email The Regent Theatre at box.office@regenttheatre.com or call 781-646-4849.
Guitar Night: Rock and Pop Student Showcase
Monday, November 22, 8:00 pm
Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston
$10 in advance / $15 day of show
Discounted admission with Berklee ID: Free in advance / $5 day of show
Tickets and Details: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/8811272
Guitar faculty members Jon Finn and Robin Stone will host the Berklee School of Music’s guitar department’s Guitar Night: Rock and Pop Student Showcase. This concert will feature selected, student-led ensembles representing the best rock and pop guitarists at Berklee.
Choral Art Society
A Winter Day – Music of the Season, Secular and Sacred, Lively and Lovely
Sunday, December 5, 4 pm
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 465 First Parish Road, Scituate
Tickets: $20 general admission
Danica Buckley, Conductor
A Winter Day’s featured work is written by Canadian contemporary composer Sarah Quartel, accompanied by piano and cello. The five-movement work celebrates the frigid beauty of Canada’s winters, as expressed in poems by Sara Teasdale, Lucy Maud Montgomery (of “Anne of Green Gables” fame), Melville Cane, as well as Quartel’s own writings. Each movement depicts the passing times of day, beginning with the cold darkness before dawn (Timid Star), concluding as the evening turns to dusk, followed by darkness (Snow Toward Evening). The work conjures up vivid images of a cold, crisp winter, and swirling, dancing snowflakes. The concert culminates with delightful, joyous songs of the season.
For more information about Choral Art Society, visit choralartsociety.org, or follow Choral Art Society of the South Shore on Facebook.
Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra
Ghost Hunters
Saturday, October 23, 7 pm
St. Christopher’s Church, 625 Main St., Chatham
Sunday, October 24, 3 pm
Pilgrim Congregational Church, 533 Rt. 28, Harwich Port
Matthew Scinto, Conductor
Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra’s fourth season opens just in time for Halloween. Peer into the story of Liza Tower Hill, otherwise known as the Witch of Barnstable, said to have been dancing on Mary Dunn Pond each night with a crew of otherworldly creatures. Other Cape Cod folklore fills the room, in this program of ghost stories and music.
Franz Joseph Haydn leads the hunt as we search for this Barnstable Witch in his famous Symphony No. 73 “The Hunt”. Vaughan Williams’ “Death of Tintagiles” tells the gloomy tale of a queen who captures a family, leaving others to attempt to rescue them. We conclude with Bartok’s Divertimento for Strings, written in 1939 as Europe began to enter dark times before World War II.
Shaw, Barber & Tchaikovsky
Saturday, November 20, (time TBD)
Martha’s Vineyard (location TBD)
Sunday, November 21, 3 pm
Yarmouth New Church Preservation, 266 Main St., 6A, Yarmouth Port
Matthew Scinto, Conductor
CCCO returns with a program of eclectic music for strings featuring the music of Caroline Shaw. The Yarmouth New Church Preservation Foundation is a non-religious, non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the historically registered former church on Yarmouth Port common as a vibrant cultural center for public benefit and use. The CCCO will perform Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Tchaikovsky’s thrilling Serenade for Strings, and Entr’acte by Caroline Shaw. On her work Shaw writes: “Entr’acte was written in 2011 after hearing the Brentano Quartet play Haydn’s Op. 77 No. 2 — with their spare and soulful shift to the D-flat major trio in the minuet. It is structured like a minuet and trio, riffing on that classical form but taking it a little further. I love the way some music (like the minuets of Op. 77) suddenly takes you to the other side of Alice’s looking glass, in a kind of absurd, subtle, technicolor transition.”
Summer Holiday
Saturday, December 11, 5 pm – a benefit performance for WE CAN
St. Christopher’s Church, 625 Main St., Chatham
Sunday, December 12, 2021, 3 pm
Pilgrim Congregational Church, 533 Rt. 28, Harwich Port
Matthew Scinto, Conductor
Guess what? Summer has come early. Join CCCO for some mid-winter warmth featuring soprano Sarah Joyce Cooper in Samuel Barber’s Knoxville, Summer of 1915. Barber paints an idyllic, nostalgic picture of Knoxville, Tennessee based on text by James Agee. The work is a simple, dreamlike depiction of an evening in the American South, narrated by a child. The CCCO will also perform the Andante movement from Florence Price’s String Quartet No. 1, concluding with Charles Ives’ trip to camp with his Third Symphony “The Camp Meeting”.
The Saturday evening performance is a benefit for WE CAN, as they celebrate 20 years of empowering women on Cape Cod.
Pilgrim Festival Chorus
Pilgrim Journey: Songs of Faith and Courage
Saturday, October 23, 7:30 pm, and Sunday, October 24, 4 pm
St. Bonaventure Parish, 803 State Road, Plymouth
Tickets: $20 for adults, $18 for senior citizens and $15 for students over 14
Children age of 14 and under are admitted free
Co-Artistic Directors William B. Richter and Elizabeth Chapman Reilly, accompanied by brass quartet and harp
Pilgrim Festival Chorus, the region’s principal not-for-profit community choral ensemble, presents two special commemorative concerts honoring Plymouth’s quadricentennial celebration. In this performance, singers and instrumentalists mark the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower in Plymouth. Initially scheduled for October 2020, this concert is presented through the lens of the faith and courage of the Mayflower’s passengers as they emigrated across the sea to the new world. The program features the premiere of a specially commissioned work by Massachusetts composer Clifton J. Noble Jr., “Arrived in Good Harbor”. Noble worked closely with PFC’s directors to create a work that incorporates texts written by William Bradford (1590-1657), noted Governor of the Plymouth Colony and a signatory of the Mayflower Compact.
Also on the program, is a work by American composer Alice Parker, who is herself a national treasure, having promoted America’s musical heritage over a career that spans decades. “Melodious Accord”, Parker’s masterful setting of 18th and early 19th century hymns in the shape-note tradition, is particularly suitable for this program, as it reflects the strong faith of the Pilgrims. PFC’s performance of this work is the region’s first in many years.
Advance tickets may be purchased online at pilgrimfestivalchorus.org or from PFC members. To reserve tickets by phone, please call PFC President Hannah Woodbury at 781-834-8601. For more information, visit pilgrimfestivalchorus.org, or follow Pilgrim Festival Chorus on Facebook.
Remembering Christmas Past
Saturday, December 4, 7:30 pm, and Sunday, December 5, 4 pm
St. Bonaventure Parish, 803 State Road, Plymouth
Tickets: $20 for adults, $18 for senior citizens and $15 for students over 14
Children age of 14 and under are admitted free
Conducted by Co-Artistic Director William B. Richter, with accompaniment by Co-Artistic Director Elizabeth Chapman Reilly
Pilgrim Festival Chorus presents its annual holiday season concert, this year a collection of memories in “Remembering Christmas Past”. The program explores five centuries of seasonal music, including favorites from past concerts to ring in the holiday season.
Advance tickets may be purchased online at pilgrimfestivalchorus.org or from PFC members. To reserve tickets by phone, please call PFC President Hannah Woodbury at 781-834-8601. For more information, visit pilgrimfestivalchorus.org, or follow Pilgrim Festival Chorus on Facebook.
Messiah and Carol Sing-along
Friday, December 17, 7:30 pm
Church at the Green, 6 Plympton Street, Middleborough
Tickets: $10.00 for adults and youth ages 12+, available at the door. Children under age 12 are admitted for free
Conducted by Co-Artistic Director William B. Richter, with accompaniment by Co-Artistic Director Elizabeth Chapman Reilly
Pilgrim Festival Chorus co-director William B. Richter leads the audience in both carols and the familiar choruses from Part I of Handel’s masterpiece, concluding with the Hallelujah Chorus. Solos selected from Part I, the Christmas portion, will be sung by featured local vocalists. Organ accompaniment is performed by PFC accompanist/co-director, Elizabeth Chapman Reilly, music director at the church, often enriched by visiting guest instrumental musicians.
In Messiah Sings, popular throughout the area for more than 40 years, the audience can either sing or listen. Scores are available to borrow on site, or attendees are welcome to bring their own. Funds raised from this event support the PFC’s yearly operating expenses.
South Shore Ballet Theatre
The Nutcracker
Saturday, December 18, 2 pm and 6 pm; and Sunday, December 19, 2 pm
Thayer Academy Center for the Arts, 745 Washington Street, Braintree
A welcome sign of the holiday season, South Shore Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker celebrates the magic of the holidays through the joy of dance. Come watch as Clara explores a world of magic from her family’s living room on Christmas Eve, through an enchanted forest of dancing snowflakes, and into the magical Land of The Sweets led by the Sugar Plum Fairy. This exciting, family-friendly production features 90 student dancers from our ballet training programs, representing communities on the South Shore from Plymouth to Quincy.
Tickets are $22 available for purchase starting November 15, available at buy.tututix.com/southshoreballettheatre.
For more information about South Shore Ballet Theatre, its programs and performances, visit southshoreballettheatre.com, call 781-312-7224, or follow South Shore Ballet Theatre on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest.
The Choir of Men and Boys of Saint Paul’s, Saint Paul’s Choir School
Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, Historical Lecture and Open House
Thursday, November 18, 4 pm Lecture, 5 pm Performance, 6:30 pm Open House
Saint Paul’s Parish and Saint Paul’s Choir School, 29 Mount Auburn Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge
SPCS Director of Music and Choirmaster James Kennerley, conductor, with accompaniment by Assistant Director of Music Maks Adach on Saint Paul’s majestic pipe organ.
Admission to all three events is free
A trio of events surround a performance of Gabriel Fauré’s beloved Requiem, presented by Saint Paul’s Choir School and Saint Paul’s Parish. First, Dr. Thomas Kelly, distinguished Harvard University professor and world-renowned expert of medieval plainchant and early music, offers a lecture on the musical and liturgical history of the Requiem. The presentation is immediately followed by the performance of Fauré’s Requiem, featuring the Choir of Men and Boys of Saint Paul’s. Lastly, the audience and public are encouraged to attend St. Paul’s Choir School’s adjacent Open House immediately following the performance.
Gabriel Fauré’s masterwork Requiem offers some of the most luscious and dramatic choral music of the twentieth century. Scored for Fauré’s own choir of men and boys at the magnificent church of the La Madeleine in Paris, it has endured as one of his most popular works since its debut performance in 1888. The audience will be transported by this seminal French composition immersed in the beautiful acoustic of Saint Paul’s stately architecture, featuring organ and instrumental soloists. Saint Paul’s Choir of Men and Boys often perform in tandem, offering inspiration for growth to the boy choristers, who are all educated at Saint Paul’s Choir School, adjacent to the parish.
Christmas in Harvard Square
Sundays, December 12 and 19, 3 pm
Saint Paul’s Church, Harvard Square, Cambridge
The boy choristers of Saint Paul’s Choir School and Back Bay Brass ensemble
Conducted by SPCS Director of Music James Kennerley
Tickets are $35-$70, available at saintpaulschoirschool.us/christmasinharvardsquare
This season’s iteration of “Christmas in Harvard Square” features a Christmas program that originates across the globe –
including music from Nigeria, Germany, France, the Ukraine, the West Indies, Austria, and Harvard Square itself!
Immerse yourself in a holiday traditional like no other and enjoy audience favorites like “Joy to the world”, “Carol of the
Bells” and “O Holy Night”, as well as a medieval French processional hymn, a lively West Indian Calypso carol, and John
Rutter’s powerful, uplifting work, “Gloria”. The boy choristers are joined by the professional male singers from Saint Paul’s
Choir, an ensemble renowned for its audible beauty and passionate performances. The concert also features audience
sing-alongs, accompanied by the virtuosic Back Bay Brass ensemble, together with percussion and the majestic Saint
Paul’s pipe organ. A cameo appearance by the youngest choristers of the choir delight in a beloved arrangement
of “Silent Night”, originated by SPCS Founder Theodore Marier.
For more information on Saint Paul’s Church, Harvard Square, visit stpaulparish.org. To learn more about Saint Paul’s
Choir School enrollment, curriculum, programs and performances, visit saintpaulschoirschool.us, call 617-868-8658, or
email admin@saintpaulschoirschool.us, or follow St. Paul’s Choir School Harvard Square on Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and YouTube.
Saint Paul’s Choir School is the only private all-boys Catholic Choir School in the United States, serving students in grades 3 through 8. It is a vital facet of Saint Paul’s Parish in Harvard Square, Cambridge, led by Father William Kelly, Pastor, an alumnus of the school. To learn more about Saint Paul’s Choir School enrollment, curriculum, programs and performances, visit saintpaulschoirschool.us, call 617-868-8658, email admin@saintpaulschoirschool.us, or follow Saint Paul’s Choir School Harvard Square on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. For more information on Saint Paul’s Harvard Square, visit stpaulsharvardsquare.org.
Americana Theatre Company
It’s a Wonderful Life – a live radio play
Select dates from December 4 through 12, evening and matinee performances available
Plymouth Center for the Arts, 11 North Street, Plymouth
Tickets: $35.00 adults, $30.00 students/seniors
Back by popular demand! The beloved American holiday film classic performed as a live 1940s radio broadcast comes to captivating life as It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. Inside the WBFR radio studio, a small ensemble plays out 40+ roles with microphones, sound effects and the quintessential “applause” sign gracing the stage as the story of idealistic George Bailey unfolds. The hubbub and excitement of the Christmas Eve broadcast of It’s a Wonderful Life lulls as “listeners” tune in, and Bailey contemplates the fate of his future and what his world would be like if he never existed in it. A story of desperation and miracles finds hope in the prayers of an angel, delivering holiday season entertainment and joy to all those in need.
To purchase tickets, or for more information about Americana Theatre Company, visit americanatheatre.org/tickets, or call 508-591-0282.
winter concert, includes joyous songs of the season. Highlights include Gwyneth Walker’s “How Can I Keep from Singing?”, Paul Carey’s “A Cradle Song”, movements from Gabriel Fauré’s “Messe Basse”, Z. Randall Stroope’s “Missa”, Nicolas Porpora’s “Magnificat”, Bob Chilcott’s “A Little Jazz Mass” and more.
Concord Women’s Chorus
Winter Concert
Dates, location, times and ticket prices TBA
Jane Ring Frank, Director; Scott Nicholas, accompanist
Concord Women’s Chorus presents its annual winter concert, includes joyous songs of the season. Highlights include Gwyneth Walker’s “How Can I Keep from Singing?”, Paul Carey’s “A Cradle Song”, movements from Gabriel Fauré’s “Messe Basse”, Z. Randall Stroope’s “Missa”, Nicolas Porpora’s “Magnificat”, Bob Chilcott’s “A Little Jazz Mass” and more.
For more information, visit concordwomenschorus.org, or follow Concord Women’s Chorus on Facebook and Instagram.
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