COMMUNITY EVENTS

• The Friends of the Job Lane House will host their Annual Meeting on Sunday, March 20, from 3 to 5 pm in the Common Room of the First Parish on the Common in Bedford. You're invited to enjoy refreshments and a program on Bedford's history through a look at the Lane family archive plus an entertaining Bedford Trivia quiz. For more information or to RSVP, call Sharon McDonald at 781-275-5643.

• Entries in the 2011 Veterans' Creative Arts Festival competition will be on view at the Bedford VA on Friday, March 11. The fine and applied art and crafts exhibit will be displayed in room 121 of Building 80 from 9 am to noon; creative writing, dance, drama and music will be showcased from 2 to 4:30 pm in the Bedford VA theatre. First place winners in each of the many categories will move on to the VA's national art competition. For additional information, contact arts therapist Nadene Landry at 781-687-3199 or recreation therapist Leah Sullivan at 781-687-3237.

• At 1 pm on Wednesday, March 23, Priscilla Busch will present a virtual tour of the MFA's new wing in preparation for the Bedford Council on Aging's planned tour of the new wing coming in the spring.

BEDFORD HIGH SCHOOL & JOHN GLENN MIDDLE SCHOOL MUSICALS

• The Bedford High School (BHS) Music Department will stage its spring musical,Grease, at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, March 9, 11 and 12; and at 4 pm on Thursday, March 10, in the BHS Auditorium.For more information contact Diane Pritchett at diane_pritchett@bedford.k12.ma.us or 781-275-1700 ext. 4200.

• The 2011 John Glenn Middle School (JGMS) spring musical, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, will be staged on Wednesday, March 16 at 4 pm; Thursday and Friday, March 17 and 18 at 7 pm; and on Saturday, March 19, at 6 pm in the school's auditorium.

• POMS (Patrons of Music Students) is looking for volunteers to sell refreshments at both the BHS and JGMS musicals. The work is light, fun and a great way to support the performers and the Music Department. If you are interested in volunteering please contact Diane Marino at: dicarmar@comcast.net or 781-275-7991.

IMAGINE IRELAND  AT INDIAN HILL IN LITTLETON 

 

Celebrate St Patrick's Day and Irish music with Indian Hill Music School and The Orchestra at Indian Hill at 38 King Street (Rte 110) in Littleton, a short 15-minute ride from the Concord Rotary on Rte. 2.

 

The festivities take place on Saturday, March 12, in a day-long celebration of Irish music and culture for all ages, with families especially invited.

 

The celebration begin at 11 am with Irish Stories and Songs by Kate Chadbourne; followed by a Ceili at noon with Irish fiddlers and dance instructors; and a sing-a-long with Liz Simmons at 2 pm. All family activities are free of charge and handicapped accessible.

 

Traditional Irish music workshops begin at 2 pm with Irish flute, Shannon Heaton; Irish fiddle, Maurice Lennon; Irish guitar, Flynn Cohen; Uilleann pipes, Michael Cooney; and Bodhran, Eoin McQuinn. The workshops are free for Indian Hill music students and $10 per person for others. Call to register at 978-486-9524, ext.116

 

In the evening, the Orchestra of Indian Hill presents A Tip O'the Hat to St. Patrick at 7:30 pm to cap the day. Maestro Bruce Hangen has created an extraordinary programincluding the American premiere of Charlie Lennon's Island Wedding Suite which will be narrated by Brian O'Donovan, host of WGBH radio's A Celtic Sojourn. Click to listen to a sample of the program! 

 

There's a pre-concert Irish dinner in Blackman Hall at 5:30 pm. Call (978) 486-9524, ext.116 to make your reservations. Know the Score, a pre-concert lecture by Maestro Hagan in the cafeteria at Littleton High School, will begin at 6:30 and feature an exclusive appearance by legendary Irish fiddler/composer Charlie Lennon & The Lennon Family Group.

 

CALL FOR ARTISTS and ART

• Noted author, illustrator and ornithologist David Allen Sibley will judge entries in a show sponsored by Lowell's Brush Gallery & Artists' Studios in collaboration with the Massachusetts Audubon Society. THE BIRDS: An Exhibition Celebrating Birds and their Habitats will raise funds for the volunteers who care for injured birds until they are able to be returned to the wild. To submit your artwork for consideration by March 4, go to www.thebrush.org/showopportunities. A full color catalogue will be produced of the artwork chosen for this exhibition.

• Do you have items you'd like to donate to a fundraising auction to benefit Bedford's St. Paul's Episcopal Church? Paintings, sculpture, fabric art, jewelry, art classes, museum passes and the like are welcome for St. Paul's Art Auction on Saturday, May 7. There will also be paintings by celebrated Bedford artist Mary-Amy Cross, a longtime member of St. Paul's who passed away last summer. Mike Rosenberg, chairman of the Board of Selectman, will serve as celebrity auctioneer.  Contact Lori Murphy of the Art Review Committee (murph501@verizon.net) or Louisa Saladino-Kuhl (lskuhl@me.com). 

IN THE GALLERIES  

• Gallery Della Piana has been revitalized for its newest exhibition, POINTS of DEPARTURE, an exhibit of work by six non-objective artists: Masako Kamiya; Niho Kozuru; Michael Pasquale; Pamela Shaw; Robert Cipriani; and Rose Olson. The show is on display through April 21 at the gallery, 152R Main Street, Wenham.  

• Don't miss the Edward Gorey exhibit in the main floor gallery at the Boston Athenaeum 10 1/2 Beacon Street, Boston. The exhibit is open during regular library hours, and you don't need to be a member to visit. Suggested donation: $5 per person.

 MUSIC

• The Concord Orchestra presents its spring concert, Austria, Germany, and Boston, on Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26 at 8:00 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center at 51 Walden Street, Concord.  Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for senior citizens, and $10 for students.  For tickets and information, call 978-369-4967.

• Friends of the Performing Arts in Concord presents Opera and Broadway Showstoppers, a review of past productions, as a fundraiser for its playhouse at 51 Walden in Concord.  The program includes operatic arias along with songs from operettas and musical comedy performed by some of the area's finest young singers, a full chorus, and orchestra.  Performances will take place on Saturday, April 2, at 8 pm and Sunday, April 3, at 2 pm.  Admission is $25 for adults and $20 for seniors/students. For tickets call 978-369-791.

• An intergenerational cabaret evening featuring a Gamelan orchestra and performances by First Parish's youth choirs will take place in the Common Room at First Parish on the Common at 7 pm on Saturday, March 26.

• The Sybarite5 string quintet will make its Boston-area debut at 7:30 pm on Saturday, March 19, at First Parish in Concord. Sybarite5 promises a lively evening of cutting edge chamber music: Mozart vs. Radiohead.  There will be a reception following the concert so you'll be able to greet the musicians who include Concord's Sarah Whitney.

• Pianist Wanda Paik will present a solo recital as part of Middlesex Community College's A World of Music, concert series. A local piano teacher, Paik will perform works by J.S. Bach, Brahms, Liszt, Debussy and Chopin at 3 pm on Sunday, March 27, in the MCC Concert Hall (Building 6), on the Bedford campus, 591 Springs Road. For information, call 781-280-3923 or e-mail peraltac@middlesex.mass.edu.

AT THE BEDFORD LIBRARY

• This year's selection for One Book, One Bedford sponsored by the Bedford Free Public Library is E. L. Doctorow's Homer and Langley. The library already has plenty of copies on hand and will host a series of community book discussions and special events focused on the book and its themes through the month of April.  

AT EMERSON UMBRELLA

• It's time to get your tickets for Emerson Umbrella's production of the musical, Ragtime, which opens on April 1. Performances will take place on Fridays and Saturdays, April 1 and 2; April 8 and 9; and April 15 and 16. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for seniors and students; click here to order your tickets online or call Emerson Umbrella at 978-371-0802. 

• Open Studios will return at Emerson Umbrella on March 4 and 5. Artists with studios at Emerson Umbrella will open their spaces so you can learn about their work and perhaps acquire a mid-winter gift to brighten the last days of chill and darkness. During Open Studios, and for the month of March, the gallery will feature work by the center's resident artists.  

Emerson Umbrella is located at 40 Stow Street in Concord - 978-371-0802 

 

AT THE CONCORD ART ASSOCIATION (CAA)

• Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, an insightful documentary including little-seen archival footage and a never-before-seen interview with the artist, will be screened at CAA on Wednesday, March 16 at 7 pm. Call 978-369-2578 or e-mail education@concordart.org to reserve your place.

• On Thursday, March 24, the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) will present Get Your Grant to introduce artists to the programs and services that MCC offers throughout the Commonwealth. Artists' fellowships, apprenticeships, STARS residencies and local cultural council grants will be highlighted. The talk is in conjunction with CAA's current show of paintings and crafts by MCCl Artist Fellows and Finalists. The talk is free and open to all.

• Travel with CAA on a day trip to New York to see Steiglitz, Steichen, Strand at the Metropolitan Museum on Tuesday, March 8.  Early morning coffee and muffins will be served on the bus, and there will be lunch at the Met as well as a private tour and discussion of the exhibit before returning to Concord in the late evening. The $150 fee covers transportation, museum admission and the tour. Contact Michele Kenna (978-369-2578) or e-mail education@concordart.org.

The Concord Art Association is located at 37 Lexington Road in Concord - 978-369-2578.

 

AT LEXINGTON ARTS & CRAFTS SOCIETY (LACS)

• There will be an opening reception from 3 to 5 pm on Sunday, March 6 for Wicker, Wool and Wire, an exhibit featuring work from LACS' Basketry, Metalworkers and Weavers Guilds. The exhibit will open on March 8 and run through March 27 during regular gallery hours. The show is open free to the public and most pieces will be for sale.

• Registration is now Open for LACS' Spring Classes/Workshops. Check their website for a detailed listing www.LACSma.org or call 781-862-9696 for more information. Special note: LACS is now an approved venue to award Professional Development Points (PDPs) to teachers for Massachusetts' Department of Education certification.

Lexington Arts and Crafts Society is located at 130 Waltham Street in Lexington - 781.862.9696

 

AT THE GRIFFIN MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHY

• The next Senior Sundays/Family Sunday will take place on March 13 from 3 to 4:15 pm. Mike Ginns, executive director of the Cannonball Foundation talks about baseball legend Will "Cannonball" Jackman and discusses the history and significance of African American baseball in New England from the early 1900s to the 1950s. Senior Sundays/ Family Sundays are designed to provide seniors with an opportunity to socialize and hear area photographers speak about their work. The program is free for seniors and their friends.

• Tony Scarpetta will set up a food shoot and discuss the challenges of photographing food in An Insider's Look at Food Photography  at 7:30 pm on March 15. Admission is $10, members; $20 nonmembers

• There will be an opening reception at 6 pm on Tuesday, March 15 for Alice Shafer's exhibit Reflected Relationships.  Shafer, a street photographer, enjoys "observing what evokes the attention and the feelings of other people," she says.

The Griffin Museum has several locations; check their web site for the event you wish to attend.  

 

THEATER

• The Wellesley Players will present one of America's most beloved musicals, Annie, at the Sorenson Center for the Arts on the campus of Babson College at 7: 30 pm on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12 and at 2 pm on Sunday, March 13. There will also be performances on at 7:30 pm Friday, March 18 and Saturday, March 19 and at 2 pm on Sunday, March 20. Admission for adults is $25; for students/seniors, $22.

LECURES & FILMS

• A screening of the film Coal Country and a discussion about the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign will take place on Monday, March 7, at 7 pm in the large meeting room at Cary Memorial Library in Lexington. The evening is co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Sierra Club, the Lexington Global Warming Action Coalition, and the Global Warming Education Network. There is no admission fee.

• The Bedford/Lexington chapter of American Association of University Women (AAUW) brings the film Pray the Devil Back to Hell to the meeting room of the Bedford Free Public Library at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, March 2, followed by a discussion of the Christian and Muslim women who came together to stand for peace and justice in Liberia.

• Patricia Lovett will lecture on the Lindisfarne Gospels at 5:30 pm  on Tuesday, March 8,  in Room 133 of Barker Hall (Humanities Center) at Harvard University in Cambridge (click for directions). Chair of CLAS (Calligraphy and Lettering Arts Society) in London, Lovett is the author of Calligraphy, Illumination and Heraldry as well as other important books on the subject- and of course a highly accomplished calligrapher and designer.  

• In collaboration with Suffolk University, the Boston Athenaeum presents two panel discussions on immigration in March. Immigrants in Boston at 6 pm on March 3, and Children of Immigrants at 6 pm on March 15. Both programs are free, but reservations are required. Please call the Athenaeum's events line at 617-720-7600 to secure your space.

FUNDRAISERS

• The 5th Annual Pan Mass Challenge Cocktail Party & Auction to benefit the Dana Farber Cancer Institute will take place on Friday, March 18 at the Double Tree Bedford Glen Hotel on Middlesex Turnpike. Auction items will include sports items and special events.  Admission is $25 per person. For questions contact Monica Bou (monica.bou@comcast.net).

ARCHITECTURE

• It's distant, but worth the trip: Tickets for the 2011 Glass House Tour Season at the Phillip Johnson House are available now. Book online or call 866-811-4111 to make your reservation. New this season: Art, Architecture and Landscape Focus Tours detailing the site's core elements, and Conversations in Context, an evening program series hosted by leading minds in architecture, art, history, design, and preservation.  The Philip Johnson Glass House is located at 199 Elm Street, New Canaan, CT 06840.

 

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