newpride

The Newton Community Pride board elected a new board of directors. “During these challenging times for the arts and culture community, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to lean in and help build a stronger organization to answer the call for community programming that can support our village centers, artists and arts and culture nonprofits,” said newly elected board chair Gloria M. Gavris. [..]

In an effort to connect its residents, support local businesses, and help the artistic community recover from the pandemic’s financial impact, Newton Cultural Development is working with local nonprofits, organizations and individuals to fund and organize art projects in the city, including artist-painted doors and live-streamed concerts. Paula Gannon, the director of Newton Cultural Development, said art plays a part in helping residents cope with the pandemic. [...]

The first time Maria Finkelmeier saw the Hatch Memorial Shell on the Charles River Esplanade, she was a kid in Cincinnati watching Boston Pops concerts with her family on TV. After moving to Boston as an adult, she got to enjoy many in-person experiences with the site — from biking the area when she was dating her now husband, to catching concerts by Boston Landmarks Orchestra on hot summer evenings. As a professional percussionist, she even got to perform on the stage. “The Hatch Shell has this deep-rooted history with orchestral music,’’ Finkelmeier said via phone recently. But with a new multi-sensory art installation, she said, “we’re pivoting to say ‘Let’s make this a platform for contemporary music.’ ’’ Commissioned by the Esplanade Association for the park’s 20th anniversary, Finkelmeier’s “Hatched: Breaking Through the Silence’’ will play [...]

Call for Art for Newton Outdoors, a new public art initiative debuting in the Spring. Deadline to apply is February 28, 2021 [...]

Thanks to three cultural organizations in Western Massachusetts, an online music festival is bringing performers like Lake Street Dive, The Fab Faux, and June Millington to screens everywhere. Get Down With Your Hometown is the handiwork of a small group of women — nicknamed the “Giddy-Up Gals’’ — from the Institute of Musical Arts, Shea Theater, and North Star, a Sunderland alternative learning center for middle and high school students. The 38-act program will stream live on Facebook and YouTube Friday and Saturday, free of charge. [...]

As COVID hit Boston in March, a small clutch of rock musician friends became aware that their whole way of life had abruptly gone extinct: gigs, rehearsals, even the hang — the after-show gabbing at favorite bars — all fell victim to the virus. “I so missed going to bars like the Plough and Stars [in Cambridge] to see all my friends play,’’ explained drummer Larry Dersch. “So I suggested we hang out on Zoom.’’ The friends were all veterans of the Boston rock scene of the ’80s and ’90s: [...]

Every kid with a musical bent has fantasized by waving their arms, conducting an imaginary orchestra. For Amelia LeClair, it wasn’t a fantasy. It was her only way to make real music. The founder and director of Cappella Clausura, the ambitious vocal ensemble that specializes in contemporary women composers as well as “the nuns,” as LeClair calls them - early-music pioneers like Barbara Strozzi and Hildegard von Bingen - had to find a way to record her 16 singers and instrumentalists. With live performances on hold, Cappella Clausura came together virtually to record Chiara Margarita Cozzolani’s “Magnificat.” The process began with LeClair, alone. [...]