Looks like a gorgeous weekend ahead – enhance it even more with some culture! No major arts events in Newton tonight but Saturday and Sunday are ripe with possibility!

SATURDAY

Spring Open Studios
Newton Open Studios*
Sat, May 19-Sun, May 20
11am – 5pm | FREE

Newton Open Studios is taking over the city! With all the awesome locations you will be hard pressed to not bump into some art this weekend. (But be careful, bumping into art could be hazardous.) This is one of the best opportunities to get a look at so many of the talented visual artists in Newton! Download the printable map & guide here. Learn more about the artists here. And if you see Ellen Fisher this weekend, give her a high-five. She deserves a ton of credit for putting this amazing event together!

And remember to pick up a Culture ‘n Cuisine voucher while you’re out! Because NOS is an NCA member, any visitor may pick up a voucher and receive 10% off your meal at one of the participating Culture ‘n Cuisine restaurants from now through June 30, 2012!

(My favorite NOS poster is the Mona Lisa one I’ve spotted on Beacon St. Anyone else?)

 

| Newton MA News and Politics BlogThe Beauty of Brahms
New Philharmonia Orchestra*
Sat, May 19 @ 8pm | Sun, May 20 @ 3pm
First Baptist Church* 
Tickets: $10-$30

New Phil is collaborating with the New World Chorale to bring you a stunning performance. We will perform 3 works by Brahms; the rarely heard choral works Nanie and Schicksalslied plus the incomparable Symphony No. 1. The title, The Beauty of Brahms, could be viewed as the superficial beauty of the music when it hits your ears; but to me, the beauty of Brahms is that whatever it is that you need, whether to be surrounded by an uplifting spirit or overwhelmed by a small musical phrase that hits you in your core, Brahms delivers. You’ll only understand what I mean if you join us. Sit  in the gorgeous venue of First Baptist Church and let New Phil take you to a different place. Then stay afterwards and say hi!

Plus, pickup your Culture ‘n Cuisine voucher!

 

Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle
Newton Community Chorus*
Sat, May 19 @ 8pm
Our Lady’s Help of Christian’s Church
$10-$15

The Newton Community Chorus, conductor Richard Travers, pianist Monique Weiss Byrnes, organist James Busby, and soloists Michael Pelletier (bass), Rebecca Krouner (contralto), Laura Harbert (soprano) and Salvatore Atti (tenor) welcome you to a performance of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonnelle.

 

SUNDAY

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: The Musical
United Parish of Auburndale
Sun, May 20 @ 11:30am
FREE

The children’s choir of the United Parish of Auburndale presents it’s yearly spring musical… The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.  This delightful performance by twenty-two local 2nd through 6th graders is free and open to all.  

 

 

Lynda Mullaly Hunt: One for the Murphys
Newtonville Books
Sun, May 20 @ 2pm
FREE | Ages 10 & up

A moving debut novel about a foster child learning to open her heart to a family’s love. Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she’s blindsided. This loving, bustling family shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookie-cutter-perfect household. Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her what it feels like to belong–until her mother wants her back and Carley has to decide where and how to live. She’s not really a Murphy, but the gifts they’ve given her have opened up a new future.

 

*=Newton Cultural Alliance Member