Need a gift for Mother’s Day (or want to spoil yourself this weekend)? Newton arts have gorgeous plans up their sleeves for you! There’s theater, a requiem, a community concert, a chamber concert, monthly vespers, and a grand Piglet unveiling!
FRIDAY
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Theatre Ink* and South Stage
Thursday, May 9 – Saturday, May 10 | $7
Theatre Ink and South Stage presents the 30th annual Shakespeare collaboration: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. During a wild midsummer night four lovers escape parental scrutiny in the woods and blindly wander into a power struggle amid the denizens of this dreamy land. To complicate matters, a motley band of players are readying a performance when magic, mischief, and mayhem ensue. Love, Identity, Parental Authority, Sexuality, Power, and donkey lust (?) are all part of Shakespeare’s most often performed comedy. Directed by Ross McDonald with actors from both Newton North and South High Schools.
SATURDAY
Welcome, Piglet!
Newton Free Library*
Saturday, May 11 at 10am | FREE
Join us as we celebrate the installation of our newest sculpture, Piglet! We will enjoy stories and refreshments and have fun with a special Piglet-themed art project for ages 3+, led by staff from the New Art Center*! All are welcome.
Faure: Requiem
Newton Choral Society*
Saturday, May 11 at 8pm | $25
Our season concludes with the transcendent beauty of Fauré’s Requiem. Composed in 1888, this Requiem has been a treasured favorite since the mid 20th-century. Fauré deliberately chose a new and gentler direction in his Requiem, omitting traditional movements (Dies Irae and Tuba Mirum) that composers such as Brahms and Verdi used as platforms for drama. Instead, he added movements of intimacy: the tender Pie Jesu and ethereal Paradisum. In so doing, Fauré painted a mood of serenity and consolation: a vision of heaven without the threat of damnation. The concert will also feature Herbert Howell’s Hymn for Saint Cecilia (text by Ursula Vaughan Williams) and excerpts from his Requiem, along with Jubilate Deo by Benjamin Britten. Susan Consoli, Soprano | David McFerrin, Baritone | Ross Wood, Organist
Lauridsen and Carissimi
Newton Community Chorus
at First Baptist Church*, Newton Centre
Saturday, May 11 at 8pm | $15
The Newton Community Chorus under the direction of conductor Richard Travers welcomes you to a performance of these moving works on Saturday May 11 at 8 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 848 Beacon Street, Newton Centre, easily accessible on the Riverside D line. The program features organist Monique Weiss Byrnes and soloists Angela Leonitis, Soprano; Stephanie Scarcella, Mezzo-Soprano; Matthew MacDougall, Tenor;and Ryne Cherry, Baritone.
SUNDAY – MOTHER’S DAY!
A Mother’s Day Concert with the Claremont Trio
Suzuki School of Newton*
Wilson Chapel, Andover Newton Theological School
Sunday, May 12 at 4pm | $30 – $50
Treat your mother to a special afternoon of music! On Sunday, May 12 at 4pm, the Claremont Trio will perform a program of chamber music for piano, violin, and cello. The concert will take place in the Wilson Chapel in Newton Centre on the Andover Newton campus. Special Friend tickets are $50/person, $30/adult, $20/seniors, with $5 off advance purchases. All proceeds go to the James Thornblade Scholarship Fund.
Vespers
First Unitarian Society in Newton
Sunday, May 12 at 7:30pm | FREE
A unique half-hour service of music and poetry. The theme this month is “Calling.” FUSN’s poets will read work by Seamus Heaney, Richard Wilburn and their very own Carol Siemering. Guest Rebecca Lightcap joins Vermilion as the quartet singswork by Byrd, Nanino and Aichinger.
*Newton Cultural Alliance member
As always, the Newton Culture Fix is a sampling of arts and culture events in Newton. If you’d like an event added, please kindly put it in the comments or send it to me.
