Happy Saturday!
Today Geoff and I will be taking part in the 43rd annual Heritage Craft Fair. This fair is a fundraiser for the Heritage Chorale.
The Facebook event is here. There is an entry fee as a part of the fundraiser, $4.00 general adults, $3.50 for seniors and free for children up to 12. All on one level with easy handicapped access.
We’re about to depart for Framingham. We’ll be there 10am-4pm today.
See you there!
~Kelly
Hi All,
My friend and fellow musician Dave Thorne Scott brings us news of 3 upcoming Jazz concerts right in and around Cambridge that are T accessible and will be super fun. Check them out. An email from Dave is below.
~Kelly
I’m still not entirely clear on how this happened. But apparently it did. OK, technically it hasn’t happened yet, but it’s going to happen because it’s in calendars and there’s advertising. And I’m going to be rehearsing. Perhaps I should explain.
Continue reading “Um, apparently this is actually happening”
There has been a lot going on in the last few weeks. I’m still sorting through the luggage, photos, and general wreckage of running around like a decapitated chicken. But! I have concert news for you that involves me, friends, coworkers, and perfect strangers that I feel the need to bring you. So, I’m setting aside the work that needs to be done to share the details with you. Please make sure to see at least some of these, they’re going to be great!
Unlike a lot of people in Boston I can’t claim I knew Tom well. I’m sure that the couple of times we met didn’t make an impression on him at all, as a matter of fact. But he was a bit of a legend in his own time and, unlike a lot of far less talented people I’ve met, he wasn’t a legend in his own mind. That much was clear the moment you met him, he didn’t buy into the “Artist as Asshole” phenomenon.
I hate that particular phenomenon.
Regular readers will remember that not long ago I posted in this space about a benefit for Tom. The link to that post is here. Teri had told me recently that Tom was being moved into hospice care. That’s never good. People generally go into hospice care in order to peacefully move from this world into the next, not to return to the bloom of full health. Tom had apparently been given about 6 months, maybe less, as a prognosis.
The Early Music community here in Boston has been collectively holding its breath while Tom’s illness has been unfolding. He was not only a well respected performer here, he was also a teacher and friend to many. He was also just unfailingly nice.
Tom died on Saturday. And though I didn’t know him nearly as well as many, I still grieve for those who loved him, especially his lovely wife Lilli, the community of which he was a linchpin, and the rest of us who were touched by his presence.
There is a lovely post about his life here. I encourage you to read it. I do not know the author, I found the post by happenstance, but it is beautifully done.
“Good-night, sweet prince;
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Shakespeare, Hamlet Act 5, Scene 2
Rest in Peace, Tom.
~Kelly
Many of the readers around here know that Geoff and I both have neurologists at Boston Medical Center. You may also remember me singing in the Boston Medical Center Concert When Patients Heal You last November. (Video is here, sorry for the sound quality) I’ll be singing in the concert again this October. Watch this space for more details.
Anyway, the BMC is loaded with great talent and with people who give their time and talent to not only give back to the community here in Boston but also but to raise money for others who need it, as well as to fund health care for those who would not otherwise have access to it. I’m not performing in the concert listed below, the pianist/nurse/saint I’m performing with in October is. Check it out.
That’s globalhealthneurology@gmail.com with questions or to volunteer. To donate, click here. The concert has a $20 ticket/donation at the door.
The Baskt Auditorium is in A Building at 72 East Concord St. Boston, MA 02118 on the Boston University Medical School campus.
~Kelly
If you want to appeal to a local audience and support the arts, check this out.
Regular readers of this space know that I’m the General Manager for Cappella Clausura. Aside from looking for volunteers for our group, running front of house, and doing all the other things I do, one of my other responsibilities is to find advertisers who’ll help defray the costs of keeping the doors open and the lights on.
That’s where you come in, dear readers. Do you own a small business that would benefit from advertising in Cappella Clausura’s programs? Would you benefit from buying linkspace on our website? If the answer is yes, (or even maybe) then I have all of the details below to help you contribute the arts and drive customers to your door at the same time.
Continue reading “Newton, Brookline, Boston, and local businesses!”
I’m bringing you greetings from the inimitable Dave Scott. He’s got two gigs coming up in New Hampshire. They both sound fantastic, especially the one in Portsmouth because 1) it’s in Portsmouth and 2) Beatles.
Go if you can, Dave and his friends make great music and great fun. From Dave:
FRIDAY, JUNE 19th, 8 p.m. THE PURPLE PIT in Bristol, NH, $14
This is another Jonathan Lorentz “joint.” You hopefully know Jon as the tireless (well, I have to assume he gets tired at some point, with all the teaching and playing and family-manning and gig curating he does) sax player and impresario of a number of performance situations throughout New Hampshire. He’s put together a new performance situation at this nice coffee place and restaurant in Bristol. There’s a whole summer and fall full of entertainment planned! Check out one of the shows, if you’re in the area or are traveling there, so that the music endures at this location.
DYAD
(David Thorne Scott – voice, bass, trumpet, mandolin, melodica)
(Mark Shilansky – piano, voice, intent to play other instruments at some point)
http://www.thepurplepit.com
Sunday, June 21st
6-9 PM at THE PRESS ROOM, 77 Daniel St, Portsmouth NH, $10
THE META-BEAT!
We are the Meta-beat, and we were born out of numerous lunch-time conversations between Les Harris and Mark Shilansky. As such, we play the music of the Beatles, plus solo Beatle material, plus music by Beatle collaborators and contemporaries, often in medleys. We recontextualize things as well, so though we are often doing straight-up covers, we also will play instrumental versions of tunes, swing some of them, latin-ize some of them, play an early Beatles tune in the style of the later Beatles, mash them up, reharmonize them. It’s fun and I think fun to listen to as well, and this gig we have a very special guest because Sara Caswell is joining us.
M.S. – piano/voice, David Thorne Scott – voice, Les Harris Jr – drums/voice, Aubrey Harris – bass/voice, Eric Byers – guitars/voice, Special Guest: Sara Caswell – violin
I’m working tomorrow night, but if we can make it to the performance in Portsmouth, we will. Go out, get some culture, tell your friends!
~Kelly
The greater Boston community of Early Music folks is coming together tomorrow night to do something that, in my many years here, is pretty much unprecedented. We’re getting together to give our time, talent, and treasure for the benefit of another musician.
Tom Zajac is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, and teacher. He’s a musical powerhouse and also just a really nice guy. As it sometimes happens with the vagaries of nature, he’s had a series of totally necessary medical procedures and uncomfortable surgeries that have left him unable to keep up with his usual number of gigs, teaching assignments, and concerts. That means that despite what insurance is covering, he’s facing an income gap.
We’re trying to fix that.
Tomorrow night at 6:00pm as a part of the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Concert Series friends of Tom Zajac will present Battaglia d’Amor: A Benefit Concert for Tom Zajac, an All Star Lineup of groups in concert at First Lutheran Church, Boston. For those of you playing along at home, that’s 299 Berkeley Street Boston, MA 02116 in the heart of the Back Bay.
Are you ready for this? This is the list of performers. It’s like a rock star list of the early music groups from Boston and beyond. Here they are, in no particular order:
If you’re planning on attending, please RSVP here. We’re expecting this to be completely sold out and SRO. Admission is a suggested donation of $20, though you’re welcome to give more if you are able. All money will go directly to Tom. Everyone, all performers, staff, the venue, and the publicity from BEMF, is all being donated on his behalf. Everything.
If you can’t attend and would still like to help out, there’s a GoFundMe page set up here. We’re almost at our goal. If you can help out, please do. Ideally we’d like to smash that goal to pieces.
I’ll be there tomorrow night working front of house on behalf of Cappella Clausura and Meravelha. In advance I’d like to thank you for your help and for being a part of this fantastic community effort.
~Kelly
Saturday May 2nd at 8:00 pm in Lindsey Chapel, Emmanuel Church 15 Newbury St, Boston RSVP here via Facebook.
Sunday May 3rd at 4:00 pm in Eliot Church of Newton 474 Centre Street, Newton, MA RSVP here via Facebook.
Featuring the Music of Hildegard von Bingen, Arvo Pärt, Eric Whitacre, and a premiere of Hilary Tann‘s exuberant “Exultet” for reed quintet and double chorus, arranged especially for Cappella Clausura, and with special guest Peggy Pearson, oboe. Hilary will be at each concert and will stay after each performance for a post concert talk-back with the audience.
Our May 3rd concert is a part of Newton’s May Festival of the Arts
TICKETS:
OR, you can get a serious discount if you buy tickets in advance.
Because you’ve read to the end of this post and because you’re a friend of this blog, if you use the password FRIENDSOFKELLY at either of the links above, May 2nd or May 3rd, you’ll get advance tickets to either concert for just $10 each.
That’s less than half price for a general admission ticket purchased at the door. The best part is that you can share this discout with anyone you like. Spread the wealth and invite your friends in on the deal too!
The Books are Taking Over... 