Newton Cultural Alliance

The Allen Center presents Interiors: Between Refuge and Restraint
2025-02-06 12:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
Photographer Tira Khan presents an exhibition in The Allen Center’s gallery space through March 4th. Interiors: Between Refuge and Restraint is the second exhibit in the “Women Seeing Women” series, curated by NCA Board member, Peter Vanderwarker.
Tira Khan is a documentary and montage photographer who explores the meaning of family, portraiture, and place.
On view: January 23 – March 4, 2025
Opening reception: Wednesday, January 29, 6:30-8:30pm
Artist Talk: February 27th, 6:30 pm refreshments, 7:00 lecture. Register for the talk HERE.
Gallery open hours: Thursdays, 12-2pm
Meet some friends over at Nate’s Cafe in the main corridor for some sweet treats & coffee while you peruse this fascinating exhibit!
“Women Seeing Women” is curated by Peter Vanderwarker and sponsored in part by the Newton Cultural Council.

AEM presents Practical Musicianship and Music Theory for Early Musicians
2025-02-03 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-01-27 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-01-20 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-01-13 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-01-06 17:30 - 19:00, 2024-12-30 17:30 - 19:00, 2024-12-23 17:30 - 19:00 | MA
with Shira Kammen – vielle, voice, harp

5:30 – 6:45 pm, 11 November 2024

Shira
Kammen **
Violin & Vielle

4 Monday sessions, November 11, 18, 25 & December 2, from 5:30 – 6:45 p.m. ET

Class Description

Classical with a Twist - Love is All Around
2025-02-02 15:00 - 17:00 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
Cherry Street Music starts the new year with Classical with a Twist – Love Is All Around on Sunday, February 2nd at 3:00 pm. A magical program of Love & Friendship, including romantic works by Debussy & a collaborative “Over the Rainbow” finale. Featuring Artistic Director, Allison Eldredge, cello; Dina Vainshtein, piano, and special guest performances from the “TEens of Temple Emanuel.”

Lunar New Year
2025-02-02 12:00 - 16:00 | New Art Center, 61 Washington Park, Newton, MA, 02460, United States
Join the New Art Center in Newtonville for the fourth annual Lunar New Year event. The event will take place on Sunday, February 2 from 12:00pm – 4:00pm at 61 Washington Park and is part of New Art’s Cultural Access Program, a robust Community Outreach program providing free and inclusive art experiences.
The Lunar New Year event will feature a series of art-making and performance activities centered on the celebrations associated with Lunar New Year. Lunar New Year is an important time for celebration in the majority of East and Southeast Asian cultures. We welcome the New Year by spending time with family making food, playing games, telling stories, and cleaning our homes! This is a family-friendly event, free and open to the public.
This year is the year of the Blue Snake in the Korean calendar, or Wood Snake in the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Blue Snake is a year for wisdom, intuition, creativity, and personal growth! The Snake zodiac symbolizes wisdom and carefulness, and the Blue element, or Wood, is associated with movement and growth, as well as cooperation and idealism. This year, we should encourage ourselves to focus on self-growth and planning long-term goals for the future. Focus on your personal relationships, and find stability in reflection and mindful practices!
Ren Li Song will present on the art of calligraphy. Performers include the GBCCA Chinese Music Ensemble, members of the Boston Korean Dance Academy, and a Global String Band JUL.

Newton Theatre Company Presents: DRACULA
2025-02-01 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-02-01 14:00 - 16:00, 2025-01-31 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-01-25 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-01-25 14:00 - 16:00, 2025-01-24 20:00 - 22:00 | Saint John’s Episcopal Church, 96 Otis Street, Newton, MA, 02460, United States
Step into the shadows and prepare for a thrilling twist on the classic gothic tale with NTC’s production of Dracula, featuring Linda Goetz in the starring role. This reinterpretation breathes new life into Bram Stoker’s timeless story of Count Dracula and his insatiable need for human blood. Blending sensuality, darkness and humor, Dracula explores themes of desire and dominance through unconventional casting and intimate staging. Join us for an unforgettable evening where legend meets innovation, and experience Dracula like never before.
We are doing three weekends of Dracula!
Tickets:
Friday, January 24th at 8pm
Saturday, January 25th at 2pm
Saturday, January 25th at 8pm
and
Friday, January 31st at 8pm
Saturday, February 1st at 2pm
Saturday, February 1st at 8pm
and
Friday, February 7th at 8pm
Saturday, February 8th at 2pm
Saturday, February 8th at 8pm

House Concert with Folk Singer-songwriter Grace Morrison
2025-02-01 18:30 - 21:00 | House Of Play House Concerts, Newton, MA, 02461, United States
Join us in our welcoming and spacious home! Drinks, snacks, and plenty of joy provided as we delight in this opportunity to be up close with a rising new singer songwriter. Minimum $25 donation goes directly to the performer. You must send an email with your name and phone to reserve a seat ahead of time to houseconcertsnewton@gmail.com.
We are thrilled to host Grace Morrison for folk music that’s so unique, it’s hard to describe. “If country, pop, and Americana were on a Venn diagram – Grace Morrison would be squarely in the center.”
“Her voice smacks of Jewel, and her style, cadence, song structure is every inch from the school of Joan Osborne, Lisa Loeb, Natalie Merchant. It’s uncanny.”
“Grace’s unique brand has established her as a confident, refreshing voice in country-pop. With performances at Nashville’s Bluebird Café and co-writes with multi-Grammy winner Lori McKenna and hit songwriter Barbara Cloyd under her belt, Grace made a name for herself in 2022 at songwriter festivals from Massachusetts to Montana. With subjects ranging from Titanic to tantric; an evening with Grace will take you from the court of King Henry VIII to debauchery in Denver. With humor and raw honesty, audiences leave Grace’s shows with her songs stuck in their heads and their toes tired from tapping.”
CHECK HER OUT — http://www.gracemorrison.com/

Opening Reception, Photographs by Tira Khan
2025-01-29 18:30 - 20:30 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
Join us for an opening reception on Wednesday, January 29th, from 6:30-8:30pm for Interiors: Between Refuge and Restraint, an exhibit of photographs by Tira Khan. Interiors is the second in the “Women Seeing Women” series curated by Peter Vanderwarker, NCA board member and curator of the NCA’s Visual Arts program. The exhibit will be on display in The Allen Center’s Recital Gallery from January 23rd – March 4th, 2025, with open gallery hours to be announced. Please register if you plan on attending the reception.
Tira Khan is a documentary and montage photographer who explores the meaning of family, portraiture, and place.
For more information: www.newtonculture.org/gallery

Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra presents Musical Super Heros
2025-01-26 15:00 - 17:00 | War Memorial Auditorium, 1000 Commonwealth Avenue, Newton, 02459, United States
This January, Conductor Emerita Gisèle Ben-Dor leads Pro Arte through an adventure of music and storytelling that will thrill your whole family. In The Story of Babar, the tale of a little elephant’s journey from orphan to king is accompanied at every turn by Francis Poulenc’s picturesque music. Our young soloist shines in the irrepressible finale of Joseph Haydn’s first cello concerto. Sensemayá, by Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, is a spellbinding depiction of an Afro-Caribbean ceremony in which a ritualist must subdue a snake. Our program ends with the riotous Toy Symphony, in which playful instruments like a triangle, a rattle, and a cuckoo whistle all try to steal the spotlight.

Musical Program

FRANCIS POULENC Story of Babar the Elephant
FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN Finale from Cello Concerto No.1
SILVESTRE REVUELTAS Sensemayá
HAYDN Toy Symphony

TICKETS

Winterfest 2025
2025-01-24 08:00 - 17:00 | MA
Winterfest 2025
Friday- Sunday, January 24-26
Join Newton Community Pride, Hyde Community Center, West Newton Cinema, and New Art Center for weekend WinterFest activities with live music, an ice sculpture contest, and free hot chocolate. They bring the heat to the Hyde Community Center on Saturday with the annual WinterFest Soup Social including Tova Speter’s Brighter Ignited public artwork, and live music from Surefire Band. Sunday brings it home with a free screening of Happy Feet at West Newton Cinema and a family dance party with Matt Heaton and the Outside Toys at New Art Center. Check out the full schedule below.

Sensory Garden
2025-01-20 - 2025-02-28 | New Art Cooridor, 245 Walnut Street, Newon, MA
The New Art 2025 Sensory Garden Exhibition is your chance to Support our Local Artists.
Artists offer a wintertime oasis amidst political, social, and cultural transition. Fostering a connection with nature, art, and ourselves through all our senses, grounds and preserves us. We invite sight and smell and touch and taste (indicated by signage) in this self-contained terrarium or sanctuary. We honor and prompt your experience as a lodestar for self-awareness and emotional healing.
Exhibition Dates
January,17th 2025 – February 28th 2025
Opening Reception
January 20th 5-7pm, Free and Open to the public.
Join the New Art Center in celebrating the opening of the 2025 Sensory Garden Exhibition. Mingle with some of this year’s 23 participating artists, while exploring over 54 pieces in this year’s sale.
Artist Talk
January 30th 5:30-6:30pm, Free and Open to the public.
Curator Guided Tour
February 12th: 6:00-7:30 PM, Free and Open to the public.
The New Art Corridor (Trio)
245 Walnut St.,
Newton, MA 02460
About The New Art Curatorial Program:
Established in July 2020 as the BIPOC Curatorial Program, the New Art Curatorial Program features three exhibitions annually curated by mid-career New England area BIPOC community writers, artists, and thinkers. This series enables curators of color to develop and share their personal vision through exhibitions that spark dialogue.

Solar Winds Quintet presents Twilight
2025-01-19 14:00 - 15:30 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
Solar Winds Concert – Twilight
Sunday, January 19, 2:00 pm
The Solar Winds Quintet takes the stage at The Allen Center with a program that includes music for winds and piano by Zemlinsky, Janáček, and Brahms.

Cappella Clausura presents All About Love
2025-01-15 16:00 - 18:00 | Grace Episcopal Church, 76 Eldredge Street, Newton, MA, 02458, United States
All About Love
“Sappho begins with a sweet apple and ends in infinite hunger.” (From “Eros the Bittersweet”, by Anne Carson)
Too often throughout history, we’ve seen women’s love and desire depicted through a male gaze, while authentic expressions of love and desire by women in art have been considered taboo. Cappella Clausura challenges this by centering the voices of women and gender non-binary composers in this program on the topic of love in all its forms.
Featuring music by Evelin Seppar, Modesta Bor, Rafaella Aleotti, Laura Nevitt, and others.
​
February 15th, 2025 @ 4PM​
Grace Church
February 16th, 2025 @ 4PMEmmanuel Church

Historic Newton presents Winter Craft Series: The Art of Embroidery
2025-01-14 19:00 - 21:00 | Durant-Kenrick House and Grounds, 286 Waverley Ave,, Newton, MA, 02458
Join Historic Newton for a hands-on embroidery workshop where participants will recreate a design inspired by an object from the museum’s collection. This beginner-friendly session is open to all skill levels, from first-time stitchers to experienced embroiderers. Discover the art of embroidery while connecting with history through thread and needle. All materials will be provided!
Price: $20 general admission | $15 members
Registration: https://events.humanitix.com/winter-craft-series-the-art-of-embroidery

Commonwealth Chorale Auditions
2025-01-14 17:15 - 18:45, 2025-01-07 17:15 - 18:45 | First Baptist Church in Newton, 848 Beacon St, Newton, MA, 02459, United States
Commonwealth Chorale seeks singers of all voice types who have strong vocal and sight-reading skills. Our March 9th 2025 concert will be a performance of Carl Orff’s stunning Carmina Burana. Unlike most performances of this piece, this one will be done with a full orchestra.
Our May 18th concert celebrates “community and connection” through the diversity of American folk songs. The program includes works of Aaron Copland, Nathaniel Dett, and Alice Parker’s folk song and spiritual arrangements.
Auditions will be held by appointment on the evenings of January 7 and 14 from 5:15 – 6:45 pm. Auditions are held at our rehearsal location at First Baptist Church, 848 Beacon Street in Newton Center, a few minutes’ walk from the Newton Center stop on the “D” Green Line. There is also plenty of parking behind the church and on adjacent streets.
*NEW this season!* Scholarships to reduce costs for singers 30 and under! See website for details: https://commonwealthchorale.com
To apply for an audition, click here: https://commonwealthchorale.com/join-us

All Newton Music School presents String Trio
2025-01-12 15:00 - 17:00 | All Newton Music School, 321 Chestnut St, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
String Trio
Sunday, January 12, 3:00 pm
All Newton Music School performs for an afternoon with BSO musicians Sophie Wang, violin, Leonardo Vásquez Chacón, viola, and ANMS Faculty Kelly Knox, cello, who have prepared a captivating string trio performance. Enjoy pieces from Beethoven, Rebecca Clarke, and Leó Weiner during an evening out at ANMS.

Cherry Street Music presents Classical With A Twist: Love Is All Around
2025-01-10 08:00 - 17:00 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
Classical With A Twist: Love Is All Around
Sunday, February 2, 3:00 pm
Cherry Street Music starts the new year with Classical with a Twist – Love Is All Around on Sunday, February 2nd at 3:00 pm. A magical program of Love & Friendship, including romantic works by Debussy & a collaborative “Over the Rainbow” finale. Featuring Artistic Director, Allison Eldredge, cello; Dina Vainshtein, piano, and special guest performances from the “TEens of Temple Emanuel.”

Highland Glee Club presents Auditions
2025-01-07 19:00 | Christ Episcopal Church, 1132 Highland Ave., Needham Heights, MA, 02494, United States
The Highland Glee Club, established in 1908, is seeking male singers to join our illustrious men’s singing group.
HGC sings a wide range of songs from classical to Broadway hits to folk and rock standards.
Rehearsals are on Tuesdays from 7:00 pm to 9:30pm at the Grace Episcopal Church, 76 Eldredge St, Newton. For more information please contact Music Director, Sarah Robinson Seeber at sarahjseeber@gmail.com

Zamir Chorale presents Hanukkah Happens
2024-12-24 19:30 - 21:30 | Temple Emanuel, 385 Ward Street, Newton, MA, 02459, United States
Hanukkah Happens
Tuesday, December 24,7:30 pm
Hanukkah Happens returns for its 34th year. Zamir Chorale of Boston performs with Hazzan Elias Rosemberg – Opera e oratorio Ebraico at the Rabbi Samuel Chiel Sanctuary.
