Newton Cultural Alliance

West Newton presents Behind the Screen: Sinners
2026-02-08 13:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
SINNERS is a genre-defying period horror drama written and directed by Ryan Coogler, set in 1932 Mississippi during the Jim Crow era. The story follows twin brothers Elijah “Smoke” Moore and Elias “Stack” Moore, portrayed by Michael B. Jordan in dual roles, who return to their hometown to open a juke joint for the local Black community, only to find that an ancient, supernatural evil threatens their celebration and their lives. The film blends Southern Gothic, blues music, historical memory, and supernatural horror, creating a richly layered narrative about community, survival, and cultural expression.
POST SCREENING PANEL DISCUSSION
Our panel will explore the film’s fusion of music, history, and horror, considering how SINNERS engages with African-American cultural traditions, the symbolic role of blues music in confronting evil, and the artistic choices that make the film a singular cinematic experience.
JAKE BLOUNT, A.M.
Musician, Scholar, and Music Consultant on SINNERS;
Specialist in Traditional African-American Music and Afrofuturism
Jake Blount is an award-winning musician and scholar whose work bridges performance, research, and advocacy. He specializes in African-American traditional music and Afrofuturist approaches, and his recordings have appeared on best-of lists from NPR, The New Yorker, and Rolling Stone. Blount served as a music consultant on SINNERS and his work often interrogates the cultural and historical roots of American music.
JOEL LARUE SMITH, Ph.D.
Associate Teaching Professor, Tufts, Pianist, Composer, Arranger
Joel LaRue Smith has been the Director of the Tufts Jazz Orchestra (formerly the Big Band) and Jazz Activities at Tufts University since 1996. He is also a pianist and composer known for moving seamlessly between jazz, classical, gospel, and Afro-Cuban repertoire. He has performed globally at venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Royal Albert Hall, and has received numerous awards including ASCAP’s distinguished George and Ira Gershwin Award.
BILL LOWE, Ph.D.
Composer, Performer, Educator; Leader of Signifyin’ Natives
Bill Lowe is a distinguished bassist trombonist, tuba player, composer, and educator with decades of experience in creative music. His ensemble Signifyin’ Natives explores African-American musical traditions through improvisation and collaboration, and Lowe has performed and taught extensively throughout the United States and internationally.

Spark Newton presents Jazz Concert with George Russell, Jr. and Friends!
2026-02-07 19:30 - 21:00 | War Memorial Auditorium, 1000 Commonwealth Avenue, Newton, 02459, United States
Please note the venue has changed for this event to Newton City Hall’s war memorial auditorium. Get ready to groove at the George Russell, Jr. and Friends, Free Jazz Concert! This in-person event brings together some amazing jazz talents for a night full of smooth tunes and good vibes. Whether you’re a jazz lover or just looking for a chill evening, come join us and enjoy the rhythms live at The Allen Center. It’s all about music, friends, and a great atmosphere. Beverages available for purchase before and during show. Don’t miss out—see you there!
In the event of a sell out, we will have a waitlist for any unclaimed tickets. Any unclaimed reserved tickets will be released five minutes before showtime.

West Newton Cinema presents An Evening with John Sayles
2026-02-07 16:00 - 18:30 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
West Newton Cinema Reads & Newtonville Books present:
The iconic filmmaker John Sayles reading from and discussing his new novel, The Crucible, along with his classic film, City of Hope, with Here & Now’s Robin Young.
Join director John Sayles as he reads from his new novel, The Crucible, following a screening of his riveting film, City of Hope (1991).
In The Crucible, Henry Ford—the Elon Musk of his day—aims to rule both an automotive empire and the rambunctious city of Detroit. In an epic tale ranging from the Prohibition Era to the Second World War, featuring violent labor disputes, misbegotten jungle expeditions, a tragic race riot, and the gestapo tactics of Ford’s private army, Sayles does what he’s become famous for: shows us, through multiple perspectives, the country in which we live.
In City of Hope, an old apartment complex stands in the way of a major commercial development. Its owner, Joe, feels pressure to torch it, and Joe’s estranged son, Nick, soon becomes a pawn in the game. Following the arrest of two teenagers, idealistic city councilman Wynn finds himself torn between what he thinks is right, and what his Black constituents want.
Sayles and Young will walk us through this incredible cast of characters and the themes that make both The Crucible and City of Hope so crucial to understanding our current moment. Their talk will follow with a signing in the lobby, with books for sale courtesy of Newtonville Books.
John Sayles is an independent filmmaker, screenwriter, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and once for the National Book Award. He has written eight novels, including, most recently, Jamie MacGillivray and To Save the Man.
Robin Young is a host of Here and Now, the nationally syndicated radio program produced by WBUR. A Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Robin has been a correspondent for ABC, CBS, NBC, and the Discovery Channel. She is a former guest host of The Today Show and one of the first hosts on Boston’s ground-breaking television show, Evening Magazine.

The Colgate 13
2026-02-06 19:30 - 21:30 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
Get ready to be blown away by the incredible harmonies and vocal talents of Colgate 13 A Cappella at The Allen Center!

The Colgate 13 is Colgate University’s premier all-male a cappella ensemble, renowned for its rich harmonies, dynamic performances, and deep musical tradition. The group is the longest running all-male undergraduate collegiate a cappella group in the United States. Founded in 1942, the group has spent more than seven decades delighting audiences with a signature sound that blends classic vocal jazz, contemporary hits, folk, pop, and timeless standards.
Comprised of 13 undergraduate singers selected through a highly competitive audition process, The Colgate 13 is known not only for vocal excellence, but also for its infectious energy, warmth, and connection with audiences of all ages. Their concerts are engaging, family-friendly, and often infused with humor, storytelling, and heartfelt musical moments that make each performance feel personal and memorable.
Beyond campus, The Colgate 13 tours nationally and internationally, performing at schools, libraries, community venues, retirement communities, hospitals, athletic events, private parties, and alumni gatherings. Whether on a grand stage or in an intimate setting, the group brings professionalism, polish, and joy, making them a favorite among hosts and audiences alike.
A Colgate 13 isn’t just a performance, it’s an experience rooted in tradition, camaraderie, and a genuine love of singing together! We can’t wait for you to experience them at The Allen Center.
The Allen Center has limited seating capacity- a seating reservation is required for this event! Follow the Eventbrite link below.

Amherst Early Music Classes
2026-02-06 08:00 - 2026-03-07 17:00 | MA
Amherst Early Music Classes
The Secret of Sound with Saskia Coolen
1:00 – 2:30 pm, 7 February 2026
Saskia Coolen Recorder
Everything you always wanted to know about sound but were too afraid to ask!
With the help of a glass of water, a straw, and two different recorders from your own collection, we are going to explore how to improve our sound production.
What is a good sound? As early as 1535, Sylvestro Ganassi tells us the recorder should imitate the human voice. The recorder was considered the instrument closest to the voice and the breath. In this set of exercises, our recorder makes the breath audible while the water makes the breath visible! Open to: all recorder players, all levels. Pitch: A=440, 415
30.00 USD
Quantity
1
Mattheson Trios with Héloïse Degrugillier
3:00 – 4:30 pm, 7 February 2026
Héloïse Degrugillier ** Recorder
Johann Mattheson believed music should speak. Through gesture, affect, and rhetorical figures, we will shape phrasing and dialogue so the music persuades, questions, and sings. The recorder trio becomes a conversation—eloquent, expressive, and alive.
Open to: recorder players, upper intermediate to advanced. Pitch: A=440
30.00 USD
Quantity
1
Be My (Robert) Valentine – Music for Flutes & Recorders with Na’ama Lion
1:00 – 2:30 pm, 8 February 2026
Na’ama Lion Flute
Little known duets arranged by a great master: Hotteterre’s arrangements of (violin?) duets by Robert Valentine for 2 flutes. Some of these duets work well on recorders too! Beautiful music, and also an opportunity to review Hotteterre’s French ornaments, as these duets are less heavily ornamented than Hotteterre’s own music, and provide a great opportunity to ease into the language of French ornaments. Open to: flutes and recorders. Pitch: A=415
30.00 USD
Quantity
1
Music of Van Eyck with Rainer Beckmann
3:00 – 4:30 pm, 8 February 2026
Rainer Beckmann * Recorder
On pleasant summer evenings in mid-17th-century Utrecht, visitors strolling through the Janskerkhof (St. John’s Churchyard) could often enjoy Jacob van Eyck’s remarkable recorder playing. He performed elaborate sets of variations on popular tunes and psalm melodies of his time. Nearly 150 of these solo pieces survive in the two volumes of Der Fluyten Lust-hof (“The Flute’s Garden of Delight”), printed in Amsterdam between 1644 and 1649.
This class focuses on the English tunes included in Der Fluyten Lust-hof. We will explore consort settings of songs and dances by William Lawes, John Dowland, Robert Jones, and others that bear witness to the popularity of these melodies. Selected variations by van Eyck on the same tunes will further offer insight into his art of variation and compositional process. Open to: recorder players (and all instrumentalists/singers reading treble clef), intermediate and up. Pitch: A= 440Hz

New Art Center presents Teen Build Your Art Portfolio class
2026-02-02 17:30 - 19:30, 2026-01-26 17:30 - 19:30, 2026-01-19 17:30 - 19:30, 2026-01-12 17:30 - 19:30 | New Art Center, 61 Washington Park, Newton, MA, 02460, United States
Teen Build Your Art Portfolio class // All Levels // GR 8-12 // Mondays with Mattea Weinberg
This all-levels class is perfect for teens looking to build strong skills and prepare a competitive portfolio for college art programs. Students will draw from life, experiment with materials, and create meaningful, finished pieces—all with the support and guidance of an experienced instructor. Whether applying to art school or simply wanting to grow as an artist, this class offers the structure and feedback teens need to succeed.

Suzuki School of Newton Honors Concert
2026-02-01 14:00 - 15:00 | Newton Free Library, 330 Homer St, Newton, MA, 02459, United States
A select group of students from the Suzuki School of Newton will perform solo pieces on violin, piano, and harp. The program includes pieces by Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Bruch, Corelli, and others. Find out more at newtonfreelibrary.net or suzukinewton.org/events.

West Newton Cinema presents Behind the Screen: The Testament of Ann Lee
2026-02-01 13:00 - 15:30 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
ABOUT THE FILM:
From award-winning writer-director Mona Fastvold (The World to Come, The Brutalist) comes the extraordinary true legend of Ann Lee, founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers. Academy Award nominee Amanda Seyfried stars as the Shaker’s irrepressible leader, who preached gender and social equality and was revered by her followers. The Testament of Ann Lee captures the ecstasy and agony of her quest to build a utopia, featuring more than a dozen traditional Shaker hymns reimagined as rapturous movements with choreography by Celia Rowlson-Hall (Vox Lux) and original songs & score by Academy Award winner Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist).
PANEL DISCUSSION FOLLOWS
A post-screening conversation will explore the film’s portrayal of Ann Lee and Shaker spirituality, with particular attention to women’s religious leadership, utopian community-building, and the historical contexts of dissenting Protestant movements in the Atlantic world.
CHRISTOPHER H. EVANS, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of History of Christianity & Methodist Studies, Boston University School of Theology
Christopher Evans teaches and writes on the history of Christianity, American religion, and Methodist history, with additional interests in religion and popular culture. His books include The Social Gospel in American Religion and Histories of American Christianity: An Introduction.
ANN D. BRAUDE, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer on American Religious History; Director, Women’s Studies in Religion Program, Harvard Divinity School
Ann Braude’s scholarship focuses on American religious history with an emphasis on women and minority religious movements. She is the author of Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women’s Rights in Nineteenth-century America and is widely known for her work on the centrality of women to American religious history.
MARGARET LAMBERTS BENDROTH, Ph.D.
Historian of American Protestantism; former Executive Director, Congregational Library & Archives (Boston)
Margaret Lamberts Bendroth is a historian of American religion and the author of FUNDAMENTALISM AND GENDER, 1875 TO THE PRESENT and other works on Protestant history. She served for many years as Executive Director of the Congregational Library & Archives.

Newton Theatre Company Presents: OUR TOWN
2026-01-31 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-01-31 08:00 - 17:00, 2026-01-30 08:00 - 17:00, 2026-01-24 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-01-24 08:00 - 17:00, 2026-01-23 08:00 - 17:00, 2026-01-17 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-01-17 08:00 - 17:00 and 1 more date | Saint John’s Episcopal Church, 96 Otis Street, Newton, MA, 02460, United States
Experience this beloved classic up close with our exceptional professional cast in an intimate venue where every seat brings you into the heart of Grover’s Corners.
Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning play is a profound meditation on love, loss, and the precious ordinary moments that define our lives told in Newton Theatre Company’s signature style—immediate, personal, and unforgettable.
Intimate staging. Beloved actors. Our original vision.
Limited seating. Reserve soon. Tickets will sell out.
Our Town will run for three weekends. Tickets available now!
​
​Friday, January 16th at 8pm
Saturday, January 17th at 2pm
Saturday, January 17th at 8pm
Friday, January 23rd at 8pm
Saturday, January 24th at 2pm
​Saturday, January 24th at 8pm
Friday, January 30th at 8pm
Saturday, January 31st at 2pm
​Saturday, January 31st at 8pm
Seating is intimate and limited, so get your tickets now!
All performances are at:
St. John’s Episcopal Church, DiMauro Hall
​96 Otis Street, Newtonville, MA

West Newton Cinema presents Among Neighbors
2026-01-27 19:00 - 21:00 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
AMONG NEIGHBORS
2026 Special Event DCP with Filmmaker Q&A intended for screenings on or around International Holocaust Remembrance Day | January 27, 2026
ABOUT THE SPECIAL EVENT
The Special Event Q&A includes a brief pre-recorded introduction by filmmaker Yoav Potash, and an in-depth post-film Q&A compilation that reveals the fascinating making-of stories –– as well as the ongoing controversy –– behind this critically-acclaimed film. The Q&A compilation was filmed live at sold-out screenings in New York, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, lending a special event feel to the content.
FILM SYNOPSIS
Using beautiful hand-drawn animation to bring the past to life, “Among Neighbors” investigates the story of a small, rural town where the longstanding peace between Jewish and Polish neighbors was shattered by World War II. Now, in an era where difficult truths about the past are being silenced for political gain, the film focuses on the only living Holocaust survivor from the town, and an aging eyewitness who saw Jews murdered there – six months after the Nazis were defeated. Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Yoav Potash (“Crime After Crime,” Sundance Film Festival), “Among Neighbors” is an evocative and heart-pounding murder mystery with urgent political relevance.

West Newton Cinema presents Keaton and Chaplin: Live Music Accompaniment
2026-01-25 14:00 - 16:00 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Join us for screenings of Buster Keaton’s, THE GENERAL (1926), and Charlie Chaplin’s, THE IMMIGRANT (1917) with live musical accompaniment.
ABOUT THE FILMS:
THE GENERAL, Buster Keaton-
After being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.
THE IMMIGRANT, Charlie Chaplin-
Charlie is an immigrant who endures a challenging voyage and gets into trouble as soon as he arrives in America.
LIVE MUSIC
BRUCE VOGT
Bruce Vogt is a Canadian pianist who has devoted a distinguished career to performing and teaching. He has toured cities and towns of all sizes throughout North America, Europe, and Asia as a soloist and chamber musician. He has mentored generations of young artists in his role as professor of piano at the University of Victoria, and has lectured widely, leading master classes, workshops, and adjudicating for festivals.
Bruce has sustained an interest in exploring the many conversations to be found between music and film, literature and painting. This has evolved into an unusual side hustle: improvising accompaniments for the great films of the silent era. He has developed a robust career in this multimedia sphere bringing sound to many masterpieces — by Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Griffith, Sjöström, Von Sternberg and many others. In movie theaters across Europe, Asia, and North America, he has provided for audiences a greater intimacy with these films, transforming the silence of the medium into another sphere.

Capella Clausura presents "'in tongues': Ruehr's "Cassandra"
2026-01-24 16:00 - 17:00 | Grace Episcopal Church, 76 Eldredge Street, Newton, MA, 02458, United States
Magic spells, prophecies, secrets, prayers; what happens when words mean more than what they say? Speech has the power to persuade, clarify, distort, and to move. It can even affect the way we remember things, the ways our minds encode memories. This program, centered around Elena Ruehr’s magnificent choral opera “Cassandra”, considers these questions. The figure of Cassandra, from Ancient Greek mythology, provides perspective for understanding these questions. In myth, Cassandra’s blessing is that she can see the future; her curse is that no one believes or understands her prophecies.
Featuring music by: Elena Ruehr, Julia Wolfe, Alissa Voth, and Isaac Roth Blumfield

Spark Newton presents Winterfest
2026-01-23 08:00 - 2026-01-25 17:00 | MA
A fun-filled weekend of wintery events runs Friday through Sunday. Find the whole lineup of family adventures to enjoy from music, storytelling, arts and crafts, an interactive light show, and the beloved annual soup social. https://sparknewton.org/happenings/winterfest-2026/

A Musical Menagerie
2026-01-18 15:00 - 17:00 | War Memorial Auditorium, 1000 Commonwealth Avenue, Newton, 02459, United States
This January, conductor Conner Gray Covington leads your family on a thrilling trip to our musical zoo! Things get buzzing with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s zippy Flight of the Bumblebee. In Camille Saint-Saëns’s humorous Carnival of the Animals, clucking chickens, lumbering elephants, and braying donkeys all make their appearance. Works by Modest Mussorgsky, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Ludwig van Beethoven paint vivid scenes of children playing, swans dancing, and birds calling to each other by a brook. Our visit ends with The Mountain That Loved a Bird, in which Caroline Shaw’s stirring music brings Alice McLerran’s heartwarming fable to musical life.
Tickets are free, but please register on the website through the ticket platform at https://www.proarte.org/concerts/a-musical-menagerie.
Sponsored by Newton Cultural Council and the Music Performance Trust Fund of the American Federation of Musicians

Lydian String Quartet at The Allen Center
2026-01-15 19:30 - 21:00 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
An Open Rehearsal
The Naumberg Award-winning Lydian String Quartet, recently named Ensemble in Residence at The Allen Center, will deliver the four open rehearsals with two Beethoven quartets framing contemporary works that demonstrate Beethoven’s lasting influence and providing new context for listening and understanding these canonical works in today’s world. Buy Tickets.

NAA presents Rhythm of Color at The Allen Center
2026-01-14 08:00 - 2026-03-26 17:00 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
EXHIBITION & AWARD CEREMONY: The Allen Center, The Rhythm of Color
Welcome to the RHYTHM of COLOR!

End the year with a splash of color! Join the NAA for this annual Allen Center Expo! Let your creative side go wild. Explore your inner color any way you like.
Exhibition: January 14 – March 26
Award Presentation: Rescheduled to Wednesday, March 19 7-9 pm, weather dependent
ABOUT THE JUROR
Santiago Hernandez is a Cuban-born visual artist and musician based in Boston, MA. Although trained in traditional techniques of working from observation, his work has evolved to reflect graphic design, architectural rendering, geometric abstraction, and music. Santiago currently teaches Fine Arts at Lesley University College of Art & Design and at Mass College of Art & Design. In addition, he performs as a jazz drummer and percussionist throughout the Boston area with his trio Detour Ahead.

Commonwealth Chorale Auditions
2026-01-13 17:30 - 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. We are especially looking for tenors and basses. The 2025-2026 season marks Commonwealth Chorale’s 50th Anniversary and will be filled with special performances.
In March, we will perform a new arrangement of Mozart’s beloved Requiem by English composer Howard Arman along with two Psalm settings by 19th-century Brazilian composer Jose Maricio Nunes Garcia. In May, we conclude our celebration with Martín Palmeri’s tango-influenced Misa a Buenos Aires (“Misatango”). The program will also feature tango works with tango orchestra and tango dancers! We conclude with Argentinian Alberto Ginastera’s Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah, written while Ginastera was living in the USA after being targeted by the Perón regime for supporting civil liberties.
Auditions will be held by appointment on January 6th and 13th from 5:30 to 6:45. 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.
We have 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

Boston Ballet School presents Open Studio Week
2026-01-10 - 2026-01-16 | Boston Ballet School, 153 Needham St, Suite N101, Newton Highlands, MA, 02464, United States
January Open Studio Week
Parents of children ages 16 months to 6 years* are invited to join us for Open Studio Week January 10–16 at our Boston, Brighton, Brookline, and Newton studios. You and your child can get a firsthand experience of our classes, connect with our faculty, learn more about our curriculum, and tour our state-of-the-art studios.
Date: Saturday, January 10–Friday, January 16
Time: 9am–12:45pm, actual time based on level
Locations:
Newton Studio – 153 Needham Street, Newton, MA 02464
Boston Studio – 19 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116
Brighton Studio – The Presentation School Community Foundation Center: 640 Washington Street, Brighton, MA 02135
Brookline Studio – 1431 Beacon St, Brookline, MA 02446
January Placement Class
Join us for a free placement class on January 10 at our Newton Studio. This placement class is for students ages 7-18 who are interested in joining our Foundations or Classical Ballet Training. The placement class will allow our faculty to assess your child’s skill level and determine which class will be best for them to further their dance education.
Date: Saturday, January 10
Time: 3:30–4:30pm
Location: Newton Studio – 153 Needham Street, Newton, MA 02464
Follow the event link to RSVP for this FREE event!

West Newton Cinema presents Ty Burr's Movie Club: Her
2026-01-08 18:30 - 21:00 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
TY BURR’S MOVIE CLUB is hosted by the nationally recognized film critic Ty Burr.
Each month Ty presents and discusses one of his favorite films with the audience. His selections span the spectrum from classics that have stood the test of time to contemporary films that merit a second viewing.
ABOUT THE FILM
In the near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.
