New Art Center presents Friday Figure Draw Workshops
2025-11-14 18:30 - 21:30 (America/New_York) | New Art Center, 61 Washington Park, Newton, MA, 02460, United States
Friday Figure Draw Workshops
Enjoy a life drawing open studio with a live model, beginning with quick poses and ending with an hour pose. The evening will be relaxed but professional, with music and a great model. No photography allowed. No instruction. For artists 21+ with drinks available for purchase. Bring your own art supplies (no oils); easels/chairs provided.
September 12, September 26, October 10, November 14
6:30 PM – 9:30 PM
https://canvas.newartcenter.org/classes?category=Figure+Drawing.
BLOOM: Sustainable Floral Design Workshop 16+. All levels
Join floral designer and Master Gardener Susan Margolin to create your own floral sculpture using locally grown blooms and foraged materials. Learn sustainable floral design, flower care, and composition-all while connecting with nature through art.
Drinks are available for purchase at the bar for 21+.

Friday, September 26
6:30 PM – 9:30 PM
https://canvas.newartcenter.org/classes/3009.

Singer-songwriter Antje Duvekot at House Of Play House Concerts
2025-11-14 19:00 - 21:00 | House Of Play House Concerts, Newton, MA, 02461, United States
Antje has extensive touring experience, criss-crossing the US and Europe many times. She has performed at The Newport Folk Festival, Mountain Stage, and The Philadelphia and Kerrville Festivals. Internationally, she’s headlined The Celtic Connections Festival in Scotland and the Tonder Festival in Denmark. She’s the winner of the three top prizes in the singer-songwriter world: The Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, the prestigious Kerrville (TX) “Best New Folk Award” and The Boston Music Award for “Outstanding Folk Act”.
“This is a brilliant, brilliant album. I have had this reaction once in the last 10 years and that was the first time I heard Patty Griffin.”
– Rolling Stone music editor Dave Marsh
“Duvekot has gotten hotter, faster than any local songwriter in recent memory. Her songs feel at once fresh faced and firmly rooted, driven by the whispery sensuality of her voice. She believes in the redemptive power of the shared secret; and is utterly unafraid to mine the darkest corners of her life for songs that turn fear into resilience and isolation into community.” The Boston Globe
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Come join us for our next house concert in this up close and intimate setting. Drinks, snacks, and plenty of joy provided. You must register in advance at the website below or at houseconcertsnewton@gmail.com with your name and phone number. A confirmation and address with then be sent to you. This concert will sell out!

Sy Montgomery & E.B. Bartels: A Turtle Celebration
2025-11-15 11:00 - 13:30 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
West Newton Cinema Reads and Newtonville Books present:
Famed naturalist Sy Montgomery, author of THE TRUE AND LUCKY LIFE OF A TURTLE, and E. B. Bartels, author of GOOD GRIEF, together for a talk and book signing to benefit the Turtle Survival Alliance!
Our day begins with a turtle meet and greet. Sy and E.B. will then share big-screen stories and more from their animal adventures, followed by a Q&A. Guests are invited to stay for a screening of THE SLOWEST STAMPEDE ON EARTH and join Sy and E.B. for a book signing in our lobby.
And don’t forget to bid on items—like turtle quilts—in the silent auction!
The day’s events:
11am-11:30:
Turtle meet & greet; mingle in the lobby to browse books & turtle merch & bid on the silent auction items
11:30-12:30:
Authors talk books & turtles, followed by a Q&A, in the theater
12:30-1:30:
Join us for a screening of THE SLOWEST STAMPEDE ON EARTH (20 mins, in the theater) & a book signing (in the lobby)
National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestseller SY MONTGOMERY is the author of thirty-nine books for both adults and children, including Soul of an Octopus and Of Time and Turtles, and has been honored with a Sibert Medal, three Sibert Honors, two Science Book and Film Prizes from the National Association for the Advancement of Science, four honorary degrees, and many other awards. She lives in Hancock, New Hampshire, with her husband, Howard Mansfield, and their border collie, Thurber.
E.B. BARTELS is a nonfiction writer, a teacher, an editor, and a former bookseller with an MFA from Columbia. She is the author of Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter (out in paperback from Mariner Books/HarperCollins on 11/11/25), a narrative nonfiction book about loving and losing animals, which has received positive press from many media outlets including The Associated Press, NPR, The Boston Globe, WBUR, Kinship, Psychology Today, and the American Kennel Club, and which has been translated into Korean. Her essays and interviews have appeared in Salon, Slate, WBUR, Literary Hub, Catapult, Electric Literature, The Believer, and The Rumpus, among others. E.B. lives in Arlington, Massachusetts, with her husband (Richie), her son (Luca), and a pair of red-footed tortoises (Terrence and Twyla).

Behind the Screen: It Was Just an Accident
2025-11-16 14:00 - 16:00 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT marks another remarkable act of defiance by Jafar Panahi, one of the most courageous filmmakers of our time. Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, the film is a tense, darkly humorous thriller about Vahid, a mechanic who believes he has reencountered Eghbal, the intelligence officer who once tortured him. As Vahid gathers others whose lives were also scarred by Eghbal, a dangerous plan for revenge takes shape. Panahi crafts a powerful meditation on justice, morality, and resistance under repression. A NEON release and a NYFF63 Main Slate selection.
POST SCREENING PANEL DISCUSSION
Our distinguished panel will discuss IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT in the context of Iranian cinema, political expression, and the role of art as resistance under authoritarian rule.
ALI BANUAZIZI, Ph.D.
Research Professor of Political Science at Boston College and Faculty Affiliate at the Center for International Studies at M.I.T.
Ali Banuazizi’s research focuses on the political cultures of the Middle East and the comparative study of religion, civil society, and politics. His work includes Iran’s social history and its contemporary domestic and foreign relations. A past president of both the Middle East Studies Association and the International Society for Iranian Studies, he has held visiting appointments at Princeton, Harvard, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, MIT, and Oxford University.
RASHIN FAHANDEJ
Multimedia Artist and Filmmaker; Research Fellow, MIT Open Documentary Lab
Rashin Fahandej’s multimedia projects center on marginalized voices and the use of media and technology for social change. Her multi-platform project A Father’s Lullaby explores the role of men in raising children and the impact of racial disparities in the criminal justice system. A 2019 James and Audrey Foster Prize recipient, she has been a Boston Artist-in-Residence and a visiting faculty member at MassArt. She is also a recipient of the Mass Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Grant.
KAMRAN RASTEGAR, Ph.D.
Professor of Comparative Literature, Tufts University
Kamran Rastegar’s scholarship focuses on modern Middle Eastern literature and film, with attention to representation, cultural memory, and transnational identity. He is a founding faculty member of the Department for Studies in Race, Colonialism and Diaspora and an affiliate of the Film and Media Studies Program. He served as Director of the Center for the Humanities at Tufts from 2018 to 2022. His work bridges cultural studies and the political dimensions of art in the Middle East.

CONCERT BY CHAMBER MUSIC FOR YOUR CAUSE
2025-11-16 15:00 - 17:00 | Scandinavian Cultural Center, 206 Waltham St, Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Join us for a one-hour concert presenting music by Johannes Brahms, Max Bruch, Leonard Bernstein, and John Williams. Musicians are Paulette Bowes, clarinet; Scott Woolweaver, viola; Dennis Alves, tenor, and Rita Moerschel, piano.
Refreshments to be served following the performance.
“Chamber Music for YOUR Cause” was created by Paulette Bowes, former Executive Director of the All-Newton Music School, to use music as a way to support non-profit organizations in Newton. All ticket sale revenue goes directly to supporting the services and programs of Newton at Home.

AEM presents Practical Musicianship and Music Theory for Early Musicians
2025-11-17 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-11-24 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-12-01 17:30 - 19:00
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

New Art Center presents Teen Build Your Art Portfolio class
2025-11-17 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-11-24 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-12-01 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-12-08 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-12-15 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.

The Gingersnap Band
2025-11-22 19:30 - 21:00 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
Join us as The Allen Center transforms into a cozy Jazz Club, with table seating, drinks, and bar snacks available to enjoy during the show. The Gingersnap Band keeps it snappy with a six piece ensemble and soulful renditions of jazzy classics you won’t want to miss.

Pro Arte presents Brahms Second Sextet
2025-11-23 15:00 - 16:30 | Grace Episcopal Church, 76 Eldredge Street, Newton, MA, 02458, United States
Join members of Pro Arte’s string players for Brahms’ String Sextet No. 2. Brahms masterpiece is a complex and ethereal work known for its rich counterpoint and emotional depth, which moves from gloom to transcendence. Tickets and info at proarte.org/concerts/brahms-second-sextet.

Boston's Brilliance at The Allen Center
2025-11-23 15:00 - 17:00 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
Boston’s Brilliance: Friday, November 23rd, 3 pm
A virtuoso ensemble of celebrated artists, including BSO violinist Alexander Velinzon, BSO violist Cathy Basrak, cellist Allison Eldredge, and Steinway pianist Max Levinson, returns to The Allen Center for an evening of chamber music to include Robert Schumann’s breathtaking Piano Quartet. Buy Tickets.

Suzuki School of Newton Faculty Concert
2025-11-23 16:00 - 17:00 | Newton Presbyterian Church, 75 Vernon St., Newton, MA, United States
Event: Suzuki School of Newton Faculty Recital
Description: Faculty performing classical favorites!

Sunday, Nov. 23rd, 4-5 PM

Newton Presbyterian Church
75 Vernon St. Newton, MA 02458

Tickets:
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/ssn-faculty-concert

4th Annual Newton Thanksgiving Farmers' Market
2025-11-25 12:00 - 16:00 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
On Tuesday, November 25th, we can pick up everything we need for our Thanksgiving feast at the 4th Annual Newton Thanksgiving Farmers’ Market. There’ll be a local farm with fresh produce, pies, pre-made side dishes ready to pop in the oven, bread, cheese boards, appetizers, chocolates, fresh flowers, pantry products, and hostess gifts. Everything except the turkey! Join us at The Allen Center from 12-4 pm in West Newton.

West Newton Cinema presents Producers Circle: Nine
2025-12-04 18:30 - 20:30 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Join us for a special evening with filmmakers Jeremy S. Levine and Rachael DeCruz as they share a rough cut and discuss the making of their documentary, “Nine”.
In this contemplative, immersive documentary, we see two men’s parallel lives unfold, separated by generations and bound together by experience. In Act I, Nine interweaves the lives of Gerald and Henry. They are both stuck. Henry’s life in prison is on loop; he works as a janitor, calls his wife Juanita—who stayed with him during his decades of incarceration—and mentors the younger men while playing dominos before starting it all over again the next day. Gerald frantically juggles his day job, his activism, and at night, he digs into the archives of Henry’s case, looking for something—anything—that will help bring his Pops home. Act II centers on Gerald’s campaign to free Henry. Gerald and his team of formerly incarcerated activists strategize on ways to bring Henry home. They work to pass a bill Gerald wrote while still in prison that would radically transform the clemency board. Gerald records emotional video testimonies from men whose lives Henry transformed. He’s worried it’s not enough and that he’s failing Henry. Things come to a head in Act III, leading to Henry’s clemency hearing and his unexpected freedom after 45 years of incarceration.
With quiet attention to details, Nine feels like a cinematic poem. In moments small and large, the film builds a beautiful, lyrical world that explores the resilience and joy that can be found in our most cherished relationships.
Jeremy S. Levine, Director/Producer
Levine’s work explores race, class, and the power of parental bonds through cinematic, formally rigorous films.
Rachael DeCruz, Director/Producer
DeCruz’s work centers on how familial and community bonds fortify people to push back against racist systems.
Producer’s Circle is an opportunity to:
Experience excerpts of a filmmaker’s past work to understand their vision and craftsmanship.
-Engage directly with in-progress productions that need your support.
-Participate in shaping the final stages of a film’s journey, through discussion and financial contributions.
-Foster a Vibrant Film Community. Beyond supporting a single documentary, your participation helps strengthen Boston’s larger documentary scene. By investing in these works-in-progress, you become part of a community pushing the boundaries of independent storytelling, inspiring future filmmakers, and expanding the city’s creative horizons.

AEM presents AEM ONLINE December 6 & 7
2025-12-05 08:00 - 17:00
Join us for the last sessions of 2025! Viol trios with Rosamund Morley and Laurence Lipnik, Music of the Four Temperaments with Jennifer Carpenter, Historical Harps with Anna O’Connell, and Songs for the Solstice with Emily Eagen. Sign up here!

FUUSN presents Holiday Fair
2025-12-06 09:30 - 14:00 | First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton, 1326 Washington St, Newton, MA, 02465, United States
The FUUSN Holiday Fair is a fun, festive event on Saturday, December 6. Join us as the Parish Hall is transformed into a Holiday marketplace. Shop for gifts, toys, homemade baked goods, wreath,s and swags. The Baked Goods table is overflowing with homemade cookies, cakes and sweets, pick up a fresh green wreath, topped with a colorful bow. Buy a ticket for the Quilt Raffle. You might win a handmade quilt. There’s a holiday caroling session open to all who want to join. Come one, come all to the FUUSN Holiday Fair.

Highland Glee Club presents Holiday Angelsong
2025-12-06 15:00 - 16:30 | Christ Episcopal Church, 1132 Highland Ave., Needham Heights, MA, 02494, United States
Warm and brighten up your holiday season this year with The Highland Glee Club Men’s Chorus! We proudly present Holiday Angelsong, a program of some of the most beautiful music ever written for the holidays. Palestrina, Franck, Schubert, Praetorius, Mendelssohn, Rubinstein, and our own Dan Wulf! With star tenor Connor Vigeant and special guests mezzo soprano Jessica Erving and violinist Eleanor Markey(2023 HGC Music Award winner). Reasonably priced at $20 in advance ($25 at the door) with children attending free. Plenty of free, easy parking. What’s not to love? Get your tickets today.
Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 3 pm. at Christ Episcopal Church 1132 Highland Ave. Needham, MA
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/angelsong

SSN presents Pianos Galore
2025-12-06 17:00 - 18:30 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
Event: Pianos Galore

Description: Suzuki School of Newton piano students performing classical repertoire

Saturday, Dec. 6th, 5-6:30 PM

The Allen Center
35 Webster St. Newton, MA 02465

free event

Newton Presbyterian Church presents ArsNova Concert (Yagmur Soydemir)
2025-12-06 19:00 - 20:30 | Newton Presbyterian Church, 75 Vernon St., Newton, MA, United States
Newton Presbyterian Church
December 6, 2025 @ 7:00 pm
Newton Presbyterian Church 75 Vernon St, Newton Corner, MA 02458, United States

Come and join Turkish flutist Yagmur Soydemir for an inspiring evening of her original compositions!

Bay Colony Brass presents “A Yuletide Blizzard of Brilliant Brass”
2025-12-06 19:30 - 21:00 | Second Church in Newton, 60 Highland St., West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Bay Colony Brass presents “A Yuletide Blizzard of Brilliant Brass”
Saturday, December 6, 2025 – 7:30 pm
Second Church in Newton | 60 Highland Street | West Newton, MA
Music director Philip Sanborn leads Newton’s 20-member BAY COLONY BRASS in “A Yuletide Blizzard of Brilliant Brass.” The free, family-friendly concert of Christmas favorites ranges from Leroy Anderson’s “A Christmas Festival” to modern arrangements of traditional carols and “Christmas Toons” by Emmy Award-winning composer Anthony DiLorenzo. The concert features an audience sing-along. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Newton Cultural Council, a local council supported by the Mass Cultural Council and the City of Newton.

West Newton Cinema presents Behind the Screen: Hamnet
2025-12-07 14:00 - 17:00 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
HAMNET is a historical drama directed by the Academy Award winning writer/director Chloé Zhao and based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell. The film follows the arc in the relationship between William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes in the wake of the death of their 11-year-old son Hamnet. It tells a powerful story of love and loss, and one that is believed to have inspired the creation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Hamlet.
POST SCREENING DISCUSSION
Our distinguished panelists will explore the film’s cultural and historical context and discuss more broadly the influence of Shakespeare on the arts, having inspired countless works across different mediums and periods. Artists have continually drawn on Shakespeare’s work for inspiration, an enduring legacy that has shaped modern art and culture.
FEATURING:
STEPHEN GREENBLATT, Ph.D.
John Cogan University Professor of Humanities, Harvard University
Greenblatt is the author of fifteen books, including Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics; The Swerve: How the World Became Modern; Shakespeare’s Freedom; Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare; Hamlet in Purgatory; and most recently Dark Renaissance. He is General Editor of The Norton Anthology of English Literature and of The Norton Shakespeare. His honors include the 2016 Holberg Prize from the Norwegian Parliament, the 2012 Pulitzer Prize and the 2011 National Book Award for The Swerve, and two Guggenheim Fellowships. He has been elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Philosophical Society, the Italian literary academy Accademia degli Arcadi, and is a fellow of the British Academy.
IN CONVERSATION WITH:
MICHELLE EPHRAIM, Ph.D.
Professor of English at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Ephraim, a Shakespeare scholar, is the author of Green World: A Tragicomic Memoir of Love & Shakespeare, which was awarded the 2023 Juniper Prize for Creative Nonfiction; Reading the Jewish Woman on the Elizabethan Stage; and the co-author of the literary humor book Shakespeare, Not Stirred: Cocktails for Your Everyday Dramas. Her latest venture is the award-winning podcast, Everyday Shakespeare, which explores ways that Shakespeare sheds light on our modern problems.

The Newton Family Singers Present “Dancin' on Sunshine: An inter-generational sing-along dance party”
2025-12-07 16:00 - 18:30 | Regis College’s Casey Theatre, 235 Wellesley St, Weston, MA, 02493, United States
What the world needs now is joy, movement, inspiration and some sunshine! And NFS is bringing it with this season’s fun and uplifting show “Dancin’ on Sunshine” featuring music by the Bee Gees, Avicii, Kygo and Whitney Houston including such hits as “We Are Family” and “Walking on Sunshine” to “Vivir Mi Vida” and “Vogue.”
This season we are partnering with our sister choir, Arlington’s Family Folk Chorale, for TWO big shows! We will perform this show twice, so you have double the opportunity get your groove on!
In this time of global uncertainty and upheaval, our goal is to create moments of joy and inspiration for our communities!
Each show will feature both choruses performing together — over one hundred singers together, with you, in unison, dancing, sharing joyful and uplifting music.
Family Folk Chorale show: November 23rd, 2025 4:00pm: Arlington Town Hall, 30 Massachusetts Ave, Arlington, MA
Newton Family Singers show: December 7th, 2025 4:00pm: Regis College, Casey Theater, 235 Wellesley St, Weston, MA
Get your tickets now at https://www.newtonfamilysingers.org/events.html

Newton Presbyterian Church presents A Christmas Carol
2025-12-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Newton Presbyterian Church, 75 Vernon St., Newton, MA, United States
Neil McGarry returns to Newton Presbyterian Church for his 12th season performing “A Christmas Carol.” Join us this holiday season in exploring Charles Dickens’ immortal classic. A tale of tragedy, of ghosts, of the audacity of hope and the true spirit of Christmas.
This one-man tour de force is an IRNE-award-winning performance, and not to be missed!
Drinks and light refreshments will be provided.
Tickets Available Here
Newton Presbyterian Church, 75 Vernon Street in Newton, MA

Suzuki School of Newton presents Violin & Viola Concert
2025-12-13 17:00 - 18:30 | newton community stage, 15 Walnut Park, Newton, M, 02458, United States
Suzuki School of Newton violin & viola students and faculty present a concert of Suzuki, classical repertoire!

West Newton Cinema presents Director's Spotlight: Drink and Be Merry
2025-12-18 19:00 - 20:30 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
ABOUT THE FILM
Set at a struggling New York dive bar in the days approaching Christmas, 2019, Chet (Jefferson White), a beleaguered bartender in a state of extended arrested development, must balance taking care of his difficult regulars, who have nowhere else to go, and rely on him for far more than pouring drinks, with his naive desire to muster some Christmas Spirit.
Q&A FOLLOWS THE SCREENING
ADAM VOLERICH
Filmmaker and Podcast Producer
The set is his natural habitat and the crew his family. His films have screened and been awarded at festivals worldwide. His latest short film, MISPRINT, premiered on Omeleto, and his feature directing debut, DRINK AND BE MERRY, is available to rent or buy.
Adam is also the co-creator of the hit film podcast EYE OF THE DUCK on the Morbid Podcast Network for SiriusXM. He also produced and developed the Signal Award Winning and Ambie and Webby Nominated narrative fiction podcasts AMERICAN HOSTAGE (Amazon Originals), starring Jon Hamm (soon to be a TV Show from Shawn Ryan and MGM+), and THE FOXES OF HYDESVILLE (QCODE), starring Carey Mulligan, for Criminal Content.
ETHAN WARREN
Author
Ethan Warren is the author of The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha, and the forthcoming When I Paint My Masterpiece: The Cinematic Dylan.
