Newton Cultural Alliance

New Art Center presents Friday Figure Draw Workshops
2025-09-26 18:30 - 21:30, 2025-10-10 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.

Newton Theatre Company Presents FUN HOME
2025-09-27 08:00 - 17:00, 2025-09-27 14:00 - 16:00, 2025-10-03 08:00 - 17:00, 2025-10-04 08:00 - 17:00, 2025-10-04 14:00 - 16:00 | Saint John’s Episcopal Church, 96 Otis Street, Newton, MA, 02460, United States
Based on Alison Bechdel’s groundbreaking graphic memoir, Fun Home is a refreshingly honest, funny, and deeply moving musical about growing up, coming out, and discovering the secrets that shape our families. As Alison looks back on her childhood and her relationship with her enigmatic father, she unravels the moments—both big and small—that helped her find her voice. With its intimate storytelling and unforgettable score, Fun Home invites audiences on a journey of memory, identity, and self-discovery.
Fun Home will run for three weekends. Get your tickets now!
September 19th, 2025 at 8:00pm
September 20th, 2025 at 2:00pm
September 20th, 2025 at 8:00pm
September 26th, 2025 at 8:00pm
September 27th, 2025 at 2:00pm
September 27th, 2025 at 8:00pm
October 3rd, 2025 at 8:00pm
October 4th, 2025 at 2:00pm
October 4th, 2025 at 8:00pm
Seating is intimate and limited, so get your tickets now! Fun Home is recommended for ages 13+.
All performances are at:
St. John’s Episcopal Church, DiMauro Hall
​96 Otis Street, Newtonville, MA

Newton Community Pride presents Fall Village Concerts
2025-09-28 15:00 - 16:30 | MA
Newton Community Pride presents a free, outdoor concert . This concert is part of a series of 3 free and accessible events as part of the Fall Village Concert Series.
Sept 14- Jazz Barracudas in the courtyard at Trio Newton
Sept 21- Christopher Steele at Upper Falls Depot
Sept 28- Jim & Nick at Newton Centre Plaza

AEM presents Practical Musicianship and Music Theory for Early Musicians
2025-09-29 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-10-06 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-10-13 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-10-20 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-10-27 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

New TV presents Future Forward Gala
2025-09-30 18:00 - 21:00 | Boston Marriott Newton, 2345 Commonwealth Avenue, Newton, MA, 02466, United States
NewTV is pleased to announce their inaugural Future Forward Gala on September 30, 2025 beginning at 6:00PM. The Gala will take place at the Boston Marriott Newton, located at 2345 Commonwealth Avenue.
Like most community media centers, NewTV is funded primarily by a surcharge on the cable bill of local cable subscribers. With more and more people “cutting the cord” in favor of streaming services and apps, NewTV is rapidly losing a major source of funding needed to serve the Newton community. Supporting the Future Forward Gala helps to finance NewTV’s annual fundraising campaign, ensuring that NewTV remains the best community media center in the nation.
The gala features an immersive journey through NewTV’s history: Learn what NewTV has accomplished and discover some of the most meaningful content they have created over the past three decades. NewTV will also define their vision for the future – how they will continue to protect your First Amendment right to free speech, and how they will continue to provide you with transparent local government coverage and journalistic integrity.
The evening also includes cocktail hour and hors d’oeuvres, a sit-down dinner, a live performance by Boston music legend Livingston Taylor, and a tribute to outgoing Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller.

A Taste of the Season at The Allen Center
2025-10-03 19:00 - 21:00 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
A Taste of the Season: Friday October 3rd, 7pm
The Allen Center’s Lucky 13th year’s musical season will open with A Taste of the Season, presenting vignette performances by several of the artists represented during the year including Karen Walwyn (Steinway Artist), Maxim Lubarsky, Allison Eldredge, and Julia Glenn (Lydian Quartet), as well as presenting the opening of mixed-media works by artist Laura Scheuerell including Steinway Series Reimagined. In celebration of the season ahead, a curated spread of food and drink will elevate the evening. Buy Tickets.

Explorations in Sound at The Allen Center
2025-10-04 19:30 - 21:00 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
Explorations in Sound: Saturday, October 4th, 7:30 pm
Internationally known jazz pianist Maxim Lubarsky and vocalist/ composer Gabriela Martina will perform works from their most recent CD release and collaboration, Explorations in Sound. Buy Tickets.

Steinway Alive at The Allen Center
2025-10-05 15:00 - 17:00 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
Welcoming Our New Steinway Concert Grand Piano
To complete our opening weekend celebration, renowned Steinway artists Max Levinson and Karen Walwyn will present works for piano to celebrate the new partnership between The Allen Center and M. Steinert & Sons, followed by a champagne reception. Buy Tickets.

Behind the Screen: Jane Austen Wrecked My Life
2025-10-05 16:00 - 18:30 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Agathe (Camille Rutherford) works in the legendary Shakespeare & Co. bookshop in Paris, where she dreams of becoming a successful writer and of experiencing love akin to a Jane Austen novel. Instead, she finds herself desperately single and plagued by writer’s block. When Agathe’s best friend (Pablo Pauly) helps secure her a spot at the Jane Austen Writers’ Residency in England, Agathe finally has her Jane Austen moment . . . and is caught in a very unexpected romantic triangle. In the end, Agathe must let go of her insecurities to decide what she really wants for herself and to achieve her romantic and professional dreams.
POST SCREENING PANEL DISCUSSION
Jane Austen’s novels have inspired countless adaptations in film, literature, television, and theater. Our distinguished panel will dive deep into the author’s unparalleled influence on the arts and her enduring appeal, tracing themes of class, gender, and marriage in her work and their resonance in today’s world.
SONIA HOFKOSH, Ph.D.
Associate Professor & Chair of English at Tufts University
Sonia Hofkosh is the author of Sexual Politics and the Romantic Author and coeditor of Romanticism, Race, and Imperial Culture, 1780–1834. She has published essays on Jane Austen and among her favorite courses to teach is one that considers Austen’s marriage plots in relation to Mary Shelley’s speculative fiction.
DEIDRE LYNCH, Ph.D.
Ernest Bernbaum Professor of English Literature at Harvard University
Deidre Lynch is the editor of Janeites: Austen’s Disciples and Devotees and has prepared editions of Austen’s Persuasion for Oxford University Press and Mansfield Park for Harvard University Press. She is also the author of Loving Literature: A Cultural History and has written for the Los Angeles Review of Books and Public Books.
TARA MENON, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English at Harvard University
Tara Menon’s debut novel, Under Water, will be published by Riverhead Books in
March, and her first monograph, Speaking Parts: Conversation, Character, and Social
Worlds, is forthcoming from Princeton University Press in the fall of 2026.
Moderator:
MARY COTTON
Mary has owned and operated Newtonville Books with her husband, the writer and editor Jaime Clarke, for nearly twenty years.

Ty Burr's Movie Club: I Know Where I've Been!
2025-10-09 18:30 - 20:30 | 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
I’m always a little surprised when someone says they haven’t heard of I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING!, the 1945 Michael Powell-Emeric Pressburger romance set in the rugged, mystical Scottish Hebrides. It was my mother’s all-time favorite movie, so, for me, it’s always been around — she would have been 22 when it came out, and for her generation I think it held some of the same eldritch appeal as a show like “Outlander” does today (albeit with rather less bodice-ripping).
More to the point, I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING! has within it the genetic material of so many romantic comedies and dramas that have followed, then and now and the day after tomorrow: The Proud Heroine, all set to marry the wrong man; the Right Man right there by her side, annoying her while she annoys him until they just say the hell with it and kiss; a Forest of Arden setting whose magic bends the laws of attraction; a wry best friend or two and a gallery of eccentrics to remind the Proud Heroine she’s part of the human race. Plenty of movies before I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING! had some or all of those ingredients, but few filmmakers have been able to suggest the wildness of life bursting through repressed British decorum like Powell, here and in films like “The Red Shoes,” “Black Narcissus,” and many others.
–Ty Burr

Film Screening of An Uncommon Education: The Allen School
2025-10-14 18:30 - 21:00 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Historic Newton, West Newton Cinema, and Newton Cultural Alliance are excited to present a showing and panel discussion of the film “An Uncommon Education: The Allen School”! Join us on Tuesday, October 14 to view the original film (released in 2023) followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with the filmmakers. Tickets are $20 and equally benefit all three non-profit organizations.

West Newton Cinema Reads: The Bostonians
2025-10-16 18:30 - 20:30 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
In Boston, in the aftermath of the Civil War, Verena Tarrant (Madeleine Potter), a gifted young orator, has attracted the attention of Olive Chancellor (Vanessa Redgrave), who wishes to nurture Verena as an inspirational force for the Women’s Movement. Ranged against her is Basil Ransom (Christopher Reeve), a handsome male chauvinist, who wants Verena as his wife. Against a backdrop of luminous New England landscapes, battle is joined, and for Olive, the struggle will prove an odyssey that forces her to acknowledge her true nature. Merchant Ivory Productions’ acclaimed screen adaptation of Henry James’s The Bostonians (1886), set in Cambridge and Boston, charts the struggle between two charismatic forces to gain control over the destiny of a spirited young woman.
Join us for a special screening of The Bostonians, now in stunning 4K restoration, with an opening discussion of both the film and the novel led by Sierra Eckert and David Kurnick and moderated by John Plotz. This screening opens the Brandeis Novel Symposium set for Friday, October 17, a free event drawing scholars from across the country that audience members are encouraged to attend.
THE BRANDEIS NOVEL SYMPOSIUM is a one-day conference that chooses a single novel as a point of focus for salient theoretical, historical, political, and narratological questions about the novel as a genre. This year’s symposium on Henry James’s The Bostonians will be held on Friday, October 17, in Brandeis University’s Women’s Studies Research Center, and speakers will include Louis Menand (Harvard University) and Holly Jackson (University of Massachusetts, Boston).
SIERRA ECKERT is Assistant Professor of English at Wesleyan University. She specializes in nineteenth-century British and Anglophone literature, disciplinary history, critical and social theory, and the digital humanities. Her work has appeared in Victorian Studies and Studies in the Novel.
DAVID KURNICK is Professor of English at Rutgers University at New Brunswick. He is the author of The Savage Detectives Reread and Empty Houses: Theatrical Failure and the Novel, and his writing has appeared in Bookforum, Public Books, and Chronicle of Higher Education.
JOHN PLOTZ is Mandel Professor of Humanities at Brandeis University. He co-hosts two podcasts: Novel Dialogue and Recall This Book, and oversees the annual Brandeis Novel Symposium.
Registered attendees of the Brandeis Novel Symposium are entitled to a ticket discount. To receive the discount, tickets must be purchased ONLINE with code. To receive your code, register for the Brandeis Novel Symposium for free at the following link:
www.brandeis.edu/english/events/brandeis-novel-symposium/

Harvest and the Hunt
2025-10-18 15:00 - 16:30 | the allen center, 35 Webster Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Fall is in the air! Prepare to celebrate the extraordinary beauty of autumn with The Highland Glee Club Men’s Chorus. Warm tones of the season for mannercor, followed by an Oktoberfest-style reception complete with beer and pretzels! Gorgeous part-songs of Schumann, Brahms, Mendelssohn, and more, along with festive Czech folksongs celebrating the harvest. All in the wooded, intimate space of Newton’s Allen House. Don’t miss it. Info and tickets at www.highlandgleeclub.com

Parisian Colors: Between Line and Light
2025-10-18 19:00 - 20:00 | Newton Presbyterian Church, 75 Vernon St., Newton, MA, United States
Join the award-winning Poiema Trio for an evening of French chamber music where elegance meets daring. From Ravel’s shimmering Trio to Boulanger’s radiant D’un matin de printemps and Fauré’s lyrical late Trio, discover the vibrant palette of sound that defined Paris in the early 20th century.
Poiema Trio, dedicated to sharing the joy of chamber music with audiences of all demographics, infuses their performances with spontaneity, imagination, and storytelling. Poiema formed in the summer of 2023 at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival after bonding over a shared affinity for folk traditions and improvisation and falling in love with making music together over many late night reading sessions. In their time together, they have performed and taught workshops across the eastern half of the US and are recipients of the 2024 Gold Medal Prize from the Ninth International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition. The vibrant members have backgrounds in historical performance, folk, jazz, and production, hold degrees from the Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and are currently working on arranging folk tunes for piano trio. Their name, “Poiema,” means poetry at the intersection of beauty and brokenness, a poignant reminder of an artist’s true calling.

Best of Fests: Remaining Native
2025-10-19 13:00 - 15:00 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Best of Fests: REMAINING NATIVE
Co-Presented by Salem Film Fest
ABOUT THE FILM
REMAINING NATIVE is a coming-of-age documentary told from the perspective of Kutoven (Ku) Stevens, a 17-year-old Native American runner, struggling to navigate his dream of becoming a collegiate athlete as the memory of his great-grandfather’s escape from an Indian boarding school begins to connect past, present, and future.
Learn more about the Salem Film Fest: www.salemfilmfest.com
ABOUT BEST OF FESTS
Best of Fests is a new curated series showcasing standout films from national and international festivals, spanning experimental nonfiction and documentary to fiction cinema and animation. The series aims to connect Newton’s audiences with the most exciting work on the global festival circuit and bring those conversations home. Curated by Homa Sarabi, in partnership with the West Newton Cinema Foundation, Best of Fests connects our community-run nonprofit cinema—saved and purchased for the community in 2024— to the best of contemporary films around the world.
Rooted in the Foundation’s mission to “foster joy and deepen community connections through innovative, engaging film and arts programming,” the series invites viewers to discover new voices, connect with global stories, and experience the power of cinema together in a historic neighborhood theater.
Curator’s Note:
“It is simple. I believe in the power of cinema to bring us together. I’ve seen how films ignite revolutions, energize movements, resist authorities, grow empathy, spread love, and remind us that life is expansive, multidimensional, and luminous. This world is made of collective struggles, and we are in it together—inside and outside the theater.” — Homa Sarabi

Schubert Winterreise at The Allen Center
2025-10-19 15:00 - 17:00 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
Schubert Winterreise: Sunday October 19th, 3pm
Acclaimed baritone Philip Lima and pianist Tudor Bota will perform one of the most profound song cycles in the classical repertoire, Franz Schubert’s Winterreise. Buy Tickets

New Art Center presents Teen Build Your Art Portfolio class
2025-10-20 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-10-27 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.

Jack Lemmon: A Centennial Tribute!
2025-10-24 08:00 - 2025-10-26 17:00 | West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Our hottest event of the season, West Newton Cinema will present the Jack Lemmon 100th Anniversary Celebration from October 24–26, 2025, marking the centenary of the birth of one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actors and Newton’s own native son.
One of the most beloved actors in movie history, Jack Lemmon (1925–2001) was born John Uhler Lemmon III, in Newton, Massachusetts. He grew up in Newton Center and attended Ward Elementary, the Rivers School, and Andover. After Harvard University, where he was president of the Hasty Pudding Club, and a brief stint in the Navy, Lemmon moved to New York City and made his start in radio and early television before transitioning to film roles. Over five decades and more than sixty films, Lemmon built a career as one of Hollywood’s most versatile actors, known for his witty, relatable “everyman” persona.
The three-day program will feature screenings of Jack Lemmon’s most acclaimed films, a commemorative reception, and a special conversation with members of the Lemmon family. Courtney Lemmon, Chris Lemmon, and Sydney Lemmon will take part in the event, celebrating their father and grandfather’s enduring legacy.

Folk/Americana House Concert - Reed Foehl and Putnam Murdock
2025-10-26 16:00 - 18:00 | House Of Play House Concerts, Newton, MA, 02461, United States
Street singer- turned songwriter- Reed Foehl’s music tells stories of the human condition with a lyric and voice that push the boundaries while paying homage to tradition. Dusty and patient his music is genuine Folk/Americana. He was nominated for a grammy for his song “Fly” which was covered by country legend “ Lee Ann Womack”. His five studio albums have put him on the map of the publishing world, garnering placements in both film and television.
“Reed has the ability to transport the soul, a true master. One of the great songwriters of our time.” Gregory Alan Isakov
“ From traditional folk ballads to barroom sing-alongs, this tunesmith’s emotional, deeply personal lyrics and indelibly infectious choruses…leave the listener with an overriding sense of optimism” (Glide Magazine) — something we could all use a little more of these days.”
“Reed’s songs hit you in the heart, and everything else falls away.” Anais Mitchell
www.reedfoehlmusic.com
$30 suggested minimum donation goes 100% directly to the musicians.

40th Anniversary Boston Jazz Voices Concert
2025-11-02 15:00 - 17:00 | The Allen Center, 35 Webster St, WEST NEWTON, MA, 02465, United States
Join Boston Jazz Voices as we celebrate 40 years of making beautiful music together.
The group was founded in 1985 by a bunch of barbershoppers looking to expand their musicianship by singing the great arrangements of Gene Puerling, The Singers Unlimited, and The Hi-Los. This concert will include songs from each decade of our history.
Reception to follow.
