Arts & Culture

Up next: Grace Gardner, Sofia Lafuente, and Farayi Malek! Grace Gardner Raised on the outskirts of a Texas city and now living in New England, Grace Gardner is pushing the boundaries of the singer-songwriter genre. While their music adopts many of the genre’s characteristics, Grace has found inspiration in their parents’ taste in ’70s and ’80s rock, the folk roots of their Southern upbringing, the heart of the sounds of New Orleans—where they studied neuroscience in college—and the lyric-forward storytelling they always return to.

March 28 at 7:30 pm

To mark 250 years since the start of the American Revolution, Diane Taraz takes a trip back in time and traces the road to rebellion with songs enjoyed by ordinary people, especially those often overlooked, such as women and people of color. Enjoy lively ballads, serene hymns, bold marches, passionate laments, and songs created by both sides promoting either independence or loyalty to the crown. Dressed in a gown of the time, Taraz plays authentic instruments including the lap dulcimer and an “English guitar,” the type favored by women of the 18th century. 

Around Hear is renowned for their innovative performances, and this event will feature works by J.S. Bach, Dvořák, and local composers Mike Kelley and Dan Sedgwick. From cosmic themes to the everyday pigeon, the music will be both captivating and thought-provoking. Attendees will not only enjoy beautiful chamber music but also interact with visual elements and even create their own floor art, making this an immersive and participatory experience. The ensemble features Around Hear founders Marji Gere (violin) and Dan Sedgwick (piano), along with vocalist Will Green. We're also thrilled to open the program with a special performance by a talented CCM student.

The Concord Band presents Music From Warm Places. Under the baton of Music Director James O’Dell, the program includes captivating works by Lewis Buckley, Nubia Jaime-Donjuan, Shelly Hanson, Terry White, and Óscar Navarro. A highlight of the program is the Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Band by Spanish composer Óscar Navarro, masterfully performed by Acton resident Jerry Vabulas, an outstanding soloist and member of the Concord Band since 2012. 

Saturday, March 8, 2025, 7:00 PM at the 51 Walden Performing Arts Center

The Umbrella Stage Company presents the New England premiere of Mohegan theatre-maker Madeline Sayet’s ground-breaking one-woman show, Where We Belong. With great humor, insight, and imaginative storytelling, the autobiographical play weaves together Indigenous history, Shakespeare, colonialism, cultural legacy, the power of language, and legend. It recounts Sayet’s 2015 journey to England. Moving between nations that have failed to reckon with their ongoing roles in colonialism, she grapples with what it means to remain or leave her own home at Mohegan, but finds comfort following in the footsteps of her ancestors who traveled to England in the 1700s to help her people.

Feb 28 - Mar 23

“Ways of My Ancestors – Imagery: Lighting the Path to Awareness” features photographic work by Scott Strong Hawk Foster that celebrates the rich, diverse, and resilient cultures of the Native Peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of North America. Foster is a Native American photographer and an enrolled member of Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band with proud Mohegan and Cherokee lineage.

On view through March 23 in The Umbrella’s Wedge Gallery

Join Concord Art on Thursday, Feb 27, at 5:30 pm for the opening reception of "Members Juried 2: Collage, Crafts, Drawing, Graphics, Mixed Media, Photography, Printmaking 2025," juried by Crista Dix. The exhibition is on view Feb 27 - Mar 27, 2025.

It's 1593 in London, and sometime player/playwright William Shakespeare is struggling to finish his latest work ‘Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter.' Based on the Academy Award-winning film, Shakespeare in Love is an enchanting, hilarious, and romantic telling of the inspiration for Shakespeare's immortal Juliet and the story of undying love he created for her.

Performances: February 14, 15, 21, 22, 28 & March 1 at 8:00 pm and February 16 & 23 at 2:00 pm.

CCM is thrilled to announce "Music & Rebels." This unique program will take you on a journey through the lives and works of music history's most rebellious composers, from Monteverdi and Beethoven to our contemporaries, revealing how their groundbreaking innovations forever transformed the landscape of music. Feb 7 at 7:30 pm

The orchestra, directed by guest conductor Alyssa Wang, performs Andrea Tarrodi’s Camelopardalis,  Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto, and Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suites. Aron Zelkowicz is soloist for the Schumann Cello Concerto.

Performances Feb 1 at 8:00 pm and Feb 2 at 2:30 pm