See as a Google Calendar (click on Agenda tab in upper right)

Upcoming Stuff To Do


- Already going -

MFA First Fridays, SoWa First Fridays

JP Contra, Gays for Patsy

Wherever they are
Pilobolus
Mummenschantz
Prairie Home Companion
Cirque du Soleil
Basel Twist

Places I want to go
Galapagos
Great Barrier Reef
Cloud/rain forest
African savannah
Berlin
Rome, Venice
Zermatt

Boston stuff to do
ArtsBoston.org
Puppet Showplace

Museums around Boston
Gardner Museum - Third Thursday "Gardner After Hours"
Museum of Fine Arts - MFA First Fridays
Institute for Contemporary Arts
RISD Museum
DeCordova
USS Constitution
Harvard
MIT
Somerville Museum of Mosaics
Museum of Bad Taste (? in basement of Somerville Theater)

Boston performing and presenting organizations
Boston Symphony Orchestra - $9 rush Fri 10am, Tu+Th 5pm; talks at 6:45 and 12:15; cafe 5:30, "after 7"pm, 11am lunch
Boston Philharmonic
Boston Classical Orchestra
Boston Chamber Music Society
Boston Conservatory
New England Conservatory
Longy
Boston University School of the Arts
Boston Cabaret
Regattabar

Boston opera organizations
Boston Lyric Opera
Opera Boston
Boston Opera Collaborative
Guerilla Opera
OperhaHub
Longwood Opera
Intermezzo
Juventas! New Music Ensemble

Went to a Handbell Concert at the Congregational Church of Littleton, in which a rowing colleague was ringing.

It was my first handbell concert, and I enjoyed it more than I expected. I feared I'd get tired of all the bells -- ringing -- but it turned out that there was enough variety and cleverness in composition that I didn't get bored. And in a couple places I was transported. The beginning of "The Cold of Between" by Rima Greer was really enthralling. And the Bach "Little" Fugue in G Minor translated nicely to bells and chimes.

Went to the Back Bay Chorale's J.S. Bach B Minor Mass performance at Sanders. Appealing and nicely done.

The Boston Ballet Balanchine concert with Brad was lovely. I particularly liked The Four Temperaments. I know the chronology goes the other way, but it reminded me of some Mark Morris that I saw earlier this year.

Went to the California Academy of Sciences. Cool green roof, beautiful airy space inside, nice marine exhibits with corals. The A/V in the planetarium was busted, though, so didn't get to see that show. And the architecture was quite graceful, but I missed there being substantial supports holding up the roof. I felt a little bit uneasy with so much open space with apparently so little holding everything up.

The Boston Philharmonic concert last night was all 20th-century music:
Revueltas Sensemaya - engaging, rhythmic, cinematic music, and brief
Ginastera Harp Concerto - impressive virtuosic playing, but meh overall
Stravinsky Rite of Spring - I don't think I've heard this performed live before and I understand even more why people would respond so strongly to it almost 100 years ago at its premiere -- lyric then brutal, delicate then overwhelming, frightful then briefly calm -- and essentially unrecognizable as classical and romantic music of the time, yet still engaging and moving. Wow.

Heard the BSO Chamber Players at Jordan Hall with B.

The Barber Summer Music woodwind quintet was familiar and much more interesting to hear after not hearing it for such a long time. I noticed many more of the lines and their development and relationships to one another after listening to an audio course on Beethoven symphonies.

The Bolcom Serenata Notturna for oboe and strings didn't grab me. Nicely played, but nothing brought me into the piece.

The Beethoven Septet Op. 20 for winds and strings was the draw to the concert for me. I really like the piece: charming and fun. I also hadn't really noticed before how much the piece really features the violin. I'd recalled it as more of an ensemble piece. In any case, it was lovely and well-played.