Concert of Virtuosos and Visionaries

Pianist Barbara Lieurance will bring her program of “Virtuosos and Visionaries” to the Library on Sunday, November 30, 2:00PM. The concert will feature music by Prokofiev and Beethoven as well as music by Debussy, Henry Cowell and Lei Liang, interspersed with the pianist’s commentary and explanations. Seating is limited.
This program will explore the beauty and power of the piano as well as new sounds resulting from plucked or strummed strings. American composer Cowell was a grandfather of the new music scene and incorporated Irish folk tunes with innovative techniques in his miniatures. Liang is a Boston composer who focuses on pure sounds in his distilled piano pieces.
Known for her innovative programming and interactive performances, Lieurance has appeared in concert in Finland, Canada and throughout the United States. Recently she went on tour, presenting concerts for the Gilmore Keys to Education Program, part of an international keyboard festival. As a collaborator in the Boston area, she has performed with New Music Ensemble Boston and with Hyperprism. She has also worked extensively with dancers, most recently at the Interlochen Festival of the Arts and with Boston Ballet.

Jonathan Miller & BAE Give Lecture/Concert

Musicians from the world class Boston Artists Ensemble will give a Lecture/Concert on Listening to Chamber Music from the Musicians' and Audience Perspective in relation to the BAE's upcoming season in Newton. The presentation at the Library on Monday, November 3, 7:30PM will include brief performances of music by Haydn and Schubert by Sharan Leventhal, violin, Tatiana Yampolsky, piano and cellist Jonathan Miller, Artistic Director of the BAE.

Vocal Concert to Feature Schubert, Faure & More

Soprano Kate Van Eck and pianist Atsuko Jozaki will present a concert of works by Schubert, Ravel, Faure, Ireland, Bliss and Warlock at the Library on Sunday, November 16, 2:00PM. This concert is part of the All Newton Music School faculty series at the Library.

Van Eck is a versatile performer who is at home in recital repertoire, oratorio and opera as well as show music. She has sung with the Lowell Opera Company and Longwood Opera and as soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Handel’s Messiah with the Brookline Musical Organization. A champion of contemporary music, she appeared in the title role of the premiere of “Dreamwalkers” by Lucia Patino, the title role in the premiere of David Bass’ “Coronation of Esther” and in David Haines’ North American premiere of “Puzzle Jigs,” the latter two with the North Cambridge Family Opera. Other roles range from Musetta in “La Boheme” to Julie in “Showboat.”

Jozaki has performed as a soloist and in chamber music ensembles in Madrid, Hiroshima, in California and Boston. Organist of the First United Parish of Everett, she has played at the Boston University Concert Hall, Brookline Music School and other venues, including the Library where she gave an All-Ravel concert.

Elgar & Debussy Violin/Piano Concert

Violinist Peter Hanly and pianist Roberto Poli will perform a concert of works by Elgar, Debussy and others at the Library, Sunday, November 23, 2:00PM. Seating is limited.
Hanly has performed extensively in solo, chamber and orchestral settings throughout his native England as well as in the U.S., appearing regularly with Boston Lyric Opera and Boston Ballet. He has also toured throughout New England including Jordan Hall and Sanders Theatre with the New England String Ensemble of which he is a founding member and Assistant Principal. As a chamber musician, he has worked with Alea III, the Esterhazy Ensemble and the Riverview Chamber Players. With a strong interest in contemporary music, he performed at the prestigious Almeida Festival in London, with the Theatre de Complicite and with many other contemporary ensembles.
A native of Venice, Poli has been acclaimed as a soloist, chamber musician, harpsichordist and conductor in major venues from Osaka to Dublin to Calgary. An international prize winner, he has performed extensively in Italy and in the U.S. at the Gardner Museum, Jordan Hall and in Salt Lake City and Cleveland. An avid chamber musician, Poli has toured with the Trio de Venezia, the Monet Ensemble, with soprano Elizabeth Keusch and with cellist Sarah Carter at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago.

Soprano, Piano & Trumpet Concert

Soprano Jean Danton, pianist Brian Moll and guest artist, trumpeter Dennis Alves will present a concert at the Library on Sunday, November 2, 2:00PM. The program will feature songs by Haydn from Danton’s new CD “The Spirit’s Song” as well as works by Purcell, Gershwin and more.
Danton has been a soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society, Oregon Bach Festival, Boston Baroque and the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Behind the Headlines with Chechen Doctor

In August 1994, when Russia massed thousands of troops along the border of its breakaway republic of Chechnya, Dr. Khassan Baiev, then 31, left his promising surgical career in Moscow to aid his Chechen countrymen. In his riveting memoir, Baiev relates his harrowing experiences in the line of fire and takes readers behind the headlines to view what has become an international calamity, while at the same time introducing his people and their culture.
Hear him speak on The Oath: A Surgeon Under Fire at the Library, Thursday, November 20, 7:30PM, followed by a booksigning. Co-writer Nicholas Daniloff will appear as well.
By 2000, Baiev was the single surgeon for nearly 80,000 residents and refugees in his hometown near Grozny, and worked under a constant threat of execution. Upholding the Hippocratic oath that he had pledged as a doctor, Baiev treated all in need, civilians, Russian soldiers and Chechen fighters. For this, he found himself a wanted man, who escaped multiple attempts on his life by the Russian military and the Chechen extremists before seeking asylum in the U.S.
Echoing through Baiev’s stirring memoir is the history of Chechnya and the ancient traditions of his ancestral village. He also writes frankly about the challenges of assimilating into a western culture very different than his own and about his post-traumatic stress disorder.
Baiev received political asylum in the United States in 2000 and lives with his family near Boston. He is the spokesperson for several human rights groups, including Doctors Without Borders and Physicians for Human Rights. Nicholas Daniloff is the author of The Kremlin and the Cosmos and Two Lives - One Russia. He was Moscow bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report and is the former director of Northeastern University’s School of Journalism. Co-writer Ruth Daniloff’s articles about the plight of refugees and the war in Chechnya have appeared in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe.

Lora Brody Leads Food Lovers Discussion

Best-selling cookbook author Lora Brody will lead a Roundtable for People who Love to Read About Food at the Library on Wednesday, November 19, 7:30PM, followed by a booksigning with books from the New England Mobile Book Fair.
In this interactive evening, Brody will speak on what makes for successful food writing with examples from her many cookbooks. Then, she’ll invite the audience to share their favorite literary food references from novels, poems, plays, movies, jokes, etc. Audience members are encouraged to bring in a favorite food passage and join the fun!
Brody has 23 books to her credit including Growing Up On the Chocolate Diet, Cooking with Memories, The Kitchen Survival Guide, Basic Baking and her newest, The Cape Cod Table. A featured chef in the public television series “Baking with Julia” with Julia Child, she has appeared on other national television and radio programs, and has had recipes in many magazines including The New York Times Sunday Magazine and The Boston Globe.

Author Sheldon Stern to Speak on Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban missile crisis was the most dangerous confrontation of the Cold War. Hear author Sheldon M. Stern speak on his new book, Averting ‘The Final Failure:’ John F. Kennedy and the Secret Cuban Missile Crisis Meetings on Wednesday, November 12, 7:30PM at the Library, followed by a booksigning.
Stern, a longtime historian at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, presents a comprehensive narrative account of the secret ExComm meetings, making the inside story of the missile crisis comprehensible to general readers for the first time.
The author’s narrative version of these discussions is entirely new; it provides a running commentary on the issues and options discussed, highlighting key moments of stress, doubt, decision, resolution and even humor. Stern demonstrates that JFK, a seasoned Cold Warrior who bore some of the responsibility for precipitating the crisis, consistently steered policy makers away from an apocalyptic nuclear conflict which he called “the final failure.”
This book has been called “…the best of these studies and will become the starting point for all future work on President Kennedy’s response to the Soviet challenge in Cuba,” Robert Dallek, Kennedy biographer.
Newton resident Stern was the Historian at the Kennedy Library from 1977 – 1999.

Legal Series Begins 10th Anniversary Year

In June of 1994, the Library's Legal Seminar Series was organized through the Reference Department with the mission of bringing in attorneys to speak and respond to questions on a wide variety of legal topics. By the end of the 2003/2004 season, 60 attorneys from private and public sectors, as well as panelists, will have spoken on legal protections, programs, legislation, cases and more, helping more than 1000 people become informed and better able to improve their lives. Some of the programs have been broadcast from Druker Auditorium by WRCA /WLYN Radio 1330/1360 AM.
This year's series will continue on Wednesday evenings from 7:15-8:15 p.m. on the following dates. Mark your calendars now!

December 10: “Protect Your Ideas and Trade Secrets” presented by
Newton Attorney Seth H. Salinger

March 10: “How to Hire A Contractor and Stay Out of Trouble” presented by Newton Attorney Andrea Goldman

April 7: “Privacy, Freedom of Information and Safety: Can We Have It All?” led by Marnie Warner, Co-Chair, Massachusetts Library Associa-tion Intellectual Freedom Committee and Law Coordinator, Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries

May 12: “Identity Fraud - the Crime of the New Century: What It Is and How to Protect Yourself” presented by John Grossman, Chief of Corruption, Fraud, & Computer Crimes Division in the Criminal Bureau, Office of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Newton Conservators Group Hosts Talk by Mass Audubon

The Newton Conservators will present a talk by Bob Wilber on "Land Protection: Now or Never" on Monday, November 17, 7:00PM at the Library.
Across the Commonwealth, unprecedented rates of development are resulting in accelerated habitat loss and fragmentation. In much of the state, the window of opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the conserved landscape is only 10 -15 years. In order to meet this challenge, Mass Audubon has recently completed a new Land Protection Strategy to guide its future land protection efforts. The foundation of this plan is a new Geographic Information System data layer that will allow Mass Audubon to be focused, selective and proactive in its land protection work. Come learn more about how Mass Audubon is working to protect the nature of Massachusetts and how you can get involved.
Wilber is the Director of Land Protection for Mass Audubon, the largest conservation organization in New England. During his 20 year career in land conservation for various agencies, he has been directly involved in the permanent protection of more that 25,000 acres in Massachusetts.

Poetry Series Features Michael Brown, Jean Trounstine and Pam Bernard

The Library Poetry Reading Series continues with readings by Michael Brown, Jean Trounstine and Pam Bernard on Tuesday, November 18, 7:00PM.
A Professor of Communications at Mount Ida College, Brown has three books of poetry, Falling Wallendas, Susquehanna and The Man Who Makes Amusement Rides. He is the weekly slam host at the Cantab Lounge in Boston and has performed in the U.S. National Slam Championships as an individual finalist and subsequently on two finals teams. Brown is the General Secretary of the Poetry Olympics and co-director of The Culture of Peace, an international exchange of poets and artists.
Trounstine is a Professor of Humanities at Middlesex Community College in Lowell. She founded a humanities-based theatre arts program at Framingham’s Women’s Prison. Her own poetry has been published in Phoebe, Sojourner, and Poetry Motel. Her most recent collection of poetry is entitled Almost Home Free.
Bernard is a poet and a painter who teaches writing at Emerson College. Her second collection of poems is entitled Across the Dark. She recently won a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and a MacDowell Fellowship. In 2002 she was awarded the Nadya Aisenberg Fellowship for Excellence in Poetry, presented by the Writer’s Room of Boston.

Tom Ashbrook to Lead Panel

One Newton, One Book , the Friends' community-wide reading event focusing on The Quiet American by Graham Greene, culminates with a panel discussion moderated by NPR’s “On Point” host, Newton’s own Tom Ashbrook. The discussion: “From Vietnam to Iraq: Lessons from The Quiet American” will take place on Saturday, November 1, at 1:30PM at the Library.
Ashbrook is an award-winning journalist who for 10 years was a foreign correspondent in Asia, including Vietnam, and directed coverage of the end of the Cold War and of the Gulf War at the Boston Globe.

National American Glass Club to Meet

If you've wondered what lacy glass is and how it's made, come to the next open meeting of the Founders Chapter of the National American Glass Club at the Library on Wednesday, November 12, at 1:00PM. Barbara Lessig from Baltimore, a well-known specialist and appraiser in the glass and antiques field, will define and illustrate this uniquely American method of making pressed glass that resembles embroidery patterns.
The Founders chapter presents programs led by glass experts and authors throughout the year. It began in Boston in 1933 and the organization is now nation-wide.

Italian Language Films

The Center for Italian Culture screens Italian language films at the Nonantum library branch. Coming up: November 19, 7:30PM: "Brucio nel vento" and December 1, 7:30PM: "Merry Christmas." Films are in Italian. For further information: 617-926-0388

Computer Classes

The Reference Department offers free one-session computer classes in PC Basics, the Internet and more. Sign up at a Reference Desk or call 617-796-1380.

Library Receives Gift of Opera Recordings

The Library recently received an extensive collection of opera recordings. The compact discs, videos and DVDs were donated by Marion Matzkin, mother of the late Lester A. Matzkin whose passion for opera was reflected in the wide variety of vocal music he collected over many years. Both he and his mother were active members of the New England Opera Club which meets at the Library and which facilitated the donation. The Library's collection is further enhanced by this generous gift.

Recycle Cell Phones and Toner Cartridges

The City of Newton is participating in a recycling program for toner cartridges and cell phones. You can drop off old cell phones at the Library and/or pick up a prepaid and addressed plastic bag to recycle ink jet and laser cartridges. The special box for phones is under the give-away table in the lobby, next to the battery bin and the dispenser for the cartridge bags is on top of the table. The City will receive $1 from RecycleFirst for each phone or cartridge recycled.

Button Battery Contest

The City's Recycling Department is having its annual button battery contest. Look for the fishbowl on the give-away table in the Library lobby and take a guess as to how many batteries were collected in Newton last year. These batteries are separated from trash; the metals will be taken out and recycled. If you have questions, please call 617-796-1016.

Please Don't Save Seats!

When attending a Sunday after-noon concert, please do not save more than one seat as this deprives others of attending the concert. The rule is first come, first served.