Vocal Recital of French Music by soprano Laura Mennill

Soprano Laura Mennill and pianist Will Koffel will perform a concert of music by Liszt, Poulenc, Hahn and Boismortier at the Library on Sunday, May 23, 2:00PM.
A native of Canada, Mennill is a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus as well as the professional choir of King’s Chapel in Boston. She has performed with the Boston Vocal Artists and in productions of The Mikado, L’Elisir d’Amore, The Pirates of Penzance and HMS Pinafore with the Boston Academy of Music. Other stage performances include leading roles in A Game of Chance, Miss Havisham’s Wedding Night, Le Nozze di Figaro and Carmen. In the summer of 2002, she was invited to perform in Peter Grimes at the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan under the baton of Seiji Ozawa. Mennill is a faculty member of the N.E. Conservatory Prep. School and Extension Division.
An experienced accompanist for vocal and instrumental students in the Boston area, Koffel has a background in piano chamber music, trumpet big-band music and electronic music composition and production. As a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, he sings regularly with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and has participated in vocal and instrumental tours of Europe.

Charness Family Quintet

The Charness Family Quintet will return to the Library on Sunday, May 9, 2:00PM, with a concert of Bach, Dvorak, Martinu and some lively tangos. The ensemble is composed of violinists Sarah, 18, (a music major at University of Michigan) and Jennifer, 13, cellist Daniel, 16, and their parents, flutist Deborah and pianist Michael.
The quintet presented its debut concert in 1993 at the Newton Library and has since appeared regularly throughout New England. They have performed at the Duxbury Art Complex Museum, the Museum of our National Heritage, the DeCordova Museum, the Boston Museum of Science, the Boston Public Library, the Noon Day Concert Series in Nantucket and WCRB FM’s Classical Concerts at Copley Series, among others. They appeared as soloists with the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra in 1999 and with the Newton Symphony Orchestra in 2001. The ensemble has produced three CD recordings of live performances: “Across the Millennium Live,” “Live with the Newton Symphony Orchestra,” and “Informal.”

Meet Tim Russert!

 

Just in time for Father’s Day, Tim Russert of NBC’s “Meet the Press” will make a special appearance at a Library fundraiser to speak on his new book. Big Russ & Me: Father and Son - Lessons of Life has been called “stupendously entertaining” by Publisher’s Weekly. The talk will take place on Sunday, May 23, at 5:00PM and will be introduced by best-selling author William Novak who worked closely with Russert on the book. Admission is $50 which includes a signed copy of the book. Please make checks payable to the Newton Free Library and mail to Library Development Office, 330 Homer Street, Newton, MA 02459. Please arrive at 4:30 to pick up tickets and books. For more information, call 617-796-1407. Seating is limited.
Over the last two decades, Tim Russert has become one of the most trusted and admired figures in American television journalism. Throughout his career he has spent time with presidents and popes, world leaders and celebrities, but one person stands out from the rest in terms of his strength of character, modest grace, and simple decency - Russert’s dad, Big Russ. In this warm, engaging memoir, Russert casts a fond look back at the 1950s Buffalo neighborhood of his youth, a close-knit Irish Catholic community. He remembers the extraordinary example of his father, a WWII veteran who worked two jobs without complaint for thirty years and taught his children to appreciate the values of self-discipline, respect and loyalty to friends. Other stories recall the dedicated teachers who sparked a lifelong passion for politics and journalism. Yet no matter where his career has taken him, Russert’s fundamental values have not changed and the special bond he shares with his father is now enjoyed with his own son.
Russert is NBC News’ Washington bureau chief, moderator and managing editor of “Meet the Press,” political analyst for “Today” and “Nightly News,” and host of the “Tim Russert Show” on CNBC. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Newton History Series

This year’s Newton History series will conclude with a lecture on First Baptist Church in Newton Centre,
given by Reverend Thomas R. McKibbens. It will take place on Thursday, May 13, at 7:00 PM.
Formed in 1780, the congregation built their first church on the banks of Wiswall’s Pond, soon to be known as Baptist Pond, and known today as Crystal Lake. The congregation moved to the corner of Centre and Beacon streets in 1836 and constructed their current building in 1888. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the church was designed by the young Boston architect John Lyman Faxon.
An authority on Baptist history, McKibbens is Senior Minister of First Baptist Church, Worcester. From 1990-February 2004, he served as Senior Minister of First Baptist Church in Newton.
The series is co-sponsored by the Library and the Newton History Museum at the Jackson Homestead.

Library Legal Series

Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General John Grossman will speak on “Identity Fraud, the Crime of the New Century: How to Protect Yourself” at the next Library Legal Series program on Wednesday, May 12, 7:15PM.
If you are concerned about electronic transactions or criminals getting ahold of your wallet, computer or mail, find out how to protect yourself from identity fraud, both on-line and off at this talk by the Chief of the Corruption, Fraud and Computer Crimes Division, Office of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Grossman was prosecutor of the case against Douglas Boudreau and his crimes against Boston College and is a speaker at the Commonwealth’s Cybercrime Workshop. He will answer questions and speak about his division and the type of work they handle.

Author Elizabeth Berg Makes Appearance

Author Elizabeth Berg will speak on her moving new novel, The Art of Mending at the Library on Tuesday, May 11, 7:30PM, followed by a booksigning with books from New England Mobile Book Fair.
Berg is known for engaging readers with beautiful prose, vividly drawn characters and raw emotion. The tradition continues in this elegant new novel of one family’s struggle with long-buried secrets of the past. At the center of the story is Laura Bartone, a happily married mother of two. When she returns home for an annual family reunion, her quiet world is turned upside down by her sister’s allegations of cruelty and abuse at the hands of their mother. Although incredulous at first, as the truth gradually comes to light, each family member must confront his or her own culpability and work toward rebuilding their relationships. This is a thought-provoking novel about the deep mysteries of being human and how grace can come to many through the trials of one.
Berg is the award-winning author of 11 novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Talk Before Sleep and Open House. She has also written the nonfiction work Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True. She lives in Chicago.

Newton Conservators Lecture

Former Vermont Secretary of Natural Resources Brendan Whittaker will speak on Newton and the Northeast Kingdom: Natural Connections
at the Library on Thursday, May 20, at 7:00PM. The talk is sponsored by the Newton Conservators.
Although it may seem that the City of Newton with its dense population and the Northern Forest areas of Vermont, with only 20 persons per square mile, have little in common, Newton native Whittaker will elucidate the linkage between these seemingly disparate natural environments. As a professional forester in a one-industry paper mill town, he has found himself deeply involved in the vast land ownership changes taking place in northern New York and New England, particularly over the last 15 years. He feels a debt to his Garden City upbringing for putting him on
the road to a life in conservation and has been a long time but far-away
member of the Newton Conservators. Dan Perlman, Professor of Biology at Brandeis University and coauthor with E.O. Wilson of Conserving Earth's Biodiversity, will join the speaker in exploring the many emerging linkages - physical, biological, environmental and even spiritual -between Newton and the Northeast Kingdom.

Wind Energy Talk

The next Green Decade Coalition talk will feature Mark Rodgers, Communications Director of Cape Wind, speaking about their Cape Wind project, one of the most discussed energy proposals in the country. The talk will take place on Monday, May 24, 7:00PM at the Library. Rodgers will discuss the proposal to generate three quarters of the electricity used on Cape Cod and the Islands from clean offshore wind energy. Refreshments will be served; please bring a mug.

Jane Austen Society Program

The Jane Austen Society regional chapter will present a talk by Ruth Perry, Professor of Literature at MIT, on “Brotherly Love in the Eighteenth Century.” This program will take place on Sunday, May 16, 2:00PM at the Library. All are welcome to attend.

\Abigail Trafford, columnist and former health editor for the Washington Post, will speak on “My Time: A Psychological Road Map for the Bonus Years After Middle Age” at the next Discovering What’s Next: Revitalizing Retirement Forum. The talk will take place on Thursday, May 27, 7:00PM at the Library and will focus on the importance of psychological growth, love and relationships.
In Trafford’s new book, My Time: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life, she discusses many aspects of longevity which she calls the most profound evolutionary change occurring in the human species. She acknowledges that these bonus years sometimes bring a personal emergency in the areas of love, work, play and spirit. After interviewing hundreds of men and women, she saw patterns emerge:
“You don’t have to have a major crisis to feel unsettled, it’s normal to have a period of anxiety and reevaluation, and that loss, however devastating, can turn out to be the liberating event that helps begin the process of reinvention.”
Trafford found those she interviewed full of wit and wisdom, inspiring her to conclude that there is a great potential for creativity and contribution in the bonus years, impacting personal relationships as well as public work.

L'il Max Installation and Dedication

Come to the installation of our new sculpture, "L'il Max," a lifesize bronze of a little boy holding a book. The statue will be dedicated in memory of Dot Fitzgibbon on Sunday, May 23, 1PM on the corner of Homer and Walnut streets.
Sculpted by Tom Fitzgibbon and named after his grandson, "L'il Max" was donated by the artist and his family in memory of his wife and their mother, Dot. Dot was a tireless volunteer for Newton Food Pantry, RSVP and other organizations. With a lifelong love of learning, she earned a degree in Gerontology at the age of 68. Her love of reading was fostered by the Library which she used extensively.
When Tom retired as an electrical engineer at MIT and Draper Lab, he refined his lifelong avocational interest in sculpture, soon becoming accepted into the juried N.E. Sculptors Association. Eventually he became President and brought a group show to the Library in 1994. Tom's work concen-trates on the "beautiful expressiveness of the human form," he says. He has exhibited widely throughout New England, recently at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the New Bedford Art Museum, the Attleboro Art Museum, the Manchester, NH Airport and many other places.

Talk on Emotional Eating

Emotions and stress affect one's mind, health and eating habits. Learn how to put an end to emotional eating at a talk led by Marc O'Meara, RD, LDN at Brigham and Women's Hospital on Tuesday, May 18, 7:00PM at the Library. O'Meara is a dietitian and expert in behavior modification and stress management.

Please be considerate of the performer today as well as your fellow audience members and refrain from leaving the auditorium during a piece of music. If you have small children with you, please sit in the back rows. If you leave the auditorium between pieces, please close the door quietly behind you and wait to re-enter after a musical piece. Also, if you have a cellphone, please shut if off. Thank you.

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.

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