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> Programs, Press, Exhibits & Classes > Calendar Archives > July/August 2007
Calendar of Events |
JULY/AUGUST 2007 |
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CLOSED
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Children's Book Writers Group, 7pm |
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CLOSED FOR 4th OF JULY |
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Concert, 7pm
Hopper Discussion, 7pm |
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CLOSED |
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Introductory Meeting for ESL tutors, 10am
Concert, 7:30pm |
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News Junkies Club, 7pm
Artist Reception in
Main Hall & Gallery, 7:30pm
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14
Singing Group, 12pm
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15
CLOSED
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Applying for a Job Online, 7:30pm
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Board of Trustees
Meeting, 8:30am
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CLOSED
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Concert, 7:30pm |
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Waban Book Group, 10:30am
Children's Book Writers Group, 7pm
Transitioning to College Workshop, 7:30pm
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Newton Corner Book Group at Evans Park, 10:30am
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CLOSED |
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Auburndale Book Group, 10:30am
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Nonantum Book Group, 10:30am
News Junkies Club, 7pm |
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Artist Reception in
Main Hall, 7:30pm
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3
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5
CLOSED |
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Children's Book Writers Group, 7pm |
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Daja Wangchuk Meston Lecture, 7:30pm |
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Transitioning to College Workshop, 7:30pm |
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Singing Group, 12pm |
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CLOSED |
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Virtual Tour of Mongolia, 7pm |
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Concert, 7:30pm
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CLOSED |
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Concert, 7:30pm
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CLOSED |
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Auburndale Book Group, 10:30am |
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Waban Book Group, 10:30am |
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Newton Corner Book Group at Evans Park, 10:30am |
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| For
more information on any of the Library events,
please call the Library at (617) 796-1360 |
Unless noted otherwise, all events take place at the Library's Main Branch.
All events are free and open to the public.
The Library is handicapped accessible. For special assistance when attending programs, call 796-1410 during business hours and 796-1360 evenings and weekends.
To view a previous calendar, click here to view the Archives. (Available from October 2004.) |
| Art Exhibits |
| ART EXHIBITION INFORMATION
Are you interested in exhibiting your artwork at the Library? The
Newton Free Library presents monthly exhibits by regional artists
in the Gallery and Main Hall of the main library, a state-of-the-art
facility which 11,000 people visit weekly. Please click
here for more information.
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| MAIN HALL AND GALLERY / JULY |
Newton Art Association’s
58th Annual Awards Show to be Displayed
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New York City by Gene Mackles |
It’s time for Newton Art Association’s Annual Awards Show in the Library’s Gallery, Main Hall and display cases, July 3 – 30. Paintings, drawings and work in other media, including fiber art, handmade books and masks in the cases, will be exhibited. The show will be judged by Jonathan P. Ribner, an art historian on the faculty of Boston University, with awards given out at the reception on Wednesday, July 11, at 7:00PM.
NAA is a vibrant, community-based organization of artists and art supporters. Open meetings are held monthly at the Senior Center from September – May with art demonstrations by well-known regional guest artists. Members also enjoy business support and networking meetings, private and public exhibit opportunities, “en pleine aire” painting days and critique nights at members’ homes. Scholarship Awards for Newton High School Seniors are given out annually.
All artists are welcome to join; see www.newtonartassociation.com for details.
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| GALLERY / AUGUST |
Sharon St. Hilaire: Repeté
August 2 - 30
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Turquoise, Brown |
Simplicity in complexity. “Like the single blade of grass in nature,” the artist tells us, “the single crocheted stitch is insignificant, but in mass makes a powerful statement.” St. Hilaire weaves each stitch in her wool and rayon works as part of a solemn mantra, seeking tranquility. And yet it is the contrasting textures, the random interruptions, that give her art such interest – multiple raised stitches on a ground of pure woven color.
Painting with yarn, she plays with shapes, suggesting perhaps a bird flying, breast forward in “Brown, Turquoise” or a large continent surrounded by a vast sea. “Water” might be rain falling over a ledge or even a coastline viewed from the air. “Coral” is a coral reef in the sea, every raised stitch like a living coral organism where each contributes to what appears to be a solid reef - or a seamless work of art.
St. Hilaire has exhibited in galleries in Providence and Newport, RI, at the Attleboro Museum and other places. She received Honorable Mention honors at the MPG Contemporary show at 450 Harrison Ave. in Boston.
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| MAIN HALL / AUGUST |
Jane Moore Houghton
Friends' Series: Recent Work
August 2 - 30 Reception: Thursday, August 2, 7PM
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If We Had the
Chance |
Houghton’s whimsical works are quite captivating with images of a giant golden pear centered on the round globe of our planet, a deep purple fig perched on a tiny ladder, lollipop trees, gumdrop-shaped hills floating out to sea – one with a bite taken out of it. Her piece “Joannah” is reminiscent of Saint-Exupery’s gentle, fanciful drawings for The Little Prince - with a large golden pear sitting chummily next to a small white lighthouse on top of a green globe.
Inspired by textiles, paintings and beautiful places she’s visited, she mixes humor with elements of personal significance: the hills in her works remind her of the Celtic hill forts of Wales, of spiritual import, and the titles refer to friends who have encouraged her creative process. Influenced by children’s book illustrator Eric Carle, she layers tissue paper over acrylic paint, marking or drawing on the tissue paper first. She looks forward to the “happy accidents” that result from her random collage technique.
Another theme she explores in mixed-media are arks – large and graceful, fanciful and solid, on a rolling sea or surrounded by small houses on dry land. These works represent a “vision of wiping the slate clean and starting all over…a symbol of our faith in our own ability to move slowly towards a goal.”
Houghton has exhibited at Worcester Art Museum student shows and will soon exhibit at Rutland Public Library. Work is held in private and corporate collections. An independent study program at the University of Wales resulted in a storybook she wrote and illustrated, Once Upon a Corner Cupboard. She is currently the owner/head teacher at Thurston Hill Creative Arts. |
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| Clubs |
Library
groups meet at the Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton Centre,
unless otherwise noted. All meetings are free and open to the public.
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African
Literatures Discussion Group |
This group will resume in the fall.
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Chess Club |
This group will resume in the fall. |
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Children's
Book Writers Group |
Meetings are usually held on the first Monday or the fourth Wednesday of the month at 7:00PM, in Meeting Room A. This group is for writers who have work in progress. Pre-registration required. Please call Maria Gianferrari at 781-891-0153 or Karen Day at 617-244-4830 for more information. Meeting Dates: Monday, July 2 and August 6 or Wednesday, July 25 only.
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New! Commonwealth Book Club |
This group will resume in the fall. |
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Contemporary Books Discussion Group |
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Great
Books Discussion Group |
This group will resume in the fall.
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News Junkies |
This discussion group, led by Reg McKeen, covers current events. The group usually meets in Meeting Room B on the first Wednesday of the month at 7:00PM. Please keep abreast of the month’s topic and come with reflections and opinions! Meeting Dates: July 11 and August 1. Topic: Presidential Election Campaign Issues.
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Newton
Camera Club |
This group will resume in the fall.
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Sequences:
Women Tell Our Stories Group |
This group will resume in the fall.
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Short
Fiction Writing Group |
This group will resume in the fall.
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Short
Story Discussion Group |
This group will resume in the fall.
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Singing
Group |
This group is for singers of all levels who enjoy singing classical and popular music. It meets monthly on Saturday afternoons, Noon – 1:30PM in Druker Auditorium. Meeting Dates: July 14 & August 11. Call coordinator Miriam Simen at 617-244-6705 for more information.
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Women in Career Transition |
This group will resume in the fall.
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| Concerts/Entertainment |
All
concerts are free and open to the public. For directions to the Library,
please click here.
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Duo Concert of Brahms, Puccini, more |
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The Aurora Duo, composed of Loren Pearson, viola/violin, and Kevin McGinty, piano, will present a concert of mostly Italian music at the Library on Thursday, July 5, at 7:00PM. In addition to a Brahms sonata, the program will include music by Boccherini, Vivaldi’s “Summer” from “The Four Seasons,” and operatic excerpts by Puccini and Verdi.
Pearson has performed with many orchestras in Boston and the New England area including the Hartford Symphony and the Rhode Island Philharmonic. She has toured extensively throughout Europe with distinguished orchestras from Germany. She often performs with husband McGinty and teaches at Cape Cod Conservatory, with private studios in West Roxbury and Norwood.
McGinty has performed in numerous concert halls as a recitalist, accompanist and chamber musician including concerti with the Boston Pops, Brookline Symphony Orchestra, Hillsdale (Michigan) Orchestra and Central Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra at Worcester’s Mechanics Hall. He has performed on WGBH and WERS radio stations. He teaches piano privately as well as at All Newton Music School and M.I.T.
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Trio to Play Beethoven and Brahms |
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Cellist Jing Li, violinist John Holland and pianist Robert Prester will bring a concert of Beethoven and Brahms trios to the Library on Monday, July 9, at 7:30PM.
Li has presented numerous solo and chamber music concerts around the world and is currently Principal Cellist of the Gardner Museum Chamber Orchestra and Asst. Principal of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. Previous teachers include Janos Starker and Laurence Lesser. She teaches privately and at Nantucket School of Music and with the the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.
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Holland has performed extensively in Boston and abroad. He performs regularly with the Boston Pops, Rhode Island Philharmonic and the Gardner Museum Chamber Orchestra. As a chamber musician, he has worked with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and with such prominent composers as John Harbison, George Perle, Elliott Carter and John Corigliano. He has a private studio and coaches chamber music and orchestral ensembles for GYBSO and NEC.
Prester is known as a classical and jazz performer, composer and arranger. He has performed in several Pops concerts with the Honolulu Symphony and has given classical recitals from Maine to Florida. His piano sonata was recently premiered at the International Festival of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and will soon be performed at the National Gallery in Washington, DC. He has toured Europe, the Middle East, Asia and South America. The Rob Prester group performs his original music at festivals and other venues across the country.
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Pianist Shuann Chai to Play Mozart, Brahms |
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Pianist Shuann Chai, a favorite of audiences at the Library, will return to present a concert of works by Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms on Thursday, July 12, at 7:30PM.
Chai’s recent performances include recitals at the Boston Athenaeum, the Foundling Museum of London, the Utretcht Early Music Fringe Festival, a 5-concert tour with the MiN Ensemble of Norway and a program with cellist Jan Bastiaan Neven at the Tartini Festival of Slovenia. She has been heard across the globe from Beijing to Kiev, and was featured in live radio broadcasts on WGBH. She is completing a Ph.D. in Musicology at Brandeis University. |
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New Jazz Echo Brightens Up Library with Concert |
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“Like an open-ended conversation between good friends (which we are), live jazz reflects life’s shifting moods and changing colors. Our goal is to create music that lifts our audience’s spirits.” – New Jazz Echo
Stop by the Library for a summer concert of jazz standards by New Jazz Echo on Tuesday, July 24, at 7:30PM.
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The band is inspired by the music of Ellington, Porter, Jobim, Davis, Coltrane and other jazz composers. This concert will also feature their own arrangements of “Someday My Prince Will Come,” “Canadian Sunset” and pieces by Lalo Schifrin and saxophonist Hank Mobley.
The quintet is composed of Bryan Cetlin, piano, Randy Kravette, trumpet, Barry Levine, saxophone, Jack Morash, drums, and Richard Hale Shaw, acoustic bass. Members of the band have played professionally for many years at jazz clubs, festivals, Boston Harbor jazz cruises and other venues in Boston, Waltham and Worcester. A precursor jazz quartet was voted Best Worcester Jazz Act for 2005 and 2006 by Worcester Magazine and Pulse Magazine.
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Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites to be Performed |
Dale Henderson will return to the Library for a concert of Bach’s unaccompanied cello suites: Suite No. 1 in G Major and Suite
No. 6 in D Major. The program will take place on Thursday, August 16, at 7:30PM.
Henderson has performed as a soloist with a number of orchestras, including the New England Philharmonic and the Mozarteum Chamber Orchestra, and has also performed as a chamber musician at the Gardner Museum, Jordan Hall and Symphony Hall in Boston. Other orchestral experience includes Boston Philharmonic, Boston Ballet Orchestra, Chorus Pro Musica and national tours for “Phantom of the Opera” and Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” He has studied at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland and participated in the Taos School of Music Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Music School and Festival, Banff Center for the Arts Master Class Program and Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival. |
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Hear Piano Concert of Schubert, Rachmaninoff |
Pianist Sarah Haera Tocco
will return to the Library to present a concert of Schubert Impromptus
and Rachmaninoff preludes on Thursday, August 23, at 7:00PM.
Since her successful debut as accompanist at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, at which the New York Times praised her sensitive playing, Tocco has performed in California, New York, Massachusetts and Jamaica. She also toured Louisiana and Vietnam with Sharing a New Song, a vocal chorus based in Newton. She has given solo recitals at M.I.T. and other places and made concerto appearances with the California State University at Los Angeles Symphony and Moorpark College Symphony. She performs frequently throughout New England, teaches privately in Newton and is currently recording her first CD. |
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| Lectures |
Applying for a Job Online |
“Some years ago, I chose a very different way of living that would let me be as close to the wild beauty of nature as I could possibly be.” So writes author and artist Maria Termini about her experience living for two years in a 150 year old schoolhouse in rural Maine. An avid hiker of the Appalachian Trail in the area, she had longed to live in solitude, and with her twin sons grown, took a chance when a nearby property went on the market.
With carpentry skills and lots of energy, she renovated the house that lacked electricity, phone connection and indoor plumbing. For her it was paradise, a place of “healing solitude [amidst the] splendor of an endless forest.” She spent much of her time walking in nature and passionately drawing and painting images of the beauty right outside her door.
Hear Termini speak and show
slides on Solitude and Splendor: Living in the Schoolhouse at the Library on Monday, July 16, at 7:30PM.
Newton resident Termini is the author of the book Silkscreening. She has written articles published in
Newton Magazine and poems published in Spare Change. Her art has been widely exhibited and is held in the collections of the Boston Public Library, Fogg Art Museum and other places. Previously she served in the Peace Corps in Bolivia, built houses in Nicaragua and Boston with Habitat for Humanity and traveled widely. |
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Novelist Julia Glass Makes Appearance |
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“Her second novel is even finer than her first...Glass’ characters are enticingly complex, their predicaments are provocative and significant. . . .” - - Chicago Tribune
Just in time for summer reading, bestselling author Julia Glass is back with another engrossing novel that Entertainment Weekly called a “voluptuous treat.” Author of the award-winning novel Three Junes, Glass tells a vivid tale of longing and loss, revealing the subtle mechanisms behind our most important connections to others in The Whole World Over.
She’ll speak at the Library on Thursday, July 19, at 7:30PM, followed by a booksigning with books from New England Mobile Book Fair.
Greenie Duquette lavishes most of her passionate energy on her New York City bakery and her young son. A pastry chef with a shop in Greenwich Village — down the street from the bookshop that Fenno opened in Three Junes — she is struggling in her marriage. Her husband, Alan, seems to have fallen into a midlife depression, while Walter, her closest professional ally, is nursing a broken heart. At Walter’s restaurant, the visiting governor of New Mexico tastes Greenie’s coconut cake and decides to woo her away to be his chef. For reasons both ambitious and desperate, she accepts – heading west without her husband. This impulsive decision, along with events beyond Greenie’s control, will change the course of several lives around her. |
Glass was awarded the 2002 National Book Award for Fiction for Three Junes. A fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for 2004-2005, she has also been the recipient of a 2000 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in fiction writing and has won several prizes for her short stories, including three Nelson Algren Awards and the Tobias Wolff Award.
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Daja Wangchuk Meston to speak on
“Comes the Peace: My Journey to Forgiveness” |
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Daja Wangchuk Meston will speak on his book Comes the Peace: My Journey to Forgiveness (co-written with Clare Ansberry) at the Library on Tuesday, August 7, at 7:30PM, followed by a booksigning.
In 1999 Meston made international headlines when he attempted suicide to escape Chinese imprisonment. Arrested while researching a potential World Bank project sanctioning Chinese occupation of Tibetan land, Meston’s act spurred a worldwide out-pouring of support and led to his release.
This is a powerful story of one man’s spiritual odyssey from a child monk to a political symbol of freedom. Abandoned at the age of three by hippie American parents, and sent to become a Buddhist monk in Nepal at the age of six, Meston shed his robes and returned to the U.S. as a teenager to reconcile his past and carve out a new future. While attending Brandeis University, he married a woman whose family were Tibetan refugees and began interpreting for journalists and congressmen, traveling to the area on behalf of human-rights issues. This gripping and eloquent memoir chronicles his unorthodox path, offering a universal message of forgiveness along with a glimpse into the inner workings of Tibetan Buddhism.
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Meston has been featured in People magazine and the Wall Street Journal, and has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
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Transitioning to College: A Workshop for Families |
“S/He’s Leaving Home… When Should I Call?" is a workshop for families transitioning to the college or university experience. Geared for both parents and students, the program will be held in Meeting Room B at the Library on Wednesday, July 25 and August 8 at 7:30PM. Please choose one date or the other as the content will be the same.
Led by educational consultants Deborah J. Hahn, Ph. D., and Michele J. Rosenthal, M.A., this workshop will provide essential tools to address a student’s departure for college or university. Key issues will include: communication, grades, relationship with faculty and advisors and living in a residence hall.
Rosenthal has over twenty-five years leadership experience in
higher education. Hahn has extensive background working with secondary-school and college students both in the US and abroad.
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"Lonely Planet" Author Gives Virtual Tour of Mongolia |
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Join Lonely Planet writer Michael Kohn as he presents a slide show at the Library on the land of camels, koumiss and Genghis Khan. The author’s talk on his new book Dateline Mongolia: An American Journalist in Nomad's Land will take place on Wednesday, August 15, at 7:00PM. After his talk, he will answer questions about travel to Asia and the countries along the Silk Road. A booksigning will follow.
Dateline Mongolia is an irresistible account of a nation recently liberated from Soviet orthodoxy where falcon poachers and cattle rustlers live along with exiled Buddhist leaders and political officials unclear on the concept of freedom of the press.
Kohn spent three years in Mongolia reporting for a local paper, The Mongol Messenger, and frequently travels to the most remote corners of Asia to report for the BBC World Service and other radio and news outlets. His presentation will feature images from Mongolia and the Silk Road nations of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. He will discuss how these regions once fell under the power of the Mongols – a fallen superpower that once laid claim to the world’s largest land empire.
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The author lives in northern California and has traveled to more than 60 countries. He has researched, written and updated a dozen books for Lonely Planet and Rough Guides and has covered news events for AP, The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal and other publications.
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Please join the Library Trustees at the 10th Annual Fall BBQ on Sunday, September 9, 3:00 - 5:00PM, at the home of Library Trustee Sandy Butzel and her husband, John. This year’s proceeds will go towards WIFI installation throughout the Library. Once again, our “Celebrity Chefs” will include Mayor Cohen and other elected officials and community leaders. We appreciate their kind participation in this busy election year.
Suggested contributions range from $25-$250 per person. Families are welcome and children are free. Reservations should be sent to the Development Office, Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton, MA 02459. Kindly include your check, payable to the Trustees of the Newton Free Library, and indicate the number of persons attending, your name, address and phone number. To pay by credit card or for further information, call the Development Office, 617-796-1407. See you there!
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Take advantage of our free computer classes. Stop by a Reference Desk or call 617-796-1380 to sign up.
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Morning Programs at the Library |
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Auburndale Book Group
At Auburndale the book group will discuss The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai on July 30 at 10:30AM and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen on August 27 at 10:30AM. |
Newton Corner Book Group On Friday, July 27 and August 31, at 10:30AM, the Newton Corner group at Evans Park will discuss newspaper columns by various journalists - bring in your favorite column!
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Nonantum Book Group
Nonantum's book club will discuss Miss Garnet's Angel by Salley Vickers over coffee on Wednesday, August 1, at 10:30AM.
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Waban Book Group The Waban branch book group will discuss The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther on Wednesday, July 25, at 10:30AM and Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson on Wednesday, August 29, at 10:30AM.
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Booklists
Available
Looking
for a good book to read or conducting research in a particular area?
The Reference Department has compiled many booklists in a variety of
subjects: African Americans in American Life, College Admissions, Books
for Modern Parents, Buddhism, Day Trips, Gardening Guides, Rise and
Fall of Saddam Hussein, Retirement and much more.
Ask a Reference librarian at the YA Desk on the second floor for help in locating a list, or click here. |
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| For Your Information |
Consider
a Gift to the Library
Please help supplement our municipal funding and contribute towards
the purchase of books, audio/visual materials or equipment. Send your
check, payable to the Trustees, to: Development Office, Newton Free
Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton, MA 02459. For further information,
call 796-1400. Thank you.
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To Our Concert Goers:
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 afternoon 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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