Community Calendar

Welcome to the Harvard Arts Festival! From April 30 to May 3, Harvard’s campus transforms into a four-day celebration of the arts, bursting with creativity from Harvard students, staff, alums and faculty. Wander through iconic indoor and outdoor spaces as you catch more than 100 performances, exhibitions and hands-on arts experiences. New this year: dance outdoors at one of Harvard’s biggest-ever freestyle dance parties; raise your voice in a choral sing-along; help build a life-sized fin whale mural from plastic strips in a community art project. The festival is open to everyone, family-friendly and mostly free (a few ticketed events have admission fees). Join the joy! Share in a celebration of artistic boldness. Can’t get to campus? Watch selected events livestreamed at HarvardArts on YouTube.

Join bluegrass musician David Clark Carroll and CitySpace for a fun, open bluegrass jam! Bring your instruments and your favorite tunes — from Bill Monroe to the Stanley Brothers and beyond. Held every first Saturday of the month during Art Walk Easthampton, this monthly jam brings the community together for music, connection, and good old-fashioned fun.

All are welcome. Free to join. All ages.

About David Clark Carroll

David Clark Carroll is a powerhouse bluegrass musician and the founder of Daring Coyotes, a progressive bluegrass band known for captivating performances across New England. Before returning east, David was a prominent bluegrass musician in Nevada City, CA, where he performed with multiple bands, hosted jams, and served as a regional director for the California Bluegrass Association. Known for his dynamic performances, David continues to play solo and with his string band, captivating audiences with his unique sound.

*A Mission Benefit & Servant Celebration on Saturday May 2nd 4PM at First Church in Winsted*
… honoring a life well lived and supporting a continuing Kingdom vision… All donations benefit: ShakanGlobalMission in Uganda testimonials, food, fellowship and Worship w/ BobbyLoo, Covenant Worship, Quigley & The PureHearts, Movements of Fire & MuddyBoots.

*All donations up to $10,000 will be matched by Roseann Dennerlein's brothers!*

"Bringing Joy"
Music with Heart has been helping Greater Boston's forgotten population find joy and hope through our interactive music program for more than three decades.

Music with Heart (aka the Boston Minstrels) has been providing a unique blend of musical entertainment, audience interaction and participation - and a sense of encouragement, involvement and hope - to Greater Boston homeless shelter guests, nursing home residents, senior center visitors and memory care patients since 1991. These shelters and centers are located in several Boston neighborhoods and in neighboring communities.

On Saturday, May 2 (6:30-10:30 PM) this non-profit volunteer group, founded by longtime Brighton residents Tim and Jane McHale, plays for the public at our Annual Fundraiser at the Needham VFW Post, 20 Junction Street in Needham (near the commuter rail station). The event includes performances of rock, pop, folk and R&B favorites by our singers and musicians – heavy on attendee participation - along with dancing, a Mediterranean buffet dinner (catered by Olvera’s of Medway) and a cash bar. We are also holding raffles for tickets to concerts by the Doobie Brothers, Santana, Chicago and Styx, and presentations by the American Repertory Theatre and North Shore Music Circus among others.

In 2025, Music with Heart danced, sang, and shared conversation at over 50 events, connecting with hundreds of people to make their day a bit more joyful. We have expanded our outreach to memory care patients and their families. It has been well documented that music has a salutary effect on people with memory loss, dementia and related issues, often triggering memories and the ability to better communicate. Music with Heart has experienced and encouraged these results first-hand, as affected people at our “Songfest” start to sing along with the tunes we play and even dance with spouses and friends. We have interacted with memory care programs at events sponsored by the Callahan Senior Center (Framingham), the Pilot Senior Center (West Roxbury), Newbridge on the Charles (Dedham) and Providence House Assisted Living (Brighton) among others. This year’s program is well underway, with some 55 Songfests and other events and more are being added.
Tax deductible tickets for the Fundraiser are $60 online at www.MusicWithHeartBoston.org or $70 at the door. Donations in lieu of ticket purchases are also most welcome. Music with Heart is a 501c3 organization. For further information, please email us at kelly@musicwithheartboston.org or call us at (617) 797-1129.

Next Stage Arts and Twilight Music present an evening of contemporary folk “in the round” with singer-songwriters Alice Howe, Freebo, Sam Robbins, and Halley Neal. In this intimate, collaborative format, each artist performs solo and joins the others onstage, creating a dynamic, one-of-a-kind shared concert experience.

Freebo, a folk, rock, and blues icon best known for his decade as bassist with Bonnie Raitt, is joined by award-winning vocalist Alice Howe, modern troubadour Sam Robbins, and Boston-based songwriter Halley Neal. Together, they bring rich harmonies, compelling songwriting, and a spirit of musical collaboration to the stage.

Antenna Cloud Farm presents a special evening of immersive live performance with renowned vocalist, composer, and video artist Emily Wells, along with guests from Antenna Cloud Farm’s musical community including composer-performer-improvisers Michi Wiancko, Che Ali and Philip McGinty, along with special guests Kirin McElwain and Hannah Berube. Instrumentation will include vocals, drums, synths, violins, viola, cello, clarinet, accompanied by an engaging video art component.

Forging a bridge between pop and chamber music, Emily Wells builds songs from deliberate strata of vocals, synths, drums, piano, string and wind instruments. Wells has toured extensively throughout the world, including performances at Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim Museum, and the National Gallery of Art. She has released six critically acclaimed albums including her latest release, the ten-song album Regards to the End (“complex, vibrant, and dynamic” -Pitchfork) which explores the AIDS crisis, climate change, and her lived experience watching the world burn. A work of radical empathy, Regards to the End foregrounds the power of art, critique, and care to connect and perhaps redeem us.

In honor of Artists For Humanity’s 35th Anniversary, we’re bringing it back to 1991, and the decade that defined us. Celebrating our founding year, we’re bringing the raw energy of the ’90s to life—where hip hop, breakdancing, and grunge collide with creativity and purpose.

Join us for a high-energy night featuring live music, dancing, performances, creative cocktails, curated bites, and unexpected surprises. Meet AFH’s teen artists, experience their work up close and purchase your favorite pieces.

WHEN: Saturday, May 2nd, 9pm to 12am

WHERE: Artists for Humanity, 100 W 2nd St, South Boston, MA 02127

This party is 21+ and will require an ID

Welcome to the Harvard Arts Festival! From April 30 to May 3, Harvard’s campus transforms into a four-day celebration of the arts, bursting with creativity from Harvard students, staff, alums and faculty. Wander through iconic indoor and outdoor spaces as you catch more than 100 performances, exhibitions and hands-on arts experiences. New this year: dance outdoors at one of Harvard’s biggest-ever freestyle dance parties; raise your voice in a choral sing-along; help build a life-sized fin whale mural from plastic strips in a community art project. The festival is open to everyone, family-friendly and mostly free (a few ticketed events have admission fees). Join the joy! Share in a celebration of artistic boldness. Can’t get to campus? Watch selected events livestreamed at HarvardArts on YouTube.

Cinco de Mayo
With the BOMBYX Brass Collective

Cinco de Mayo at De La Luz Soundstage unfolds as a vibrant brass celebration, where the BOMBYX Brass Collective paints with bold tones and rich textures across a program rooted in Mexican musical heritage. Featuring works by Mexican composers Nubia Jaime Donjuan and Omar Arellano Osorio alongside Aaron Copland’s iconic El Salón México, the evening blends tradition, storytelling, and contemporary artistry. Additional selections beyond the theme round out the program, adding contrast and surprise, like unexpected spices in a well-crafted dish.

At the heart of the performance is Sahuaro, from Donjuan’s Little Mexican Suite, a rhythmic and atmospheric homage to the towering cactus landscapes of northern Mexico. Osorio’s Yú-Kú – A Mexican Waltz, written for BOMBYX Brass, draws listeners into the mountainous regions of Oaxaca, echoing the sound of village wind bands and the enduring relationship between land and community. Together, these works offer a deeply rooted and evocative musical journey shaped by place, memory, and cultural identity.

Beyond the stage, the celebration continues with a themed menu from De La Luz’s in-house café, with dishes inspired by traditional Mexican recipes. Paired with the electrifying sweep of Copland’s El Salón México—a lively mosaic of folk melodies and dance hall energy—the evening becomes a full sensory experience. Music, food, and atmosphere come together in one unforgettable night along the canal, where every note and every bite tells a story.

Come celebrate West African Music and Dance with Drummers and Dancers of Wofa in collaboration with Ghanaian gyil/kuar duo Valerie Naranjo and Barry Olsen! Wofa is the West African Drum and Dance Ensemble at the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School directed by Alpha Kabisko Kaba. They will share the stage with Visiting Artist Valerie Naranjo of SNL and Barry Olsen of The Lion King.

Naranjo’s career has broken boundaries of genre and gender to help redefine the way percussionists engage with their communities. She has created a space for percussionists that is more inclusive to everyone, especially women. “She broke a gender barrier by being the first woman to perform on gyil (African marimba) and to become (with Barry) a first-place prize winner in Ghana’s Kobine Festival of Traditional Music,” says Dr. Patrick Roulet. "She has incorporated musical instruments and styles from around the world into pop, classical, rock, and folk traditions, which have influenced our entire field. "

"Her contributions to music and percussion are boundary breaking, crossing, and uniting,” says Dr. Roger Braun. “From the popular music of the Saturday Night Live band, to the New York musical theater scene, to the gyil music of Ghana, to her impact as a world music educator, her influence is profound.” Barry (trombone, piano, percussion) and Valerie (marimba, gyli, voice, percussion) have shared their artistry with renowned musicians like Philip Glass, Paul Simon and David Burne. You can catch them on rare occasions playing their own music in their group Mandara, their home for original compositions.