Meredith O'Brien in Person
Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley
Thursday, March 6 at 7 p.m.
Meredith O'Brien talks about her new novel, Louie on the Rocks. Set against a backdrop of bitterly partisan Facebook feuds, Louie on the Rocks follows the disintegration of the Francis family six months after the premature death of their matriarch, Helen. A former newspaper reporter and investigative journalist, O'Brien teaches journalism at Northeastern University in Boston and creative nonfiction for the MFA program at Bay Path University. O'Brien will be joined in conversation by Suzanne Strempek Shea, another former newspaper reporter and novelist who lives in western Mass.
Back Porch Festival
Downtown Northampton
Friday, March 7 – Sunday, March 9
Now in its 11th year, this American Roots festival, will present over 60 artists at 10 venues in downtown Northampton. You can ramble your way into most of the shows with your Ramble Pass button, or spring for the special tickets shows at the Academy — The Songs of Neil Young on Friday, a Bluegrass Spectacular on Saturday, or Lucinda Williams on Sunday.
New Roots in River Banks: Polish and Other Eastern Immigrant Stories
The LAVA Center, Greenfield
Opening reception Friday, March 7 from 5:30 – 7 p.m.
On view through May
Many of the residents of Greenfield, Deerfield and other Connecticut River Valley towns and cities can draw their roots back to Poland and Ukraine, to the point where Eastern European names have become fully American. A work of love and family genealogy, this Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association exhibit draws on historical and personal family documents, photographs and other aspects of material culture to present the experience of three Eastern European immigrant families.
Groovy Grown-Up '70s Party
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst
Friday, March 7 at 7 p.m.
Dust off your bell bottoms and anything crocheted, and join Joshua Sitron and Myka Plunkett for a groovy sing-along, piano karaoke, and dance party inspired by the hit 1970’s record and book, Free to Be…You and Me. Prepare to laugh, dance, sip, and sing your heart out with other Free to Be lovers as they play through the groundbreaking 1972 children’s album of songs and stories. The evening will conclude with an all-request live piano karaoke and dance line.
Arcadia Players: Vermeer's "The Concert"
Warbeke Room, Pratt Hall, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley
Friday March 7 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday March 8 at 3 p.m.
Here’s a tremendously interesting concert program concept! In 1664, Johannes Vermeer painted a domestic music scene in which a singer is joined by a harpsichordist and a lutenist, with a viola da gamba on the floor and a bandora or a cittern on the table. The painting was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 and has never been recovered. This concert will be a reproduction of the music these musicians might have played, sampling from works widely available in Rotterdam in the 1650s, including cantatas written for the instruments and voice depicted in the painting. Performed by Sophie Michaux, voice; Douglas Kelley, viola da gamba; Nathaniel Cox, lute and cittern; and Andrus Madsen, harpsichord.
Unity House Players: Catch Me If You Can
The Unitarian Universalist Society of Greater Springfield
Friday March 7 – Sunday March 16
The Unity House Player’s Spring musical is based on the hit film and an incredible true story. It’s a high-flying musical comedy about chasing your dreams and not getting caught. The cast includes many local adult actors seen at previous Unity House shows. Along with high energy dancing and comedy, a ten-piece live orchestra provides swinging jazz music to fill the house.
Suzanne Vega - Old Songs, New Songs and Other Songs
Shea Theater, Turners Falls
Friday, March 7 at 8 p.m.
Suzanne Vega emerged as a leading figure of the folk revival of the early 1980s when, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, she sang what has been called contemporary folk or neo-folk songs of her own creation in Greenwich Village clubs. Notably succinct and understated, her work is immediately recognizable — as utterly distinct and thoughtful as it was when her voice was first heard on the radio over 30 years ago.
Gerald Kelly's Comedy Anniversary x 3 Decades of Laughter
White Lion Brewing Company, Springfield
Friday, March 7 at 8 p.m. Doors at 6:30 p.m.
Come celebrate three decades of laughter with the legendary comedian Gerald Kelly at the White Lion Brewing Company Get ready for a night filled with hilarious jokes, unforgettable memories, and non-stop laughter with Gerald Kelly, Lil Hunter Kelly, Howie Bell, Eva Evans, Popps and Eddie Diesel. This live event is a must-see for comedy fans looking to have a great time at one of our region’s favorite signature breweries. Plus! Gerald is visiting The Fabulous 413 today.
2025 Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Convention
Bombyx, Florence
Saturday, March 7 and Sunday, March 8 starting at 10 a.m.
For some, this music expresses their religious devotion; for others, it is a living folk art; and for others, an exhilarating good time. Whatever their differences, they share a love for this participatory tradition where singers sit in a square formation, facing inward, with one voice part to a side, and take turns standing in the middle of the square to lead a song of their choosing from The Sacred Harp. Newcomers are warmly invited to drop in for as long as they wish. All day Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of people will sing together with breaks for socializing and a potluck lunch.
Pastoral on Paper
The Clark, Williamstown
Sunday, March 8 – Sunday, June 15
The idyllic tranquility of the lives of shepherds became a prominent subject in literature, music, and the visual arts over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This exhibition explores how artists depicted rural life by considering their representation of cows, cottages, mules, maidens, shepherds, ruins, and overgrown landscapes. Selected primarily from the Clark’s holdings of drawings by Claude Lorrain and Thomas Gainsborough and supplemented with select loans of Dutch Italianate artworks, this exhibition analyzes pastoral imagery to examine how artists construct their own visions of an idealized landscape.
The Big Broadcast!
Chapin Auditorium, Mount Holyoke College
Saturday, March 8 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
“The Big Broadcast!” is a re-creation of a live 1940’s radio variety show featuring MHC Jazz ensembles performing well-known tunes and hidden gems from the swing era and the American Popular Songbook. Created and produced by faculty member Mark Gionfriddo, it has become a Signature Event at Mount Holyoke College. The show is emceed by WWLP meteorologist Brian Lapis. This edition celebrates the 20th anniversary of the event, and this year marks the 25th anniversary year of the Jazz performance program at MHC.
Pioneer Valley Symphony: Windows into Other Worlds
Belchertown High School
Saturday, March 8 at 7 p.m.
Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra promises an unforgettable evening of music celebrating cultures from around the globe. The concert will open with Nigerian composer Fela Sowande's Folk Symphony, inspired by the country's rich musical heritage. Next, flute virtuoso and Latin Grammy-nominated artist Giovanni A. Pérez will perform with the PVSO in the world premiere of his flute concerto, Esclavitud Perpétua, which reflects on how over 500 years of colonization and cultural clashes have shaped and evolved Puerto Rican music. The evening will conclude with Respighi's Pines of Rome.
Valley Classical: Espressivo! Piano Quartet
Sweeney Concert Hall, Smith College
Sunday, March 9 at 3 p.m.
Espressivo! is an ensemble devoted to the Piano Quartet. The legendary husband and wife team of Jamie Laredo, violin, and Sharon Robinson, cello have established themselves in every genre of the classical music world through touring, recording, and concertizing in venues the world over. These two veteran musicians have made a life in Vermont these last many years, and have the freedom to play exactly what they want and with whom they want. Their choice of collaborators is violist Milena Pájaro-Van de Stadt and pianist Anna Polonsky, and the resulting quartet is nothing short of a musical dream team. Their choices for Sunday’s program are Mozart’s First Piano Quartet Brahms’s Third Piano Quartet and Antonin Dvořák Second Piano Quartet.
Holyoke Civic Symphony: People Get Ready
Holyoke Community College
Sunday, March 9 at 3 p.m.
The Holyoke Civic Symphony, under the direction of David Kidwell, is made up of talented amateur musicians and students who perform an exciting mixture of styles and composers. Their mission is to make orchestral music accessible to Holyoke and the surrounding communities. Concerts are welcoming, unpretentious, and fun for all ages. This free concert features William Grant Still’s Festive Overture, Margaret Bonds’ Montgomery Variations and Antonin Dvořák’s Cello Concerto featuring cellist Zack Sears.
Improv with The Majesters: St. Patrick’s Day Laughs
Majestic Theater, West Springfield
Monday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Come as you are and get ready to laugh as the Majesters take suggestions from you, the audience, to create original sketches and songs on the spot. There’s no preparation, no rehearsal, and lots of chaotic fun to be had with these holiday-themed comedy events.
53rd Annual Spring Flower Show
The Mount Holyoke College Botanic Garden
Open through March 16
This is the third consecutive issue of Culture to Do that features a local bulb show! If you’re anxious for Spring's arrival and tired of Winter, here’s another local opportunity to immerse yourself in the tantalizing color, fragrance, and beauty of thousands of Spring favorites including tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, freesias, violas and many more. You can also explore other areas of the Talcott Greenhouse and its diverse living collection from around the world.