Sesquicentennial What’s the correct present for someone who is turning 150? Granted, that’s not a question many of us have to face. But if you’re local composer/musician Margery Goldstein and the honoree is your hometown, you give an orchestral composition.
The Symphony Pro Musica orchestra will premiere Goldstein’s “Sky Woman Falling’’ at a concert at Hudson High School on Saturday, March 19, the exact anniversary of Hudson’s founding in 1866 and the opening of a yearlong Sesquicentennial Celebration, followed by an outdoor fireworks display. The musical program will be repeated on March 20 in Westborough.
Although much of the concert will focus on familiar pieces from favorite American composers such as Aaron Copland and John Philip Sousa, Goldstein chose a Native American creation myth as the inspiration for her composition. “I think it’s important that we all acknowledge US history didn’t start with the Pilgrims,’’ Goldstein said. “My work is based on an Iroquois story in which creatures in the water world see the Sky Woman falling out of the sky and try to pull up earth from the bottom of their lake for her to land on.’’
Goldstein likens the composition to “Peter and the Wolf’’ in terms of how she gave voices to different animals through the various instruments in the orchestra. “The oboe is a duck — that’s a musical tradition, I think! — two clarinets are loons, the brass depicts beavers, a solo bassoon is the muskrat, and a solo violin is the Sky Woman.’’ A narrator will tell the story as the piece progresses.
Performances are Saturday, March 19, at 6 p.m. (followed by fireworks) at Hudson High School, 69 Brigham St., Hudson; and Sunday, March 20, at 3:30 p.m. at Mill Pond School, 6 Olde Hickory Path, Westborough. Tickets are $25 adults; $20 seniors; free for children and students up to Grade 12. www.symphonypromusica.org, 978-562-0939
FACETS OF STILL LIFE Danforth Art Museum celebrates the still life this spring in “Beautiful Decay,’’ an exhibition of works from its permanent collection accompanied by installations by three contemporary artists, on view through June 5. The exhibition combines paintings, drawings, photographs, and mixed-media installation to represent the dichotomy of the still life tradition’s themes: opulence, fertility, and permanence but also transience and the brevity of life. Danforth Art is at 123 Union Ave., Framingham. Admission is $11 for adults, $9 for seniors, and $8 for students. Admission is free for youth age 17 or younger. www.danforthart.org, 508-620-0050.
LITTLE MERMAID Franklin Performing Arts Company presents “Disney’s The Little Mermaid,’’ on March 12, 13, 19, and 20 at the Black Box, 15 West Central St., Franklin, with more than 40 area performers of all ages singing and dancing their way through the sea and helping Ariel to find her prince. Performances are Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m. www.theblackboxonline.com, 508-528-3370
LEGALLY BLONDE Arlington Children’s Theatre presents “Legally Blonde: The Musical,’’ featuring singers, dancers, and actors age 7 to 18 from Greater Boston. Performances take place Thursday, March 17, and Friday, March 18, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, March 19, at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, March 20, at 2 p.m. at the Regent Theatre, 7 Medford St., Arlington. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased at www.regenttheatre.com or by calling 781-646-4TIX.
ISSUES IN THE NEWS How does scapegoating become epidemic? How do we keep fear and concern from manifesting as violence and the abandonment of civil liberties? A panel of experts will look at the personal, the policy, and the politics surrounding these complex issues on Wednesday, March 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, 333 Nahanton St., Newton. Moderating the conversation will be Aleisa Fishman, a historian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Tickets are $18. www.bostonjcc.org/hotbuttons, 617-965-5226
SING OUT LOUD (OR JUST LISTEN) ShirleyArts! will offer an a cappella workshop for youth and adults followed by a public concert with Boston a cappella veterans Five O’Clock Shadow on Saturday, March 19, at Ayer Shirley Middle School, 1 Hospital Road, Shirley. The workshop runs from 2 to 4 p.m. The concert begins at 7 p.m. The combination workshop/concert fee is $25. Concert tickets are $15. Tickets can be purchased at the Hazen Memorial Library or at the door. All workshop participants must register in advance by e-mailing mail@shirleyarts.org. www.shirleyarts.org
Send ideas to NancySWest@gmail.com.
