Category: Art & Theater

Music reflecting life

Nashua Chamber Orchestra performs piece director wrote during pandemic

With the 2022-2023 season coming to a close, David Feltner, music director for Nashua Chamber Orchestra, is debuting a piece that he wrote during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It’s a musical journey of how we heard about this strange disease, and … about isolation, uncertainty and anxiety,” Feltner said.

The piece, titled “From the Depths,” was originally composed as a solo on the viola, Feltner’s primary instrument. As the pandemic went on, Feltner said, he thought more of his friends and colleagues in the Nashua Chamber Orchestra and found himself transcribing sections of the piece into a full orchestration.

Now, Feltner said, he can’t imagine the piece any other way. It begins with a low rumbling on the timpani, to start a feeling of unease. That feeling progresses throughout the music.

“There’s dissonance from the horns, they’re three half-steps apart, and you get this knot in your stomach, this underlying ‘ugh’ feeling that keeps coming back in different ways through the peace,” Feltner said, adding that there is ultimately a resolve into harmony at the end of the piece, to represent coming to terms with the pandemic. “I’m hoping people will identify with that journey.”

The main section of the concert will be Wolfgang Mozart’s 39th Symphony. Before that piece, the concert will feature “Woodland Sketches No. 6-10” by Edward MacDowell, a composer who spent many summers in New Hampshire and whose music often took inspiration from the Granite State’s scenery.

Feltner said the Nashua Chamber Orchestra tries to tie a program together either thematically or through composition, and he feels that his music meets both of those ideas.

Mozart has a distinct style that people often recognize. Feltner said that, from a composition standpoint, he also leaves his own fingerprint on his music, using canons and imitation.

When it comes to MacDowell, Feltner said both of their compositions are describing something.

“He was kind of recreating a scene that he had seen,” Feltner said. “A personal response to a place or situation … his is more programmatic, mine is more abstract.”

Feltner hopes people listen and feel the emotions in the music.

“Music, I feel, should touch the heart, and of course engage the mind,” Feltner said. “Music doesn’t have to be a concrete thing, but it has to express something.”

Mozart and Friends
When: Saturday, June 3, at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Nashua Community College (505 Amherst St.)Sunday, June 4, at 7:30 p.m. at Milford Town Hall (1 Union Square)
Price: $20 for adults, $15 for college students, seniors, and active military/veterans, free for students ages 18 and younger
Visit: nco-music.org

Featured photo: David Feltner. Courtesy photo.

The Art Roundup 23/05/25

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• Mozart and Friends: The Nashua Chamber Orchestra (nco-music.org) will wrap up its season with “Mozart and Friends” on Saturday, June 3, at 7:30 p.m. at Nashua Community College (505 Amherst St., Judd Gregg Hall, in Nashua) and on Sunday, June 4, at 7:30 p.m. at Milford Town Hall (1 Union Square on the Milford Oval). Tickets cost $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and college students; students under 18 get in free. Tickets can be purchased on the orchestra’s website or at the door. The show will feature David Feltner, music director, performing as a viola soloist in the premiere of his new work “From the Depths” as well as “Five Woodland Sketches” by Edward MacDowell and Mozart’s Symphony No. 39, according to a press release.

• Memorial Day Weekend theater: Looking for some theater this holiday weekend? The Hatbox Theatre (270 Loudon Road in Concord; hatboxnh.com, 715-2315) and Not Too Loud Productions present Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? It opens this Friday, May 26, and runs through Sunday, June 11. Performances will run Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $22, $19 for seniors and students.

The Kids Coop Theatre will present Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: The Broadway Musical at the (29 W. Broadway in Derry; derryoperahouse.org) Friday, May 26, and Saturday, May 27, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 28, at 1 p.m. Tickets cost $15.

The Seacoast Repertory Theatre (125 Bow St. in Portsmouth; seacoastrep.com) is also raising the curtain on its production of Disney’s Newsies The Musical, which will open with a show Thursday, May 25, at 7:30 p.m. That production will run through Saturday, July 8, with shows Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sundays, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $37 to $62.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Get your tickets now for the Palace Theatre’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which will begin Friday, June 2. The production, which will feature a live orchestra for this sung-through musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, will run through Sunday, June 25, at the Palace (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; 668-5588, palacetheatre.org) with shows on Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $25 to $46.

• Audition calls: The Nashua Theatre Guild (nashuatheatreguild.org) has “a secret project a la Shakespeare in the Park coming but shhh! We can’t tell you yet!” according to its website. Actors of all experiences are welcome to audition for the production (performance dates Aug. 6 and Aug. 13) on Saturday, June 3, and Sunday, June 4, from noon to 3 p.m. at the Academy of Science and Design (486 Amherst St. in Nashua). Come prepared for a cold reading. For details, contact Valerie at val.aug.wis@gmail.com.

Performers age 14 and up can audition for the Friends of the Amato Center’s production of Guys and Dolls, according to the website. Auditions will be held Tuesday, June 6, and Wednesday, June 7, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley/Amato Center for the Performing Arts (56 Mont Vernon St. in Milford). The production will be Aug. 18 through Aug. 20, according to a press release. Email friendsguysdolls2023@gmail.com with questions. Go to amatocenter.org to register.

• Theater in June: Tiny Beautiful Things, a production based on the book by Cheryl Strayed, will be presented by Theatre Kapow on Friday, June 9, and Saturday, June 10, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 11, at 2 p.m. at the Bank of NH Stage (16. S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com). Tickets cost $33.75, $26.75 for students (the play contains mature subject matter and language), according to tkapow.com.

Also in June, Cue Zero Theatre (cztheatre.com) will present the musical Be More Chill at the Derry Opera House (29 W. Broadway in Derry; derryoperahouse.org) Friday, June 23, through Sunday, June 25.

The Wild Women of Winedale
The Majestic Theatre Studios (880 Page St. in Manchester; majestictheatre.net, 669-7469) will present the comedy about three women at crossroads in their lives, The Wild Women of Winedale, Friday, June 2, through Sunday, June 4, according to a press release. The play will run Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $17 for 65+ and 17 and under, the release said.

The Art Roundup 23/05/18

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• Sculptors at work: See the four artists participating in this year’s Nashua International Sculpture Symposium at work on their pieces at Picker Artists (3 Pine St. in Nashua), where they are working Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on this year’s pieces. The artists are Anna Rasinska from Poland, Parastoo Ahovan from Iran, Tanya Preminger from Israel and Jim Larson, who grew up in New Hampshire and now lives in Maine, according to nashuasculpturesymposium.org, where you can sign up to donate to or pick up a meal for the artists. The pieces, which will become part of Nashua’s townwide exhibit of sculptures, will be unveiled in their installation locations on Sunday, June 3.

• A trip to Narnia: The Majestic Academy of Dramatic Arts (Majestic Studio Theatre, 880 Page St. in Manchester; majestictheatre.net, 669-7469) will present The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe featuring children and teen performers on Friday, May 19, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, May 20, at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, May 21, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $14 for adults, $13 for seniors and $10 for 17 and under.

Jack of Diamonds
Pittsfield Players (Scenic Theatre, 6 Depot St. in Pittsfield; pittsfieldplayers.org, 435-8852) presents Jack of Diamonds, a comedy mystery set at a retirement home where a group of skilled residents realize the man who has stolen their nest eggs has newly moved in, according to the website. The show runs Friday, May 19, and Saturday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 21, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $15 (call or go online to reserve).

• Drama on skates: Teen performers with the Peacock Players (peacockplayers.org) will present the musical Xanadu on Friday, May 19, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, May 20, at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, May 21, at 2 p.m. at their theater at 14 Court St. in Nashua. Tickets start at $15 for adults ($12 for students and seniors).

• On view downtown: New Hampshire Art Association Artist Michelle Peterson has her paintings on display in an exhibit called “Threads and Where They Lead” at the Concord Chamber of Commerce (49 S. Main St. Suite 104 in Concord; concordnhchamber.com) through Friday, July 7. “In the artwork string is depicted in patterns and shapes that reference the playground pastime of cat’s cradle. ‘By using symbols such as a water bottle, rocks, birds and hands interspersed and oriented around visible and invisible strings, I begin to map a personal psychogeography,’ says Peterson,” according to a press release. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Spring show: The Seacoast Artist Association will feature new artwork from its members in the show “Primavera: The Art of Spring,” which wraps up this weekend when it is open Saturday, May 20, and Sunday, May 21, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Exeter Town Hall gallery (10 Front St. in Exeter; the gallery is on the second floor). See seacoastartist.org.

• Supporting art with music: The Andres Institute of Art Center (106 Route 13 in Brookline, 845-9174; andresinstitute.org) will present kNowhere Kids, a band playing New England rock with a mix of blues-flavored originals and covers, on Sunday, May 21, from 6 to 8 p.m., according to a press release. See the band at theknowherekids.com. Tickets to the concert cost $25; purchase them online. The next show will be The Soggy Po Boys on Sunday, June 25.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
The Hatbox Theatre (270 Loudon Road in Concord; hatboxnh.com, 715-2315) and Not Too Loud Productions will present Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? from Friday, May 26, through Sunday, June 11. Performances will run Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $22, $19 for seniors and students.

• Art with your museum visit: The Children’s Museum of NH (6 Washington St. in Dover; childrens-museum.org) is displaying the exhibit “Thirteen Moons — An Abenaki Child’s Year” in its Gallery 6 through the end of May. The exhibit features photographs, drawings, diagrams, scale models and stories to illustrate the daily life of a child in an Abenaki village before the arrival of Europeans, according to a press release. The gallery is open when the museum is open (you can visit just the gallery at no charge; museum admission costs $12.50 for everyone over 12 months, $10.50 for 65+). The museum is open Sundays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon; Wednesdays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.

• 75 years of work: The DublinArts and Muse Gallery (1459 Main St in Dublin; musegallery.art) will present a retrospective of Sylvia Nicolas on display through Tuesday, June 6. Nicolas, a Netherlands native who came to the U.S. in the late 1930s and now lives in Mont Vernon, has paintings, drawings, sculptures and stained glass, the press release said. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Strings celebration: The New Hampshire Fiddle Ensemble — a community orchestra of fiddles, guitars, banjos, mandolins, basses, harps and cellos — has a concert this Saturday, May 20, at 7 p.m. at the Exeter Town Hall (9 Front St. in Exeter). Tickets in advance cost $16 for adults, $7 for seniors and students and are free for kids 8 and under, but in all cases reserve seats at nhfiddleensemble.org/concerts. Tickets will be available at the door for an additional $2. The ensemble also has a concert scheduled for Sunday, June 4, at Franklin Opera House (316 Central St. in Franklin).

Exeter Arts & Music Fest
Find live music, an arts market, kids’ activities, food and more during the Exeter Arts & Music Fest on Saturday, May 20, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The main music stage, food trucks and kids’ activities will be at Town House Common (6 Bow St. in Exeter) and the artist market and singer-songwriter tent will be at the front portion of Swasey Parkway near Water Street, according to a press release. Scheduled for the main stage are Tim Parent & The Grim Bros. (11 a.m.), Marcus Rabb Quartet (12:30 p.m.), a Musical Arts Showcase (1:45 p.m.), WoodWind & Whiskey (2:30 p.m.), and Cold Engines (4 p.m.). The food trucks scheduled to appear include Cafe El Camino, Memories Ice Cream, Fat Pockets and Cosmic Kettlecorn, the release said. The artist market will feature more than 30 vendors, the press release said. There is a suggested donation of $10, $20 per family, the release said. See teamexeter.org.

Hats off for women

Artists inspired by a once-essential part of the feminine wardrobe

Twiggs Gallery is celebrating women through the art show “Head’s Up: The Many Hats Women Wear.” The show, which features all artists from the Women’s Caucus for Art’s New Hampshire Chapter, prompted artists to use hats as inspiration, whether through making the hats, using hat imagery, or recycling hats to be used as part of the media for the artwork.

“There’s really only two hats you could actually wear,” Laura Morrison, the gallery director at Twiggs, said. “The rest are really sculptures.”

There are approximately 30 different hat-inspired pieces on display at the gallery. The goal with the show was to display many of the ways women exist in both modern and older societies. The artwork is on display until May 27, and most of the artwork is for sale.

There weren’t any strict rules to interpreting the theme, Morrison said. Some of the artwork on display takes inspiration from iconic women and their hats, like Carmen Miranda, who famously danced with a pile of fruit on her head.

Morrison said that the majority of the pieces are sculptures, with a handful of hanging pieces that were photography or mixed media. The artwork includes paintings and photos, sculptures using flowers and nature, and one piece that incorporates sound.

large oblong shaped hat hanging from ceiling, woman standing under had covered down to shoulders
“Negative Hat with a Positive Attitude” by Donna Catanzaro. Courtesy photo.

That piece, titled “Negative Hat with a Positive Attitude,” by Donna Catanzaro, turns photo negatives from Catanzaro’s youth into the structure of a bell-shaped hat that is suspended so viewers can stand inside. The audio aspect comes from a short monologue Catanzaro recorded, explaining how she became empowered by the old reels of negatives and the girl she once was.

“We asked the artists to broadly interpret the theme,” Morrison said. “Some of [the art] is nature, like Mother Nature, or about a woman’s work, or self-image, agency and power. We try to offer themes that can be broadly interpreted. It’s giving visual representation of thoughts and ideas that [the artists] have.”

This is the third installment from the partnership Twiggs has with WCA/NH that Morrison has inspired. The first was “Busting Out: Powerful Women” also known as “The Bra Show,” and the second was “Kick-Start” or “The Shoe Show.” Morrison said she isn’t sure what other piece of uniquely feminine clothing could be used to inspire art, but hopes to figure one out.

Morrison wants people to experience the show as a serious celebration of women but also to see it as something amusing.

“Whoever comes in will come out with something to think about, with what women are thinking about, and what challenge they have,” Morrison said. “Also, it’s just fun, too. I’ve heard people laugh a few times while they’re in there because they enjoy the show so much.”

Head’s Up: The Many Hats Women Wear
Where: Twiggs Gallery, 254 King St., Boscawen
When: During gallery hours, Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday noon to 4 p.m.
Visit: twiggsgallery.org

Featured photo: “Forest Guardess Headgear” by Kathleen Lovett. Courtesy photo.

The Art Roundup 23/05/11

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• Hollywood in Africa: The New Hampshire Philharmonic will present its spring pops concert, “Hollywood in Africa,” on Saturday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 21, at 2 p.m. featuring Mamadou Diabate, a Grammy-nominated musician who will play the balafon, a xylophone-like instrument, according to a press release. See videos of Mamadou Diabate singing and playing the balafon at mamadoudiabate.com. The concerts will take place at Seifert Performing Arts Center (44 Geremonty Drive in Salem). Tickets are available at nhphil.org and cost $30 for adults, $25 for seniors and $8 for students. The Sunday show can also be streamed live; a streaming pass costs $15.

Meet the Marches
The Majestic Academy Teens will present Little Women The Musical, telling the story of March sisters Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy based on the Louisa May Alcott novel, Friday, May 12, through Sunday, May 14, at the Derry Opera House (29 West Broadway in Derry). Shows are at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 12, and Saturday, May 13, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 14. Tickets cost $18 for adults, $15 for 65+ and $12 for 17 and under and can be purchased at 669-7469, at majestictheatre.net or at the door.

• Meet the artist: Andrew Freshour is a Manchester illustrator whose work is on display at Framers Market (1301 Elm St. in Manchester; 668-6989, framersmarketnh.com). Framers Market will hold a reception for Freshour on Saturday, May 20, from noon to 3 p.m. See andrewfreshour.com for more on the artist and his work. The Framers Market is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., according to its website.

• Romance and fantasy: Based on the 1990 movie, Ghost The Musical wraps up its run at the Seacoast Repertory Theatre (125 Bow St. in Portsmouth; seacoastrep.org) with shows Thursday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, May 12, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, May 13, at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday, May 14, at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $37 including fees and can be purchased on the website.

• Oil and cold wax: Seacoast Artist Association (130 Water St. in Exeter; seacoastartist.org) will hold an artist reception on Friday, May 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. for the show “Just Above a Whisper” featuring the works of Lynn Krumholz. The exhibit features Krumholz’s paintings of oil and cold wax and small books, according to a press release. “Oil and cold wax is a relatively new process that combines oil paint and a cold wax medium…. When varnished, it dries to a hard, durable surface with a velvety, matte finish,” the press release said. The reception will feature refreshments as well as music by Cheryl Sager and Neal Zweig. The gallery is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m.

Spring fair
The Craftworkers’ Guild spring fair (Kendall House, 3A Meetinghouse Road in Bedford; thecraftworkersguild.org) is open now through Saturday, May 13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Items for sale include jewelry, fine art, fashion accessories, glass arts, candles, soaps, ceramics, pottery, photography, paper arts and more, according to a video on the group’s Facebook page. You can also shop online via the guild’s website.

• Continuing show: Neil Simon’s The Gingerbread Lady, presented by the Players’ Ring (105 Marcy St. in Portsmouth; playersring.org), continues this weekend and next, through Sunday, May 21, with shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets cost $27, $24 for students at 65+.

• Cruising history: With historical markers in the news, now might be the time to check out the Hollis Social Library’s (2 Monument Square in Hollis; 465-7721, hollislibrary.org) event featuring Michael Bruno, who will discuss his 2018 guide to the state’s 279 historical markers, Cruising New Hampshire History, on Saturday, May 20, from 1 to 3 p.m. Register online for the event.

• Seeking peace: The Derry Public Library (64 E. Broadway in Derry; derrypl.org, 432-6140) will present author Susan Lynch to discuss her book Life After Kevin: A Mother’s Search for Peace and the Golden Retrievers that Led the Way on Wednesday, May 24, at 6:30 p.m. Register for the event online.

Festival of art, music and food
More than 60 artists, crafters, farmers and food makers are scheduled to attend the Henniker Handmade & Homegrown festival on Saturday, May 13, and Sunday, May 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Community Center Park (57 Main St. in Henniker), according to a press release. Items to peruse and purchase include pottery, jewelry, candles, knitwear, woodworking, fine art illustrations, hand-printed textiles, photography, plants (including fresh-cut tulips), flowers and more, the release said. The weekend will also feature live music from Walker Smith, The Honey Bees Trio, Decatur Creek, The Danny Savage Band and Beechwood — at the Angela Robinson Bandstand, the release said. Scheduled food trucks include Taco Beyondo and RJ Texas Style BBQ. A kids’ area will feature a bounce house, lawn games and more. Parking will be available at Henniker Community School with a shuttle bus running to and from the event, the release said.

From Brazil to Manchester

Currier hosts first U.S. exhibit for Brazilian artist

The Currier Museum is hosting the first United States exhibit for internationally renowned artist Uýra. The exhibit, “The Living Forest: UÝRA (A Floresta Viva: UÝRA),” is a celebration of the artist’s indigenous identity, the nature of Brazil, and the complexities of gender in society.

Uýra is a nonbinary indigenous Brazilian artist. The work is primarily performance art, developing costumes and personas that reflect the struggles of indigenous people, the environment and transphobia in Brazil. Their work was the subject of the 2022 documentary Uýra: The Rising Forest.

“All these elements are played out in the physical transform by wearing natural elements, like natural dyes, tree bark and leaves, all from the mountains where they are from and live,” said the Currier’s chief curator, Lorenzo Fusi. “By creating this drag persona that is interspecies, inter-gender, it embodies everything from plants to animals and humans to nature as well, everything forming our universe.”

Uýra has never had a solo exhibit in the United States, Fusi said. He said the Currier was honored to be giving Uýra their first American showcase. This is also one of the largest solo exhibitions Uýra has done.

Because of the performative nature of Uýra’s artwork, Fusi said there was a distinct challenge in how to set up the shows. Fusi said that one of the ways they plan to capture Uýra’s performances is through a book the museum is publishing.

“The way they perform, sometimes [the performances] aren’t meant to have a live audience, those are more like rituals and more personal actions,” Fusi said. Because of the sometimes solitary nature of Uýra’s art, there are videos and photographs documenting those performances. “Everything is installed in a way so that the audience enters into the environment. The whole show is very immersive.”

On the opening day, Uýra will give a live performance. Fusi said it won’t be the last time they perform, and the Currier plans to have them back at least for the museum’s summer block party on July 15.

“It’s such an interesting practice … because of the element of magic that comes from Uýra performing, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

When it comes to the opening of the exhibit, whether visitors are able to see Uýra’s performances or not, Fusi hopes the artwork will spark important conversations. He wants people to not just see the artwork as beautiful, but see the ideologies of the artist and discuss the messages Uýra is trying to convey.

“There are different levels to [the art]; the beauty and seduction of the images, but they speak across barriers of race and cultural backgrounds, which is so immediate and strong and powerful,” Fusi said. “If you want to scratch the surface of visual engagement, pick and choose one of the many themes. Protection of environment, gender and indigenous rights are the three key points I’d like people to take away.”

The Living Forest: UÝRA (A Floresta Viva: UÝRA)
Where: Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org, 669-6144)
When: Opens Thursday, May 11, with a performance at 7 p.m. The exhibition will be on display through Sept. 24.
Hours: The museum is open Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission: $15 for adults, $13 for 65+, $10 for students, $5 for 13 through 17 and free for children under 13. Admission is also free for all from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays and free for New Hampshire residents on the second Saturdays of the month (including this Saturday, May 13).

Featured photo: A Mata Te Se Come, 2018. Photo by Lisa Hermes.

The Art Roundup 23/05/04

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame:Actorsingers (actorsingers.org) will present the musical The Hunchbakc of Notre Dame this weekend — Friday, May 5, and Saturday, May 6, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 7, at 2 p.m. — at Keefe Center for the Arts (117 Elm St. in Nashua). Tickets cost $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and students. “The production features a cast of 49 including a 27-person choir and a live orchestra,” according to the organizers.

• Spring ballet: Northeastern Ballet Theatre will present The Sleeping Beauty on Sunday, May 7, at 4 p.m. at the Capitol Center for the Arts (Chubb Theatre, 44 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com). Doors open at 3 p.m. Tickets cost $35.75; $23.75 for seniors and under 12.

• Jazz jam: The Ted Herbert Music School will host an open mic jazz jam on Sunday, May 7, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. open to students and musicians of all ages and abilities, according to a press release. The cost to participate is a suggested donation of $5 (free for Ted Herbert students) and the event will take place at the Majestic Theatre Studios (880 Page St. in Manchester), the release said. No sign-up is needed; just show up with your instrument (drums, piano and guitar amp will be provided), the release said. See tedherbert.com or call 669-7469.

• Calling young performers: The Palace Theatre’s Youth Ensemble will hold auditions for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat on Saturday, May 6, at 2, 3 and 4 p.m. for students in grades 2 to 12, according to a press release. Bring a headshot and resume, prepare a short section of a song to sing a cappella and expect to stay for the one-hour slot, the release said. There is a production fee of $75 for performers who are cast. Rehearsals will take place in May for this Professional Production in June. Auditions will be held at Forever Emma Studios (516 Pine St. in Manchester). Email MeganAlves@palacetheatre.org with the performer’s name, age and preferred audition time, the release said.

Not A Word
The Community Players of Concord will close out their 95th season with the original comedy Not A Word, written and directed by Wallace J. Pineault, according to a press release. The nine-character comedy is called “a valentine to his love of Hollywood history, set in 1920 at the peak of silent movies’ popularity,” the release said. The show runs Friday, May 5, and Saturday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m and Sunday, May 7, at 2 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord). Tickets cost $20 for adults and $18 for 17 and under and 65+. See communityplayersofconcord.org.

• Finding a Nemo: The Children’s Theatre Project of the Community Players of Concord will hold auditions for Finding Nemo Jr. on Saturday June 3, and Sunday, June 4, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Players’ Studio (435 Josiah Bartlett Road in Concord) with rehearsals to start after Labor Day for performances in October, according to a press release. The auditions are open to actors ages 8 to 18, the release said. Secure an audition spot by contacting director Karen Braz at k.braz@comcast.net. Auditioners should prepare one verse and one chorus of a song and bring a recent photo, the release said. There is a participation fee of $100 per cast member, with a family cap of $150, the release said. Kids age 12 and older can also register to work as stage managers, set builders or in other tech positions, the release said. See communityplayersofconcord.org/auditions.

• 35-year retrospective: New Hampshire Theatre Project’s (959 Islington St. in Portsmouth; nhtheatreproject.org, 431-6644) founder Genevieve Aichele is stepping down as executive director and the company will finish up its 2022-2023 season with a retrospective honoring the productions she has directed, acted in or written over the last 35 years, according to a press release. Gen-erations! will run Friday, May 5, through Sunday, May 21, with shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $30 general admission, $26 for students, seniors and veterans.

Singing through the years

NH Gay Men’s Chorus celebrates its 25th anniversary

The New Hampshire Gay Men’s Chorus. will celebrate its 25th anniversary by kicking off its spring concert series this weekend.

“I’m very excited about what we’re doing,” chorus executive director John McGeehan said. “I feel like it was yesterday that it was Jan. 10 and we were just first getting together for the year to start getting the concert together.”

Luc Andre Roberge has been the artistic director for 23 years at the chorus and a member since it was created. He said that he, along with other founding members, had seen the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus perform and thought that the representation and the message of the organization was one they could bring to the Granite State.

“We decided that we could do this in New Hampshire, and in the beginning of ’98, we put a call out, had about 50, 60 people at the first rehearsal, and only a dozen came back,” Roberge said. “Also, this was a time where you didn’t want to be open to the public, you didn’t want to be out of the closet in any way.”

Roberge said that it was hard for members to openly claim their identity as gay men at that time. When the organization was first formed, he said, Jim Bretz, a huge figure in New Hampshire’s LGBTQ community, told them there was a good chance the organization wouldn’t last longer than three years and that making it to five years would be incredible.

“None of us at the time thought it would make it to 25 years,” Roberge said. “Those that are not with us who started us up, I’m sure they’re smiling down and saying, ‘We’re so happy.’ We persist and we have persevered.”

Roberge designed the music for the concert to celebrate the last quarter of a century of music. There will be songs from musicals, including Rent, as well as more traditional choral pieces and covers of popular music.

McGeehan, who has been a part of the chorus since he first moved to New Hampshire in 2017, said that it’s important for people to realize they aren’t a group of professional musicians, just people who spread love and positivity through music. He added that just because they aren’t professionals doesn’t mean they don’t strive to make wonderful music — it’s just not the chorus’s only goal.

“One of the missions is not just to put on the best concert that we can, and I think we succeed every season, but be a community and social organization,” McGeehan said. “We give concerts every year at various town pride events, but also free concerts at local assisted facilities, singing the national anthem at New Hampshire Special Olympics, as well as at the Boston Red Sox in June for Pride Night.”

While the chorus sings at pride events throughout New Hampshire, McGeehan said the ones that were most important to him were when the chorus sang at several towns’ first pride parades. He said it allowed for the chorus to show other people in the LGBTQ community that they aren’t alone, that they have a space for people like them.

“To see how well this has come together, it’s actually incredible,” McGeehan said. “Here’s to 25 years, it’s been a lot of fun. I think with the kind of support we are having, I see someone welcoming us to the 50th anniversary someday.”

Silver Seasons of Love: New Hampshire Gay Men’s Chorus 25th Anniversary Concert
• Saturday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m., at Plymouth Congregational Church UCC, 4 Post Office Square in Plymouth.
• Sunday, May 7, 4 p.m., at First Baptist Church of Nashua, 121 Manchester St., Nashua.
• Saturday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m., at Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 22 Fox Run Road in Newington.
• Sunday, May 21, at 4 p.m., Derryfield School, 2108 River Road in Manchester.
Tickets: $20 for adults (ages 12 and under admitted free, email tickets@nhgmc.com for children’s tickets). See the website for links to purchase tickets at each location.
Visit: nhgmc.com

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

A century of music

Symphony New Hampshire is celebrating its centennial

For a century, Symphony New Hampshire has been bringing classical music to the Granite State. On its 100th birthday, the symphony will perform a concert featuring music from the first performance in 1923 and will host a gala celebrating the landmark anniversary.

“All of this has been daunting and exciting at the same time to celebrate 100 years,” said Deanna Hoying, the executive director of the symphony. “This whole season has been about that.”

The symphony will perform Antonin Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, featuring internationally renowned cellist Amit Peled, and Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B minor ‘Unfinished,’ both of which were performed during its very first concert. The program will be rounded out with ‘On the Beautiful Blue Danube’ by J. Strauss Jr. and Johannes Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 5.

Hoying said it was important for the symphony to celebrate the music and its legacy, which was a main reason it partnered with Peled for this concert. She added that this concert is just as important to the local arts community in New Hampshire as it is to the music world.

“This is a celebration of the arts in New Hampshire … and that they’re alive and well in the state,” Hoying said. “Maybe this is the end of the first chapter [for the symphony], but we’re going to open the book, turn the page to the next chapter.”

The gala following the reception will be opened by a poem written and read especially for the event by New Hampshire’s Poet Laureate Alexandria Peary. The symphony also partnered with artist William Mitchel, who made custom prints commemorating the event. Hoying said that, due to board members’ reserving prints in advance, there will be fewer than 100 copies for the public to snatch up.

To Hoying, this event is about giving thanks to the directors of the symphony, the musicians, the patrons of the arts, and the music lovers who came before.

“One hundred years of patrons and musicians and artists that struggled to keep Symphony New Hampshire going — we owe a large debt of gratitude to all of them when they struggled and weren’t sure what would come next,” said Hoying. “We stand on their shoulders and say thank you.”

Even with the symphony standing tall now, Hoying remembers the fear during the pandemic. She and members of the symphony’s board remember worrying over the future of live music in New Hampshire. The symphony is in a much more comfortable position since the first show after the pandemic’s end in 2021, which Hoying said only inspires them to do more.

“We’re really excited for the next 100 years; that’s why we called this concert ‘Momentum,’” Hoying said. “When we started thinking about this, momentum felt right. The momentum from the last 100 years will carry us to what we look like in year 101, 105 and 110.”

Symphony NH: Momentum! 100 Year Anniversary Concert
Where: Nashua Center for the Arts, 201 Main St.
When: Saturday, April 29, at 4 p.m.
Price: Adult tickets start at $39, senior tickets at $34, student and youth tickets at $12
Visit: nashuacenterforthearts.com

Featured photo: Symphony NH’s full orchestra. Courtesy photo.

The Art Roundup 23/04/27

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

•Paintings and ceramics: The show “Of the Earth” continues at the Two Villages Art Society (846 Main St. in Contoocook; twovillagesart.org) through Saturday, May 6. The show features the works of ceramics artist Boyan Moskov and painters Becky Barsi and Sarah Longley, according to a press release. The gallery is open Thursday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.

• Quilt art: The Capital Quilters Guild will hold their quilt show, “Quilted Illusions,’ on Friday, April 28, and Saturday, April 29, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Pembroke Academy (209 Pembroke Road in Pembroke) featuring more than 175 quilts, vendors, quilt and sewing machine raffles and more, according to a press release. Admission costs $10. See capitalquilters.com.

• Comedy in Concord: The Community Players of Concord will present the comedy Not A Word, the final show of their 95th season, Friday, May 5, through Sunday, May 7, at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St.). The play takes place in a boarding house in Hollywood in 1920 with characters enmeshed in the world of silent film, according to a press release. Shows take place Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20; $18 for age 17 and under and 65+ and can be purchased at communityplayersofconcord.org or by calling 344-4747.

The Wolves
Cue Zero Theatre Company presents The Wolves, described as a gritty drama about a high school girls’ soccer team, Friday, April 28, through Sunday, April 30, at Arts Academy of New Hampshire (19 Keewaydin Drive, No. 4, in Salem). The play, a 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist by Sarah DeLappe, has showtimes at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 28, and Saturday, April 29, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 30. Tickets cost $15 at the door and at cztheatre.com. The show features adult language and viewer discretion is advised, according to a press release.

• Celebrating 25 years: The New Hampshire Gay Men’s Chorus celebrates its 25th anniversary with a concert series called “Silver Seasons of Love,” according to a press release. The show schedule kicks off with a show Saturday, May 6, at the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ (4 Post Office Square in Plymouth) at 7:30 p.m. Subsequent shows are Sunday, May 7, at 4 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Nashua (121 Manchester St. in Nashua); Saturday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (22 Fox Run Road in Newington), and Sunday, May 21, at 4 p.m. at Derryfield School (2108 River Road in Manchester). Tickets cost $20 (admission is free for ages 12 and under, email tickets@nhgmc.com for child admission tickets) and can be purchased via nhgmc.com/tickets. See the website or call 263-4333 for information.

• Symphony — live or livestreamed: The UNH Symphony Orchestra will present a free public concert on Thursday, April 27, at 8 p.m. in the Johnson Theatre of the Paul Creative Arts Center (30 Academic Way at the UNH campus in Durham) and livestreamed at YouTube.com/unhmusic.

• Start your weekend with some jazz: The UNH Jazz Bands will present a free concert on Friday, April 28, at 8 p.m. at the Johnson Theatre of the Paul Creative Arts Center (30 Academic Way at the UNH campus in Durham) and via YouTube.com/unhmusic.com.

• Save the date for the Smirkus: Tickets for the summer tour of Circus Smirkus go on sale Monday, May 1, at smirkus.org/about-big-top-tour. New Hampshire dates include High Mowing School in Wilton on Monday, July 24, and Tuesday, July 25, at 1 and 6 p.m.

She Kills Monsters
Dive In Productions presents She Kills Monsters, described as a “high-octane comedic adventure” that is “laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and 90s pop culture,” at the Hatbox Theatre (Steeplegate Mall, 270 Loudon Road in Concord; hatboxnh.com, 715-2315) Friday, April 28, through Sunday, May 14, with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., according to a press release. Tickets cost $22 for adults, $19 for seniors and students. Nicole Jones (Agnes). Photo by Jason Ho.

• A mystery from 1873: New Hampshire Humanities will host a presentation called “Case Closed on the 1873 Smuttynose Ax Murders” on Wednesday, May 3, at the Derry Public Library (64 E. Broadway in Derry) at 6:30 p.m. J. Dennis Robinson discusses the 1873 murder of two Norwegian women on the Isles of Shoals and the subsequent arrest and trial. Register for this free in-person program at derrypl.org.

• Abenaki stories: New Hampshire Humanities’ Humanities Roadshow series will present “Wisdom Keeping: Abenaki Stories and Storytelling Traditions” on Wednesday, May 3, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Strawbery Banke Visitors Center (14 Hancock St. in Portsmouth), according to a press release. The event is free and presented by Anne Jennison, a New Hampshire-based Native American storyteller, historian, educator and craftsperson, the release said.

• Gala for a cause: Tickets are on sale now for the Manchester Community Music School’s (2291 Elm St. on Manchester; mcmusicschool.org) Share the Music Gala on Friday, May 19, starting at 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $50 per person or $450 for a table of 10. The evening will feature dance lessons by North Shore Swing Dance and a student musical performance “Baroque and Blue.

• At 3S Artspace: The Gallery at 3S Artspace (319 Vaughan St. in Portsmouth; galleryat3s.org) is exhibiting “Somewhere Around There,” a show featuring the ink paintings of abstract landscapes by Nishiki Sugawara-Beda. The show will run through June 11. The gallery is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, according to the gallery’s facebook page.

• Summer of theater: Tickets are now on sale for the Palace Theatre’s (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org, 668-5588) 2023 Bank of New Hampshire Children’s Summer Series, which will feature eight different shows from July 5 through Aug. 25. Tickets to each show cost $10. The schedule includes BJ Hickman magic shows July 5 through July 7; Beauty and the Beast July 11 through July 14; Rapunzel July 18 through 21; Peter Pan July 25 through July 28; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on Aug. 1 through Aug. 4; The Little Mermaid Aug. 8 through Aug. 11; Disney’s Frozen Kids Aug. 15 through Aug. 18, and Disney/Pixar Finding Nemo Aug. 22 through Aug. 25. Most shows run Tuesdays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., as well as Fridays at 10 a.m.

Arts Café Day
The Londonderry Arts Council will hold its ninth annual Arts Café on Saturday, April 29, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Orchard Christian Fellowship (136 Pillsbury Road in Londonderry), according to a press release. The event is free and billed as family-friendly with activities for kids as well as art from local artists, acoustic music, coffee and hot cocoa, breakfast pastries, a raffle and more, the release said.

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