Seasonal
The Trustees of Reservations
thetrustees.org
Join in various holiday gatherings and events, such as Christmas at the Old Manse, in Concord, to explore historic traditions (weekends in December), or head to Holiday Shopping at Powisset Farm, in Dover, for winter produce, gift baskets, and family activities. (November 30-December 23)
Harvard Memorial Church
memorialchurch.harvard.edu
The 115th Annual Christmas Carol Service features a time-honored liturgy and music by the Harvard University Choir. (December 8 and 10)
Film
Harvard Film Archive
harvardfilmarchive.org
“The Yugoslav Junction: Film and Internationalism in the SFRY, 1957-1988” examines the spectrum of aesthetic and political approaches to the art form, with a focus on the role of cinema in shaping the heterogeneous culture of that period. Some 50 films, most of them shorts, are divided among 10 screenings that also include the features Siberian Lady Macbeth, The Soldier, and Where to After the Rain? (November 9-December 4)
“Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy” offers the Indian director’s celebrated 1950s coming-of-age films Pather Panchali, Aparajito, and The World of Apu (screened in 35 mm) with original music composed by Ravi Shankar. (December 13-16)
Theater
American Repertory Theater
americanrepertorytheater.org
In the lively production Diary of a Tap Dancer, Ayodele Casel combines dance, songs, and storytelling to explore her life and the legacies of historic women tap dancers. (December 12-January 4)
Huntington Theatre Company
huntingtontheatre.com
Mfoniso Udofia’s warm-hearted play Sojourners chronicles a young Nigerian couple’s move to Houston, Texas, and what happens when the husband becomes increasingly enamored of Motown records and his wife must weigh how “Americanized” they want to become. (October 31- December 1)
Theaters of Emerson College
emersontheaters.org
The quirky musical Amour revolves around a clerk in post-war Paris who yearns for his neighbor and mysteriously develops the power to walk through walls. Greene Theater, Boston. (December 4-7)
Nature
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
arboretum.harvard.edu
Look for seasonal lectures, workshops, and talks, along with two exhibits: Vistas: Images of Tree Bark—featuring the photographs of Marc Goldring (opening November 2)—and Ramble, reflecting paintings of the natural world by a variety of artists (opening November 9)
Poetry
Woodberry Poetry Room
library.harvard.edu
The WAX Poetics series, combining archival recordings with live readings, hosts Ilya Kaminsky reciting his own work while also honoring that of the late Jean Valentine ’56, RI ’68. (December 12)
Music
Sanders Theatre
boxoffice.harvard.edu
Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra performs a range of pieces from English composer Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite The Planets, Op. 32, among other works. (November 9)
Boston Chamber Music Society, founded in 1982, presents music by Johannes Brahms, Sir Arnold Bax, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts. (November 10)
MASS MoCA
massmoca.org
The trio known as the Kasambwe Brothers formed in 1987 in Malawi, Africa, and first played on the streets using homemade instruments. They will perform their signature blend of traditional rhythms and harmonies during a residency at the museum. (November 16)
Groton Hill Music Center
grotonhill.org
An Evening with Joan Osborne features the folk-rock singer and songwriter best known for her take on “One of Us,” and includes music from her most recent album, Trouble and Strife. (December 14)
Dance
Dance Complex
dancecomplex.org
The organization’s artistic director, Peter DiMuro, performs stories and dances about adoptive, LGBTQ+, and other non-traditional families in the Funny Uncle Cabaret. (December 14-15)
Exhibitions & Events
Houghton Library
library.harvard.edu
Lowell as Collector offers rare books and manuscripts amassed by poet and political figure Amy Lowell (through December 13). The Foundations of Artificial Neural Networks highlights papers on the theory behind computer chips, as well as mathematical models. (Through December 20)
Harvard Art Museums
harvardartmuseums.org
The teaching gallery features Art of the Black World in conjunction with the eponymous fall semester course exploring works important to African history as well as those produced in the Americas. (Through January 5)
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
thewadsworth.org
Divine Geometry: Islamic Art at the Wadsworth Atheneum offers tiles, carvings, manuscripts, textiles, and other art—some dating to the ninth century—along with modern and contemporary objects. (Opens November 7)
Worcester Museum of Art
worcesterart.org
Twentieth-Century Nudes from the Tate represents a range of artful visions, from that of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse to Alice Neel and Barkley L. Hendricks. (November 23-March 9)
Peabody Essex Museum
pem.org
Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Art looks at paintings by artists—like Hans Memling, Catharina van Hemessen, and Peter Paul Rubens—who sought to express the reality of daily life and a range of humans. (Opens December 14)
Mattatuck Museum
mattmuseum.org
Frederico Uribe: Menagerie. Using a mix of ingenious materials shaped into polished sculptural forms, the Colombian-American artist reflects tenderly on the treatment of animals and their habitats. (Through January 12)
Lectures
Mahindra Center for the Humanities
mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu
The Writers Speak series features Laila Lalami, author of the prize-winning novel The Moor’s Account and the more recent The Other Americans, in conversation with James Woods, professor of the practice of literary criticism at Harvard and New Yorker staff writer. (November 13)