Seasonal
An Evening with Champions
www.aneveningwithchampions.org
The world-class ice skating exhibition, hosted by renowned skaters Paul Wylie ’90, M.B.A. ’00, and Emily Hughes ’11, features Olympians Keegan Messing and Maddie Schizas, along with phenom Sophie Joline Von Felten. Proceeds go to The Jimmy Fund, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Bright-Landry Hockey Center. (September 12-13)
Nature and science
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
www.arboretum.harvard.edu
This Boston urban oasis offers guided tours and events—or just spend time wandering through the gardens and trees, enjoying the changing season.
Exhibitions
Houghton Library
www.library.harvard.edu
Edward Gorey: The Gloomy Gallery offers a glimpse of the “comically dark, creative universe” of the prolific artist (of the Class of 1950). (Opens September 2)
Harvard Art Museums
www.harvardartmuseums.org
An array of works, including George Seurat’s Woman Seated by an Easel, illustrate techniques and style in Sketch, Shade, Smudge: Drawing from Gray to Black.
(Opens September 12)
Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts
www.carpenter.center
The artist, filmmaker, writer, and activist Tourmaline links walking meditations in nature with archival footage of trans activism and intergenerational memories in her 2022 film Tourmaline: Lives of a Pollinator. (Opens October 3)
Lectures
Mahindra Humanities Center
www.mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu
Academy Award-winning filmmaker and artist (and Norton professor of poetry) Steve McQueen gives the Norton Lectures on September 30, October 21, and November 6 (with more coming in 2026). In addition, honoring a century of Norton Lectures, a September 11 discussion on the vital role of the arts and humanities in public life features Loker professor of English Stephanie Burt, New Yorker staff writer and best-selling author Adam Gopnik, composer and pianist Vijay Iyer, and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen. Sanders Theatre.
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
www.radcliffe.harvard.edu
Harvard Medical School genetics professor David Reich explores “Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA as a Window into Human History and Biology.” Knafel Center or online via Zoom.
(September 15)
Poetry
Emily Dickinson Museum
www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org
The Tell It Slant Poetry Festival offers recitations of the New England poet’s enduring verses, along with workshops, open mics, and guests, including National Book Award winner and MacArthur Genius grantee Terrance Hayes and award-winning poet Krysten Hill. (September 15-21)
Music
Groton Hill Music Center
www.grotonhill.org
Straight from New York’s Birdland Jazz Club, the Birdland Guitar Trio features Frank Vignola, along with guitarist Vinny Raniolo and bassist Gary Mazzaroppi. (October 19)
Theater
Boston Center for the Arts
www.bostontheaterscene.org
The one-man play Churchill, starring British actor David Payne (known for playing C.S. Lewis) is a revealing portrait of a modern world leader and the crises he faced.
(October 7-12)
