Seasonal
Cambridge Arts River Festival
cambridgema.gov
This dynamic annual event, dating to the 1970s, features a smorgasbord of music, dance, and theater performances, hands-on family activities, and a fine arts and crafts sale—along with local chefs serving dishes reflecting international cuisines.
(June 21)
Music
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras
boxoffice.harvard.edu
The 67th final concert of the season, with music director and conductor Federico Cortese. Sanders Theatre. (May 18)
Rockport Chamber Music Festival
rockportmusic.org
The lineup includes the Vienna-based Janoska Ensemble, the Galvin Cello Quartet, and two family-friendly concerts. Shalin Liu Performance Center. (June 13-July 13)
Lectures
Harvard Author Talks at the Charles Hotel
eventbrite.com
Dr. Nashater Deu Solheim, HNI ’16, kicks off the Charles Hotel’s series of Harvard Author Talks by exposing the hidden psychology at play during high-stakes negotiations. Drawing on her work with criminal psychopaths, Dr. Solheim reveals the ways that body language, cognitive biases, and even a meeting room’s spatial relations and décor can impact the outcome of crucial discussions. As the author of The Leadership PIN Code: Unlocking the Key to Willing and Winning Relationships, she is also well-versed in how to help business leaders use persuasion and influence to guide teams to win-win solutions. (May 13)
Film
27th Annual Provincetown International Film Festival
provincetownfilm.org
More than 80 independent films, panel discussions, and other events. (June 12-15)
Nature
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
arboretum.harvard.edu
The annual Lilac Sunday event offers strolls through the landscape among hundreds of lilac bushes. Dancing, meditation, chalk art, and children’s activities are also on tap—during the one day of the year that picnicking is allowed on the grounds. (May 11)
Exhibitions
Harvard Museums of Science and Culture
hmsc.harvard.edu
In Castaway: The Afterlife of Plastic, the art collective TRES shares its 2016 endeavor to collect and document debris (often transformed by creatures and the elements) along the beaches of Australia. Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. (Opens May 17)
Join in the Summer Solstice Celebration, an outdoor fête with music, circus performances, food, and art projects. Free admission to all the museums. (June 20)
Harvard Art Museums
harvardartmuseums.org
Offering highlights from a recent bequest,
The Solomon Collection: Dürer to Degas and Beyond includes works by artists spanning six decades. (May 24-August 17)
Arlington Center for the Arts
acarts.org
The Edge of Boston features images by longtime Harvard news office photographer Kris Snibbe, A.L.M. ’07, highlighting the metropolitan area’s diverse population, community activities, and cityscapes.
(May 1-June 30)
Worcester Art Museum
worcesterart.org
Local artist Hilary Doyle’s paintings reflect on the life and work of Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), the German artist, mother, and ecologist who was also an early contributor to the field of entomology.
(May 13-November 9)
Currier Museum of Art
currier.org
Ann Agee: Madonna and the Girl Child examines the artist’s ceramic sculptures, whose narratives subvert long-held gender norms in Christian iconography. (Through June 5)
Theater
American Repertory Theater
americanrepertorytheater.org
The rom-com musical Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) reveals what happens when an unlikely pair meets for a wedding and end up on an urban adventure.
(May 20-June 29)
Citizens Opera House
citizensoperahouse.com
Boston Ballet performs Jean-Christophe Maillot’s version of Roméo et Juliette, which is told through Friar Laurence and uses a spare stage set. (May 29-June 8)
