Music
Holly Near
Singer, songwriter and activist Holly Near performs with pianist John Buccino and guitarist Coleen Kittau at The Old Whaling Church on Sunday, July 22, at 7:30 p.m.
Ms. Near has a long history of using music for social activism. She was a 2005 nominee for a Nobel Peace Prize as one of the 1000 Women for Peace. She has performed on Broadway in the show Hair and in film and on television.
For more information, visit hollynear.com.
The historic Dreamland building in Oak Bluff may soon be more than just a fading facade seen from the street.
JB Blau, a well-known Island businessman and restaurant owner, has announced plans to turn the second floor of the building into a music and entertainment spot. A grand opening is planned for July 13 with a group of Island bands, followed by a summer-long lineup of entertainment that includes comedy acts, a CD release party and more musical events.
All teenagers have to do is show up. Everything else is paid for, and it is state-of-the-art quality. The Alexandra Gagnon Teen Center at the YMCA is entering its first summer at its permanent location. The center has been open for six months, and in that time the bright green walls and larger-than-life Spiderman wall decal have witnessed hundreds of Island teenagers dropping by to play guitar, hang out with friends, watch TV or even create full length CD’s at Studio 57, the Teen Center’s recording studio.
When the Edgartown Federated Church choir sang their first notes at a church service in Padua, Italy on April 15, they heard something they don’t usually hear on the Vineyard — their own voices reverberating back to them along the endless walls and high ceilings of the Basilica, sometimes for as long as eight seconds.
The choir was performing in St. Anthony’s Basilica in Padua, Italy, in front of a crowd of 1,000, as part of their ten-day tour of Northern Italy.
If you need an extra incentive to attend the Chamber Music Society’s first concert of the summer this week, here’s one: It’s free. The tickets have all been pre-paid by Sam Feldman, whose late wife Gretchen was an avid supporter of chamber music.
“I’m trying to help her legacy in continuing the [Chamber Music Society] and making it healthy and strong,” Mr. Feldman said. “We are both very involved in our community and love to give back to this wonderful place.”
Lullaby CDs, like Fred Mollin’s recently released Martha’s Vineyard Lullaby CD, adhere to their own set of parameters. Most important, the music must be pleasing and consistent so it doesn’t jolt the little one out of the land of Nod.
“It’s interesting and musical, but it’s also calming,” Mr. Mollin said. “It’s almost a science for us. There’s nothing there to make the unconscious nervous.”