Harvard Music Festival will be online June 22–27
For the past two years in June, Fivesparks has hosted a chamber music workshop, as the cornerstone of a weeklong festival. Young, professionally bound musicians from around the world and semiprofessional and experienced amateurs gather for rehearsals, coaching, masterclasses, presentations, pop-up music making, and a final concert.
In view of the social distancing we now embrace, Fivesparks is offering a different sort of workshop this year—live and online—to be enjoyed by all. Join the fun! Visit tinyurl.com/HMF2020 for more info.
Fivesparks offers variety of opportunities
Enjoy the experience of creating art out-of-doors in Harvard this summer. Guided by Ann Gillespie and Judy Warner, this group will meet (observing distancing guidelines) for five weeks in local private and public areas. All levels encouraged to participate. Begins June 24, 3 to 5:30 p.m.
Hear artists John Daly and Emily Harris, whose exhibit “Human Landscapes/Diverging Roads” was on display at Fivesparks, via interviews at fivesparks.org.
Online felting workshops are available for all ages. Send email to rayraybenson1@gmail.com for details. Other online offerings include Zumba, Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m.; and online Pilates, daily at 10 a.m. Visit fivesparks.org for fees, other details, and links to join the online workshops/classes.
Fruitlands Museum
Fruitlands offers a host of fun and engaging ways to interact online. Enjoy virtual tours, story readings, sunset live-streams, and more, and bring the Fruitlands Museum experience into your home. Go to fruitlands.org to learn about the online offerings. The grounds of Fruitlands are now open in a controlled manner to limit overcrowding. Buildings will remain closed until further notice.
Museum of Russian Icons
While its doors are temporarily closed, the Museum of Russian Icons offers virtual visits and free access to its online collection. Visitors may take a virtual tour of the museum and see its treasures up close in digital format. Visit museumofrussianicons.org for online activities, gallery tours, lectures, kids’ crafts, story times, and webinars. In addition, the museum’s website includes links to the British Museum and PBS’ “Open Studio.”
Harvard Public Library offers programs for all ages
The brick-and-mortar library is still closed, but the virtual library is always open. Go to harvard publiclibrary.org to access more than 300,000 eBooks and eAudiobooks, digital magazines, and streaming videos and music. Or learn a language, take an online class, or research your family genealogy—all for free and all from home.
Want to see a librarian magic trick? Email the library with the name of one of your favorite books or authors, and you’ll get a response with three new book suggestions!
- For adults and teens, email reference@harvard publiclibrary.org.
- For children, email hplchildrens@harvardpubliclibrary.org.
The library also offers virtual storytimes and read-alouds, simple crafts, Lego Club meetings, book groups, lists of authors doing online children’s programs, YouTube videos, details about e-books and audiobooks, special book ideas for teens, an online spring reading challenge for all ages, and a book spine poetry contest—a unique way to create poems.
Online classes at Indian Hill Music
Listen, learn, and play! Connect with a community of fellow music makers and learners in one of Indian Hill’s online classes for youth and adults. Start a new session in June or jump into a continuing class. Among the online offerings are:
- Jazz Hang: Listening and Analysis
- Audition Preparation
- Fretboard Knowledge for Guitarists
- Beginner Piano (for kids and adults)
- Beginner GarageBand Workshop (for ages 8 to 12)
- Music for Aardvarks and Drum Buddies
- Ukulele for Adults
Visit indianhillmusic.org or call 978-486-9524 for details.
Take me out to the ballgame!
If you can’t wait for baseball’s opening day, how about a musical baseball show in the comfort of your own home?
On Monday, June 22, from 4 to 5 p.m., Harvard’s Council on Aging (COA) will host a virtual baseball show with singer-songwriter Howie Newman. Newman’s Zoom presentation will include baseball songs, trivia, stories about his time on the Red Sox beat as a sportswriter, and a few surprises.
The show is free, but reservations are required. Call the COA at 978-456-4120 or e-mail dthompson@harvard.ma.us to receive the login information. If you’re not familiar with Zoom, a COA staffer will guide you through the virtual meeting process.
Newman, a former sportswriter for the Lowell Sun, Patriot Ledger, Boston Globe, and other newspapers, was on the Red Sox beat for many years and covered the World Series in 1985 and ’86.
Hear a story from Officer Fortunato and Dusty
Harvard’s police department, led by Chief Ed Denmark, continues its tradition of prioritizing community outreach and public service. First responders have been reading stories to children throughout the pandemic to connect and reassure them. To hear Officer Daniele Fortunato, with her canine assistance partner, Dusty, read “Police Officers on Patrol,” go to vimeo.com/fireengine/hpd-storytime-daniele.
Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area offers virtual experiences
Go to freedomsway.org/experience/virtual-cultural-experiences/ for a variety of art-filled experiences:
- deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum
- Fitchburg Art Museum
- Worcester Art Museum
- The Cyrus E. Dallin Art Museum
Arm in Arm event addresses racial injustice
Arm in Arm will present a Zoom panel discussion Thursday, June 18, at 7 p.m. with several Harvard residents and Harvard’s chief of police with thoughtful and informed points of view based on their personal experiences with and knowledge of racial injustice. We welcome your questions at this educational forum. To register go to SocialJusticePanel.eventbrite.com.
