Beyond Wellesley—opera and circus arts performance at deCordova hits amazing heights
A string of hot, 90-degree+ summer days has kept us hunkered down in air-conditioned comfort as the sun blazes down and the humidity wraps our hair into a mass of wild curls. By evening, we’re ready to shake it all off and seek out one of the many nearby outdoor cultural offerings. Recently, a performance of opera and circus arts at The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Mass., a Trustees of the Reservations property under 30 minutes from Wellesley Square, sounded like just the thing.
![deCordova. Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln](https://media.theswellesleyreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/17141958/IMG_2201-1000x750.jpeg)
Many families already know about the deCordova, a 30-acre sculpture park and contemporary art museum with rotating exhibitions and an array of interactive programs. The outdoor Sculpture Park in particular is a great place to take young children and expose them to art in an incredibly accessible setting. They can run around, touch many of the over 50 pieces, and generally act like children.
The deCordova, as well as other Trustees of the Reservations venues, has a wonderful lineup of outdoor summer performances and activities. During a presentation of Arias Aloft: Euphoria, we were treated to a unique, magical evening of opera, musical theater, cabaret, and circus arts in a beautiful setting where we could spread a blanket on the ground, or bring our own chair for a wonderful family-friendly evening. (Here’s the program from that night.) Outside food was welcome. Bringing alcohol in was a no. However, wine and beer were available for purchase in the cafe.
The performance, by Circus 617 and Opera on Tap Boston, featured vocal acrobatics and physical virtuosity courtesy of some of Boston’s leading circus artists and classical singers. If you want expose your kids to opera this is the way to do it. I watched in amazement as little ones from toddlers on up gave their rapt attention to divas hitting high notes as aerialists, a contortionist, and a tight-wire artist provided acrobatic accompaniment. Not one child made a break for the aerial hoops. Two moms kept easy tabs on a group of 12 kids who orbited them in close proximity during intermission, and then sat quietly during the performance. Later, the huge group posed for pictures with the artists.
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Our ticket, which was comped to us as press, included admission to the performance and free parking. Attendees were welcome to explore the grounds before or after the program.
You can catch an Arias Aloft: Euphoria performance on Saturday, Aug. 3, at Governor Hutchinson’s Field in Milton. Ticket prices range from $4 to $40.
The performers
Standing ovation to vocalists Erin Anderson, soprano; Kathryn McKellar, soprano; Arielle Rogers-Wilkey, mezzo-soprano; Nicola Santoro, soprano; and Lindsay Albert, piano.
We flipped for circus artists Rachel Barringer, contortionist; Mandy Hackman, aerial silks; Sophie Kaufman, single point trapeze; and Ellen Waylonis, aerial rope.
Standout performances
“Habanera” from Carmen by Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
Sung by Arielle Rogers-Wilkey mezzo-soprano
Rachel Barringer, tiny aerial hoop
“Glitter and be Gay” from Candide, Leonard Bernstein, (1918-1990)
Erin Anderson, soprano, provided us with a rollicking good time for this finale.
Mandy Hackman and Ellen Waylonis, duo arial hoop
Upcoming cool stuff at Trustees of the Reservations properties (farm sunset experience; gathering with goats; full moon hike, and more)
Floating on at Levitate Music & Arts Festival
Tyke James from The Moss was “stoked to be here”— and for all the free Levitate swag. Singer and pianist Neal Francis told the crowd he was “floating.” And The Dirty Heads’ bouncy and shirtless Jared “Dirty J” Watson, sporting “Goblin Mode” shorts, exclaimed that this was “short shorts” weather.
Performers at this past weekend’s Levitate Music & Arts Festival in Marshfield were in a playful and care-free mood, and that’s what you reliably get at this annual three-day collection of jam bands, reggae, blues, and soulful music. The South Shore event, organized by the Levitate surf and skate fashion brand, and which supports its arts-focused foundation, is an eclectic and tie-dyed chill party at which many families and friend groups converge for music, food, shopping—and to show off their most sparkly, colorful outfits.
I mean, the hats alone…
In addition to music, Levitate features several rows of shopping tents selling everything from hemp hats to henna designs, plus artists painting murals and lots of food trucks and small eateries serving up lobster rolls and other essentials.
We went beyond Wellesley this year to hit the first two days of the festival (Day 1 & Day 2 recaps), which featured artists such as Mt. Joy, Orebolo (a Goose spinoff), multi-multi-multi-instrumentalist Tash Sultana, and endlessly upbeat Saturday headliner Lake Street Dive. For us, the event was sublime, even though we weren’t there to see a reconfigured Sublime close out the festival on Sunday. Levitate features three music stages, including one where local acts shine for friends, family, and new fans. Attendees can bring in low-rise folding chairs, which helps them pace themselves for a day or weekend of activity during inevitably hot weather among thousands of their new best friends.
Day 1 at Levitate
The first performer we caught on Friday was Jon Muq, an Austin-by-way-of-Uganda singer and guitarist who sang hopeful songs that weren’t unfamiliar to some in the early-arriving crowd. For others, discovering Muq was something many more may be poised to do—his first album, “Flying Away,” was produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, and Muq has opened for the likes of Mavis Staples.
![Jon Muq Levitate Festival](https://media.theswellesleyreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/06094824/DSCN9373-1-1000x750.jpg)
A true storyteller, Muq frequently gave brief explanations for his songs before performing them. A number relate to his path from Africa to the United States. On “Runaway,” Muq was inspired by his move, a bittersweet decision that involved leaving friends and family behind. “This is what I wanted to do when growing up in Uganda,” he old the crowd, referring to public performances. On “Shake Shake,” Levitate-esque reggae seeped through, and “Hello Sunshine” was timed perfectly with sun peaking through the cloud cover above and audience members invited to join in for the chorus of “Hello, Hello sunshine, goodbye rainy days.”
Another rising star, 17-year-old Nashville blues guitarist Grace Bowers, could be heard maximizing her instrument at the Style Stage. Bowers and band amped up the energy for what wouldn’t be the last time during this festival lineup, with powerful vocals and bass left to Bowers’ bandmates. But all eyes and ears were on Bowers and the Gibson guitar she wielded with precision and abandon.
Bowers has little available in the way recorded music available, though that’s about to change with the release of “Wine on Venus” in August.
![Grace Bowers, Levitate](https://media.theswellesleyreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/05233206/DSCN9452-1000x859.jpg)
The distance from the Style to the Soul to the Stoke stages at Levitate isn’t far, though criss-crossing between them does give an opportunity to check out the wider scene, including the
Wellesley Town Band: The show went on… until Mother Nature put her foot down
We could hear the thunder and see the gloomy clouds, but we figured, what the heck, it’ll blow over. So we headed to the town’s first summer concert of the season on Wednesday at the town hall green, ready for the Wellesley Town Band to wow us.
We showed up right at 7pm, when the show was scheduled to start (no less of an authority than The Swellesley Report even told us so). So we were a bit surprised that the band was already cranking out tunes, entertaining a sizable crowd of people, some relaxing in folding chairs, others playing lawn games.
We were even more surprised at 7:17pm, when the band said it was taking a 10-minute break.
What? Kids these days. No work ethic.
But as it turned out, the band had actually started before 7pm, as Director Henry Platt had reached out to the Recreation Department to get the go-ahead. He wanted to try to beat the storms, which he partially did. (Platt shared the tale with us when we ran into him at Lockheart, where the band happened to be having its after-party.)
In fact, the band even snuck in some recognitions for Platt, who was directing his last concert for the group, during the music break. Platt previously was the longtime Wellesley Middle School Band and Jazz Band Director.
After the recognitions, the band began playing one last patriotic number, then the skies dramatically opened up and ended the concert prematurely.
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Next up: Rico Barr playing Motown favorites on July 10, weather permitting…
It’s music to our ears when readers support The Swellesley Report with non-tax deductible donations.
Boston Calling Musical Festival ’24: A celebratory mix of pop, country, hip-hop, indie rock & you name it
The 2024 edition of the Boston Calling Music Festival hit the weather jackpot this Memorial Day weekend, and attendees open to all genres of music struck it big, too.
If Friday’s singer-songwriter heavy line-up at the outdoor Harvard University athletic complex wasn’t your thing, you could still enjoy a good dose of pop rock and classic indie sounds. Boston Calling’s most country roster to date on Saturday sprinkled in just enough punk, rap and rock to satisfy those wary of banjos and fiddles. And Sunday’s indie-alternative rock sets brought home the weekend with the Killers, Hozier, and other performers that have long been the event’s sweet spot—and the festival grounds were absolutely packed in the main stage areas and well beyond. Sunday was filled with raunchy fun as well courtesy of Chappell Roan and Megan Thee Stallion.
The highlight for us was getting a sit-down interview with Frank Turner, an English punk troubadour who just released his 10th album, “Undefeated,” in advance of his late Saturday afternoon show that proved to be an outlier on the country music day.
Other artists were the big draw for other attendees. Pink cowboy and cowgirl hats, plus pink and sparkly everything else, were the attire of the day in honor of Roan, she of the cheeky lyrics and harlequin attire. Saturday headliner Tyler Childers had some less familiar with country music asking “Tyler who?” But fewer will be asking that question about this folk-country performer as his star rises. Hozier’s disciples, wearing their Sunday best artist shirts, were only too glad to be taken to church by the Irish singer and his strong backing band.
![BC24](https://media.theswellesleyreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/28080704/BC2024_0524_163020-5847_ALIVECOVERAGE-1000x667.jpg)
The Swellesley Report interviews F-ing Frank Turner at Boston Calling Music Festival
While English punk/folk singer-songwriter Frank Turner is known for being a great guy to interview, we still felt an ice breaker or two might be in order for our chat in the media tent at this past weekend’s Boston Calling Music Festival. Turner and his band, The Sleeping Souls, gave it all during a 1-hour set on Saturday featuring new songs, anxious guitar solos, anthemic sing-a-longs, crowdsourced ballerina dancing, and crowdsurfing by Turner himself.
So we started off by asking Turner if he’d ever even heard of Wellesley. Uh, nope.
How about Wellesley College? Yes, he’d heard of it, and “not just because of Hillary,” he assured.
Ever been interviewed by a father-son combination as he was here by myself and my son Duncan? “Not that I can recall. Let’s say ‘no.'”
![The Swellesley Team with Frank Turner at Boston Calling](https://media.theswellesleyreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/28135935/441932728_10231390512807062_2076178399792930855_n-381x524.jpg)
Good, we had our bearings, and from there were off to the races, touching on everything from Turner’s new album, “Undefeated” to playing festivals to the dangers of filming a music video with a pro wrestler-turned-UFC fighter. The well-read Turner has an extensive vocabulary, though is partial to a certain curse word that we’ll share in a family-friendly sort of way…
If you’re unfamiliar with his music, Turner started with a hardcore band but switched to a mix of folk, punk and pop, with his first album released in 2007. Some people we know have never heard of him, while others count him among their favorite performers thanks to both his catchy songs, willingness to dive into touchy topics, and special rapport with live audiences. My unabashed devotion to Turner, which goes back to seeing him at the Middle East more than 10 years back, has been passed along to our sons. Even Mrs. Swellesley quotes the musician on a regular basis (“Things didn’t kill me, but I don’t feel stronger…”).
While we didn’t expect that Turner would be familiar with The Swellesley Report, we did ask him how he gets local news in the small U.K. town where he lives. “We have a free local newspaper that gets delivered to our door every 2 weeks—it’s something of a local joke though because nothing happens where I live and that’s kind of why everyone moves there… so they have these increasingly desperate headlines like ‘Racism bad’—OK, I’m glad we’ve caught up on that one….”
“Chatting with my neighbors is the other way we get news,” he adds.
Turner, who takes on political, mental health, drug abuse, immigration, and other serious issues in his songs, did say that the “collapse of high quality local journalism in the last 30 years has been damaging to democracy as a process.”
Now back to the music. The last time we’d seen Turner was in 2023 at Roadrunner as part of his 50 States in 50 Days tour. As he said then and during our interview, we were lucky to have caught him early in the tour, now the subject of a documentary. “It got pretty grueling at the end,” he says. “Things got pretty weird around the Dakotas, but we made it and I lived to tell the tale. We had great shows in the Dakotas, but they are needlessly huge states. It’s like, couldn’t you put these a bit closer to Minneapolis?”
More recently Turner banged out 15 shows in 15 UK towns within 24 hours in a bid to raise funds for the Music Venue Trust and set a world record.
![Frank Turner BC 24](https://media.theswellesleyreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/27103435/DSCN0619-1-1000x750.jpg)
A self-described history nerd, Turner says he has taken time to hit local history trails and museums in Boston when his schedule allows (he has played a series of shows here more than once). He had no time for such dalliances this time around, even squeezing in a late show at Big Night Live the night before his Saturday afternoon gig at Boston Calling.
Cross-generational fans
Duncan asked Turner what he notices about the different generations of fans he now encounters at shows, as about 20 years into his solo career he has been embraced by his original fans and their kids. One thing Turner says is that he understands different fans have been introduced to him through different records, so for most headlining shows he will try to include something on the setlist from most of his albums. “You try to throw everyone a bone, try to keep everyone happy,” he says.
“I like to think there’s a pretty broad spectrum of people that come to my shows, and that’s a source of pride for me,” Turner says, noting that the younger ones tend to “launch themselves” more often at his shows. “I’ve toured with bands that have just like one demographic, say 16-18-year-old dudes with a diagonal haircut or whatever. Ultimately you don’t get to choose your audience, and I’m just grateful for whoever does show up. It does please me to look out and see punks and old fogies and indie kids.”
Asked which album might be the best Frank Turner introductory for a new fan, the singer-songwriter says he’d point to his latest just because “that’s the best representation of where I am now.” Having said that, Turner adds that “I don’t want us to become one of these bands that becomes ostentatiously bored of playing all the songs. I think that’s a complete misunderstanding of what a show is… the whole point of the entire exercise is about interaction. It’s a dialogue, not a monologue.”
Turner says he’s played “Photosynthesis,” written 17 years ago when he was 25, about 11 million times. But he says it’s different every time because of the different people, excitement, and energy in front of him and the band.
On his new album, Turner has a song called “Show People” that celebrates those who love performing, with a passing reference to a singer named John Otway who had a hit song in the ’70s called “Really Free” and who is still touring. “I love this term ‘show people,'” Turner says. “It’s not punk, it’s not rock ‘n roll, but there’s a continuity between all the performing arts that I really, really like.
“And I like the fact that there’s been moments when that term’s been an insult, like the word punk. Well right, f— off, we’re carnies or show people,” he says.
World’s most family friendly mosh pit at @frankturner show at @bostoncalling pic.twitter.com/VeSf8llKNX
— swellesley (@swellesley) May 28, 2024
Playing the festival circuit
Turner clearly was introduced to a new audience at Boston Calling this year, especially given the country-heavy line-up surrounding him on Saturday. In fact, Turner says other than a few acts like the Killers, Red Clay Strays, and Ed Sheeran, he wasn’t familiar with many of the other performers.
“Festivals are interesting, it’s a bit like speed dating,” Turner says. “Everybody’s going to see a lot of bands that day. It’s not really the time for the 8-minute experimental song.”
Turner said there’s also “the question of, the rude term would be ‘pandering,’ but how much do you tailor what you do the the expectations of an audience.” He says he’s gone back and forth on this over the years. In opening for Jason Isbell in the past, Turner has catered more to that audience. But for a festival like this, his attitude is “f— everybody, we’re just going to do the show we’re going to do… maybe you haven’t seen a punk rock show before, but here’s how it goes.” He recalled playing the Newport Folk Festival a few years back, and even though they toned it down a bit, Turner says there were “people with fingers in their ears.”
Responding to my question about rock concerts becoming a bit too tidy over the years, with predictable setlists and banter, Turner picked up on that, agreeing there’s been a sort of “nice-ification of punk rock in recent years, and sorry, I’ve probably had something to do with that.” Still, he said, referencing one of his favorites, the Butthole Surfers, that “punk is also supposed to be challenging and confrontational…. sometimes younger bands these days will tell off punk bands for being offensive, and you know, it is punk rock. It’s not supposed to make you feel good all the time.”
Music interpretation
I was a little surprised on Turner’s Youtube channel that he has posted short videos explaining each of the songs on his new “Undefeated” album. Oftentimes artists will defer on song explanations, suggesting it’s really up to the listener, and Turner says he does also subscribe to that way of thinking.
“Interpretation is king or queen,” he says.
Turner is amused that his “The Way I Tend to Be” is used by some as a wedding song even though it’s a song about “everything collapsing and going wrong in a relationship… but it doesn’t really matter what I think it’s about. It’s about whatever anybody thinks it’s about.” Turner referenced our conversation about this before the band played this song later in the day.
We also asked about his video for the song “The Next Storm,” in which he dukes it out with CM Punk of pro wrestling and mixed martial arts fame. “I got beaten up by a wrestler… it sucked… it was f—ing terrifying,” he laughs. “I did a training day for it. Everybody says wrestling’s fake: It is and it isn’t.”
Turner makes various cultural references in his songs, and notable are those to T.S. Eliot works. Just how many? “Probably too many,” he says, adding that the poet’s earlier work spoke to Turner when he was younger, and now Eliot’s later work means more to him.
You may or may not pick up on the poetry references in Turner’s songs (and he actually has a a 2009 album called “Poetry of the Deed”), but if you catch his act live, you’ll certainly pick up on the poetry in his work.
Thanks for indulging us on this Beyond Wellesley topic. Now back to the local news…
Wellesley Symphony Orchestra to perform benefit concert
The Wellesley Symphony Orchestra will perform a spectacular benefit concert, “Colors of Culture,” on Wednesday, May 29, 6pm at MassBay Community College, 50 Oakland Street.
“Colors of Culture,” led by WSO Director Mark Latham, will feature music from around the world and include captivating performances by the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra and special guests, the Fireside Barbershop Quartet. The concert repertoire will span various cultures and genres, showcasing the universal language of music.
Audiences can anticipate a diverse program, including Johann Strauss’s Overture to Die Fledermaus, Florence Price’s “Dances in the Canebrakes,” and Gabriela Ortiz’s evocative composition “Kauyumari,” inspired by Mexican folklore. The Fireside Barbershop Quartet will charm listeners with their vocal harmonies, adding a unique flair to the concert experience.
Following intermission, the program will continue with the second movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s iconic 7th Symphony, Manuel de Falla’s spirited “Spanish Dance,” and selections from Georges Bize’s beloved opera, “Carmen.”
Proceeds from the benefit concert will support MassBay and the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra. Attendees are invited to enjoy a reception following the performance, where they can mingle with fellow music enthusiasts and artists.