Thursday, April 25
Eco-conscious artist John Sabraw talks from 3 to 4 p.m. at Harvard’s Center for the Environment, 26 Oxford St., on the fourth floor of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, in the Baldwin neighborhood near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, but register. Hear how the English-born Ohio University professor practices sustainability, even using iron oxide from polluted-stream remediation as paint. Reception afterward in the lounge among the artist’s works. Information is here.
Gender and politics symposium keynote with Laphonza Butler and Maura T. Healey at 4 p.m. at the Knafel Center of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, 10 Garden St., west of Harvard Square, Cambridge (and continuing April 26). Free, but register. The California senator and the Massachusetts governor kick off the two-day event with a talk on attaining and holding office; systemic issues and personal experiences; the media’s role; supporting community, families and young people; and being, at times, the only woman in the room. Information is here.
Green Cambridge Tree Planting Party at 4 p.m. at Grand Junction Park at the corner of Main St. and Galileo Galilei Way, Kendall Square. Free. Join Canopy Crew high schoolers to plant with music and food. Information is here.
Art Thursdays: A Night of Biodiversity from 5 to 9 p.m. at Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St., in the Baldwin neighborhood near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, but RSVP. Create a camera-less photographic print using local plant material, hear a scientist’s talk about frog research before visiting the exhibit “Frogs: Through An Ecology Lens,” take snaps in nature-themed photo booth and enjoy a cash bar and raffle. Information is here.
Harvard Art Museums at Night from 5 to 9 p.m. in the Calderwood Courtyard at Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. Wander exhibits, catch Spotlight Tours, make art in the Materials Lab or just browse the shop during this recurring event while enjoying sounds from DJ C-Zone and snacks and drinks from Aeronaut Brewing for purchase. Information is here.
Climate Cafe from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at CultureHouse, 64 Union Square, Somerville. Free, but register and 18-plus. Facilitators guide participants in facing the unsettling realities of the planetary crisis. Information is here.
Fork & Shoe Theatre Co-op Rehearsal: Beach Boys staged reading from 5:30 to 8:15 p.m. in the auditorium of the Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Ave., Central Hill. Free and all ages. The group of volunteers dedicated to staging free theatrical performances presents a rehearsal with music of an original piece written about the Beach Boys that features a live band playing Beach Boys tunes. Information is here.
“Picturing Language” with artist Sarah Hulsey and linguist Athulya Aravind from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Bartos Theater, 20 Ames St., Building E-15, atrium level, Kendall Square, Cambridge. Free, but register. A visual expression of the beautiful and complex architecture that underpins language. Information is here.
Cake decorating demonstration from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free, but register. A chef from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts explains and demonstrates useful techniques to create simple yet elegant borders and roses in buttercream. Those registered can enjoy samples of the decorated cakes. Information is here.
Riverside Naturalists: History of Magazine Beach Park from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Mass Audubon Nature Center at Magazine Beach, 668 Memorial Drive, Cambridgeport. Free, but register and adults only. Explore flora, fauna and fungi and observe the connections between them and us during two guided walks per month: one focuses on the seasonal changes and the other focuses on nature journaling (documenting observations – no art experience required). Information is here.
Cambridge Black Business Town Hall Meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Community Art Center, 119 Windsor St., The Port, Cambridge. Free, but register. In light of the Cambridge Disparity Report released Dec. 21 revealed only $60,000 of $261 million dollars of city contracts over five years went to Black-owned businesses; this discussion gathers local entrepreneurs, experts and community leaders to strategize how Black businesses in Cambridge can sustain, grow and thrive. Information is here.
How Do We Heal Our Earth? A Conversation with Kevin Powell at 7 p.m. at the blue wing of the Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, Boston, on the Cambridge border. Free, but register. The Grammy-nominated poet, activist, filmmaker, author of 16 books and hip-hop historian chronicles his journey with the environmental justice movement. A signing of “The Kevin Powell Reader: Essential Writings and Conversation” follows. Information is here.
Percussive dancer Nic Gareiss and dulcimer player Simon Chrisman perform at 7 p.m. at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $23 to $25. The “dexterous melding of Irish and Appalachian dance” set to music combining “chamber music’s finely calibrated arrangements with bluegrass’s playful virtuosity and pop music’s melodic resourcefulness.” Information is here.
Immersive Electronic Drones concert at 7:30 p.m. at Harvard’s John Knowles Paine Concert Hall, 3 Oxford St., just north of Harvard Square, Cambridge, and Harvard Yard. Free. Harvard’s Studios for Electroacoustic Composition capitalizes on current interest in legendary synthesizers and presents a concert composed on vintage Serge and Buchla synthesizers and music software to create non-beat-based drone music. Information is here.
Drag Show Passover Spectacular and final curtain for Ain’t Mitzvahavin’ troupe at 7:30 p.m. at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. $25 and 18-plus. After three years of celebrating the rich diversity of Jewish queer art with shows featuring drag, burlesque, comedians, vaudeville, musicians, dancers and even circus performers, Boston’s only active Jewish drag and burlesque troupe says good-bye (for now) with a Passover-themed event. Information is here.
“The Barbarians” at 7:30 p.m. at Harvard University’s Farkas Hall Studio, 10-12 Holyoke St., Harvard Square, Cambridge (and continuing through April 28). Free, but RSVP. Jerry Lieblich’s play about political power, fractal geometry, eusociality, pyramids and chaos, which involves a team of scientists and a possibly fake U.S. president. Information is here.
Into the Wild: An Arts First Drag Show from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at Harvard’s Science Center Plaza between Harvard Yard at Kirkland and Oxford streets, near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. The first drag show in an Arts First lineup, this glam showcase of Harvard community performers has green themes. Emceed by celebrated drag queen and environmental activist Pattie Gonia. Also livestreamed. Information is here.
“Little Shop of Horrors” musical from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Agassiz Theater, 5 James St., Harvard Square, Cambridge (and continuing through April 28). $10 to $15. The Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club gives a go at this darkly comedic musical filled with catchy tunes, quirky characters and a dash of horror. Information is here.
“Plum Box – Strange – Ideal & More Than…” performance at 8 p.m. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s W97 Theater, 345 Vassar St., Area II, Cambridge (and continuing April 26 and 27). Free. Four actors, eight musicians and one soprano perform poems by South Korean avant-garde artist Yi Sang. A physical, visceral, theatrical extravaganza with live music, a rabbit, a giant snail, milk, bananas and more. Daniel Irizarry directs this four-college collaboration; original music by Woody Pak. Information is here.
Friday, April 26
Gender and politics symposium (continued) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Knafel Center of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, 10 Garden St., west of Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, but register. Information is here.
Arbor Day weekend walking tour from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Story Chapel at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge (and continuing April 27 and 28). Free to $12. Horticulturalist Jim Gorman leads three tours over three days of the oldest trees, the native trees and the evergreens among the cemetery’s 5,000-plus collection. Information is here.
En-Nichi Japanese festival from 4 to 9 p.m. in the courtyard of Bow Market, 1 Bow Market Way, Union Square, Somerville. Free, but game tickets are six for $30. The Ko-Kyoto store and workshop recreates the atmosphere of an old-fashioned en-nichi with a guest group from Japan, Dagashiya Rock, on its first U.S. visit bringing their unique wagon, music, dance, special games and traditional foods. Information is here.
Noise Salon presents “Lost at the Foundry” from 5 to 10:30 p.m. at The Foundry, 101 Rogers St., East Cambridge (and continuing April 27). $5 to $15. A two-day mini-festival of acoustic and electronic noise-oriented works with an installation until 8 p.m. and a concert afterward. Information is here.
Jazz on the Plaza: Musical Conversations Across the River from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Harvard’s Science Center Plaza between Harvard Yard at Kirkland and Oxford streets, near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. The Harvard Jazz Orchestra meets up with the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice Band; respective leaders Yosvany Terry and Terri Lyne Carrington perform as well. Free. Information is here.
Read My Lips Boston pop-up from 6 to 9 p.m. at Lamplighter Brewing, 284 Broadway, The Port, Cambridge. Free. The woman-and-disability-run bookshop brings inclusive romance titles (gently used and some new) highlighting authors and characters who identify as Bipoc, persons with disabilities, LGBTQIA and more to benefit the 826 Boston nonprofit writing center. Includes a giveaway wheel, “blind dates with books,” bookish T-shirts, etc. Information is here.
A Cappella Jam at 7 p.m. at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School’s Fitzgerald Auditorium, 459 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. $5 to $10. CRLS students in four a cappella groups spend all semester attending morning rehearsals and weekend practices to bring a setlist of hits (with a mashup or two), balancing the unique voices within each group. Information is here.
Glowball “anti-gala” from 7 to 11 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. $40 to $250. An immersive glow-in-the-dark rave created by DJ Saucy Lady with hypnotic visuals by Jay Medina to celebrate the newly upgraded Armory performance hall. Includes performances by Marcus Santos’ Grooversity drumming ensemble and aerial performances from Esh Circus arts, plus an honors award ceremony, costume contest, beverages and vegetarian samosas, skin-safe incandescent face painting and more. Information is here.
“The Barbarians” (continued) at 7:30 p.m. at Harvard University’s Farkas Hall Studio, 10-12 Holyoke St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, but RSVP. Information is here.
“Little Shop of Horrors” musical (continued) from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Agassiz Theater, 5 James St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10 to $15. Information is here.
Pianist Michel Camilo at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. at Regattabar, 1 Bennett St., Harvard Square, Cambridge (also April 27). $40 to $55. The Grammy-, Emmy- and Latin Grammy Award-winning pianist and composer has a new album, “Spain Forever Again.” Information is here.
“A Light in April” combined choruses concert at 8 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, but register. Guest conductor Sydney Guillaume leads the Radcliffe Choral Society, Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum and Harvard Glee Club in performances of his works inspired by his roots in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Information is here.
“Mermaid Hour” at 8 p.m. at Arrow Street Arts, 2 Arrow Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge (and continuing through May 19). $45 to $55 and 13-plus. David Valdes’ fast-paced, funny play about Vi, a busy trans teen balancing a first crush, dreams and a goal to become an Internet sensation, and Pilar and Bird, who try to get it right with their parenting but aren’t often on the same page. Bridget Kathleen O’Leary directs. Information is here.
“Nostalgia” tap dance at 8 p.m. at The Dance Complex, 536 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge (and continuing April 27 and 28). $25 to $35. Boston’s Fourth Dimension Tap company sparks memories while toe-tapping to rock ’n’ roll oldies and Motown favorites. Information is here.
Harvard’s Kuumba Singers present “Out of the Waters: A Black Diasporic Journey” at 8 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10 to $15. Spring concert featuring works by Bongani Magatyana, 2024 artist-in-residence Sydney Guillaume and more. Information is here.
“Plum Box – Strange – Ideal & More Than…” performance (continued) at 8 p.m. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s W97 Theater, 345 Vassar St., Area II, Cambridge. Free. Information is here.
Justin Meyer & the Tenor Sax Battle perform for Boston Swing Central from 8 to 11:45 p.m. at Q Ballroom, 26 New St., Fresh Pond, Cambridge. $13 to $18. A social partner dance with live music and a lesson for beginners in the first hour. No partner required. Information is here.
Hole Show: Birds & Bees Theme at 9 p.m. at Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Square, Somerville. $25 and 21-plus. Welcome springtime with eight drag performers at this queer art party while moving your own super cool body to music by multiple DJs while multiple VJs provide glitched-out projectables. Information is here.
Zombie Prom (a.k.a. Prombie) at 10 p.m. at An Sibin, 1193 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. Free. Don your best zombie glad rags to win a cash prize or crown at this party held at one of the stops on the infamous Camberville Zombie Pub Crawl. Brains may – or may not – be served, though it’s a given you’ll hear “Zombie” by The Cranberries. Information is here.
Saturday, April 27
Bird walk and Miyawaki forest visit from 8 to 10 a.m. at the New Street parking lot entrance of Danehy Park in Neighborhood 9, just east of Fresh Pond, Cambridge. Free, but register. Co-sponsors Biodiversity for a Livable Planet and the Boston Birding Festival introduce the team responsible for Cambridge’s famous forest at this beginner-friendly birding event. Information is here.
Early spring migration bird walk from 8 to 10 a.m. at Mass Audubon Nature Center at Magazine Beach, 668 Memorial Drive, Cambridgeport. Free, but register, and adults only. Bring binoculars (or borrow a pair on site) to observe waterfowl and waders on the river, songbirds in the trees and brush, soaring raptors on the wing and more. Information is here.
Arbor Day weekend walking tour (continued) from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Story Chapel at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge. Free to $12. Information is here.
Pass the Rhythm: Drums, Shakers, Bells and You from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Somerville Public Library West Branch, 40 College Ave., near Davis Square. Free. Learn drums and percussion with Cornell Coley and make music from Brazil, the Caribbean and West Africa. Information is here.
Holden Voice Program and Boston Art Song Society present Shubert’s “Winterreise” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at University Lutheran Church, 66 Winthrop St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. Artistic director Ethan DePuy leads undergraduate students performing the first five songs from the song cycle based on Wilhelm Müller’s bleak poetry. Information is here.
Rise Up Boston: A Climate Event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, Boston, on the Cambridge border (and continuing Sunday). Free with museum admission and all ages. Hands-on activities, live presentations and climate conversations with museum educators and people making a difference addressing climate change. Information is here.
“Nature in the City” Earth Day Festival from noon to 5 p.m. at Mass Audubon Nature Center at Magazine Beach, 668 Memorial Drive, Cambridgeport. Free. From noon to 3 p.m. Cambridge Wildlife Arts helps kids make art to enter in the Cambridge City Nature Art Challenge and helps families use the iNaturalist app to make observations of local species to participate in the global bioblitz event City Nature Challenge. From 3 to 5 p.m. enjoy live music. Sponsored by Green Cambridge. Information is here.
Trouble on Tory Row: A Family Tour of Brattle Street from 1 to 2:30 p.m. with meeting place near Harvard Square TBA upon registration. $10 and $25 (families) and age 7-plus. An hourlong guided tour of stops significant during the Revolutionary War era followed by refreshments and discussion. We wrote about it here. Information is here.
Arts First Performance Fair from 1 to 5 p.m. at Harvard’s Science Center Plaza between Harvard Yard at Kirkland and Oxford streets, near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. A Harvard student, faculty, staff and alum showcase of 50 short performances simultaneously on 10 stages throughout the day featuring a cappella, dance and music from around the world, poetry, magic, musical theater, opera, comedy and more under the plaza tent and in other Harvard locations. Information is here.
“BeeFound: Mrs. Phillis and Her Friends” lecture and poetry workshop from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Longfellow House and the Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site, 105 Brattle St., West Cambridge. Free, but register. Local Poet Populist emeritus Toni Bee and Northeastern University’s Nicole Aljoe co-wrote the journal-published article “Reading and Teaching Phillis Wheatley Peters in Boston” about one of the best-known poets in pre-19th century America who was also an enslaved person. Includes a garden walk and seed giveaway. Information is here.
“Segregated by Design” film screening and “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America” book discussion from 2 to 4 p.m. at Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Ave., Central Hill. Free. Sponsored by the Somerville Fair Housing Commission. Information is here.
“Little Shop of Horrors” musical (continued) at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at Agassiz Theater, 5 James St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10 to $15. Information is here.
“Mermaid Hour” (continued) at 2 and 8 p.m. at Arrow Street Arts, 2 Arrow Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge. $45 to $55 and 13-plus. (Masks required for the 2 p.m. show.) Information is here.
“The Barbarians” (continued) at 3 and 7:30 p.m. at Harvard University’s Farkas Hall Studio, 10-12 Holyoke St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, but RSVP. Information is here.
Arab American Festival and Book Fair from 3 to 9 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Free. The Center for Arabic Culture’s 10th annual event includes live music, artist tables, books, a fashion show, vendors, food, poetry, comedy, dance and children’s activities. Information is here.
The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers presents “THUDwrecked” at 4 and 8 p.m. at Harvard’s Lowell Lecture Hall, 17 Kirkland St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $7 to $10. A pirate-themed concert by a group that finds percussive potential in anything from plastic cups, chalkboards and buckets to boomwhackers on thighs. Information is here.
“Sambanismo” dance, music and art showcase from 4:45 to 10:45 p.m. at the Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge (and continuing April 28). $20 to $30. Watch dance battles between house, whacking and hip-hop artists who’ve fine-tuned their moves with daylong workshops during this conference dedicated to the rhythmic performance arts of Brazilian culture. Information is here.
Noise Salon presents “Lost at the Foundry” (continued) from 5 to 10:30 p.m. at The Foundry, 101 Rogers St., East Cambridge. $5 to $15. Information is here.
Kazakhstan filmmaker on “Behind the Lens and Censorship” from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. in the Tsai Auditorium at the Center for Government and International Studies, South Concourse, 1730 Cambridge St., Harvard Square. Free. Olzhas Bayalbayev screens “Gok,” his short but captivating 2022 film depicting how a local populace suffers when deep-pocketed investors become entangled in a web of corrupt schemes by oligarchs and local authorities, and discusses how its themes sparked debate in a country where artistic expression is shackled. Information is here.
Pianist Michel Camilo (continued) at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. at Regattabar, 1 Bennett St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $40 to $55. The Grammy-, Emmy- and Latin Grammy-winning pianist and composer has a new album “Spain Forever Again.” Information is here.
“Plum Box – Strange – Ideal & More Than…” performance (continued) at 8 p.m. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s W97 Theater, 345 Vassar St., Area II, Cambridge. Free. Information is here.
“Nostalgia” tap dance (continued) at 8 p.m. at The Dance Complex, 536 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge. $25 to $35. Information is here.
Gimme A Beat!: Janet Jackson burlesque tribute at 8 p.m. at Somerville Theatre’s Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Square (also April 28). $38. A dance-filled “Escapade” through favorite Janet Jackson jams featuring choreography by “The Slutcracker”’s Lipstick Criminals. Information is here.
Sunday, April 28
All She Wrote Books Breakfast Book Club with author in attendance from 10:30 a.m. to noon at La Brasa, 124 Broadway, Winter Hill, Somerville. $5, or $16.26 with book. This month’s title: “Scorched Grace” by Northampton author Margot Douaihy. Information is here.
Zeru Foundation handcrafted gifts and book fair from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Democracy Center, 45 Mount Auburn St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. Shop for goods from women artists and more while learning about the resilient women who survived the 2023 earthquake in Turkey. Information is here.
Rise Up Boston: A Climate Event (continued) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, Boston, on the Cambridge border. Free with museum admission and all ages. Information is here.
Vegan Market from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Free. An opportunity to buy vegan food and other items from more than 30 small local and regional makers. Information is here.
Hassle Flea from 12:30 to 6 p.m. at the Cambridge Community Center, 5 Callender St., Riverside. $2. A flea market featuring handmade artwork, prints, patches, records, tees, pins, ceramics, jewelry, zines, body care, tea, fiber art, vintage clothing, accessories and books as well as tarot readings. Music is from Minibeast, Untitled Noise Night, Push Back, Trixie and Goon Platoon. Information is here.
Concert for Boston Children’s Hospital “Every Child Fund” at 1 p.m. at the chapel of Reservoir Church, 170 Rindge Ave., North Cambridge. $10. Among those performing a range of music are Berklee’s Lizi Nikvashvili and Laurel Potemri; recording artists Peter Cassini and Brian Walker; accomplished violinist (and Bedford school superintendent) Cliff Chuang; the Sun Flowers of Peace Ukrainian Quintet and 10-year-old Daryna Semeniuk singing music from the Ukraine. Information is here.
Nature-Driven Design panel discussion and demos from 1 to 4 p.m. at The MIT Museum, Gambrill Center, 314 Main St., Kendall Square, Cambridge. Free with museum admission. Panelists discuss climate-resilient design and lead interactive demos of their work on coastal adaptations and biologically inspired materials. In conjunction with Boston Design Week. Information is here.
Bay State Bike Month Kick-off Celebration from 1 to 5 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square, Somerville. Free, but register. Bicycling advocates gather for a “Bikes and Businesses” panel discussion, conversations with more than 25 tabling organizations and live music by Hillbilly Holliday. Information is here.
“Little Shop of Horrors” musical (continued) at 2 p.m. at Agassiz Theater, 5 James St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10 to $15. Information is here.
Arbor Day weekend walking tour (continued) from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Story Chapel at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge. Free to $12. Information is here.
Materials Lab Workshop: Make a Modern Relic from 2 to 5 p.m. at Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge. $15 materials fee and 14-plus. Create 3D sculptures from containers typically found in a recycling bin, beeswax and other materials with artists Moseley and Adrienne Shishko. Information is here.
“The Barbarians” (continued) at 3 p.m. at Harvard University’s Farkas Hall Studio, 10-12 Holyoke St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, but RSVP. Information is here.
“Mermaid Hour” (continued) at 3 p.m. at Arrow Street Arts, 2 Arrow Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge. $45 to $55 and 13-plus. Information is here.
Authors Paul Grogan and Kathy Merchant discuss Grogan’s memoir “Be Prepared to Be Lucky” at 3 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Porter Square, Cambridge. Free, but register. The former longtime head of the Boston Foundation and his co-author are joined in conversation by Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, leader of Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción. As part of the bookstore’s “Be the Change” event, 20 percent of sales from 3 to 5 p.m. on April 28 benefits IBA. Information is here.
Bilingual Storytelling: The Real Cinco de Mayo Story from 3 to 4 p.m. at Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Ave., Central Hill (and repeating May 7). Free, but register and age 5-plus. Family-oriented Spanish immersion, this time explaining in Spanish and English the meaning of Mexican independence, plus music, dance, games and arts and crafts. Information is here.
Palaver Strings and Attacca Quartet present “Between Us” from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Longy School of Music, 27 Garden St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10 to $20. The Portland, Maine, string ensemble-in-residence collaborates with the Grammy-winning quartet to perform works by Caroline Shaw, Paul Wiancko, Dana Lyn and Kyle Sanna, concluding with Dvorak’s “Serenade for Strings.” Information is here.
Third annual Spring Family Bike Ride at 3:30 p.m. meeting at the Sekler Playground, 212 Mount Auburn St., near Mount Auburn Hospital in West Cambridge. Free, but register. A curated and safe 2.1-mile ride on both sides of the Charles River with a cookie potluck and specially collected outdoor play equipment waiting at the Artesani park destination. Information is here.
“Sambanismo” dance, music and art showcase (continued) from 4:45 to 10:45 p.m. at the Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge. $20 to $30. Information is here.
Somerville poets reading their own poems and poems they love at 5:30 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Free. More than 30 poets draw forth from their great faithful hearts words dear to them, perhaps even reciting by heart, or with their hearts in their mouths. Information is here.
Hindustani classical concert at 6 p.m. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Wong Auditorium in Building E-51, also known as the Tang Center, 70 Memorial Drive, Cambridge. $30 to $35. Sarod player Alam Khan is accompanied by tabla player Nitin Mitta. Information is here.
Third Annual “Halfoween” at 6:30 p.m. at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. $15 to $18 and 21-plus. Games, burlesque and live music by Thou Merciless Graves, Your Friends in Hell and Alec Sullivan. Information is here.
“Nostalgia” tap dance (continued) at 7 p.m. at The Dance Complex, 536 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge. $25 to $35. Information is here.
Gimme A Beat!: Janet Jackson burlesque tribute (continued) at 8 p.m. at Somerville Theatre’s Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Square. $38. Information is here.
Monday, April 29
Tufts Flute Ensemble performs at 3 p.m. at Distler Performance Hall, Tufts University, 20 Talbot Ave., Medford. Free. Nina Barwell directs a program featuring a variety of music from the 18th to the 21st centuries. Information is here.
Submit-a-thon with Meagan from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free, but register. Writer and editor Meagan Masterman helps you submit poems, stories and other writing to small presses, literary journals and magazines. Get those new drafts out of your notebook and into the world! Information is here.
Creativity Collective: A meetup for art and craft makers from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Ave., Central Hill (and the last Monday of every month). Free, but register. A work haven for those who draw, paint, sculpt, knit, crochet, sew, make paper crafts or fabric art. No official teachers, just social learning or quiet work time as preferred; light refreshments served. Information is here.
Marisa Kanter reads from “Finally Fitz” at 7 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Porter Square, Cambridge. Free, but register. The YA author discusses her third novel, about a bisexual teen girl who unleashes surprisingly real feelings when she tries to make her ex jealous by faking an Instagram romance. Jenny L. Howe, author of “The Make-Up Test” and “On the Plus Side,” joins. Information is here.
Elijah Wald reads from “Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs and Hidden Histories” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. The Grammy-winning musician and author of “Dylan Goes Electric!” includes previously unpublished lyrics and stories from the world of early blues and jazz, which provide an alternate view of Black culture at the time. Information is here.
Heart Collectors perform at 7:30 p.m. at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $18 to $20. Tight vocal harmonies, intricate musicianship and a larger-than-life stage presence (with colorful costuming) are the signature of this earnest Australian four-piece epic-folk group who try to capture “the nature of the cosmos” in their music. Information is here.
Ensemble Uncaged performs at 8 p.m. at the Longy School of Music, 27 Garden St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free to $20. Directed by Andy Kozar and Rachel Elliot, the group performs works that “honor the familiar, invite the unknown and challenge the conceptual limits of concert music in the 21st century.” Information is here.
Taylor Swift Trivia Night at 8 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square, Somerville. Free. Trivia to commemorate TS’s latest album followed by the torturing of a poet to commemorate the end of poetry month (one of these is not true). Information is here.
Poets Jennifer Tseng and Danny Lawless read from 8 to 9 p.m. at Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 56 Brattle St., Harvard Square. $5. Tseng’s an award-winning poet and fiction writer, and “Thanks for Letting Us Know You Are Alive” is her latest; “I Tell You This Now” is the latest by Lawless, editor-in-chief of the journal Plume. Sponsored by the Blacksmith House Poetry Series. Information is here.
“Who You Callin’ a Dummy?” ventriloquist show with John Pizzi from 8 to 9:30 p.m. at the Marran Theater, 34 Mellen St., on Lesley University’s Doble Campus in the Baldwin neighborhood near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free and 18-plus. The high-energy comedian, magician, mentalist and ventriloquist closes out the university’s Monday Night Madness series. Information is here.
Tuesday, April 30
Sarah Boyer reads from “Coming Out, Becoming Ourselves: Lesbian Stories from the Boston Daughters of Bilitis, 1969–1999” from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Citywide Senior Center, 806 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge. Free and 60-plus. A “Lunch and Learn” event for seniors with the author who interviewed 21 members of the country’s first lesbian civil and political rights organization – founded in 1955 as a secret society – for her new book. Information is here.
How Black feminist poets Audre Lorde and June Jordan speak to the climate crisis at 4 p.m. at the Knafel Center of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, 10 Garden St., west of Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, but register. Activist, author, poet and scholar Alexis Pauline Gumbs, founder of the Brilliance Remastered community of intellectuals and artists, talks with the Harvard Divinity School’s Terry Tempest Williams. Information is here.
Collins Branch Book Group from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Cambridge Public Library Collins Branch, 64 Aberdeen Ave., West Cambridge. Free, but register. April’s title: “Letter to a Stranger: Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us” by Colleen Kinder. Information is here.
Make along for adults: Paper stained-glass suncatcher from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Public Library Valente Branch, 826 Cambridge St., Wellington-Harrington. Free, but register. All supplies are provided for each project in this monthly make-along series for adults, which focuses on creating and socializing. Information is here.
This Life and Death: Conversations at Mount Auburn Cemetery from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Bigelow Chapel, Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge. Free to $12. The mother-daughter team of theater artists-in-residence Debra Wise and Eliza Fichter share their revelations from a year’s worth of interviews conducted with people at the cemetery about how their reflections on death have shaped their living. The team crafted short audio narratives of the conversations and will perform selected moments, followed by a Q&A. Information is here.
Renée Bergland reads from “Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin and the Dawn of Modern Science” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. The Simmons University professor and author describes how the two 19th century thinkers captured the awesome possibilities of the new sciences yet strove to preserve the magic of nature. Boston University’s Anna Henchman joins. Information is here.
Catherine Con Morse reads from “The Notes” at 7 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Porter Square, Cambridge. Free, but register. The author, one of the inaugural writers-in-residence at the bookstore, discusses her debut YA novel about a reserved Chinese American teen at a Southern performing-arts boarding school who comes under the tutelage of a glamorous new piano teacher. Mia Tong, a current writer-in-residence, joins. Information is here.
Poetry Open Mic Night from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Ave., Central Hill. Free, but register. Bring and read your own poetry or a work by another poet. Information is here.
Great Books Book Group from 7:15 to 9 p.m. in the Curious George Room of the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free. This time it’s stories: “The Gilded Six-Bits” by Zora Neale Hurston; “Eight Men” by Richard Wright; and “Flying Home” by Ralph Ellison. Information is here.
Tufts Early Music Ensemble and Arab Music Ensemble perform from 8 to 10 p.m. at Distler Performance Hall, Tufts University, 20 Talbot Ave., Medford. Free. Jane Hershey and Naseem Alatrash direct a collaborative program featuring the confluence of musical traditions in Medieval Spain and beyond. Information is here.
This Music series presents The Founders Quartet from 8 to 11 p.m. at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge. $5 to $10 suggested donation and 21-plus. No-holds-barred improv and avant-garde jazz from Martin Gohary (keyboard), Eric Van Dam (saxophones), Evan Palmer (acoustic bass) and John Dalton (drums). Information is here.
Music and free cookies at 10 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. $10. A series highlighting young musicians features the Max Ridley + Akiva Jacobs duo and the Formas Quartet. And yes, there will be free cookies. Information is here.
Wednesday, May 1
“Designers for the Future” panel discussion from 3 to 5 p.m. at The MIT Museum, Gambrill Center, 314 Main St., Kendall Square, Cambridge. Free with museum admission. How design is addresses environmental, health and technical challenges as discussed by three years of design fellows from the Morningside Academy for Design. Information is here.
Spring Craft Night at 3:30, 5:15 and 7 p.m. at Albertine Press, 1309 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. $25, for tweens through adults. Letterpress your own set of spring-themed stationery cards on one of the shop’s antique presses, then embellish with embossing details, envelope liners, hand-lettered messages and wax seals on the envelopes for delivery. Information is here.
Sabrina Sholts reads from “The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from Our Bodies to Our Beliefs” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. The Smithsonian curator of biological anthropology talks with Larry Madoff of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Information is here.
MIT Jazz concert at 7 p.m. at Killian Hall in the Hayden Library Building at 160 Memorial Drive at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. Free. Features original compositions by the Jazz Advanced Music Performance students. Also livestreamed. Information is here.
Comedian Emma Willmann at 7 p.m. at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. $25 to $30 and all ages. The self-described “dyslexic-gender-wiggly-comic with ADHD” has performed on Netflix’s “The Comedy Line Up,” on Comedy Central and multiple times on “The Late Show with Stephan Colbert,” plus has played roles on TV’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and “The Good Fight.” Information is here.
Independent Film Festival opening night screening of “Ghostlight” at 7 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square. $20. A film about a construction worker who unexpectedly joins a local theater’s production of Romeo and Juliet kicks off six days of features and shorts screened at the Somerville and Brattle theaters followed by two days at Brookline’s Coolidge Corner. Information is here.
DIY Screen Print Night from 7 to 8 p.m. at Dark Mode, second floor, Bow Market, 1 Bow Market Way, Union Square, Somerville (and every Wednesday). $25. Select one of the dozens of prints created by owner Ramsey Noel and learn how to transfer it to a provided T-shirt or a shirt or hoodie you bring with you. All materials provided, and wine is served. Information is here.
The work of poet Hilde Domin at 7 p.m. at Grolier Poetry Book Shop on 6 Plympton St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $5 to $10, but register. Sarah Kafatou and Mark S. Burrows present the work of Hilde Domin (the pseudonym of Hilde Palm, in honor of the Dominican Republic, where she moved in 1940 after escaping the Europe of World War II), a living German lyric poet and writer. With an introduction by George Kalogeris. Information is here.
“Ecliptic” immersive music experience at 7:30 p.m. in the Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, Boston, on the Cambridge border. $15 and 18-plus. Boston’s Nightingale Vocal and Juventas New Music ensembles collaborate on original music for 12 voices, a string quartet and electronics, as well as perform Aaron Copland’s choral masterpiece “In the Beginning” to tell the story of “light” in the universe. Visuals by Chad Dorsey. Information is here.
Fifth Annual MIT Music and Theater Arts Playwright’s Lab reading at 8 p.m. at MIT Music and Theater Arts, 345 Vassar St., in the MIT/Area II neighborhood, Cambridge. Free, but RSVP to save your spot. The final show of a festival of staged readings featuring the work of the writers in the Playwrights Lab is “Jay v. Jay” by Alan Y. Zhu, a story about a 20-year-old Chinese American charged with reckless abandonment of their family (at lease, in their own mind) and the need for an honest confrontation with their mother. Information is here.
Tracy Kidder on“Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People” from 8 to 10 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. $20. The “Mountains Beyond Mountains” author tells the story of O’Connell’s founding of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program in 1985 and its growth. Information is here.
“Crypt” Night at 9 p.m. at ManRay, 40 Prospect St., Central Square, Cambridge (and every Wednesday in April). $7 to $10 and 19-plus. DJ Arcanus mixes old-school goth and industrial. Creative attire encouraged. Information is here.
Thursday, May 2
Rebecca McMackin on “Thinking with Plants and Fungi” from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Center for the Study of World Religions, 42 Francis Ave., in the Baldwin neighborhood near the Somerville border, Cambridge. Free, but register. The director of horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park talks about her decade cultivating urban biodiversity while managing 85 acres for people, plants and wildlife. Information is here.
“Shaping Shared Spaces” discussion from 3 to 5 p.m. at The MIT Museum, Gambrill Center, 314 Main St., Kendall Square, Cambridge. Free. City councillor Ayesha Wilson moderates a discussion about infusing vibrancy and community into public spaces so everyone, including teens, feel they belong. Co-hosted by Innovators for Purpose and MIT’s Morningside Academy for Design. Information is here.
“Marcus Mosiah Garvey: The Jamaican Black Moses” lecture from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at St. Augustine’s African Orthodox Church, 137 Allston St., Cambridgeport. Free, but register. Cambridge mayor emeritus Ken Reeves describes Garvey’s enduring impact on movement-building, Black organizing and social justice. Sponsored by Black History in Action. Information is here.
Tour of List Projects 29 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at MIT List Visual Arts Center, 20 Ames St., Kendall Square, Cambridge. Free, but register. Artists Brittni Ann Harvey and Harry Gould Harvey IV – co-founders of the Fall River Museum of Contemporary Art – lead a walk-through of their exhibit running through June 23 of sculpture, installations and works on paper. Information is here.
Kathy Greeley reads from “Testing Education” from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free, but register. The longtime teacher in the Cambridge and Boston public school systems discusses her memoir, a firsthand witness account to the impacts of the widespread standardized testing and curricula that proliferated during the past 20 years in our nation. We wrote about it here. Information is here.
CitySprouts Dig-It! 2024 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the MIT Welcome Center, 292 Main St., Kendall Square, Cambridge. $35 to $150. An annual gala of the Cambridge-founded school garden program honors Katherine H. Walsh, sustainability and environment director of Boston Public Schools. Information is here.
Cookbook book group from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Cambridge Public Library Collins Branch, 64 Aberdeen Ave., West Cambridge. Free, but register. All cooking levels are welcome at this potluck; bring a dish (or your thoughts) to share and discuss with other cooks. This month choose any recipe from “Bring It! Tried and True Recipes for Potlucks and Casual Entertaining” by Ali Rosen or “Modern Potluck” by Kristin Donnelly. Information is here.
Early spring migration bird walk from 6 to 8 p.m. at Mass Audubon Nature Center at Magazine Beach, 668 Memorial Drive, Cambridgeport. Free, but register, and adults only. Bring binoculars (or borrow a pair on site) to search for spring migrants and residents including warblers, vireos, sparrows, orioles, flycatchers, swallows, thrushes, raptors, waterfowl and more. Information is here.
Yum 2024: A Taste of Immigrant City from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. $40. Dishes, drinks and discussions celebrating the diverse cuisines enjoyed in Somerville. Information is here.
Tara Conklin reads from “Community Board” at 7 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Porter Square, Cambridge. Free, but register. The author discusses the paperback release of her third novel about a recently separated 29-year-old woman who returns to her childhood home to figure out next steps, but finds she must reckon with who she is before she can become who she wants to be. Joanna Rakoff, author of “My Salinger Year” and “A Fortunate Age,” joins. Information is here.
Artwear: The Somerville Open Studios Fashion Show at 7 p.m. at Somerville Theatre’s Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Square. Free. Fifteen designers and artists not only stretch the limits of fashion design but pull it into the realms of social justice, safety, upcycling, assemblage, trash picking, creative mending, the natural world, storytelling, alternative worlds, micro-organisms, the cosmos and avant-garde clownwear. There will be a full bar and runway seating. Information is here.
Mermaid Hour (continued) at 7:30 p.m. at Arrow Street Arts, 2 Arrow Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge. $45 to $55 and 13-plus. (Masks required.) Information is here.
Handel and Haydn Society presents Brandenburg Concertos from 7:30 to 9:45 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge (also May 3). $15 to $112. Concertmaster Aisslinn Nosky joins principal keyboard Ian Watson to lead the ensemble through Nos. 1 through 6 of J.S. Bach’s colorful and texture-filled orchestral works, the best of the Baroque era. Information is here.
Sofar Sounds concert from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. at Lamplighter CX, 110 N. First St., North Point, Cambridge. $26 and 21-plus. You buy the tickets but won’t know who’s playing until they take the mic. Promised are two to three short sets from “incredible performers from all musical genres and sometimes even spoken word, comedy or dance.” Information is here.
The Vijay Iyer Trio performs for ArtsThursdays at 8 p.m. at Harvard’s John Knowles Paine Concert Hall, 3 Oxford St., just north of Harvard Square, Cambridge, and Harvard Yard. Free, but register. The composer-pianist has release 26 widely praised albums, has three Grammy nominations and numerous national and international prizes and is a Harvard professor of the arts in the departments of music and African and African American Studies. He performs with Linda May Han Oh on double bass and TyShawn Sorey on drums. Information is here.
Here Come the Mummies perform at 8 p.m. at The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $45, and 18-plus. An eight-piece funk-rock band dressed in mummy garb and with pseudonyms such as “Mummy Cass” on guitar and vocals that keeps the band mysterious. Information is here.
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