in the community...all give me great satisfac-tion. There’s always room for improvement. Each new day presents challenges. When I make mistakes, I learn from them. I want to improve the quality of life and living for all the members of my church. At Boston Tem-

ple, our mission is to glorify God by sharing His character with all His created people.”

Currently, church programs fill up much of Saturdays, the denomination’s Sabbath, beginning with school for children of all ages from 9:45 to 10:45am. Worship services take place from 11am to 12:30pm followed by a fellowship lunch each Saturday. Bible study/baptismal trainings are offered on select

Sabbaths from 1 to 2pm, and a young-adult Bible study class meets at 2:30pm.

When not preaching the gospel, Pastor Hall enjoys badminton, hiking and spending quality time at home with his wife and three children. Adds Pastor Hall, “The West Fens has been so, so welcoming to me. I enjoy get-ting to know everyone. I had the chance to meet many people at the summer National Night Out event. I felt so much a part of the community...the warmth, the love, the open-ness everyone demonstrated towards me...was such a great feeling. I love being a Fenwickian and hope to be a part of this community for a very long time. My long-term goals are to develop a food pantry, interacting more with the various businesses in the area and to open up the church more...make it more available to the community at large.”

Matti Kniva Spencer lives in the West Fens. You can reach the church’s community resources line at 617-536-5022. You can also call for all other inquiries or email the pastor at info@bostontemple.org.

serving the Fenway, Kenmore square, upper BacK Bay, prudential, longwood area & mission hill since 1974 volume 38, numBer 12 novemBer 30-decemBer 27, 2012

DECEMbEr2012

FrEE

WWW.FENWAYNEWS.org

By jAMIE THOMSON

The Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s annual meeting took place at Northeastern University’s Curry Student Center on November

15. Urban ecological education figured prominently, as did concerns about global warming and its impact. The evening also included attribution of a new award to the Conservancy’s first class of docents for their service in organizing talks and tours through the Emerald Necklace parks; awards for other volunteers; and recognition for those who raise funds and mobilize public support for park activities.

Conservancy President julie Crockford also noted two major developments that will affect the quality of the Emerald Necklace: the start, after 35 years of preparation, of the Muddy River Rehabilitation and Restoration Project, and the launching of a million-dollar Forest Fund to promote urban forestry in the Boston area.

Coleen O’Connell, a faculty member and director of Lesley University’s Ecological Teaching and Learning Program, delivered the keynote address, “Urban Parks: Ensuring a Resilient Future.”

The justine Mee Liff Fund announced the launch of a Tree Fund, with the goal of establishing a $1 million fund to foster urban forest activities, both in the Emerald Necklace and more broadly in Boston and Brookline.

Behind this initiative lies a 2012 U.S. Forest Service study that showed that the Boston/Brookline urban forest 2003-08 lost one percent of its 1,200,000 trees. Simultaneously, the two urban jurisdictions increased impermeable (paved) areas by two percent, more or less eliminating those places as sites for future urban trees. These two trends bode ill for the future of Boston’s urban forest.

In response, the Tree Fund will launch the Olmsted Tree Society, which will pursue three linked goals designed to gradually shift the Boston-area urban forest onto a sustainable footing:• supporting a comprehensive tree-

management and -planting program for the Emerald Necklace;

• educating citizens about the importance of trees and improved planting and maintenance techniques; and

• assisting in ongoing inventorying and evaluation of the city’s urban forest.

The fund has already received commit-ments of $250,000 toward its $1 million goal. Developer Norman Leventhal and his son Alan have together pledged $100,000. The Fund will pursue three activities:• Creation of a master tree plan, designed to

prioritize work on the Boston/Brookline urban forest and centering on trees in five

By MATTI KNIvA SPENCER

In june 2012, Pastor Orlando Hall took over as senior pastor of the Boston Temple of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, a longtime fixture on Jersey

Street in the West Fens. Growing up in

Trinidad and Tobago, Pastor Hall hated school. “I did very poorly in school and hung around with the wrong crowd,” he says. “I got kicked out of high school but realized soon that I had to go back. I made a promise that if I returned and did better...I would dedicate my life to helping others. I did return, my grades improved, I graduated from high school, and at 18 years old, I accepted the call to ministry.”

After high school, Pastor Hall attended Caribbean Union College and graduated in 2000 with a degree in theology. That same year he was hired as pastor of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in his country, where he served for the next six years. In 2006, he came to the U.S. to pursue a masters of divinity degree at the Seventh-Day Adventist seminary at Andrews University in Michigan. In june he was hired at the Boston Temple on jersey Street.

Says the pastor, “The Boston Temple is a unique place. I love the diversity of individu-als who attend church services. As a child, the church for me was the center as to what my activities were...everything I did revolved around the church. I love reaching out to the community at large. My duties of visiting homes, offering services to many who need it, chairing various committees I’m on, meeting needs of college kids and others in the com-munity...in short, being the face of the church

Seventh-Day Adventists Welcome New Pastor

Olmsted-designed parks and adjacent parkways. This will involve tagging diseased trees, identifying trees requiring replacement within seven years, identifying trees in need of pruning, and identifying tree-planting opportunities .

• Funding arborist activities, such as tree removal, pruning and development of maintenance plans for specimen trees.

• Comprehensive tree-planting program to replace damaged trees and add trees to the urban forest.

julie Crockford, now beginning her fifth year as Conservancy president, thanked her staff then laid the groundwork for the keynote by highlighting the importance of parks in urban areas. She quoted Olmsted’s comment about parks allowing urban citizens to “put the city far away.” She announced a Conservancy initiative to expand the program of summer entertainment in the Necklace parks. Moreover she noted how park activities, among other things, support maintenance of park forests, help to reduce the carbon footprint of the Boston area, and thus combat global warming.

Crockford also described Conservancy efforts to complete Olmsted’s designs and improving pedestrian and cyclist access to the parks. Finally, she highlighted the “biggest Necklace project,” rehabilitation and “daylighting” of the Muddy River in the area around the intersecton of Park Drive, Brookline Ave., and the Riverway. Two devastating floods in 1996 and 1998 and caused $90,000,000 worth of damage to institutions and infrastructure (primarily the MBTA), prompting a 15-year campaign to undertake the restoration, which began this fall.

The award for the 2012 volunteers of the Year went to six docents for organizing tours and other presentations for visitors to the Emerald Necklace parks: Barbara Balasa, Stan Everett, Lola Heiler-Stillman, judy MacNeill, Dan Moulton, Lucy Robb and Nancy Stutzman.

Communications volunteer Matt Seidner has been with the Conservancy since 2011. He handles interactions with the public, including publicity, brochures, and formerly worked on the Conservancy website, and was recognized for his multiple contributions.

Professor O’Connell revealed that she didn’t grow up in Boston; rather, she’s “from away.” She moved east from the upper Midwest (Minnesota and then North Dakota), first to Maine, and then to Cambridge, where she designed Lesley Ecological Teaching and Learning MS program. When she arrived in Boston, she said, she quickly fell in love with the Emerald Necklace. She was amazed to discover the victory Gardens and found

at conservancy annual meeting,Reflections On Park Resiliency

As part of New England Conservatory’s “thank you” to the neighborhood and the city, the NEC Youth Philharmonic presented a gala concert on November 27 in Jordan Hall. A prize-winning young cellist, Sasha Scolnik-Brower, performed Edward Elgar’s deeply moving Cello Concerto in E Minor, bringing a standing ovation. The student orchestra, conducted by David Loebel, also played Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide and Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, known as the “Pathétique.” The concert was part of “Prep Presents,” an ongoing fre-concert series by various ensembles of the NEC Preparatory School, a gift to the community for its support of NEC’s building plans. These include a new Student Life and Performance Center on St. Botolph St., shown above, which will include dorm space, a music library, performance spaces, and a dining facility and campus center. A second phase will replace the existing residence hall and library on Gainsborough Street. The project designers are Ann Beha Architects in association with Gensler.

NEC Thanks Community With Free Concerts

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CoNSErvANCY on page 3 >

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Editor’s note: Kenneth Ryder, president of Northeastern University from 1975 and 1989, died in October. Ryder presided over a significant expansion and upgrade of the university’s campus and oversaw much of its transitoin from commuter institution to residential university with a rising academic reputation. The Fenway News published this interview in its February 1976 issue, not long after Ryder had begun his presidency.

By GREG HENDRICKSON, STEPHEN BROPHy AND COLE HARRISON

I’ve had a feeling that Northeastern University has been so concerned with education that there has been very little time to be concerned about its immediate neighborhood,” said Kenneth Ryder to the Fenway News on january 19. Ryder is the new President of

Northeastern, and he has broken with precedent by criticizing Northeastern’s insensitivity to the impact its own development was having on the Fenway. We interviewed him in an effort to find out what specific changes, if any, Ryder has in mind.

The university/community relationship is now “transitional,” he says. “The university is looking right now to develop new mechanisms and new policies that will produce an entirely new set of relationships in the future … but I don’t think we can escape the need to prove by action that a new kind of approach not only is desired, but in fact will be implemented.”

Future oF st. stephen houses open“The conflict over the use of property on St. Stephen Street was a very critical turning

point,” he continued. In that incident, Northeastern backed down from a plan to convert the street into a “fraternity row” because of community opposition to the plan.

Ryder now says he is “confused” about what to do with the property. “At least some of the people who have made inquiries relative to purchase—it probably would not be an advantage to the community to have these particular individuals or organizations buy the properties … It’s perfectly possible, with the legal restrictions on being able to pick and choose among purchasers, that having them simply on the open market for whoever wants to buy the property, we can end up with the properties in poorer hands and with less positive effect on the quality of the neighborhood than if the University was to use it”

Bra urges university purchase“We certainly can use additional properties,” declared Ryder. “[Our commitment to]

the concept of not acquiring more property has … reached a point of serious questioning … We need more space and we have been meeting that need by rental of specific areas.” Ryder argued that students have been renting individual apartments from private landlords in the community anyway, “and there might be a better net effect if it’s under more responsible control”—meaning that the University should own the student residences.

Ryder told us the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) is urging him to buy a vacant building at 143-149 Hemenway Street, “even though, in fact, we have had discussions with the city that we would not seek additional property in the [Seven Streets} area … As building by building is boarded up and abandoned … there is a very serious question as to whether the community is better off with this kind of situation or one in which the University might try to rehabilitate.”

students Better For some streets?“One of the things that emerges as unclear,” Ryder went on, “is what areas, very

specifically, would be adversely impacted by expanded student occupancy and whether there are some areas, in fact, that would be logical. Little City Hall representatives seem to

feel that Hemenway Street, already heavily loaded with students, might not in fact disrupt the community too much…

“There’s also a question whether properties that directly face Huntington Avenue make as much of an impact on the neighborhood as those over on St. Stephen. I think it’s clear that the St. Stephen atmosphere … represents an area that the University should not impact with additional student housing. But there needs to be some extended discussions both with the community and the city to see what makes sense for the future.”

police patrols, Flowers plannedOn the subject of street security, Ryder said, “We have extended our police patrolling

areas .. down St. Stephen Street to Symphony Road and are in the process of patrolling some of the neighboring streets … We introduced foot patrols for our own students’ benefit, not for the neighborhood, … [but when] we began patrolling we suddenly recognized that this was a byproduct, there was a significant positive attitude on the part of the community because we began getting all kinds of cards and letters from people indicating how much they appreciated somebody in uniform at 11 or 12 o’clock at night or even in the middle of the day in fairly close proximity … It’s not been without success because …attacks on individuals have almost totally disappeared in those areas that we patrol. Unfortunately it doesn’t extend over the Fenway, because you still get muggings over there.”

Ryder also plans a “period of beautification for the campus and the neighborhood. We’ve made arrangements with our greenhouse to begin planting things like marigolds and other flowers … for example … at the corner of Symphony Road and St. Stephen and … on a very barren area over by Morville House where the city seems to have begun some sort of park but has fallen short on finishing the job.” Ryder also proposed a window box competition with the flowers and prize furnished by Northeastern. “This … isn’t a big deal in terms of expense or real contributions to the quality of life, but it is at least moving in the right direction.”

community relations oFFice slatedRyder is “in the process of trying to establish a community relations office which

will hopefully be a clearing house for all sorts of information ... and provide opportunity for people in the community to contact the University for a whole variety of things including, for example, scheduling rooms at the University for meetings.” He also pointed out that “music, concerts … speaking programs, movies … could easily be available to people within the one-half-mile radius if only we could get out the word, assist people in transportation … And another angle altogether, we’re concerned about perhaps running some organized education programs.” He also pointed to a “desire to do something in the direction” of meal programs for the community, but was not specific. Nor did he reply directly to a question suggesting community-organized orientation programs for new students that would run every semester.

Greg Hendrickson lives in New York City and is a psychologist specializing in gerontology. Cole Harrison still lives in Boston, and is Communications Director of Mass Peace Action. Stephen Brophy is the current editor of the Fenway News.

From our archives: an interview with northeastern president Kenneth ryder

the

FENWAY NEWS |DECEMbEr 2012 | 3

Whole Foods expands area Footprint...In a transaction richly symbolic of the city’s ongoing economic transformation, working-class stalwart Johnnie’s Foodmaster grocery store will transfer six greater Boston locations to Whole Foods on November 30. The handover includes the Johnnie’s Fresh Market on Beacon Street in Audubon Circle (which many people didn’t even know was part of the Foodmaster chain). Whole Foods says it plans to remodel all six of the stores, a process that will take them offline for about 10 months. Once the transaction closes, Whole Foods will have 26 area locations, including its long-running but comparatively small Westland Avenue store, originally a Stop & Shop.

...taking a Cue From samuels’ West Fens empireJersey barriers went up around the old Goodyear store at 1325 Boylston Street last month. They mark the first step in a process that will produce the next phase of Samuels & Associates’ vast makeover of the West Fens, “Fenway Triangle.” The project will place two midrise towers—one with 172 apartments and one with 230,000 square feet of office space—atop a base of stores rumored to include the first urban-format Target in Boston (no media coverage of the project has failed to mention the “rumor” in the past year, so we think it has moved beyond the rumor stage). But no big boxes for the backside of the project, where small stores will line neglected Van Ness Street. The project will also add a new midblock street connecting Van Ness and Boylston.

Cooperative Housing Opportunities

Two units are available in a limited-income cooperative building

in the Fenway. A studio unit is available on the second floor and a one-bedroom unit is available on the third floor

of a nicely renovated building close to Symphony Hall, the Museum of Fine Arts, and transit. Potential owners must be income-qualified and meet

co-op membership requirements.

Email Brad@mackingroup.net for application and additional information.

By Michelle Wuevery 10 years, the Boston city council redraws the nine city council districts

to reflect changes in Boston’s population. After a year of negotiations that included community meetings, vetoes by Mayor Menino, and threats of lawsuits by community activists, the Council passed a final map in November that does not change district boundaries for Fenway residents.

A major theme of the 2012 redistricting process was increasing opportunities for diverse representation. While a majority of the city’s population is made up of communities of color, only two of the nine district councilors are people of color.A coalition led by Chinese, Latino, and African American activists advocated for increased opportunity for candidates from diverse communities by keeping the communities of Chinatown and Villa Victoria in the South End together in District 2 and by increasing the percentage of minority voters in the districts that represent Dorchester, Hyde Park, and Roslindale.

An early map proposed in fall 2011 drew heavy criticism for splitting Chinatown into different districts.In August 2012, a new map that passed the Council by one vote was vetoed by Mayor Menino for concentrating too many minority voters from Mattapan and Roxbury in District 4. In the final map that passed by a vote of 11-2, Chinatown and Villa Victoria remained in District 2, and a handful of precincts were shuffled around in the southeast section of the city. Most of the councilors viewed the new map as a positive change for communities of color, given the political hurdles involved.

Overall, little changed for the Fenway and surrounding neighborhoods. The area around the Heath Street T stop will moved out of Councilor Mike Ross’s District 8 (Beacon Hill/Back Bay/Fenway/Mission Hill) to Councilor Matt O’Malley’s District 6 (Jamaica Plain/West Roxbury). Otherwise, there are no changes in the Fenway, Mission Hill, Kenmore Square, Audubon Circle, or the St. Botolph area in the South End.

Michelle Wu, a South End resident, chairs the Boston Ward 4 Democratic Committee.

After veto, Lawsuits and Accusations, Council Sets New Districts With No Changes for The Fenway

herself convinced that urban children could learn ecology in that setting.

She described herself as amazed by how much people love the Necklace’s multi-use parks. The parks, she noted, also democratize access to the outdoors for working people unable to afford summer homes in Maine or the Adirondacks. O’Connell ticked off a list of the programs organized by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and its partners. The place is “well-used, but well-loved and well-maintained.” It’s clear, she observed, that the Emerald Necklace Parks are sustainable.

O’Connell delivered three central messages:

Ecological alarm bells have been sounding for several decades. Despite anti-science naysayers, we have entered an era of global warming during which human activity has begun to affect the viability of the planet. Preventing the planet from regulating itself, in O’Connell’s analysis, bodes ill for the future. In her scheme, humans will recognize that they live in an ecologically interconnected system and that abuses in one sector can create negative impacts in others, and across

the whole integrated system of life forms. O’Connell noted Olmsted’s abiding

belief in nature’s organization. The Emerald Necklace’s park designs reflect the natural world in the urban sphere. Nature’s “public services,” she said, reflect the “commons” that exists in shared spaces because of what they do for and offer us. If we are not careful, we can unconsciously destroy these spaces, and the natural services they enable. The Conservancy Green Team several years ago studied park trees and found that they annually remove a ton of pollutants from the atmosphere (a commons) and sequester 62 tons of carbon, thus helping to retard global warming. The cost of removing the pollutants by artificial means would be $87,000; the trees provide this service for free. Replacing all those trees would cost $12 million. O’Connell suggested compiling an account of the benefits of nature’s services found in the Emerald Necklace. “We’re Americans,” she said, “and if you put a dollar figure on those services, people will take it seriously.”

The Muddy River floods showcased the river’s natural services as a flood-control

system. $90,000,000 in damages occasioned by mis-using the river and impairing its capacity to absorb influxes of water puts a price tag on those services. Avoiding another $90,000,000 in damages justifies the investment in the Muddy River restoration project. Sustainability, she commented, can be defined as a system’s ability “to hold together in the face of outside shocks and forces” such as hurricanes Katrina and Sandy.

These extreme weather events may have some positive value if they lead humans to recognize the changes that global warming will bring and work out ways to maintain natural systems.

We need to help our children understand nature, O’Connell pointed out, to help them avoid “nature deficit disorder.” If they sit behind computer screens and spend their lives there, they won’t understand the natural world in which they live. She advised training teachers at schools near the Emerald Necklace on how to use the parks system as a “classroom.” That will build resiliency for the system by exposing students who might later help with park maintenance and other activities.

O’Connell challenged the audience to “inventory their lives, examine their carbon footprints, including—by way of example of a strategy to shrink an overly large footprint—considering “home” rather than “away” vacations, as the latter often involve atmosphere polluting airplane flights.

Approximately 25% of people in the audience (roughly 165 peopole) reported, in response to a question the floor, that they did not personally own automobiles. That led

the speaker to reveal that she had believed, while living on a farm in Maine, raising her own food and heating with wood, that her carbon footprint was really minimal. She did a carbon footprint inventory and was highly satisfied with herself. But she was embarrassed to realize later that residents of New york had a much smaller footprint than hers, a “carbon advantage” due to the proximity of services in urban areas and the fact that urban travel can be done on foot, by bike, or by transit, creating much lower impacts on the environment than a car.

She finished with an anecdote about birding one morning in the Emerald Necklace shortly after her arrival in the Boston area. O’Connell spotted a group of red-winged blackbirds trying to drive away a great blue heron fishing near their nesting area. Despite the ruckus the redwings were raising, the heron stuck to its post. Eventually, a redwing landed directly on the heron’s beak. It then sidled up the beak to within pecking distance of the heron’s eyes and bellowed its message: “What is it about “Get out of here!” that you don’t understand?!” The heron reluctantly jump-squawked into the air, S-curved its neck into flight position and lumbered off in search of a calmer fishing environment.

As O’Connell noted, she’d had that experience not on the shore of one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes, but in the urban heart of Boston. And her story highlights another natural service produced by the Emerald commons: opportunities to experience nature up close and personal.

Jamie Thomson lives in the West Fens.

> CoNSErvANCY from page 1

4 | FENWAY NEWS | DECEMbEr 2012

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eDitor: Stephen BrophyweB teaM: Nicole Aubourg, Stephen Brophy, Steven Kapica, Valarie SeabrookProDuction Designer: Steve Wolfwriters: Jon Ball, Alison Barnet, Liz Burg, Bob Case, Conrad Ciszek, Jim Cooper, Helen Cox, Tracey Cusick, Alex Danseco, Margot Edwards, John Engstrom, Stan Everett, Lisa Fay, Lori A. Frankian, Joyce Foster, Marie Fukuda, Steve Gallanter, Galen Gilbert, Elizabeth Gillis, Katherine Greenough, Sam Harnish, Steve Harnish, Duke Harten, Sarah Horsley, Rosie Kamal, Mandy Kapica, Steven Kapica, Sajed Kamal, Shirley Kressel, Kristen Lauerman, Kate Magyar, Mike Mennonno, Letta Neely, Catherine Pedemonti, Richard Pendleton, Michael Prentky, Bill Richardson, Karla Rideout, Mike Ross, Barbara Brooks Simons, Matti Kniva Spencer, Jamie Thomson, Anne M. Tobin, Fredericka Veikley, Chris Viveiros, Jim Wice, Michelle WuPhotograPhers: Steve Chase, Lois Johnston, Mike Mennonno, Patrick O’Connor, Valarie Seabrook, Matti Kniva Spencer, Ginny Such, Steve WolfcaLenDar: Stephen Brophy, Carol Paige Rodriguez, Steve Wolf, ProoFreaDer: Tracey CusickBusiness Manager: Mandy KapicaDistriBution: Della Gelzer, Aqilla Manna, Lauren Dewey Platt, Reggie Wynn

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“Comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.”

The founders of The Fenway News adopted this motto to express their mission of exposing and opposing the dangers the neighborhood faced in the early 1970s—including rampant arson,

unscrupulous landlords, and a destructive urban renewal plan. If the original motto no longer fully

fits the neighborhood today, we continue to honor its spirit by working to make our

neighborhood a better and safer place to live.

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TO THE EDITOR

I would like to offer my belated thanks to my two Fenway neighbors. I would like to thank Bob Case, one of the founders of the Fenway CDC, for an excellent three-part series on the history in

the Fenway for the last 30 years. I would like to thank him for recognizing my efforts to

improve life in the Fenway during that time. I would

also thank Lauren Dewey-Platt for thinking I have ideas to improve artistic vitality in the

Fenway, not that it was ever dead, but sinking for awhile. I hope to present ideas in a future Fenway News issue to keep the Fenway artistic vision sailing.

LISA FAy

WEST FENS

LETTERS

She’s Giving Thanks for Her Neighbors’ Historic and Artistic Efforts

By jOyCE FOSTER

I think most people agree that the Fenway abounds with people who are devoted in one way or another to making this the extraordinary community it is. Once in a while we get to cele-brate one of those game-changing folks who may fly somewhat

under the radar.A hundred people crowded into

Susan Bailis Center last month to do just that, when they raised a toast to David Eppstein, vice president for operations for MASCO—the Medical, Academic, Scien-tific and Cultural Organization that was set up in the 1970s to bring the Longwood institutions together to achieve common objectives—improving access, preserving open space, and expanding sustainability programs Within that mandate David has quietly forged partnerships with the non-profit organizations that give the Fenway/Kenmore/Audubon Circle neighborhoods their character by understanding their missions and finding ways to help ad-vance them.

The Fenway Community Develop-ment Corporation (FCDC), the event

sponsor, has been a MASCO beneficiary—especially its Walk to Work program, a ground-breaking idea that Fenway residents and MASCO institutions would equally benefit when employees could actually walk to work at Longwood-area jobs with benefits and the chance for career advancement. Employment support remains one of the FCDC’s

important programs today, now supported by a grant from Children’s Hospital.

Shepherded along by master of ceremonies Carl Nagy-Koechlin, former executive director of the FCDC, David was thanked, applauded and even roasted by a parade of friends, family and colleagues who remi-nisced about their friendship with a guy who combines wisdom and hard work to trun every project he touch-es, from whitewater kayaking to chairing the trustees of the Boston Arts Academy, into an enterprise of sub-stance and worth.

But no tribute could match that of his daughter, Laura, who took the microphone to tell her dad that his greatest gift to her was his consistent happiness, and that his legacy was the lesson she learned from him: “to be happy.” She brought down the house and provided a fitting coda for a night celebrating a staunch friend of the Fenway.

Joyce Foster is president of the Fenway News board of directors.

To Life: Toasting (and Roasting) Fenway Friend David Eppstein

By ELLEN PFEIFFER

New England Conservatory joins the music world in mourning the death of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Elliott Carter, who died on November 5. He was 103 and passed away peacefully at

his home in New york City. Although he was born and brought up in New york and re-

mained a New yorker, Carter had ties to Boston that continued throughout his life. As a 15-year old, he was inspired to become a composer after hearing Pierre Monteux conduct Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring with the Boston Symphony. He studied at Harvard—literature as an undergraduate and music as a master’s degree student. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Conservatory in 1961 and was feted in 1993 at NEC on the occasion of his 85th birthday. In recent years, his music was championed by conductor james Levine during his tenure as music director of the BSO. And in 2008, Carter returned again (and took part in an NEC panel discussion) when his centen-nial was celebrated jointly by Harvard, the BSO, NEC, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Longy School of Music.

Although considered something of a late bloomer as a composer, Carter more than made up for his earlier deliberateness by continuing to create new works with astonishing fecundity into his last years. Between his 90th and 100th birthdays, he produced 40 new works and after age 100, 14 more. Indeed, for his centennial celebration in Boston, there were two world premieres, one by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Inventions for Piano and Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim as piano soloist) and one by NEC’s Percussion Ensemble (Tintinnabulation for percussion sextet).

The Centennial festival was also highlighted by performances of all five String Quartets in an NEC-initiated collaboration that was the brainchild of NEC cellist Paul Katz. The ensembles were: the Pacifica Quartet (in residence at the Longy School), the Chiara Quartet (then Blodget Artists-in-Residence at Harvard), the Borromeo String Quartet (NEC’s resident quartet), the Ariel Quartet (then in residence

in NEC’s Professional String Quartet Training Program), and the Laurel Quartet (one of NEC’s Honors Ensembles).

What’s more, double bassist Donald Palma reprised the solo work, Figment III, Carter had written for him in early 2008 and for which he was the first and exclusive performer. In 2010, the BSO premiered Carter’s Flute Concerto performed by NEC flute faculty and BSO Principal Elizabeth Rowe.

At the time of the festival, for which he served as artistic coordinator, NEC composer-conductor-flutist John Heiss compared Carter’s “fruitful, and abundantly productive later years to that of other long-lived composers such as Heinrich Schütz, j.S. Bach,

Franz joseph Haydn, Beethoven, verdi, and Stravinsky. And he acknowledged how the surface difficulty and complexity of Carter’s music was becoming a more accustomed sound to listeners’ ears. “I have known Elliott’s music since the 1960s, through playing the Wind Quintet, Etudes and Fantasy, and Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello, and Harpsichord,” he said. “When we eventually met in person, the composer of these once ‘austere’ works proved to be as delightful, witty, informed, and encouraging as the pieces themselves were becoming. Our celebration this year therefore presents several of his early, “tonal” works, whose

immediate appeal contains the seeds of his later musical language: contrapuntal richness, rhythmic boldness, and an almost uncanny precision of form.”

Reflecting on Carter’s career and service to music, NEC President Tony Woodcock said: “We at NEC feel deeply honored that we were able to welcome Elliott Carter to jordan

Hall as part of the worldwide celebration of his 100th birthday. Carter was a monumental figure in the musical world, and most particularly, the American musical world. His huge output and continuing originality even into his final years constituted a great gift to today’s musicians. Our festival provided a marvelous opportunity for our students and artist faculty to delve deeply and with great concentration into this body of work. They were enriched by the experience, will continue to be enriched by these works whenever they return to them, and so will be future generations of musicians.”

Ellen Pfeiffer is senior communications specialist at New England Conservatory.

In Death, Memories of Carter as Prolific, Engaging Composer

guest opinion

David Eppstein

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FENWAY NEWS |DECEMbEr 2012 | 5

The next couple of years in state government will be challenging and fascinating, and I appreciate the opportunity to serve as your state

senator.These are likely to be tough years

financially. The economic recovery is still soft, and some of the possible outcomes of the debates in Washington could be very costly to the state.

Also, we are nowhere near the end of the long-term economic transformation that began several decades ago. Globalization

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By KATIE MAGyAR

The first Monday of every month, Sociedad Latina’s Health Careers youth Leaders are paying it forward, providing workforce development

training and mentorship to 15 8th graders in the Mission Enrichment after-school program (MEP). The goal of the new initiative is to prepare the middle schoolers for their first job—an important stepping stone to long-term professional success. Many of these 8th graders will start their first jobs next year at Sociedad Latina, as they continue on their Pathways to Success, enter the 9th grade, and apply for paid youth Leader positions. Over the summer, they will interview for jobs in one of Sociedad Latina’s four internship programs in healthcare, community organizing, fitness and nutrition, and the arts.

Health Careers Youth Leaders refine their workforce development skills through a series of intensive in-house trainings led by Sociedad Latina staff and College Coaches. Workshops include professional

Mission Hill Youth Leaders Prep Middle Schoolers for Workplacecommunication, resume and cover-letter writing, interview skills, and networking. They also explore potential future careers with Sociedad Latina’s wide network of professional partners, such as Wellington Management and Association of Latino Professionals in Finance & Accounting. This blend of hands-on learning and experience prepares Youth Leaders to enter and excel at paid internships in the Longwood Medical Area, through healthcare partners, including Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

This year, youth Leaders are sharing their knowledge gained in the workforce-

development curriculum with their younger peers, supporting the 8th graders’ transition

from MEP to employment positions. youth Leaders have designed a monthly workshop series filled with games and hands-on activities covering topics such as goal setting, career exploration, interviewing skills, resume writing, and the high school transition. 8th graders will also have the opportunity to shadow their older peers in employment programs to test out all the different youth Leader positions and decide which one they want to apply for.

“When I was in MEP, I wish I had more of a connection with the youth Leaders and could anticipate what working for Sociedad Latina would be like. Having your first job is exciting but it’s a very new experience, so I’m glad to be helping the MEPers prepare now.”

For vianny, working with middle school students is also a chance to explore a career. “I know I want to be in healthcare, but unlike a lot of my friends who want to work with babies or toddlers, I think I want to work with teens or adults. These workshops are giving me a chance to see how I do with this age group and will help me decide my next steps in college.”Katie Magyar is the development associate at Sociedad Latina

Will Brownsberger

The Fenway News has invited elected officials

who represent the neighborhood to

contribute columns on issues of

concern. These will appear on a regular basis in Fensviews.

The annual Thanksgiving Day match-up at Harvard Stadium between Boston Latin School and Boston English—believed to be the oldest high school football rivalry in the country—led to a 44-15 win for Latin. Latin ended its season with a record of 2-9 and English ended at 3-7.

They Came, They Saw, They Conquered

Youth Leader Kynndall Martin works with Tina Guzman of Emmanuel College to complete his resume as part of Sociedad Latina’s workforce development training program.

Priorities for the New Session of the Legislaturesure that the actions we take actually allow the system to improve and provide better ser-vice. Better service is a top priority for people across my district, both as users and as residents of congested streets. Improving the MBTA may be the most important contribution state government can make to the vitality of the businesses and institutions in my district. Congestion constrains growth in many areas, including the LMA, which is vital to the region.

Most agree that improved education is an essential part of the longer-term response to globaliza-tion and automation—not just more education, although more education usually leads to career flexibility—but education that develops kids, with their varying aptitudes and inclinations, more directly towards market employment opportunities.

I’m in the middle of a program of visiting every school in my dis-trict and am impressed at how edu-cators at every level are using in-novative methods, including online learning, to better tailor instruction. Online learning lets kids focus on the con-cepts that they most need help with and also allows them to move rapidly in the subjects they understand best. At the post-secondary level, online learning is even more rapidly transforming the way kids access instruction.

As a legislator, I will be doing everything I can to improve schools and to assure that higher education becomes more affordable for both young people and adults who are going through career transitions.

I’ve long been focused on the issue of

climate change and energy efficiency. My top priority on this front will be the MBTA. I’ll also focus on strengthening preparations for more frequent storms like Sandy. Sea level rise threatens the Back Bay and the Fenway along with other neighborhoods. We need to start a long-term process of preparing for

higher storm surges, which now appear inevitable.

I remain deeply committed to helping those who have trouble finding their way in the changing economy. My background, as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney, gives me an appreciation of the ways in which the criminal justice system can help or hurt economic development. I will be working in the coming session to reform sentencing policies, particularly as to drug crimes, so as to reduce the long incarcerations that burden our taxpayers and keep us from making meaningful rehabilitation efforts.

Finally, I will continue to take an interest in basic govern-ment reforms that simplify the law, so improving fairness and transparency, including pension

and tax reform. Government should be work-ing hard to improve, like every institution in the private economy.

There is a lot more on all these issues at willbrownsberger.com. I welcome feedback there, at william.brownsberger@masenate.gov, or by phone, 617-722-1280. Please don’t ever hesitate to call about any matter large or small.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve.

Brownsberger represents the Fenway in the Massachusetts Senate.

and automation will hold down incomes for people at every education level. Check my website, willbrownsberger.com, for more on these trends.

In the ongoing challenge of how to build a new economy that benefits everyone, I think that state and local governments have an important role to play.

A top local concern with implications for the economy is the MBTA. Fortunately, there is a strong consensus that we need to act early next year to put the MBTA on a stronger financial footing. My effort will be to make

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6 | FENWAY NEWS | DECEMbEr 2012

’81, Vanessa Morris ’96 G.D., Hankus Netsky, Eleni Odoni, Scott Sandvik ’87, ’89 M.M., and Sara Serpa ’08 M.M. .

In a career that has spanned nearly six decades, Blake has created a unique

niche in improvised music as both artist and educator. With a characteristic mix of spontaneous solos, modern classical tonalities, the great American blues and gospel traditions, and themes from classic films noir, Blake’s singular sound has earned a dedicated worldwide following. His dual musical legacy includes more than 40 albums on some of the world’s finest jazz labels, as well 40 years as a groundbreaking educator at the conservatory.

Blake’s teaching approach emphasizes what he calls “the primacy of the ear,” as he believes music is traditionally taught by the wrong sense. His innovative ear and style-development process

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With the renonvation of a gallery that opened November 16, the Museum of Fine Arts finally has a home befitting one of the best collections of Korean art outside Korea. Works cover every period from the Bronze Age today, with special strengths in decorative arts, 11th- to 13th-century celadon from the Hoyt collection, and spectacular holdings of lacquer and metalwork. Other highlights include a 12th-century gilt-silver ewer and basin; a 14th-century

gilt-silver Buddhist reliquary; and an 18th-century trompe l’oeil bookshelf screen on loan from a private collection. The Arts of Korea gallery, renovated with support from the Korea Foundation, also contains paintings, both religious and secular, and newly acquired contemporary ceramics. At left: Buddha of Medicine (Yaksa Yeorae), 8th century A.D., gilt bronze, gift of Edward Jackson Holmes in memory of his mother, Mrs. W. Scott Fitz.

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By ELLEN PFEIFFER

Longtime New England Conservatory faculty member, pianist/composer Ran Blake—who served as founding chair of the conservatory’s

Contemporary Improvisation department 40 years ago— received a Lifetime Achievement Award during a tribute late in October at Williams Hall on the NEC campus.

Former WGBH radio announcer Steve Schwartz led a conversation with Blake on his life in music. The presentation also included video from two 1991 films—the French television documentary Ricky Ford Encore! featuring Ricky Ford ’83, and Streaming by Christine Sandvi—as well as musical tributes by David “Knife” Fabris ’90, Daryl Lowery

Lifetime Achievement Award Recognizes Pianist Ran Blake for Many Roles as Performer, Composer, NEC Faculty Stalwart

elevates the listening process to the same status as the written score. This approach complements the stylistic synthesis of the original Third Stream concept, while also providing an open, broad-based learning environment that promotes the development of innovation and individuality. Musicians of note who studied with Blake at NEC include Don Byron, Matthew Shipp, and john Medeski.

By MARGOT EDWARDS

erklee College of Music recently released an updated version of its comprehensive directory

of salary ranges for U.S. music positions including performance, business, audio technology, education, and music therapy. First released in 2010, Music Careers in Dollars and Cents has been revised for 2012 to reflect the changing industry.

New features include updated salary and job information and more detailed salary ranges for many positions, such as Tv and film score composer, music supervisor, and songwriter/lyricist. The newest edition of the survey adds job titles like video game composer, film score conductor, and concert hall manager that did not appear in the 2010 survey.

A flowchart on negotiating a job offer and a resources section that includes professional music organizations and associations are also new, along with a report on artist revenue trends based on the Future of Music Coalition’s recent survey.

The study shows salaries trending upward for certain positions (orchestral musician, assistant professor, public relations specialist), while others are seeing a decline (commercial jingle composer, A&R representative, music education administrator). Some changes reflect more comprehensive data collection, but market factors are also at work. “It’s important to remember, despite our best research efforts, that all salaries represent only ranges, dependent on numerous variables,” said Peter Spellman, Director of Berklee’s Career Development Center.

“There is downward pressure on many music performance salaries right now due to the slowing global economic recovery, changing perceptions of music’s value, and hyper competition,” Spellman continued. “Thus, all the more reason for musicians to expand their repertoire of both musical and

professional skills in this transforming industry.”

Music Careers in Dollars and Cents includes an Emerging Career Paths section highlighting positions that look likely to experience continued growth, including mo-bile music app developer, social media man-

ager, integrated marketing, content acquisi-tion, audio advertising producer, and creative arts therapist. The study also covers more traditional music-related fields, including or-chestral, Broadway, and studio musician, with information on union rates and scales.

Music in Dollars and Cents study,

produced by the Career Development Center, aims to be the most comprehensive and user-friendly resource of its kind – not only for the Berklee community, but for the music industry at large.

Margot Edwards works as a publicist at Berklee.

With Update, Berklee Aims to Broaden Appeal of Industry Salary Survey

FENWAY NEWS |DECEMbEr 2012 | 7

By STEvE GALLANTER

Once upon a time Mass. Ave. was home to a trifecta of dive bars. The Back Bay Lounge, which wasn’t in the Back Bay and wasn’t a lounge,

anchored the Mass. Ave. and Haviland corner where Dunkin’ Donuts now stands. Bill’s Bar occupied 175 Mass. Ave. Today its mid-century modern signage is affixed to the Pat Lyons club of the same name on Lansdowne St. The Berkeley, formerly the Berklee prior to changing its name at the request of the school, stood at 179 Mass. Ave where the Choice Mart now does business.

“yeah, I used to kick people out and tell them to take a hike up the street,” laughed Tony Consalvi jr., former co-owner of TC’s Lounge as he recalled his early days at the bar’s 1 Haviland St. location. (TC’s closed after a fire gutted the premises in March of this year.)

Bars run in Tony’s blood. His father, Tony I, owned bars in the Fenway, South End and Roxbury. “All of those bars wound up closing because the Boston Redevelopment Authority took over those buildings by eminent domain [in the 1970s]. Back then they didn’t have to compensate any business for anything. It was very tough,” said Tony.

In 1974 Tony, who was employed as a butcher at the time, took over 1 Haviland St. “This used to be Marie’s Spaghetti, a cheap Italian place that ran all the way to the front where Starbucks now is. The front was replaced by an adult book store. This space was Marie’s Keyboard. It was a pretty nice place with U-shaped bar and a small bandstand. Right here [the upper level of T.C.’s] there were coaches and club chairs. They had waitresses. This was the 70s. Mass

‘power soccer’ maKes Boston deBut in mission hillBY JIM WICE

On Saturday, December 1 the newly formed Boston Brakers, a power-wheelchair soccer team, will play their first game against the Sudbury Sharp Shooters at the Tobin Community Center in Mission Hill from 12 to 2pm. The public is invited to attend.

The Brakers came about after the US Power Soccer Association sponsored a soccer clinic last May for anyone in a power wheelchair who wanted to try out the sport. After a great turnout, the newly initiated players, with the support of the Boston Self Help Center and court time provided by the Tobin, continued to practice and scrimmage among themselves until recently joining a league.

The game is played in a gymnasium with four power wheelchair players to a side. Each team has a goalie, center and two wings. Using bumper guards and a larger soccer-style ball, the players pass and push the ball up court to score on the opposing goal. There are two 20-minute periods separated by a 10-minute halftime.

Power soccer is gaining popularity in Massachusetts, with teams in Sudbury, Canton, and Auburn. Within days of the May soccer clinic, the Mission Hill/Fenway Neighborhood Trust awarded BSHC a grant to purchase startup equipment (bumper guards and large soccer balls). Joining a league and now hosting its first game are major milestones for this group.

Jim Wice is project director for the the Boston Brakers. See them play live, December 1 at noon, at the Tobin Community Center, 1481 Tremont Street, in Mission Hill. For more information about Power Soccer and the Brakers, contact Wice at 617-772-0203, or at jwice@email.com.

Ave was bad. There were a lot of hookers and pimps hanging around. The street was very dirty. A lot of the storefronts were empty.

“I got held up here, [T.C.’s] when I was 23.”Marie’s Keyboard’s piano area was

opened up to be replaced by pinball machines. The upper-level lounge sported “deuce” tables in rows and chairs with a “fireplace” that consisted of a plastic stencil rotating above a lit log.

“you see this was a dive bar. I don’t mean that in a bad way. Back then you had a lot more drinking. We used to have people lining up at 8 in the morning, I had an 8 AM. license; [people] banging on the door to get in. Telephone workers and people who worked overnights in hotels used to come here all the time. We also had a lot of old-timers from the neighborhood, and the Berklee crowd.”

Indeed during my initial residence in the East Fens from 1978 to 1985 I used to see many uniformed folks from the ATT/Bell building on Dalton St. T.C.’s was also known as an after-shift watering hole for hospitality workers who toiled on Boylston St. In 1980 the 141-151 Mass Ave building was spared the wreckers ball as part of the BRA Parcel 13 eminent domain and became First Fenway Cooperative, a limited-equity cooperative.

“I signed a 10-year lease. I would have wanted a 20-year lease, but there was never any problem in renewing the lease until this fire.”

In the 1980s the Fenway began to undergo the gentrification that continues to this day. The old-time neighborhood folks who had lived through the arson and abandonment years passed on. Community policing brought back the cop on the beat, AIDS and female police rolled back the tide

of prostitution, and Mass Ave storefronts were filled. Back Bay apartments became condos in the 1980s.

“yeah, I had a lot of characters here. I knew that [a certain woman] was a hooker but I never had that business here. She bought her daughter her first legal drink here!

“Once an a--hole, always an a--hole is my philosophy. I had this guy come in a few years ago and I wouldn’t serve him because I had barred him.

“He said ‘That was 30 years ago!’“I still wouldn’t serve him!”“Diversity” is a word often bandied about

in Boston. T.C’.s had...“...y’know I probably had more black

customers then any bar in town. Today they make a big thing about serving gays but we always had gays around here. It was never a big deal to me.”

T.C.’s proximity to Berklee brought in a steady stream of celebrities: Herbie Hancock, Aimee Mann, UFC’s Chuck Lidell and George Benson, among others. Model Mia Tyler, former Red Sox and Jimmy Fund fundraiser Mike Andrews, Kiefer Sutherland and local culinary stars jamie Bisonette and

Named one of Time magazine’s ten best plays of 2011, Chinglish follows a failed American businessman who thinks his salvation might lie in hooking an unsophisticated client in China. He hires an English consultant to guide him through the linguistic and cultural maze of a provincial city, and he gets much more than he bargained for. A comedy of mistranslation and manners by the Tony- and Obie-Award-winning David Henry Hwang, author of M Butterfly. Visit https://lyricstage.com/main_stage/chinglish/ for more information.

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Michael Schlow imbibed at Boston’s Best hole-in-the-wall (per The Weekly Dig in 2010).

Tony jr. was T.C.’s main bartender from 1990. After graduating from Stonehill College he worked in construction and landscaping before landing a bartender gig at the Harvard Club. He was ready to follow in his grandfather’s and father’s footsteps.

During jr’s time Direct Tv came to T.C.’s with two monitors behind the bar. Soup and chowder became available. The vinyl jukebox became a CD box.

The 21st century added Golden Tee and Big Buck Hunter to the game area and the new jukebox was an Internet box that enabled Berklee folks to play the occasional Miles Davis along with Metallica and Lady Gaga. There was an inevitable Facebook page.

Not all of the changes were upscale. The claw game still featured the opportunity to win porn DvDs, and the women’s restroom stayed porno pink. Oxycontin and Death Wish shots were available.

Most importantly a picture of your celebratory author with a cowboy hat and two jager Girls was still on display.Steve Gallanter lives in the East Fens.

Respectable Mass. Ave. Once Had a Decidedly More Raffish Air

The 37th edition of First Night will add a new wrinkle this year with the introduction of “premium seating” for a handful of high-profile events. On the one hand, if you’ve ever frozen your buns off waiting for entry to a tiny First Night venue, reserved seating might

sound like an answered prayer. On the other hand, it does feel like a bit of a violation of First Night’s democratic ethos—although the event will still boast hundreds of performances in 35 venues across the city, all accessible with your handy First Night button. On the third hand, premium tickets only cost $35 and include a button—and only 30% of seats at any site will be set aside for premium ticketholders. Consult your conscience and your wallet, and find more information at www.firstnight.org.

It turns out that all three premium events will take place in the Fenway. Jazz guitarist John Scofield’s Überjam (left) will perform at Berklee Performance Center at 8:45 in the kickoff to a reunion year that will see the jazz, funk and electronic music ensemble record a new album and tour extensively. The show will be heard nationwide as part of Toast of the Nation, NPR’s annual live New year’s Eve broadcast. Meanwhile, pop-music darlings The Magnetic Fields will take to the Symphony Hall stage at 9:00 with their acclaimed music that mashes up everyone from Kurt Weill to Steve Reich. just around the corner, soul legend Lee Fields and the Expressions will rock the rafters at Jordan Hall, also at 9:00 (we’re trying to imagine what donor Eben jordan would have made of that).

Find schedules, button-sales locations, and informaton on all events—did we mention the fireworks cruise on the harbor?—at www.firstnight.org.

First night will give three Fenway events ‘premium’ treatment

MiSSioNSAFE FooD DrivE MAKES ArEA FAMiLiES’ HoLiDAY Teens from MissionSAFE kicked off the holiday season by hosting a can drive at

One Brigham Circle on Friday, Nov. 16, and Monday, Nov 19. They collected over 100 cans of vegetables and fruits, which they distributed to help area families celebrate Thanksgiving. The collection was organized by the Youth Leadership Service Corps (YLSC), whose members promoted the event by distributing over 2,000 flyers throughout the community. YLSC, MissionSAFE’s signature program, provides out-of-school-time programming for teens and young adults (ages 14–21) focusing on leadership development, communication, problem-solving, violence prevention, community service, civic engagement, college and career exploration, and job-readiness training with strong academic support. —ALEX DANSECO

8 | FENWAY NEWS | DECEMbEr 2012

pick of the month

The following events take place at the Peterborough Senior Center, located two blocks from Boylston between 100 and 108 Jersey St. (walk down the alley and look left). For more information, call 617-536-7154.

rECurriNGTuESDAYS• 9:30am—Coffee Hour• 10am—Conversational English Class• 11 a.m: Exercise with Mahmoud WEDNESDAYS• 10–noon: Blood pressure check with Joyce• 1pm: Yoga with Carmen THurSDAYS• 9:30am—Coffee Hour• 11am—Berklee Students Sing-a-long

SPECiAL EvENTSTuE, DEC 4: • 11am—Task Force meeting—All Welcome• 1pm—Ugly Sweater Party and yankee Swap

(bring $5 gift to swap)WED, DEC 5: • All-Day Book Swap• noon—Movie: Chicago• 1pm—Taxi couponsTHu, DEC 6: noon—Movie: Miracle on 34th StreetTuE, DEC 11: noon—Sydney: 40 Pictures; 40 StoriesWED, DEC 12: 11:30am—Trip to MFA, no charge (sign up at PSC)THu, DEC 13: • Final day to sign up for Dec 20 Christmas

Party• 12:15pm—Russian Tea with Milya Geller

MoN, DEC 17: 12:15pm—Movie: Alfred Hitchcock’s The BirdsTuE, DEC 18: • 11am—Task Force meeting; all welcome• noon—English Tea with Maureen

McLaughlinWED, DEC 19: • noon—Watercolors with Bill• noon—Presentation: Behind the Scenes

at the Olympics, with Mahmoud Gamil, Olympic champion

THu, DEC 20: Noon-2pm—PSC Christmas Party at Sweet Caroline’s, sponsored by the Baseball Tavern and Sweet Caroline’s. Sign up at PSC by Dec. 13TuE, DEC 25: Happy Holidays! PSC closedWED, DEC 26: noon—Movie: The Lion KingTHu, DEC 27: • noon—Poetry and Potluck• 1pm—Celebrating December birthdays

This symbol indicates a free event. For even more listings, visit www.fenwaynews.org

+

TuE, DEC 4: Neighborhood Visioning Session, sponsored by the Fenway CDC. Participants will consider topics and goals that can be added to the FCDC’s “Urban Village Plan,” how to make the plan have more impact, and how to bring institutions and other stakeholders into the conversation in a meaningful way. Peterborough Senior Center, entrance off the alley between 100 and 108 Jersey St.  6:00 to 8:15pm.  RSVP by contacting Lilly at 617-267-4637 x16 or ljacobson@fenwaycdc.org. you can also complete a neighborhood survey at www.fenwaycdc.org . Or come by the FCDCoffice at 70 Burbank St, lower level, to fill out a paper survey.WED, DEC 5: Annual West Fens tree lighting, outside the Kelleher Rose Garden across from 77 Park Drive. Cookies, cocoa, carols and more. 6:30pm.THu, DEC 6: The Mission Main Concerned Residents Committee presents its 4th Annual Holiday event. Vendor tables are FREE, and dinner will be provided. Stop in and purchase one-of-a-kind gifts and get health screenings. Vendors keep 100% of all profits. Call Gloria for more info at 617-708-8141.SAT, DEC 8: Join the Emerald Necklace Conservancy for their annual Muddy River Cleanup. Meet next to the Fenway CT2 and 47 Bus Stop, near 440 Park Drive. 10am-1pm.TuE, DEC. 11: State Senator Will Brownberger holds office hour at Pavement Coffeehouse, 7-8pm, 1096 Boylston Street, between Mass Ave. & Hemenway St.MoN, DEC. 17: Longwood Medical Area Forum, co-sponsored by the BRA and MASCO, for community review of large development projects. Meets, if necessary, at 6:30pm, location to be determined. Contact Rachel at rminto@masco.harvard.edu for details or to join the notification list. TuE, DEC 18: East Fens Police/Community meeting, 6pm, Morville House, 100 Norway St.TuE, DEC. 18: State Senator Will Brownberger holds office hour at Starbucks Coffee, 7-8PM, 755 Boylston St. between Exeter/FairfieldWED, DEC 19: West Fens Police/Community meeting, 5pm, Landmark Center, 401 Park Drive

if it’s not quite as venerable as handel & haydn’s messiah (what is?), the annual production of langston hughes’s “black nativity” has nevertheless established itself solidly in tradition-minded boston. The national Center of afro-american artists presents six performances of the choral extravaganza, this year in its 42nd season, at blackman auditorium in ell hall on the northeastern campus december 15-16 and 21-22. tickets range from $18 to $45. Find out more about this celebration of “spiritual and humane values” at www.blacknativity.org or buy your tickets through e-tix, 800-514-3849 or at www.etix.com.

Making a Joyful Noise for ChristmasFri-SAT, Nov 30-DEC 8: MIT’s Gilbert & Sul-livan Players present The Pirates of Penzance or, The Slave of Duty. Nov 30, Dec 1, 6, & 7 are 8pm performances; Thu-Fri; 2pm matinees on Dec 2 & 8. Tickets $10-15; MIT students $5 (and FREE on Dec 6). Buy at the door or reserve at http://web.mit.edu/gsp/SAT, DEC 1• Friends of the Parker Hill Branch Library

sponsor the annual book sale, 9am-1:30pm. Stop by to support the library and

the Mission Hill Artists Collective. 1497 Tremont St. FREE

• As part of world aiDs Day the Museum of Fine Arts and the Boston LGBT Film Festival present the New England premiere of All the Way Through Evening, a documentary about pianist Mimi Stern-Wolfe as she plans and performs her annual concert of works by her friends who have been lost to HIV/AIDS. She will

attending the screening and perform following the film. 2:15pm. FREE

• Longwood symphony orchestra performs a benefit concert for Triangle featuring Benjamin Beilman, a rising classical star, performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, op. 61. 8pm, Jordan Hall. Tickets $15, 25 (students), $25, 35 (seniors), and $30, 45 (general). http://www.longwoodsymphony.org/

SAT, DEC 1–SuN, DEC 23: Ryan Landry breaks out a new Christmas show, Rudolph the Red-Necked Reindeer, mixing the 1964 Rankin-Bass animated special, Gilligan’s

Island, and a pinch of drag magic. At the Ramrod Center for the Performing Arts, 1254 Boylston Street. Thu/Fri/Sat at 8pm, Sun at 5pm. Tickets and more information at www.BrownPapertickets.com/event/291882.SuN-MoN, DEC 2-3: The BU College of Fine Arts presents its 11th annual collaboration with the Dept of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance—Aurora Borealis 11. An exploration of the relationship between light and form, featuring dance and movement pieces by faculty and students. Open dress rehearsal on Sunday, and performances on Monday at 3, 7, and 9pm. BU Dance Theater at 915 Commonwealth

Ave. (enter on Buick St.) bu.edu/fitrec/programs/dance/ FREE

WED, DEC 5: The libretto of John Harbison’s opera, The Great Gatsby, gets a reading which includes live performance of some

of selected arias by MIT faculty and students. In Killian Hall, 7pm. FREE

WED, DEC 5: Harvard architecture professor Preston Scott Cohen interviews New Yorker (and former New York Times) architec-ture critic Paul Goldberger about “Spirit, Memory, and Space.” $28, $45. Temple Israel, 477 the Riverway, 7:30pm. Part of the New Center Live series that brought polling guru Nate Silver to the synagogue in October. For information call 617-531-4610 or visit https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/9705069THu, DEC 6, 13, & 20: A special series of family history classes and programs are planned during December at the Central Library in Copley Square, at 700 Boylston Street. Three Thursday-afternoon classes will introduce cardholders to the library’s free genealogical resources. The classes take place in the training lab on the first floor of

the Johnson Building. 4-5pm. www.bpl.org/calendar. FREE

THu, DEC 6: United South End Settlements announces its annual Community Colors exhibit on display at the Harriet Tubman Gallery Dec 6-Jan 9. This collaborative exhibition will kick off with an opening reception tonight from 6-8pm which features over 40 pieces in a variety of 2D

medium. Light Refreshments. www.uses.org. FREE

Fri, DEC 7: The Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble presents of program including works by Mendelssohn, Berg, Respighi, and Skalkottas. 8pm at Old South Church,

645 Boylston St. Boston Conservatory event line at 617-912-9240. FREE

Fri, DEC 7: This is not your grandfather’s Our Town, Huntington Theater Company says of its new production, which opens tonight 8pm at the Calderwood Pavilion (next to the Boston Center for the Arts on Tremont Street in the South End). Productions daily except Tuesdays and holidays, through January 13. www.huntingtontheatre.org

Fri, DEC 7-SAT, DEC 8: Boston Baroque presents Handel’s Messiah (there’s a lot of that going around this month). 7:30pm at Jordan Hall. Tickets $25-$80. www.bostonbaroque.orgSAT, DEC 8: Angela Y. Davis and Noam Chomsky meet for a public dialogue, aiming to strengthen the movement for love and freedom and to raise funds for www.criticalresistance.org, www.thecityschool.org, and www.blackandpink.org. $20 for basic tickets; $40 to help pay for young people attending the event; or $100 for a “VIP Meet/Greet” with Davis after the show. 6pm at the Berklee Performance Center. www.berklee.edu/events/angela-y-davis-and-noam-chomskySAT, DEC 8-SAT, DEC 22: Urban Nutcracker returns over three weekends with its distinctive blend of classic ballet, tap, hip hop, swing, flamenco, and jazz moves, all set to the Tchaikovsky score as interpreted by Duke Ellington. Tickets $15-$125. www.urbannutcrackerboston.com/SuN, DEC 9–SuN DEC 16: Boston Gay Men’s Chorus brings a freewheeling blend of songs to its holiday concert, honoring Chanukah, solstice, traditional carols, and the hilarious Freres de St. Francis de la Sissies. All shows at Jordan Hall: Dec 9 at 3pm; Dec 14, 15, 17 at 8pm. Tickets $16-$46. www.bgmc.org/concerts_overview.phpTuE, DEC 11: BU’s School of Theater opens a six-day run of Anne Boleyn, a play focusing on Henry VIII, his “most infamous wife,” Boleyn, and her influence on English history. www.bu.edu/cfa/theatre/school-of-theatre-events/?eid=127529. T-Th at 7:30pm, Fri-Sun at 8pm, matinees Thu at 10am, Sat-Sun at 2pm. Wimberly Theater at the Calderwood Pavilion, South End. Tickets $10-$12.THu, DEC 13 AND SuN, DEC 16: Handel & Haydn’s annual Bach Christmas celebration, features three cantatas from Bach’s

Christmas Oratorio. Thu 8pm; Sun 3pm in Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough St. $20-$84TuE, DEC 11–SuN, DEC 16: Sam Shepard’s 1979 Pulitzer-Prizing winning play, Buried Child, piles grotesqueries atop grotesquerie, from alcoholism to secret grandchildren, in a hard-eyed dissection of the American Dream. Tickets $10-$12, with discounts for students, seniors, BU alums, and WGBH members. Tue-Thu 7:30pm, Fri-Sun 8pm. www.bu.edu/cfa/theatre/school-of-theatre-events/?eid=127712Fri, DEC 14-SuN, DEC 23: Fans of Downton Abbey might want to see Cheerful Weather for the Wedding at the MFA. Set in a British country house in 1932, the film stars Downton’s Elizabeth McGovern and Felicity Jones. Tonight’s screening is at 7:30pm in the Alfond Auditorium; screenings continue through Dec 23. Tickets $7-$11, depending on time and membership. Info at www.mfa.org/filmMoN, DEC 17: Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, formed to create pro-Israeli left-wing counterweight to traditional Jewish lobbies, discusses America’s role in advancing the Middle East peace process. The lecture is part of Temple Israel’s Learn/Debate/

Engage lecture series. 7:30 at 477 Longwood Ave. Free.

Fri, DEC 21: Join Federator No 1, Endan-gered Speeches, and Kine Zoré at Church of Boston (69 Kilmarnock St.) for an End-Of-The-World Eve celebration. Come in a costume based on your interpretation of what the apocalypse might entail. Best use of #lastchance2dance as a hashtag on Twit-ter or Facebook wins a pair of tickets to the show. Tag @FederatorNo1 (FB) or @federa-tor1 to be in the running. 21+ Cover: $12, or $20 for two people. www.federator1.com; www.facebook.com/endangeredspeeches-Music; www.kinazore.com

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