Members of the Haitian boys choir Les Petits Chanteurs, accompanied by a string ensemble, are traveling to Newburyport Monday at 7 p.m. to perform a St. Francis Day concert at St. Paul's Church at 166 High St.
The choir is from Holy Trinity Music School in Port-au-Prince. Proceeds from the performance will go toward rebuilding the music school buildings at Trinity Church, which were destroyed in January's earthquake.
The music school has in the past enrolled about 1,000 students at a time, with a teaching staff of 45 full- and part-time professionals. It has been working to rebuild since the earthquake.
The choir was founded in 1960 and includes boys ages 7 and older through young men who audition for a spot in the group. The young vocalists first visited the U.S. in 1984 and have since returned to this country for eight different tours. Since the earthquake, the group has performed in tent cities throughout Haiti.
Monday's concert is a follow-up to a talent show fundraiser at the church this spring, which raised more than $3,000 for earthquake relief efforts. Now, the youths and adults who participated in the talent show will have the opportunity to meet some of the Haitian earthquake victims St. Paul's has been working to support as part of its mission work.
St. Paul's Youth Group is hosting the 40 choir members for a day of activities preceding the concert, and the vocalists will be spending the night with families in Greater Newburyport before moving on to their next performance destination.
Tickets for Monday's concert are $10 for adults, $5 for children under 18. Kids under 5 are welcome for free. For more, call the church at 978-465-5351.
Organ concert to fill Port's Old South Church
German organist Gunter Kennel will perform a concert on the historic 1866 E. & G.G. Hook organ in Newburyport's Old South Church on Sunday at 7 p.m.
The concert takes place in the sanctuary of the First Presbyterian church at 29 Federal St. and is co-sponsored by the Merrimack Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Admission is free. Call the church at 978-465-9666 for more.
Plum Island history talk, slide show Sunday
Michael Bulger will present a slide show and talk discussing the historical homes and events on Plum Island on Sunday at 3 p.m. at PITA Hall on Northern Boulevard on Plum Island.
The event is sponsored by the Plum Island Taxpayers Association. Admission is free.
Poetry and music marks fall at Whittier Home
An ancient art combining music and poetry highlights the fall program of the Whittier Home Association Thursday, Oct. 7, at 2 p.m. in the poet's parlor of the Whittier Home, 86 Friend St., Amesbury.
Award-winning Newburyport poet Rhina Espaillat says melopoeia is returning to the artistic forefront after many years. Rooted in the Greek culture, it features poetry that is spoken, not sung, in the form of song lyrics set to musical accompaniment, allowing the two arts to flow separately through and around each other, without either dominating the other, she says.
Espaillat was first introduced to the art form as a child by her paternal grandmother in her native Dominican Republic. Her grandmother, a poet who also played guitar, would host musical gatherings and other entertainment, including dramatized historical pieces, recitations and storytelling, in her home.
Espaillat will be joined for the Whittier Home program by fellow Powow River Poet member Alfred Nicol of Newbury, Newburyport guitarist John Tavano and local soprano Ann Tucker.
An earlier melopoeia performance by the group was recorded on CD and will be available for purchase at the event, along with other items relating to the Whittier Home and poet John Greenleaf Whittier.
A fall buffet with both tea and cider will follow the featured program. The public is invited; admission is $5. Whittier Home Association members are welcome for free.
The Whittier Home Association has been the steward of the house museum for more than 100 years, maintaining the property and collections and striving to educate others about the Quaker poet. The museum is open for tours on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Oct. 30. To schedule a tour by appointment, call 978-465-5964. For more on the museum, visit www.whittierhome.org.
Weekend food drive to benefit local food pantries
Pennies for Poverty: 2 Cents 4 Change is holding a food drive today through Sunday at Shaw's in Port Plaza on Storey Avenue in Newburyport.
Food donations will be split equally between Community Action, Community Service of Newburyport, Our Neighbors' Table in Amesbury, Pettengill House in Salisbury and The Salvation Army in Newburyport. Monetary donations will be shared by the 2 Cent Grant Fund and His Provisions Too, a new soup kitchen in Amesbury.
The drive will take place tomorrow and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Volunteers are needed to work two-hour shifts at Shaw's, to sort and divide the food and to make the deliveries. For more, contact Eleanor Turke, food drive co-chairwoman, at volunteer@2cents4change.com or 978-337-0364.
Focus on MIT center for local photographer
Plum Island photographer Emily S. Corbato is showing off her silver gelatin prints recording the construction of the Stata Center at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge in a new exhibit opening today at the Bromfield Gallery, 450 Harrison Ave., Boston.
Designed by Frank Gehry Partners and completed in 2004, the Stata Center is the home for the intelligence sciences at MIT. Corbato photographed the construction process, documenting it as steel structures emerged from the foundation in striking skeletal forms, revealing angles, light and shadows.
Corbato has been an artist/scholar at Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University in Waltham since 2001.
Her exhibit runs through Oct. 30. An opening reception takes place tonight from 6 to 8:30. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. Call 617-451-3605 or visit www.bromfieldgallery.com for more.
The Brew's new tour to end with DVD release
Amesbury rock quartet The Brew has embarked on a three-week tour with the Denver-based Kinetix and Roster-McCabe out of Minneapolis-St. Paul that will return to Boston in mid-October for a DVD release show.
The Brew is kicking the tour off in Denver and will travel to Chicago, the Dakotas and upper Midwest before returning to New England for shows in Vermont and Portland, Maine. Its DVD, "Electric Opera," which was recorded in April at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, N.H., will be released Friday, Oct. 15, at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston.
Formed in 2002, The Brew features Chris Plante on keyboards, Joe Plante on bass, Dave Drouin on lead guitar and Kelly Kane on drums. For more on the band and its fall tour, visit www.thebrew.biz.
Costume Ball & Auction treat for The Actors Studio
The Actors Studio in The Tannery in Newburyport is making plans for its first benefit Costume Ball & Auction on Saturday, Oct. 30, at Carriage Pines Golf Club in Rowley.
Costumes are optional, but encouraged. There will be a contest for the best-dressed guest, dancing to music provided by the DJs of WNBP radio, hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar and signature drink.
Pete Falconi of WNBP will serve as celebrity guest auctioneer for the silent and live auctions. Auction items will include art work, theater and music classes, furniture and hats from the studio's production of "Alice in Wonderglass," jewelry, spa visits, gift baskets, gift certificates to Greater Newburyport stores and restaurants, and more.
The fun goes from 6 p.m. to midnight. Proceeds will support the nonprofit Actors Studio's mission to serve as a cultural resource for the community; to inspire, enrich and engage audiences; and develop both the art form and the individual by encouraging full creative expression.
Tickets are $60 before Oct. 1, $65 after. Call Jeanette Isabella at 978-465-1229 for reservations or information.
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