By John Short
It has often been said that music is capable of “speaking for itself.” But how does music speak when it is being used to amplify other creative disciplines like story-telling and dance? Here are five upcoming Celebrity Series of Boston multidisciplinary things to do in Boston in 2025.
Boston skyline
1.Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher’s Counterpoint
First on our list of things to do in Boston: on Friday, February 7th at 2 pm at the Multicultural Center, pianist and composer Conrad Tao and choreographer and tap dancer Caleb Teicher will perform a piano and tap dance duet that interweaves several century’s worth of musical traditions, in addition to their previous collaboration More Forever (2020). Alongside abridged passages from More Forever, the programme includes selections from Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Art Tatum’s catalogue of tasteful stride piano, and Schoenberg’s satirical spin on a Viennese Waltz. Their dynamic performance will demonstrate a lively conversation between dance and music.
https://www.celebrityseries.org/productions/counterpoint/
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2. Steph Davis, Maria Finkelmeir, and Angela Shankar’s Vessel of Voice
On Saturday, February 8th at 3 pm, marimbists Steph Davis and Maria Finkelmeier, joined by clarinetist Angela Shankar, will perform a broad range of music including African American spirituals, contemporary classical music, music from the Black classical tradition, and Ghanaian gyil music (an ancestor of the marimba that was historically used in funerals and recreational ceremonies) to demonstrate how musical instruments are able to contain both memories and collective history. Their work as performers has sought to make multi-disciplinary interactive experiences in public spaces for the everyday person.
https://www.celebrityseries.org/productions/steph-davis-maria-finkelmeier/
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3. Jenny Oliver and Step Davis’ Gray Space/Blue Skies
Next on our list of things to do in Boston: on Saturday February 22nd at 3 pm at the Multicultural Arts Center, the choreographer and dancer Jenny Oliver and the composer and marimbist Steph Davis will perform a newly commissioned work of both original music and choreography that empowers the downtrodden. The head of Dance Performance at Tufts University, Oliver has worked to develop what she calls ‘culturally-responsive movement projects’ in a number of public spaces like the Boston Public Garden, the Museum of Science, and the Peabody Essex Museum. Davis as a composer channels West African xylophone traditions, Black classical music, and Afrofuturist and Egyptian philosophy.
https://www.celebrityseries.org/productions/jenny-oliver-steph-davis/
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4.The Wampanoag Nation Singers and Dancers’ Participatory Performance!
On Saturday, March 8th at 2 pm.at the Multicultural Arts Center, the Wampanoag Nation Singers and Dancers will perform with the hope that, instead of dancing, for the audience, they will dance with the audience. This family-friendly event will feature the Singers and Dancers performing on handmade water drums and rattles as they sing and dance about the interconnectedness of human beings to nature. It will be an opportunity for audiences to learn about the rich traditions of the Wampanoag Nation and Eastern Woodlands cultures, and celebrate the Earth.
https://www.celebrityseries.org/productions/wampanoag-nation-singers-dancers-2pm/
https://www.wampanoagnationsingersanddancers.com/
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5. Caroline Shaw and Vanessa Goodman’s Graveyards and Gardens
Last on our list of things to do in Boston in 2025: on Saturday, March 29th at 8 pm at Arrow Street Arts, the vocalist, violinist, composer, and the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for her 2013 work, Partita for 8 Voices, Caroline Shaw and the dancer and choreographer Vanessa Goodman will perform a work that deals with memory’s capacity to inflate, augment, and diminish events rather than exactly recall them. Their work makes use of both an actual bed of soil and analogue music technology as allegories for the cycle of life, death, and rebirth—but particularly in how the body itself can remember.
https://www.celebrityseries.org/productions/graveyards-and-gardens/