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SERVING THE FENWAY, KENMORE SQUARE, UPPER BACK BAY, PRUDENTIAL, LONGWOOD AREA AND MISSION HILL SINCE 1974 VOLUME 43, NUMBER 3 MARCH 3-MARCH 31, 2017 CITY AGENCIES OK PHASE ONE OF LANDMARK CENTER REDEVELOPMENT BY ALISON PULTINAS and encompasses surface parking lots and Commission, whose jurisdiction extends to replacement of the 1990s additions. As of he Landmark Center at 401 Park sidewalks. According to the presentation, the all buildings and structures built or altered this publication, there is no set time line for Drive is—as its name suggests—a redevelopment will improve accessibility, within 100 feet of a park or parkway. The construction. designated Boston landmark. It won commission voted to approve Phil Cohen is the Boston Planning & De- that status in 1989, thanks to efforts the proposal—but not without velopment Authority project manager. (He in- of local residents. Originally the Sears Roe- some controversy. herited the assignment from John Fitzgerald.) T At the center of the conflict There have been no recent public meetings on buck & Co. Mail Order House (built around 1928), it was redeveloped and expanded in the were two proposed glass box the project, but the developer is striving for 1990s by the Abbey Group as a big-box retail kiosks—1,500 square feet and a spring start date for the new landscaping. center with upper floors providing office space 800 square feet in size—that Samuels hopes to acquire about 8,000 square for institutions and tenants such as Blue Cross would be year-round vendor feet on the Brookline Ave./Park Drive corner PHOTO: SAMUELS AND ASSOCIATES Blue Shield. Now it’s being redeveloped again, locations facing Park Drive. of the existing site from the Public Works by Samuels & Associates. Those elements were deferred Dept. and incorporate it into the plan. In February, Samuels presented to Liza Meyer, the City’s Chief According to Manfredi, Samuels’s com- phase one of its redevelopment proposal Landscape Architect, for final mercial real estate ventures have reinvented to the Boston Parks Commission and the review and sign off. the Fenway. The Landmark is uniquely posi- Boston Landmarks Commission. This phase According to David tioned to take advantage of that reinvention. comprises “public realm improvements,” and Manfredi, the architect work- Manfredi used the words “social retail” and the commissions’ reviews are required by ing on the redevelopment, he “street retail” in his description of the new law thanks to that 1989 landmark designation and Samuels rethought the central food hall connector planned for the and the building’s proximity to Park Drive property’s “potential” thanks to ground floor. He mentioned that it would and the Back Bay Fens across the street. This raise the former Best Buy parking lot by two the new activity/destination entertainment in house Boston tenants, as opposed to national phase entails conversion of the parking lot to to three feet and convert it to green space, and the area. Later phases will add condos, apart- chains, and include restaurants spilling out- a landscaped lawn with walking paths and 93 make alterations to ramps and stairways along ments, restaurants, and shops, all contributing doors with café seating and multiple entry trees, to be planted as early as this spring. Brookline Ave. to this increased “potential.” points. Manfredi compares this to the Ponce The landmark status doesn’t end at the Keith LeBlanc, of LeBlanc Jones Samuels’s project, approved in 2014, City Market in Atlanta, another adaptive reuse building’s doors—it includes a protected area Landscape Architects, presented the public includes construction of 550 apartments, of a former Sears mail order facility. that extends 1,200 feet from the building realm design on February 27 to the Parks demolition of the parking garage, and Alison Pultinas lives on Mission Hill. PHOTO: RUTH KHOWAIS RUTH PHOTO: Zakim, Ross Organize Protest Against Trump Ban BY RUTH KHOWAIS and airports. “You have given us hope,” he told the audience. n Sunday, February 12, more than 300 people stood In a poignant testimony, 81-year-old Fred Manasse, who in the snow in front of the glass towers of the New survived the Holocaust as a child by hiding from the Nazis, said, England Holocaust Memorial at Haymarket to protest “America had very much the same attitude about Jews then as the Trump administration’s executive order barring they have today about Muslims.” Manasse told the story of his immigrants and to support immigration. Signs announced “Let father who was a passenger on the Jewish refugee ship the St. O Louis, which escaped Nazi Germany but was turned back when it them in” and “We are all immigrants!” This protest was part of a national Day of Jewish Action reached Cuba and then Florida. The U.S. State Department would for Refugees organized by HIAS, a Jewish resettlement agency, not let them in, said Manasse. The ship was forced to return to and hosted by District 8 City Councilor Josh Zakim, who helped Nazi Germany, and most of the passengers, including Manasse’s organize the local showing along with former City Councilor father, were murdered in Nazi concentration camps. “These Mike Ross, whose father founded the Holocaust Memorial. Jews were victims of the same kind of policy Trump seems to be Despite falling snow, attendees stayed to hear a number of espousing,” said Manasse with respect to Syrian refugees. emotional presentations and strong words from speakers. Kicking Last to speak was Mike Ross. “This is the off the rally was Rabbi Claudia Kreiman of Brookline’s Temple largest refugee crisis since the Holocaust,” said Former City Beth Zion. Wearing a pink “pussy” hat, she announced that she Ross, whose father was a Holocaust survivor. Councilor Mike was a Jew, an immigrant, and a recent American citizen. Kreiman “Never Again,” he said, using a vow adopted Ross addresses was followed by Imam Faisal Khan, from the Islamic Center of by Holocaust survivors, “means we sound the protesters at Boston in Wayland, who spoke about Muslim reaction to Trump’s alarm whenever injustice preys on ‘the other.’” the Holocaust executive order and praised Americans for showing up at rallies Ruth Khowais lives in the West Fens. Memorial. Nominations for Beard Awards—‘Oscars of Food’—Bring Civic Agenda National Recognition for Fenway Restaurants and Chefs BY RYAN POLHEMUS MARCH 15 @ 11:30AM sk most Americans to associate food with Fenway and The Boston Licensing Board they’ll probably mention hot dogs or Cracker Jacks,

maybe a tiny helmetful of ice cream melting in the sun. PHOTO: MEI MEI agenda includes a request But outside the ballpark, the neighborhood’s food scene from Fenway Sports Group for isA gaining national acclaim. This year’s James Beard Foundation approval of 8 summer concert Semifinalists were announced on February 15, and the Fenway/ dates, with the ability to add Kenmore area boasts a surprising density of contenders. 4 more without a further vote. The annual James Beard Awards honor excellence in the food and beverage industry. Often referred to as the “Oscars of Food,” the Room 809, Boston City Hall. awards are voted on by more than 600 culinary professionals each year, nominating chefs, restaurants, and industry elites across the MARCH 17 country in categories ranging from “Outstanding Baker” to “Rising Public comments are due on Star Chef of the Year.” Five restaurants within walking distance of Fenway Park were recognized this year, from fast-casual Chinese the initial project application to artfully curated tasting menus, proving that this neighborhood is for 1000 Boylston Street (air brimming with talent and has something for everyone. rights parcel #15, bounded by Boylston, Dalton, and Scotia Mei Mei streets.) To review project espite being nominated for “Rising Star Chef of the Year” for her casual, creative Chinese-American fare, Irene Li documents, visit http://tinyurl. doesn’t think of herself as a typical chef. “My role at Mei Mei com/Parcels12-15. Send isD more about growing the business, taking care of our people, and comments by email to Phil. making sure that what we’re doing fits into our broader vision for our [email protected] or mail food system and our society at large,” she says. Growing the business them to BPDA/Boston City Hall/ has certainly been a priority: Mei Mei Street Kitchen began as a One City Hall Square/ food truck in early 2012, and has since expanded to include Fenway’s brick-and-mortar location (at 506 Park Drive), a sauce company, Boston MA 02201. and a shipping container in the Seaport District, all with an eye on sustainability and locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients. JAMES BEARD on page 3 > 2 | FENWAY NEWS | FEBRUARY 2017

parking. The low podium reflects the height IN CASE YOU MISSED IT of the neighboring Hynes, but the two towers A LOT HAPPENED IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS are strikingly different. The apartment tower, SINCE THE LAST ISSUE, INCLUDING... on the east, rises 17 stories above the podium, WESTLAND while the western tower, with about 160 condo ICYMI might soon have to add a department just for Trump-related news. units, twists toward Mass. Ave. several times To start, the LMA’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has for several years held a Possible as it rises 32 stories above the base, reaching future fund-raising gala for big donors at Mar-a-Lago, the fancy- Berklee 566 feet (below the mechanicals). garish Trump golf club in Palm Beach, Florida. The Globe building Both the CAC and community members

reports that the event pulled in $1.2 million last year (no MASS AVE at the meeting focused on a few elements totals were available for this year at press time), which of the proposal—mostly questioning height, IC MI wind, and zoning. Many wanted more wind may explain why DFCI was so slow to respond to demands studies. CAC members also raised questions from patients, researchers and clinicians to move this about the Civic Vision for Turnpike Air year’s event. But when big donors joined the boycott effort, Rights, issued in 2000, and whether this plan BOYLSTON DFCIY snapped to attention, saying the demand came too late for it to cancel reflects its recommendations, particularly a without losing money (plus anticipated proceeds), but it promised to choose NEWBURY call for only one tall building among the three politically neutral venues in the future. a Meanwhile, several colleges— buildable parcels at the intersection. Questions also came up about affordable units, the need including MIT, Tufts, Harvard, Northeastern, and BU—filed amicus briefs in PUBLIC GETS FIRST for so much parking, and the potential market support of efforts to block Trump’s travel ban/visa crackdown. Separately, for high-end retail space. many of those same colleges told the Globe that the ban had already cut LOOK AT BUILDINGS Public Meeting, Feburary 28 into international applications and acceptances of high-level research PROPOSED FOR AIR At the second event, the developers positions. a The City of Boston unveiled the first of four indoor batting and their consultants summarized the plan cages at the Tobin Community Center in Mission Hill. Funding for all four (the RIGHTS PARCEL 15 again, covering much of the same territory others will be in Roxbury, JP, and the North End) came from Major League BY BARBARA BROOKS SIMONS & STEVE WOLF as they had two weeks earlier. Adam Weiner Baseball and the baseball players association. a Popular (and delicious!) asked audience members to weigh any lans for the 1000 Boylston project— concerns they might have about scale and Tatte will open its seventh bakery/cafe this fall at 1350 Boylston, the Parcel 15 of the Turnpike Air Rights height against the chance “to do something Skanska building going up at the corner of Kilmarnock Street. Tatte got plus some adjacent land parcels—have special and amazing,” a reference to the west its start on Audubon Circle’s Beacon Street, just over the Brookline line, moved into Large Project Review building’s distinctive twisting form. Audience and ICYMI will attest to the excellence of its baked goods and brunches. Pwith the City of Boston almost nine years after members did, in fact, have concerns about the Commonwealth first solicited proposals a More food news, Verts Mediterranean Grill, a Texas “fast-casual” chain height and scale, with most speakers arguing for the air rights parcels at the corner of Mass. that just opened in Copley Square, told the Boston Business Journal that they were out of synch with the Back Bay Ave. and Boylston Street. Last month saw and the Fenway. Other concerns included the it’s planning a Fenway branch. a The Globe featured Fenway resident the first public discussion of the project in pedestrian experience, wind at street level, CJ Cassidy in “My Instagram,” a weekly Q&A with the brains behind an two meetings at St. Cecilia’s Parish Hall on shadows and how far into the Back Bay they interesting area Instagram account. a The regional round of the 2017 Belvidere Street. would reach, traffic, the location of affordable August Wilson Monologue Competition drew more than 500 participants. CAC Meeting, February 14 housing (on site or elsewhere), and an absence Laury Teneus of the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers (with a Adam Weiner of Weiner Ventures offered of green space. Two audience members campus split between the Fenway and Mission Hill) took first place, and Fanta the first public look at the proposal at a meeting expressed enthusiasm for the height and the project’s ability to transform a neglected Diakite of the Snowden School in the Back Bay was first runner-up. Both now of the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC), a which will provide feedback to the Boston corner of the neighborhood. head to the national competition in New York on May 1. The Bruce Bolling Planning & Development Agency (BPDA). The CAC will hold an open meeting on Building in Dudley Square—the modern addition to the old Ferdinand’s The complex would dramatically change March 7 at St. Cecilia’s Church. Members of Building—won the 2016 Harleston Parker Medal from the Boston Society the streetscape of Boylston between the Hynes the public can attend that or submit comments of Architects (BSA). The region’s highest-profile design award, the medal Convention Center and Berklee College of on the BPDA website. They must be submitted goes to “the single most beautiful building” erected in Greater Boston Music, completely covering the “hole” above by the end of the day on March 17. the Turnpike south of Boylston. It features over the previous ten years. Dutch architects Mecanoo collaborated with Barbara Brooks Simons and Steve Wolf two residential towers—one condos, the sit on the 1000 Boylston CAC. View the full Sasaki Associates on the design. The BSA’s competition also delivered for other apartments—on a podium that includes proposal at bit.ly/1000boylstonPNF, a short- MassArt, whose new Design and Media Center on Huntington Avenue won two floors of ground-floor retail and four of cut to the BPDA website. for its designer, Ennead Architects. a If you travel to or through the medical area, Longwood Area Cyclists wants you to take a short survey about your travel experiences in the LMA (and it’s not just for bikers; you can walk, drive or zip-line). Find the survey at www.longwoodcyclists.org/survey.

ZONING HEARING

The Zoning Commission of the City of from the fall 2017 to the Spring 2019 Boston hereby gives notice, in accordance to house approximately 115 students with Chapter 665 of the Acts of 1956, due to the closing of Emerson College’s as amended, that a public hearing Little Building dormitory, which is being will be held on March 8, 2017, at 9:00 renovated. AM, in Room 900, Boston City Hall, in connection with a petition for the A copy of the petition, a map of the area approval of the Emerson College involved and the IMP Amendment may Institutional Master Plan Amendment be viewed at the office of the Zoning (“IMP Amendment”), filed by the Boston Commission, Room 916, Boston City Hall, Redevelopment Authority d/b/a Boston between 9 AM and 5 PM any day except Planning and Development Agency. Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays.

Said IMP Amendment would allow for For the Commission, Emerson College to temporary lease Kathleen R. Pedersen the property at 12 Hemenway Street Executive Secretary FENWAY NEWS | FEBRUARY 2017 | 3

> JAMES BEARD from page 7 ☞ IN MEMORIAM ☜ Finalists for the James Beard Awards will be announced on Wednesday, March 15, and the 2017 awards ceremony will Randolph Platt be held on Monday, May 1 at the Lyric familiar figure in the Fenway, Randolph “Randy” Platt, son of the late Walter Opera in Chicago. To see a complete list of Platt, Sr., died on December 13 at the age of 51. Randy was born and grew up nominees, visit jamesbeard.org. PHOTO: DUKE HARTEN in the Fenway and attended the Millmore School on Peterborough St as well as Ryan Polhemus lives in Watertown. BostonA Latin School. Randy graduated from Berklee College with a BA in music and went on to perform bass guitar for several years on Carnival Cruises. In later years he worked at the Fenway Star market. He leaves his mother Gloria, his brother Walter Jr., sister-in-law Lauren, and niece Camille. Private services were held.

Compiled by Helen Cox and Ruth Khowais PHOTO: DUKE HARTEN 2 YMCA Parapet Project Moves Forward asta BY ALISON PULTINAS ractically next door, Alex Crabb million that Ed Dahlstedt, the Y’s vice of asta is vying with Chef Mes- dministrators from the YMCA president for facilities management, quoted. sina for the title of “Best Chef: of Greater Boston have informed According to Dahlstedt, the project is Northeast,”P but he says the folks at Uni The Fenway News that Alexandra slated to start in March. Replication of the were among the first to congratulate ConstructionA of Newton recently applied for historic cornice is to be completed by Boston him on his nomination. “It’s definitely a building permit for reconstructing the roof Valley Terra Cotta Company of New York, the a collaborative community,” he said same firm used for restoration of the high concentration of talent in work on Northeastern’s the neighborhood, “We’re all rooting Hastings Wing. for each other.” Asta is a small, unob- Six residents of trusive storefront between a designer Huntington House, the Boston cupcake shop and a well-stocked con- Housing Authority’s single- venience store, which Crabb says dou- room-occupancy building, bles as his emergency pantry. A venue will move downstairs because 1 for the more culinarily adventurous, of anticipated construction Uni asta is a tasting-menu only restaurant work impacts on the 7th t the corner of Massachusetts which features uncommon presenta- floor. Others may also have to and Commonwealth avenues, tions of local ingredients with thought- change rooms. the team behind the Japanese ful wine pairings. YMCA administrators gastropubA Uni received a pair of nomi- and HallKeen Management nations. Chef/owner Ken Oringer was staff met with those occupants nominated for “Outstanding Restau- in February to discuss the rateur” (see also: Toro, Coppa, Little project, which is expected Donkey), and his partner Tony Mes- to finish by September.

sina is up for “Best Chef: Northeast.” PHOTO: DUKE HARTEN Boston Valley Terra Cotta will recreate the historic Stewardship of the Huntington Together, the powerhouse duo serves cornice on the YMCA’s Huntington Building. Shown Y’s historic façade was up street-food-inspired Asian cuisine, here is an example of the company’s work. strongly encouraged in a sashimi, sake, and craft cocktails in the parapet a the Y’s building at 312 Huntington. memorandum of agreement negotiated with swanky depths of the Eliot Hotel. (See “YMCA Will Replace Parapet” on page the Massachusetts Historical Commission in 4.) The application, submitted January 18, 2011-2012. According to the agreement, MHC is still missing some required paperwork, and the Boston Landmarks Commission have according to the City of Boston’s Inspectional a 30-day period to review significant changes Services Department. The cost of the project on the exterior or to the interior lobby. is estimated at $2.5 million—not the $4 Alison Pultinas lives on Mission Hill. PHOTO: CASSANDRA BAXTER 3 Eastern Standard ith two nominations this year, for “Outstanding Ser- vice” and “Outstanding Res- Wtaurateur” for owner Garrett Harker, Eastern Standard is a juggernaut on 4 the Boston restaurant scene and might SRV be the exception to the rule that you ust over the border in the South can’t be all things to all people. Lo- End is SRV, nominated this year cated in Kenmore Square’s Hotel Com- for “Best New Restaurant.” The monwealth, the restaurant opens each Jfourth installment from the Coda at 7am and serves brasserie-inspired Group, SRV stands for Serene Repub- breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night lic of Venice, and the restaurant rep- snacks until 2am the next morning. resents that region of Italy with home- The bar is always lively, and for more made pasta, small plates, and cocktails than a decade it has been a popular on the corner of Massachusetts and game-day watering hole for Red Sox Columbus avenues. fans on their way to or from the park.

FENWAY CDC’S 44TH

THURSDAY, APRIL annual meeting Join city officials and your neighbors at our 44th annual meeting. Enjoy a light supper, thank departing board 16:00-8:00 p.m. members and elect new ones, celebrate outstanding 3 individuals—and hear a major announcement from FCDC. Fenway Health (9th floor) To vote in this year’s elections, 1340 Boylston Street be sure to sign up or renew your West Fens membership by March 13.

To RSVP; to join or renew your membership; to request interpretation (Spanish/Mandarin/ Russian); to arrange childcare or transportation; or to get more info, please contact Margarita at [email protected] or 617-267-4637 x10. 4 | FENWAY NEWS | FEBRUARY 2017

Serving the Fenway, Kenmore Square, Audubon Circle, upper Back Bay, lower Protecting Our Immigrants Protects Us All Roxbury, Prudential, Mission Hill, and BY JOSH ZAKIM to Boston’s economy, our civic life, and That’s why I’m proud to have authored Longwood since 1974 culture. Whether at our hospitals, colleges, the Boston Trust Act and that’s why I am FENWAY NEWS ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS ince Donald Trump became president Kelsey Bruun • Steve Chase • Helen Cox of the United States in January, there universities, tech start-ups, law firms, or working to ensure passage of a similar bill Ruth Khowais • Alison Pultinas has been a great deal of confusion schools, immigrants are an important part of at the state level—the Safe Communities Barbara Brooks Simons • Steve Wolf and fear in Boston and beyond. Much our community. As our immigrant neighbors Act. This legislation, co-written by State of this stems from the president’s words face unprecedented Senator Jamie Eldridge of Acton and State EDITOR: Duke Harten S attacks—both rhetorical Representative Juana Mattias of Lawrence, WEB TEAM: Kelsey Bruun and actions relating to civil rights, and immigration in particular. In an effort and real—it is important would put a stop to Governor Charlie Baker’s DESIGNER: Steve Wolf to address these concerns, the Boston that we stand up as policy of using the Massachusetts State Police WRITERS: Alison Barnet, Stephen Brophy, City Council recently voted to create Bostonians, as our city to enforce federal immigration laws. Will Brownsberger, Kelsey Bruun, Helen Cox, has throughout history. Boston is a safer, healthier city Tracey Cusick, John Engstrom, Stan Everett, a Special Committee on Civil Rights, Lisa Fay, Marie Fukuda, Elizabeth Gillis, which I am proud to chair. As chair From the days of the because we have rejected the notion that Katherine Greenough, Steve Harnish, Rosie of the committee I look forward to American Revolution, to law enforcement can detain people without Kamal, Sajed Kamal, Mandy Kapica, Steven working with city agencies, nonprofit the abolition movement, probable cause at the behest of nameless Kapica, Ruth Khowais, Shirley Kressel, Kristen organizations, and all members of our to the civil rights federal bureaucrats. The warrantless Lauerman, Joanne McKenna, Mike Mennonno, diverse community to create legislative movement of the 1960s, targeting of immigrants sows mistrust in Letta Neely, Michael Prentky, Alison Pultinas, and policy solutions that guarantee the to the present day, we our communities and discourages witnesses Barbara Brooks Simons, Matti Kniva Spencer, Anne M. Tobin, Chris Viveiros, Steve Wolf welcoming and inclusive spirit of our have a history and a and victims of crimes from coming forward, city. culture of standing up making us all less safe. Moreover, this is PHOTOGRAPHERS: Steve Chase, Lois Johnston, Patrick O’Connor, Valarie Seabrook, Matti for what is right, for an inefficient use of our finite public safety This will include exploring JOSH Kniva Spencer, Steve Wolf everyone, and we must resources. I hope that we can stand together legislation like the Boston Trust Act, CALENDAR: Stephen Brophy, Ruth Khowais, which I wrote and Mayor Walsh signed ZAKIM continue to do that now. as a community, rejecting the hateful rhetoric Alison Pultinas, Barbara Brooks Simons, into law in 2014. The Trust Act prohibits Today it is more of the President and creating a safer city and Steve Wolf the Boston Police Department from important than ever that Commonwealth for all of our residents. PROOFREADERS: Steve Chase, Ruth Khowais, detaining anyone based on their immigration we stand up, and speak with one voice against Josh Zakim represents District 8 Barbara Brooks Simons status and, since its enactment, has led to a these attacks. Civil rights and civil liberties (Mission Hill, the Fenway, the Back Bay and BUSINESS MANAGER: Janet Malone significant improvement in relations between are universal—not something we can pick and Beacon Hill) on the Boston City Council. The DISTRIBUTION: Della Gelzer, Aqilla Manna, the police and immigrant communities, which choose for people, depending on where they Fenway News occasionally invites elected Lauren Dewey Platt, Reggie Wynn makes us all safer. come from or what they look like or how they officials to write essays for Fenwsviews on worship. issues of concern to our neighborhoods. Immigrants are major contributors The Fenway News is published monthly by the Fenway News Association, Inc., a community-owned corporation dedicated Best Way to Support Muslim Community? Tackle Ongoing Abuses to community journalism. If you would like to volunteer to write, edit, photograph, lay out, BY SHANNON AL-WAKEEL a Muslim registry’s actual targets, and may suffering abuse under the current regime— distribute, or sell advertising on commission, ith press coverage and public not be feasible depending on the registry’s preventing new abusive policies from taking please contact us at outrage recently shining a light mechanism of operation. Rather than trying to hold is not our only priority. Our communities The Fenway News, on Donald Trump’s Muslim have also struggled for many years (generally PO Box 230277, Astor Station imitate Muslim dress (which, contrary to the Boston, MA 02123 ban, many non-Muslims have wearer’s intention, may strike many Muslims without the level of press attention and public [email protected] been wondering as patronizing or concern we are, thankfully, experiencing www.fenwaynews.org W today) against government policies and how they can Guest Opinion exoticizing), people meaningfully looking to halt the practices that have treated our communities as Subscriptions $30/year support Muslim communities against human targeting of Muslim communities can “wear” threats to national security and public safety. ($20 for limited income) rights abuses. At the Muslim Justice League their actions. As one example: in recent years, the ©2016 FENWAY NEWS ASSOCIATION, INC. (MJL)—a Boston-based organization The “good” news (though of course it Obama administration began deploying a fed- defending human and civil rights that are is anything but) is that there will continue to eral law enforcement campaign called “Coun- threatened under national security pretexts— be plenty of action needed against many vile tering Violent Extremism” (CVE), modeled on “Comforting the afflicted and we are grateful for this question. When proposals. The challenge for those wishing a British campaign called “PREVENT.” Based afflicting the comfortable.” challenging any form of racism or bigotry, to be allies will be to ensure that actions are on debunked theories that certain lawful be- The founders of The Fenway News adopted centering the leadership of directly-impacted coordinated and requested by the impacted haviors or beliefs are actually pre-criminal this motto to express their mission of and signal impending “radicalization,” the exposing and opposing the dangers the communities is the best way to ensure allies’ communities. Organizers of a solidarity march neighborhood faced in the early 1970s— actions are responsive to, and aligned with, outside a mosque, for example, can help ensure approach has given false license to track and rampant arson, predatory landlords, affected communities’ urgent priorities. that their action is truly supportive—and not harass Muslims and other suspect communi- and a destructive urban renewal plan. If Many non-Muslims are rightly concerned inflicting unintended harm, such as obstructing ties. While its name implies a public safety fo- the original motto no longer fits today’s (as of course are Muslims) about the potential congregants from worshipping at their own cus, CVE has not made us safer. Rather, in the Fenway, we remain committed to its spirit establishment of a “Muslim registry”—a tool Friday prayers—by seeking advance permis- UK, PREVENT has chilled dissent and wors- of identifying problems and making our that could provide a pretext for interrogations, sion of the mosque and deferring to its wishes. ened health disparities and bullying against neighborhood a better and safer place to live. round-ups, and many other frightening For those ready to join advocacy to end harm- Muslim and other marginalized communities. scenarios. Though some who are not Muslim ful programs and policies, now is the time to In the US, CVE has already worsened divisive > FREQUENCY < have announced well-intentioned plans to build relationships with Muslim-led social “Good Muslim/Bad Muslim” dynamics, wav- The Fenway News reaches the stands every register for such a registry, or even to dress to justice organizations, learn about their priori- ing law enforcement grants before Muslim 4-5 weeks, usually on the first appear Muslim (by wearing hijab), it is unclear ties and respond to their calls for assistance. social services organizations as an incentive or last Friday of the month. Our next issue that Muslim communities have requested For Muslims—as for other communities MUSLIM COMMUNITIES on page 5 > will appear on Friday, MARCH 31. these steps or that such steps would have their > DEADLINE < intended impacts. Unfortunately, attempts to The deadline for letters, news items, and ads With Summer Concerts Running • The Boston Licensing Board at is Friday, MARCH 24. register in solidarity are unlikely to protect [email protected] Amok, Time for City to Clamp Down > ADVERTISING < • At-large City Councilor Ayanna Pressley, TO THE EDITOR: Contact our business manager at [email protected] [email protected] YMCA Will Replace Parapet on e’re an ad hoc group of Fenway resi- • State Rep. Chynah Tyler, chynah.tyler@ Its Huntington Avenue Building dents who feel the number of sum- mahouse.gov mer concerts at Fenway Park has 2. Attend the licensing hearing on March TO THE EDITOR: Wgotten out of control. Fenway Sports Group 15 (11:30am, City Hall, Room 809). FSG e are writing to inform you that (FSG) has changed the unspoken summertime wants a license for 8 concerts for which it When you’re the YMCA of Greater Boston is agreement that for years meant peaceful nights has already sold tickets and approval of 4 preparing to replace the existing for neighborhood residents whenever the Sox more with no further review. We want the Wbuilding parapet, which is the low protective were out of town. board to limit FSG to 8 concerts per season, locked out, wall on the roof, at our building at 316 In 2003 Bruce Springsteen opened the new with at least one open weekend (defined as Huntington Avenue. This construction will ballpark-concert era, with Fenway ownership Friday-Sunday) per month during baseball call us. reinforce the physical structure of our historic earnestly pledging a one-per-year limit. Now? season. building in order to ensure the safety of all On March 15, FSG will ask the Boston Licens- 3. If you’d like to be kept informed on this Mass Ave Lock who live in and visit our facility, as well as ing Board to approve a record-setting 12 con- topic, write us at [email protected] passersby. It will also restore an important certs for summer 2017. and we’ll add you to our mailing list. 125 St. Botolph St. historical element of the building. If you agree that 12 nights of congestion, The city must balance FSG’s right to take This project will begin in March with noise, trash, lights, and unruly behavior is an in millions of dollars per concert with resi- 617-247-9779 the exact start date to be determined once we unreasonable burden on West Fens residents and dents’ right to enjoy their homes and neighbor- Family-owned and -operated. have the final building permits. We expect infrastructure, we ask you to do three things: hood in relative peace. We’ve seen no effort to 40 years and counting. the construction will take approximately nine 1. Share your concerns about the ever-growing strike a reasonable balance, but we believe we months. concert schedule with: can still reach one with your help. Lockouts  Master Key Systems AARON DONAHUE • District 8 City Councilor Josh Zakim at TOM BAKALARS, CONSTANCE CORK, High-Security Key Systems EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR [email protected] CHUCK FERRARA, TIM HORN, Mailbox Keys Keys Made by Code YMCA OF GREATER BOSTON • Yissel Guerrero, the mayor’s Fenway KRISTEN MOBILIA, LAUREN DEWEY PLATT, Door Closers  Deadbolts HUNTINGTON BRANCH liaison: [email protected] BONNIE THRYSELIUS

FENWAY NEWS | FEBRUARY 2017 | 5

EX-SOX CATCHER COMES OUT OF RETIREMENT...SORT OF PHOTO: MALLORY ROHRIG

Teaming Up for Family Time (and Snacks) PHOTO: DAVID ROSS ongtime baseball star and former Boston Red Sox catcher David Ross will come out of retirement to play for the Harlem Globetrotters in TallahasseeL on March 1. A two-time World Series champion (with the Red Sox in 2013 and the Chicago Cubs in 2016), Ross showed off his new uniform and made the news official via Twitter. The Globetrotters invited Ross to join them as a guest player for one night as their tour dribbles into Florida. Depending on his performance, his role may grow to include more cities. The Globetrotters tweeted to Ross that, “If all goes well, we might have to take you on the road. Big games in Atlanta and Boston coming up!” The Fenway Family Coalition, organized by Fenway Community Development The Globetrotters will play two games at Corporation and Operation P.E.A.C.E., hosts family and youth programming TD Garden in Boston on Mar. 5 at 1pm and at the Fenway Community Center on Saturdays as part of a pilot program. Mar. 11 at 7:30pm. Here’s hoping we get to see David Ross tweeted a photo of himself Join them March 4 and 18 from 11:30am to 1:30pm and enjoy healthy snacks a hometown hero making magic in Beantown in Globetrotters gear to announce his provided by Star Market. one last time. “comeback.”

> MUSLIM COMMUNITIES from page 4 not only any reinvented “Countering Islamic pretense for a witch hunt against Muslim civil false legitimacy. The policies above represent for collaboration. In practice—as evidenced Extremism” program, but also by helping us society groups and beyond, with spurious alle- only a portion of an infrastructure that has both by the communities targeted for recruit- raise awareness of the harms of the existing gations of support for terrorism, asset freezes, eroded human and civil rights for years in the ment as well as the community organizations CVE campaign. Given its terrible impacts, and malicious prosecutions likely to target name of the “war on terror.” Any organization awarded grants from federal prosecutors’ of- we cannot afford to allow the original CVE many innocent organizations, mosques, jour- wishing to learn more about these policies, fices—CVE has targeted Muslim, and in par- campaign to be portrayed as a positive nalists and public figures. With Muslim civil and how allies can support work by directly- ticular Somali, communities. alternative to a Trump administration rebrand. society largely silenced, Muslim communities impacted communities, can contact Muslim It is unclear how CVE will change under Another urgent concern for Muslim com- would face even fewer checks against rising Justice League (www.muslimjusticeleague. the new administration, but it will likely munities that has violence and rights abuses. org/) to arrange a workshop. receive another rebrand. Press reports indicate received less atten- Unequivocal solidarity of If we are to emerge from the current CVE will be renamed “Countering Islamic tion than the Mus- People looking to halt non-Muslim communities moment better able to sustainably guard our Extremism” or a similar term that abandons lim ban, though the targeting of Muslim against attempts to silence communities’ human and civil rights, it will attempts to downplay its focus on Muslims. A thankfully press communities can “wear” and criminalize Muslim be because we have committed to holding our name change must not be allowed to obscure, coverage and pub- civil society will be essen- government accountable regardless of who however, the fact that CVE has always lic awareness are their actions. tial to defending our ability is in power. We cannot afford to grant blind focused almost exclusively on Muslims. growing, is an anticipated new “foreign terror- to advocate. Recently, more than 80 organiza- deference to some administrations and wait More importantly, due to the junk science on ist organization” (FTO) designation. For years, tions nationwide issued a powerful statement for blatantly hateful rhetoric before expressing which it relies and violations of human rights anti-Muslim conspiracy theorists have urged of concern about the issue. This vocal resis- dissent. Our necessary work is both to prevent it occasions, CVE would be no less harmful the FTO designation of the Muslim Brother- tance must continue. further human rights abuses and to end the to society if it focused on “all types” of hood by the U.S. administration. (Such a des- While public resistance to the Muslim ongoing harms of policies that have passed “extremism.” ignation requires no act by Congress, though ban is highly welcome and absolutely neces- largely under the public radar. Allies can support Muslims who are bills have been filed in an effort to spur agency sary, long-standing programs harming our Shannon Al-Wakeel is executive director concerned about CVE by speaking out against action.) That designation would provide a communities must not be grandfathered into of the Muslim Justice League.

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Do you need help with a small, outside spring project? Raking leaves, weeding gardens or sprucing up lawns? April 8th On April 8th, Northeastern volunteers would like to help! If interested, please �ill out a request form at http://tinyurl.com/N2Nspring17 Programs will be based on availability. 6 | FENWAY NEWS | FEBRUARY 2017

NEC, Berklee Talent Puts Up Another DANCE TALENT TAKES CENTER STAGE IN Strong Showing At 2017 Grammys WHEELOCK’S TOP-NOTCH ‘BILLY ELLIOT’ BY BARBARA BROOKS SIMONS and Best Album of the Year. (She gave a BY RUTH KHOWAIS tearful tribute to Beyoncé, whose album or the second year in a row, the ith a huge cast of multitalented children and adults, amazing Lemonade was also nominated in all three Boston Symphony Orchestra under choreography, and music by Elton John, the Wheelock Family categories.) Adele’s co-writer and producer of Andris Nelsons has won a Grammy Theater outdid itself in its recent production of Billy Elliot the song “Hello, It’s Me” was Greg Kurstin, a for its memorable interpretation the Musical. Topping the cast was 14-year-old Seth Judice, a 1988 Berklee graduate. of Dmitri Shostakovich’s bitter, dramatic HoustonW native, already experienced in tap, ballet, contemporary dance, F Another Berklee grad, Lalah Hathaway, responses to Stalin’s dictatorship. The tumbling, and acrobatics, all of which took home two Grammys in he used in the show. Justice first the R&B category—Best R&B played the motherless Billy (who Album and Best Traditional R&B trades boxing gloves for ballet shoes) PHOTO: MATT SA Performance. PHOTO: GLEN COOK at age 12 and calls it his “dream role.” Local musicians also played The story of Billy Elliot is set in a part in the making of late County Durham, England, during a coal rock icon David Bowie’s final miner’s strike in the 1980s that tore album, Blackstar, which won five the community apart. Eleven-year- posthumous Grammys. Saxophonist old Billy is pushed into boxing by his Donny McCaslin of the NEC dad but accidentally comes upon a jazz faculty was Bowie’s main dance class, and discovers a love for collaborator on the album and ballet. While his brother, father, and actually accepted the award on the neighbors are on strike and clashing NEC’s Donny McCaslin accepted awards on artist’s behalf. in daily battles with riot police, behalf of the late David Bowie. Out of the neighborhood, but sometimes resulting in bloody injuries, still part of our local talent were several recording won Best Orchestral Performance Billy continues to take dancing other Grammy winters. Cambridge-based for Shostakovich: Under Stalin’s Shadow— lessons, keeping his love of dance a star cellist Yo-Yo Ma and his eclectic Silk Symphonies Nos. 5, 8, 9. (The BSO recording secret from his family. Road Ensemble took home Best World Music of Symphony No. 10 won the Grammy last Against his father’s wishes and Album for Sing Me Home. Stoughton native year.) Many BSO musicians are NEC faculty community opposition, Billy goes on to Lori McKenna won Best Country Song for and alums. dance. Through his dance teacher, Mrs. writing Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind.” Other Grammy winners in the 59th year Wilkinson, he gets an opportunity to The Grammys (short for “gramophone,” of the awards included faculty and alumni audition for the Royal Ballet Theater. in case you wondered), are presented each from both Berklee College of Music and New That dream is quashed, however, year by The Recording Academy. England Conservatory. The biggest triumph when riot police and strikers interfere. Barbara Brooks Simons lives in the East of the evening was probably Adele’s 25, which When his father discovers his pursuit Fens. had a triple win of Best Song, Best Record, of dance and refuses to let him go to the audition, Billy says that his late mother would have let him dance. His Still Spry, NEC Celebrates 150th Birthday father’s retort—“Your Mum’s dead”— sends Billy into a rage. That rage turns into an energized, powerful dance ew England Conservatory celebrated its 150th birthday on February 18, as riot police approach. promising a season of concerts and celebration for the 2017-18 season. Another amazing dance number, “Born to Boogie,” occurs with The birthday party began a few days earlier with a gala concert by Lake Billy and Mrs. Wilkinson, played to perfection by Aimee Doherty. Boston Street Dive, along with guest performers from the NEC Philharmonia, Jazz theatergoers have seen Doherty before—she was outstanding in On the NOrchestra, and Gospel Ensemble. The concert in Jordan Hall began with a trumpet Town at Lyric Stage and Sunday in the Park with George at the Huntington. ensemble playing Gunther Schuller’s Fanfare, a tribute to the late musician, teacher, Also outstanding are actors who portray Billy’s father, grandmother, and and composer. The NEC Chamber Singers followed with a world premiere of “I Hear” by his dead mother (played by Robin Long, who appeared in Ain’t Misbehaving Andrew Haig. And then the other performers took over. at the Lyric Stage). Some of the most touching scenes in the play are those The school began in 1867, when a music teacher named Eben Tourjee rented between Billy and his “dead Mum.” seven rooms above the Boston Music Hall off Tremont Street. (The site is now the After personal struggle, Billy does go on to an audition and eventually Orpheum Theatre.) He started a music school that even then was named New England succeeds. His father comes around in an amazing scene when Billy, Conservatory. The school’s present main building on Gainsborough Street has been thinking that he is alone, dances a solo from Swan Lake and, through aerial named a National Historic Landmark. That includes Jordan Hall, known for its splendid wires, soars into the air. The show is packed with energetic dance numbers, acoustics. Today the NEC faculty includes 225 teachers, scholars, and performers. Its lilting songs, and emotional scenes. Though it ended on Feb. 26, we’re alumni go on to positions in all fields of music. In fact, about half the players in the looking forward to what’s next at Wheelock. Boston Symphony Orchestra are NEC-trained musicians and faculty. NEC also presents Ruth Khowais lives in the West Fens. more than a thousand free concerts a year, many in the Fenway. —BARBARA BROOKS SIMONS

BY JOHN ENGSTROM paean to Beethoven, “Judgement of the Moon ith the possible and Stars” on her 1972 album For the Roses exception of is subtitled “Ludwig’s Tune.” Its smoldering Vincent van Gogh, lyrics include such verses as: “You’ve gotta few creative Budapest, Beethoven shake your fists at lightning now, You’ve gotta luminaries in the roar like forest fire, You’ve gotta spread your Western cultural tradition have played into Rattle the Rafters at light like blazes all across the sky.” the stereotype—or conceit, or cliché—of the Beethoven’s noble Fifth Symphony, the “tortured genius” with more universal appeal one with the famous four-note opener—it was than Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Symphony Hall the third and final piece of the program in whose music constituted a spectacularly Symphony Hall on February 12—is one of unforgettable matinee concert at Symphony † ¢ the best known musical pieces ever created. It HallW on February 12. was used in the Disney film Fantasia and in Before Beethoven, composers of classical commercials; Walter Murphy appropriated the music were not especially renowned for their Beethoven himself made an indelible mances starting March 16.) first movement for his disco travesty A Fifth force of personality. But with the composer mark on the history of art by means of person- An important link between the Classical of Beethoven (1976); it even turns up in the from Bonn, who spent most of his life and al qualities that he brought to his work: a pas- and Romantic periods of Western music, theme music for Judge Judy. career in Vienna, this self-effacement came sionate candor and expressivity that has rarely Beethoven pushed emotional subjectivity he universal resonance of to an end in tandem with the gathering been equaled and never surpassed in music. through sound to new extremes, making Beethoven can also be glimpsed momentum of the Romantic movement. The vast emotional range of his scores—from cultural waves so influential that they in a cultural landmark in our own People began to think of artists not so much searingly intimate chamber pieces to big, produced such detractors as the avant-garde neighborhood, one that speaks of as journeymen but as stars: think of all those blustering symphonies; from fraught passages composer John Cage, who trashed Beethoven very real and not-to-be-dismissed continuities portraits of Beethoven—paintings, drawings, in which he seems to pour his heart out and for what he termed “emotional manipulation” between classical European culture and our sculptures—that depict him with wild, wavy expose his soul, to outbursts of bombastic ec- and for achieving in his works the banality of own, links between music’s past and present. hair and a permanent scowl. stasy and monumental power that push orches- “movie music.” When they designed Symphony Hall—as a We’ve inherited that energy, that ethos. tras to their expressive limits and drive audi- You can travel around the globe but Treplica of the second Gewandhaus Orchestra Beethoven wrote nakedly emotional music ences into frenzy—has not only made his work not have to look far for signs of Beethoven’s hall in Leipzig, a city with much Beethoven- you can feel in your bones. The tragic, true- timeless and self-renewing, it has shaped our influence, the colossal imprint of his artistic related activity in its musical past—the archi- life story of the composer’s suffering from a perception of what music is and can be. His personality. In Europe: sculptor Max Klinger’s tects gave the nod to the German composer as disability (deafness) and his legendary efforts only opera, Fidelio (1814) is still going strong monumental, glowering Beethoven statue a supreme master by installing the renowned to overcome that condition through the art in the standard repertory, a remarkable feat (1902) in Leipzig, Germany pays homage Beethoven escutcheon that looms above the of composing, have inspired artists of many of history when you consider that Beethoven to the myth of the composer as a demi-god. concert stage and that everyone sees when periods and genres to produce works that didn’t pursue a career as an opera composer, (Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts has a bust of they attend programs there. have themselves become permanently part of as did his contemporaries Gluck and Mozart. the composer by Klinger based on that statue Beethoven and pianist Richard Goode our shared artistic culture, ranging from the (The Metropolitan Opera in New York is set to in its collection.) On this side of the pond: who performed in the Piano Concerto No. ridiculous to the sublime. perform a revival of Fidelio in a run of perfor- Canadian songwriter Joni Mitchell’s romantic BEETHOVEN on facing page > FENWAY NEWS | FEBRUARY 2017 | 7

NEC’s Ran Blake Salutes Hitchcock, ‘Vertigo’ At Annual Film Noir Concert BY STEPHEN BROPHY students play the pieces they have composed to accompany or Fain’s “I’ll Be Seeing You,” a song that captures the haunted lfred Hitchcock became one of the greatest evoke those scenes. One of the more memorable of these pieces voyeuristic quality of Vertigo extremely well. artists in cinema over the course of a long career in this writer’s memory was an ensemble of musicians using We have a treasure of inestimable value in the Fenway— which started in his native England and reached basketballs and the stage floor as percussion instruments to the New England Conservatory, Jordan Hall, and all the incredible heights after he moved to Hollywood accompany a scene in Otto Preminger’s Bunny Lake Is Missing students and faculty who grace its stage with free concerts Ain 1939. He worked well within the studio system of the day, (1965). throughout the school year. Ran Blake, the recipient of a but soon enough learned that he must become a producer Before I became a lecturer at MIT, I was an adult ed MacArthur “genius” grant (among many other accolades), is as well as director if he was to have the artistic freedom teacher at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, focusing only one of the brilliant musicians who have attracted brilliant he needed to tell his distinctly Hitchcockian stories. In the on film history. I met Ran Blake when he took two of my students to this school over the years. 1950s he created a string of FREED PHOTO: JUSTIN Hitchcock courses back in the mid 1990s, Stephen Brophy lives in the East Fens. To keep track of masterpieces from Strangers and then hung out with him for three days all that’s offered, bookmark http://necmusic.edu/calendar_ on a Train (1951) to Psycho at a 1999 conference at the Plaza Hotel in event. (1960), with one of them, Manhattan (the opening scene of North by PHOTO: PARAMOUNT PICTURES Vertigo (1958) now considered Northwest takes place there) organized to the greatest film of all time by celebrate the centennial of the director’s the directors and critics who birth. I had already attended several of contribute to the Sight and Blake’s previous film noir concerts, so you Sound survey every ten years. can imagine my excitement when I heard that Bernard Hermann was the 2017 event was going to be organized one of the most prolific of around Vertigo. musicians creating film scores And I was not disappointed. In fact, in Hollywood history, starting because of all the concentration of awareness with Citizen Kane in 1940 evinced in the previous paragraph, I and ending with Taxi Driver had much more preparation to enjoy the in 1976. Some of his most music presented. I knew, for instance, that important work was done with Hitchcock liked to set limitations for himself Hitchcock—his scores for —he decided, for example, to shoot 99% movies like Psycho (1960) were of Rear Window from the confines of the as iconic in their day as those protagonist’s studio apartment, and he used of John Williams have become the protagonist’s camera lenses to justify for his work with George Lucas shooting close-ups of things seen from the and Steven Spielberg. One of apartment window. his most arresting scores was Blake, with his familiarity with the composed for Hitchcock’s ways these self-imposed limitations can Vertigo. Ran Blake liberate creativity, mostly limited his students Ran Blake, to quote Wikipedia, “is an American pianist, to arrangements and re-imaginings of the Hermann score for composer, and educator. He is known for his unique style that their compositions. In fact, the first musical sequence was a combines blues, gospel, classical, and film noir influences faithful rendition of the opening credits score by the NEC Jazz into an innovative and dark jazz sound. His career spans over Orchestra, led by Ken Schaphorst, the current chair of the Jazz 40 recording credits on jazz albums along with more than 40 Studies and Improvisation Department at the conservatory. years of teaching jazz at the New England Conservatory of What does one say about the music if one doesn’t Music, where he started the Department of Third Stream (now really have the vocabulary to discuss it properly? Words like called the Department of Contemporary Improvisation) with “revelatory” can be used, and not dishonestly at all. One Gunther Schuller.” of the things this writer loves about teaching is seeing the Blake has a particular interest in American film noir Film( content taught through the eyes of students learning it. Here I Noir is the name of one of his most successful albums), and got a chance to see and hear a film (with which I am already has arranged concerts in Jordan Hall over the past 12 years by thoroughly familiar) through new eyes and ears. Hermann’s his students and colleagues of pieces of music influenced by music gave form to much of the evening, but other composers movies. These concerts are organized around a particular film, visited as well, most notably Olivier Messiaen. And in the and (mostly) silent clips from these films are screened as the same sequence, Sara Serpa sang a lovely rendition of Sammy Jimmy Stewart in “Vertigo” (1958)

> BEETHOVEN from facing page when commentators examine it for clues to Ivan Fischer led the 4 in G Major, Opus 58 (1806) were the future symphonic greatness.” Under Fischer Budapest Festival star-spangled big names that drew me to and the BFO, the work was anything but Orchestra in a Symphony Hall that storm-driven Sunday of slender; it was full-bodied, shapely and brilliant program February 12. I knew the concert, a Celebrity expressive. It played somewhat like Mozartean of Beethoven at Series of Boston presentation, would be chamber music on a grand scale, with touches Symphony Hall. performed by the Budapest Festival Orchestra and flourishes of “heroic” feeling. The sound under the baton of Hungarian conductor- was amplified by the unusual placement of composer Ivan (pronounced ee-VAHN) PHOTO: BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA the percussion at the front of the stage, to the Fischer, but my knowledge of those artists left of the conductor’s podium; this was the was zero, so my expectations were sketchy. first time I have seen such an arrangement in a There was good audience turn-out despite the classical program. inclement weather, as well as noticeable rows Fischer and the BFO’s performance of the of empty seats, but I got the sense that most Fifth Symphony in C Minor, Opus 67 (1808) people who had tickets showed up. had the elemental force and heat of molten I later learned that Fischer has conducted lava. This symphony comes from Beethoven’s extensively around the world—1983, the mature or “middle period” of 1803 through year of his US debut with the Los Angeles 1812, a phase that includes the Third through Philharmonic, was also the year he founded Eighth Symphonies. Its language and mood the BFO, an ensemble that under his nurturing have the familiar, dark turbulence and and inspired guidance has blossomed into monumental exuberance of the composer’s a cultural fixture and treasure of Hungarian signature works: whereas the First Symphony is bouncy and garrulous, the Fifth is titanic FREE CONCERT! and dithyramb-like, making you wonder to musical life. He’s won numerous awards blended beautifully with the instrumental what extent Beethoven was thinking about for his recordings of Bartók and Liszt with texture under Fischer, and the sparkling ancient Greek art when he built his stupendous New Ideas BFO, which The Guardian has cited as arpeggios he produced seemed both inevitable musical structures. in Music and Sound “one of the world’s finest orchestras.” He and improvised—an apt reminder that Writes music expert (and former BSO Cutting-edge original music and sound prefers informality in rehearsal interactions Beethoven himself was renowned for being a commentator—and Boston Globe classical art created by local college students. with his musicians and told that paper that masterful improviser. music critic) Michael Steinberg, “The source “I work much more like a theater director The piece that preceded the piano of Beethoven’s unparalleled energy here Parker Hill Branch Library would work with actors.” Last May, Fischer concerto, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C is in his writing long sentences and broad 1497 Tremont Street organized a protest rally in Budapest against Major, Opus 21 (1800), turned out to be a paragraphs whose surfaces are articulated the city’s reduction of its subsidy to the BFO; highlight of the program. This despite the fact with exciting activity.” Fischer and his forces Thursday, March 9, 2017 he is clearly someone who gives culture and that the piece belongs to the composer’s early made you feel as if you were in the presence of 6pm-7pm community their due seriousness. phase and suffers from a sketchy reputation a force of nature that was both overpowering At Symphony Hall, Fischer’s reputation as a result, especially when it is compared and unstoppable. After the performance ended featuring: for dynamic bravura in his performances and to the later, more famous compositions that there was a huge, spontaneous uproar of Austin Covell (SMFA) a way with expressive nuance of instrumental comprise what we think of as “Beethovenian.” audience approval. This was a concert that had Taichiro Ei (NEC) detail was fully justified. He was brilliant; In fact, music historians Joseph Kerman and it been held outdoors, in the driving snow and Henry Mitchell (Berklee) so was pianist Richard Goode in the Fourth Alan Tyson in The New Grove Beethoven sleet of that winter afternoon, the elements Bahar Royaee (BoCo) Piano Concerto. Goode is 74 but hasn’t lost his write of this early effort as “the slender First would have quieted down to listen. youthful spirit and agility. His keyboarding Symphony, which can seem almost to wilt John Engstrom lives in the West Fens. 8 | FENWAY NEWS | FEBRUARY 2017

THIS SYMBOL INDICATES THAT + AN EVENT IS FREE. CALENDAR

Mon 3/6 PICK OF THE MONTH arts+ENTERTAINMENTMarchFIRST MONDAY AT JORDAN HALL returns with BoCo Presents Musical ‘Side Show’ a concert full of contrasts: a song cycle by Set against the backdrop of early Schumann (Spanische Liebeslieder); Voices 20th-century showbiz, “Side Show” is Last Call: Ending Sat, 3/4 of the Whale by George Crumb, featuring based on the true story of conjoined Filling MassArt’s Paine and Bakalar electronic flute, piano, and cello; and a trio twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, who Galleries at 621 Huntington Ave., for piano and strings by Dvorak. 7:30pm, rose from sideshow attraction to Vitreous Bodies: Assembled Visions in NEC’s Jordan Hall. More details at Hollywood stars. The show ran on + http://necmusic.edu/event/16093 Broadway in 1997 and was nominated Glass explores contemporary works BOSTON CONSERVATORY PHOTO: in glass, all created expressly for this FREE for a Tony Award for Best Musical. installation, that blur the boundary Mon 3/6 Performances run from Thursday, between art and craft. On the way in, March 9, to Sunday, March 12, all at don’t miss artist Daniel Clayman’s The BPL continues its Shakespeare season 8pm. Tickets are $25–$30 (discounts Rainfield, an array of 10,000 glass with THE PLAY’S THE THING—SHAKESPEARE ON available for seniors, alumni, and drops he created with 18 Mass Art STAGE, a lecture/performance presented by students) and can be purchased at students in school fabricating labs and Nicole Galland as part of the Lowell Lecture bostonconservatory.berklee.edu/ now has hung from a broad parabola series. 6–7pm, Rabb Hall, Central events or at the Berklee Performance that redefines the huge lobby space at + Library, Copley Square. FREE Center Box Office at 136 Mass Ave. 621, the school’s new public entrance. Weds 3/8, 3/15/, 3/22, 3/29 Sat, 12-6pm. More information at https://massart.edu/vitreous-bodies- The modestBU OBSERVATORY HOLDS AN Sat, 3/11 but the location remains TBA. More info OPEN HOUSE EACH WEDNESDAY when the and tickets at www.dropkickmurphys.com assembled-visions-glass-view. FREE THE LONGWOOD SYMPHONY, composed forecast calls for mostly clear skies. The entirely of healthcare professionals from the Sun, 3/26 wintertime program begins at 7:30. Reserve Thu, 3/24  Sun, 4/2 medical area, presents a concert featuring a ticket to assure entry, or join a standby New England Conservatory goes all out pianists Peter Serkin and Anna Polonksy Samantha Noble’s DRAMA Franklin traces line on the 6th floor at 725 Comm. Ave. For to greet spring at the annual COMPOSERS’ in a program of Bach (Concertos for Two the growing desperation of an Arctic ex- more information and to reserve tickets, CELEBRATION CONCERT, hosted by Ron Della Harpsichords, in both C minor and C pedition in 1845 as crew members realize visit www.bu.edu/astronomy/events/pub- Chiesa. Starting with four pianists (and per- major), Handel, and Stravinsky. The concert there will be no escaping their icebound lic-open-night-at-the-observatory/. If you cussion) in Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, benefits nonprofit addiction treatment ships alive. In a parallel story set in 2014, a have tickets and want to check on whether it goes on to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons (“La network Caron. Tickets $15-45. Jordan Hall, researcher races to find the remains of those the forecast will allow the program, call primavera”) and a grand conclusion with a 8pm. Information and tickets at ships before precarious funding runs out 617-353-2630 the morning of your http:// Strauss waltz, Voices of Spring, plus a few longwoodsymphony.org/ and her crew abandons her. Boston Play- + visit. FREE “spring-like” numbers by Couperin, Ades, wrights’ Theater, 949 Commonwealth Ave. Sat, 3/11  Wed, 4/5 Rachmaninov, and Piazzolla in-between. Tickets $30/25/10 (general/senior/student). SMALL WORKS EXHIBIT AT KAJI ASO STUDIO. 8 pm, Jordan Hall at NEC. Tickets at the Thu 7:30pm; Fri-Sat 8pm; Sun 2pm. More Jordan Hall box office. Details at http://nec- View paintings, sculpture, and drawings on info and tickets at http://www.bu.edu/bpt/. music.edu/event/16192 a small scale. Opening reception with the  Through Sun, 3/26 SENIOR AGENDA Tue, 3/28 artists on Sat., March 18, from 7-9pm Gal- The NORA THEATER COMPANY’S production All events take place at the Peterbor­ + lery hours by appointment, Call 617- HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL PRESENTS A of Precious Little explores how too much ough Senior Center. Find the entry by 247-1719. 40 St. Stephens St. FREE. LECTURE on Resistance Movement: Drugs, information can get in the way of our best walking the alley between 100 and 108 Sun, 3/12 Bugs, And The Fight Against Uber-Germs. instincts. Featuring local theater treasure Jersey St. and looking left. For more Speakers: James Kirby, M.D., Michael Home-grown NPR SHOW FROM THE TOP— Nancy E. Carroll. Thu, 7:30pm; Fri-Sat, information, call 617-536-7154. Gilmore, PhD, Maha Reda Farhat, M.D. which showcases hyper-talented young 8:30pm; Sat, 3pm; Sun 2pm. Tickets $15-56. • TUE, MAR 14: Presentation on 6-7:30. Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, classical musicians—returns to its origins Tickets and more info at www.central- hearing loss and hearing aids by New Research Building, 77 Avenue Louis in a Jordan Hall show. Join the audience for squaretheater.org/ Student Academy of Audiology at Pasteur. Register online at hms. Harvard. an entertaining taping of the show, framed Northeastern University. 12:30pm edu/news/ longwood-seminars.  Through Mon, 4/10 as an old-time live radio show. Jordan Hall, • WED, MAR 22: Purchase discounted + FREE 2pm, tickets $20-43. More information at Panopticon Gallery in Kenmore Square taxi coupons. 11:00-11:30am  showcases two decades, 1976-1996, of www.fromthetop.org/ Thu, 3/30 Sun, 4/2 ROGER FARRINGTON’S PHOTOS OF CELEBRI- • TUE, MAR 28: MBTA Travel presenta- (THE tion—tips and help on using the T. Weds, 3/15 > Sun, 3/19 Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor TIES IN BOSTON. Bold-faced names caught in MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR). This opera, Irish punk rockers the DROPKICK MURPHYS candid black-and-white images range from • WED, MAR 29: Technology Help based on Shakespeare’s comedy, features roar through town on a St. Patrick’s Day Andy Warhol to Elizabeth Taylor to Sammy Hour—bring your technology soaring arias and delightful characters. tour, playing Weds-Fri at House of Blues Davis, Jr., to Stephen King. Find the gallery questions or devices to the PSC for Sung in German; English supertitles. Tick- (only the Wednesday date isn’t sold out) at 502c Commonwealth Ave. Tue-Sat, 9am- help from our technology expert ets $25/30, regular/premium (seniors and and Saturday at BU’s Agganis Arena, 925 3pm. More info at www.panopticon- (open to the community). 3pm. alumni, $5 off). At the Boston Conservatory Comm. Ave. (tickets $29.50, standing only). + gallery.com/. FREE Theater, 31 Hemenway St. For tickets, call They’ll play a third concert on Sunday, 3/19, 617-912-9222 or online at bostonconserva- COMMUNITY tory.berklee.edu/events. Fri, 3/31 meetings TUE, MAR 14 MON, MAR 27 FRI, MAR 3 City Councilor Josh Zakim holds • Fenway CDC Urban Village Committee. • Job hunting? Come to the Fenway CDC’s A rising musical star and contestant on the office hours, 8-9:30am, at Trident Cafe, 338 Help monitor development and advocate free, drop-in resume review, 2-4pm at the Israeli edition of The Voice, Ethiopian-born Newbury St. Contact josh.zakim@boston. for the neighborhood you want. 6pm at CDC office, 70 Burbank Street. More info singer Aveeva shares her own story and gov if you have a concern but can’t come; the CDC office, 70 Burbank St. To verify from [email protected]. hosts an AFRICAN-ISRAELI FUSION SHABBAT visit www.joshzakim.com for full office date or for info, contact Richard Giordano • TheLMA Forum for community DINNER at the Fenway Community Center, hours schedule. at 617-267-4637 x16 or rgiordano@ review of development projects meets 1282 Boylston, at 6:30pm. Tickets $38. Tick- MON, MAR 6 City Life/Vida Urbana invites fenwaycdc.org. when necessary at 6:30pm, location ets at www.jartsboston.org/event/ethiopi- you to gather on the 5th floor of City Hall TUE, MAR 21 to be determined. Contact Taylor at an-israeli-shabbat-dinner-with-aveva/ at 10am to advocate for the Jim Brooks • East Fens Police/Community meeting, [email protected] for Community Stabilization Act, a piece of 6pm, Morville House, 100 Norway St. details and to be added to the notification legislation meant to protect tenants against list. • Audubon Circle Neighborhood Associa- unfair housing displacement. For more TUE, MAR 28 @ THE CENTER tion board mtg., 7pm, Room 3C, Harvard Fenway Civic Association’s information, visit . http://www.clvu.org/ Vanguard, 133 Brookline Ave. All are wel- quarterly public meeting will consider Here are highlights from the Fenway TUE, MAR 7 Fenway liaison for the Mayor’s come. Call 617-262-0657 for information. “Neighborhood Engagement.” Learn how Community Center’s calendar this Office of Neighborhood Services holds THU, MAR 23 you can get involved with FCA’s committees month. Events are free unless noted. office hours 3:30-5:30pm at the YMCA, 316 on Event Planning, Licensing, and Parks Visit the Center at 1282 Boylston and • Rep. Michael Capuano’s liaison holds Huntington Ave. and Open Space. 6:30–8:30pm, Fenway check out the full calendar at www. office hours, 10-11 am, at JP Licks, Community Center, 1282 Boylston Street. fenwaycommunitycenter.org/calendar/ WED, MAR 8 & 22 Fenway Fair Foods Brigham Circle. Call 617-621-6208 if you The meeting will also feature a presentation • WED, MAR 8: Meal Prep workshop distributes high-quality, low-cost produce have a concern but can’t come.\ for $2 bag. At Holy Trinity Orthodox on using the City of Boston’s 311 app to get 6-8pm. $10 members, $15 nonmem- • Symphony Neighborhood Task Force things fixed in the Fenway’s public spaces. bers. Tickets at www.fenwaycommu- Church, 165 Park Drive, 3-5pm. Contact meets, 6 pm, 320 Huntington Ave., 2nd WED, MAR 29 nitycenter.eventbrite.com. Kris Anderson at kanderson@fenwaycdc. floor. Contact Nick Carter at 617-635- Registered Democrats in org for more information. 4225 or [email protected] Boston’s Ward 4, which covers parts of • THU, MAR 22: Office hours with State THU, MAR 9 Rep. Michael Capuano’s liaison with questions. the Back Bay, Fenway, and South End, will Rep. Chynah Tyler, 5:30-7:30pm. hold a caucus at the South End Library Ramler Park meeting at 7:30. holds office hours, 12-1pm, at Fenway FRI, MAR 24 City Councilor Josh Zakim (Tremont Street) at 6pm to elect 16 Health, 1340 Boylston. Call 617-621-6208 if holds office hours, 8-9:30am, at Mike’s • THU, MAR 23: Spring bingo, 6:30- delegates and 4 alternates for the 2017 state 8:30pm. Free for members, $5 for you have a concern but can’t come. Donuts, 1524 Tremont St. Contact josh. convention, where Democrats from across nonmembers. No RSVP required— WED, MAR 15 West Fens Police/Community [email protected] if you have a concern Massachusetts will gather to adopt a new pay at the door. meeting, 6pm, Fenway Community Center, but can’t come; visit www.joshzakim.com party platform. 1282 Boylston. for full office hours schedule.