3/27 ARTY FUN OF NOTE

Hi from The Cambridgeport School Arts Committee. It's that random time of the week where I attempt to inspire you to add some arty fun to your life. Please pass it on.

(Also note: I have a cold, and no editor, so do double check events before arriving...)

Free String Quartet

Saturday March 29, take advantage of living in Cambridge and go see the open rehearsal at 11am of the Juilliard String Quartet in Residence at Harvard University. This will be followed by a master class with Harvard undergrads at 2pm. Both events are at Farkas Hall, 10-12 Holyoke St., Cambridge, open to the public with free admission. (No tickets or RSVPs needed…but go early to queue up.) The JSQ is one of the most widely recorded string quartets of our time. Its credo is to "play new works as if they were established masterpieces, and established masterpieces as if they were new."

Imaginary Maps at Parts & Crafts

You may have seen Emily Garfield's artistic maps at local art shows. She's leading a workshop in fantastical map-making on Saturday 3/29 from 1-3 at Parts and Crafts, where you may find yourself pairing fractals, biology, or the patterns of cells and neurons with worlds of your own devising… Come for open shop, stay for the workshop. $10-20 suggested, all are welcome regardless of ability to pay.

ICA Play Date: Links, Lines, and Knots

It's the last Saturday of the month, and time for the ICA Family Play Date. From 10AM to 4PM unravel the mysteries of Matthew Ritchie's installation on the Sandra and Gerald Fineberg art wall. After sharing ideas about this new work, join visiting artist Justin Gargasz to create a large-scale diagram including stories from your lives (plus lines and knots). ICA Play Dates offer free admission for up to two adults accompanied by children 12 and under. The ICA is also free for all every Thursday from 5-9pm.

Charlie Card Discounts

Did you know your Charlie Card gives you some arts discounts? It only takes a $1 off the ICA, so you're better off with a Playdate, Thurs eve, or library pass there, but note that it offers $5 off a ticket to one production of the Boston Children's Theater. Use the promo code BCT5. (I'm not sure if you can additionally use the BosTix discount, which is a $12.50 ticket.) The upcoming show is "The Homework Machine," at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA April 20-27. In this musical based on the book by Dan Gutman, a group of 5^th grade students have a secret, a machine named "Belch" that does their homework. Call them at 617-424-6634 as their website is having issues. 

Your Charlie Card also offers a two for one discount at the Alcott house in Concord, if your child has read Little Women. The discount is not valid on family rates or special events.

Rain Dance

The North Cambridge Family Opera Company is premiering "Rain Dance," this weekend, inspired by the Tish Farrell story, "The Hare Who Would Not Be King." Animals on the South African savannah face a drought, elect a Machiavellian lion to lead them, and are saved by a neurotic rabbit. The Family Opera is a production of incredible work and impressive rehearsals by residents of Cambridge of all ages. It shows at The Peabody School Saturdays March 29 and April 5 at 3pm and 7pm and Sundays March 30 and April 6 at 1pm and 5pm. It is free, with a suggested donation of $5, but to ensure you get in, buy tickets ($5 kids, $10 adults) ahead. 

The Magic Flute

Sunday March 30,  at 12 pm and 3pm there is a special Boston Symphony Orchestra family performance of Mozart's "The Magic Flute." This is a show aimed at ages 6 and older. It runs about an hour and 15 minutes with no intermission. The show is adapted with dialogue, puppetry, and more. It's a comedic opera, and was Mozart's last and perhaps finest work for the stage. It is $20 for adults and $5 for kids 18 and under.

Culture for the Older Set

Adults and older kids, tonight from 6-7:30pm, join an MIT Prof and MIT Researcher at the MIT Museum to discuss how cultural values are created and represented in digital media. Explore how online communities and computer code give rise to shared values, through the interactions between people online, as well as the underlying computation structure of video games, websites, and other online communities. 

And also due to intensity, for the older set: CRLS is in the State Drama Finals! They are held at Boston's John Hancock Center on Saturday the 29^th at 4PM.