Warm Sounds for a Cold Night
Music wafting over the waves and sand on a Rio de Janeiro beach is about the farthest thing from the vibe on the Outer Cape in mid-January. But the Cape-based Clã Da Bossa Nova will bring some much-needed warmth to Orleans on Wednesday, Jan. 18. (Due to Covid, a concert scheduled for earlier this month was postponed.)
The ensemble, which features vocals by Rayssa Delorey, began over a decade ago through the efforts of WOMR DJ Dinah Mellin, who contacted Delorey for an interview. When Delorey expressed interest in an on-air performance, Mellin connected Delorey with musician Tad Price of the Rip-It-Ups. After recording several songs at Chris Blood’s studio in Orleans with other local musicians, the group acquired a following and have been playing ever since.
“The word ‘serendipity’ comes to mind when I think of them,” says Mellin. “The elements came together, and it all proceeded from there.”
In addition to Price on lead guitar, Delorey is accompanied by Michael Dunford (percussion), Sue Goldberg (bass guitar), and Peter Murray (saxophone).
Bossa nova (Portuguese for “new trend” or “new wave”) is a Brazilian musical genre that mixes jazz and samba; it won international renown via the 1959 soundtrack for the film Black Orpheus and the music of João Gilberto.
The concert will take place at Brick Hill House Concerts, a private venue in Orleans. Capacity is limited, and reservations and proof of vaccination are required. There is a $20 suggested donation per person. For more information, or to make reservations, call 508-255-3864 or email [email protected].
–John D’Addario
The Art of Memoir
If you’ve ever come across a cache of old family photos of people you don’t recognize, you probably wished that someone had taken the time to identify their subjects and maybe add a few details about the context. There’s still time to ensure that future generations won’t have that same experience.
Mary Hamlin specializes in the art of preserving memories and has been teaching memoir classes since moving to the Outer Cape three years ago. She says she was inspired to start her project after noticing friends couldn’t use their garage to park their car because it was so full of boxes containing old photographs, letters, newspapers, and other memorabilia.
“There were no labels on anything,” says Hamlin. “I started wondering what the next generation would do with all the material. Would they throw it out and then feel guilty about it? Or would they be able to preserve at least some of it and give future generations the gift of all these memories?”
Hamlin asks participants to bring three photos or other significant items, as well as any notebooks or journals they might already have written or collected. She discusses ways that these items can be used to tell stories that are important.
She will offer a series of free classes over three weeks at the Wellfleet Adult Community Center (715 Old King’s Hwy., 508-349-2800) starting Jan. 13 and at the Eastham Senior Center (1405 Nauset Road, 774-801-3151) starting Jan. 23. Call the respective centers to register.
–John D’Addario
Music Comes Back to the Coffeehouse
After a two-year pandemic hiatus, a much-cherished weekly community music event is coming back to Provincetown.
Coffeehouse at the Mews (429 Commercial St.), which has been a winter tradition for more than three decades, returns on Thursday, Jan. 12. Previously held on Mondays, the open mic evenings will take place every Thursday at 7 p.m. (Sign-ups for each evening’s performances begin at 6:30.)
Peter Donnelly and Jon Richardson will be the featured performers for the inaugural evening on Jan. 12. Future featured performers include Jeff Tagen with Jim Brosseau on Jan. 19; Frank Poranski on Jan. 26; Robbie Pate on Feb. 2; and Kim Moberg on Feb. 9.
While there is no cover for the Coffeehouse evenings, a $5 suggested donation will benefit WOMR, the Provincetown Theater, and future Coffeehouse programming. See mewsptown.com for more information.
Not Just on Wednesdays Anymore
Registration has opened for Winter Wednesdays, a program that offers free classes and group activities from Jan. 18 to March 7.
According to its website, the program began in 2017 to bring neighbors together to mitigate the social isolation that often comes with winter. It has expanded to include a combination of in-person events from Eastham to Provincetown as well as virtual classes via Zoom. And despite the program title, classes take place on various weekdays.
In Eastham, Barbara Blackwell will lead a class on eating for wellness and pain management on Thursdays, while Brett Costello will lead a group through principles of “Fun Financial Fitness” on Tuesdays. Naya Bricher will lead a Zumba dance workout on Tuesdays in Wellfleet.
Zumba classes will also take place in Truro, along with a language exchange class with Jaime de Sousa and a writing workshop with Jeannette de Beauvoir. There will be a wide range of programs in Provincetown, including a creative writing workshop with Ephen Glenn Colter, a sewing class with Scott Coffee and Rod Vaughn, a knitting group lead by Kenneth Sutton, and a first aid course with Christine Brown.
Virtual sessions will cover Bulgarian and world music with John Thomas, yoga with Hannah O’Rourke and Karen Kwass, digital photography with Tara Conant, communication skills with Nancy Medof, sketching and visual journaling with Rowan Wielblad, and a Mae West film festival curated by Marc Strauss.
The program is a collaboration between seven Outer Cape community organizations and is funded via a grant from the Cape Cod HealthCare Foundation. As part of its accessibility mandate, the program offers free rides, child care, and materials. See winterwednesdays.org for more information and to register for individual sessions.
–Dorothea Samaha
Exploring Marconi Beach
In Land’s End, his 2002 meditation on Provincetown and the Outer Cape, Michael Cunningham describes one of Guglielmo Marconi’s more esoteric experiments in telegraphy. “He thought sound waves did not vanish over time,” writes Cunningham. “[H]e believed he could find a way to hear the cries of men on ships sunk long ago, the voices of children whose own children were ancient by then, the musket reports of Columbus’s men as they showed the Tecumwah tribe what terrible new gods had arrived on their shores.”
Though his attempts to contact the dead would prove unsuccessful, Marconi was eventually able to send the first transatlantic radio signal from his station in South Wellfleet. And the nearby beach that now bears his name remains one of the most evocative and biologically diverse landscapes on the Outer Cape.
On Saturday, Jan. 14, Sean Cortis of Mass Audubon will lead a guided hike of Marconi Beach and the nearby Atlantic White Cedar Swamp. The three-hour, four-to-five-mile hike covers varied terrain from sand dunes to wetlands and includes stops for birdwatching and lunch.
The cost for the program is $40 ($32 for Mass Audubon members), and registration is required. See massaudubon.org for information.
A Chamber Music Tradition in Wellfleet
The Lighthouse Chamber Players have been performing on the Outer Cape since 1995, and artistic director Elizabeth Chang says that the Wellfleet Library was the first place the ensemble ever played. They’ve returned every year since.
This year’s performance takes place at the Wellfleet Public Library (55 West Main St.) on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. Chang, on violin, will be accompanied by pianist Steven Beck. They will perform the Dohnanyi violin sonata, Szymanowski’s “Mythes,” and Bartok’s Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano.
Chang says that the performance has a theme. “The three pieces were all composed between the years 1912 and 1921,” she says. Dohnanyi and Bartok were Hungarian, and Szymanowski was Polish. “The pieces were written at a time when composers were moving away from the Germanic tradition. It’s an interesting look — or listen — at how these composers went in different directions. I think people are really going to like the music.”
The concert is free. See wellfleetlibrary.org and lighthousechamberplayers.org for information.
–Eve Samaha
