Best Available Tickets for The Christmas Revels

Best Available Tickets for The Christmas Revels

Filled with beautiful music, dance, folktales, holiday carols, and audience participation, The Christmas Revels is a family celebration like no other. Each year audiences get to travel with us, without leaving Cambridge, exploring a new culture and celebrating its people. This year’s ‘Acadian-Cajun’ production is overflowing with music, dance and rituals performed by some of the best musicians in the country. Do you have your tickets yet? If not, read on! To help you find the best seats available check out Alan’s Ticket Availability Page. You’ll find a listing of all 17 performances and the approximate number of tickets currently available at each price range. There’s also an easy link to the Harvard Box Office where you can buy tickets 24/7. Don’t delay as tickets are going fast! Speaking of The Christmas Revels, did you catch us on WBZ-TV on Saturday? Artistic Director Patrick Swanson and Christmas Revels guest artist Josee Vachon, one of our Acadian tradition-bearers and a wonderful singer, had a great chat with news anchor Kerry Connolly on ‘4 Your Community’. Josee performed a piece from the show as well. If you missed it here it is again. Learn More about this year’s Christmas Revels

The Christmas Revels 2016 - An Acadian-Cajun Celebration of the Winter Solstice

notloB Music heartly recommends...
The Christmas Revels 2016 - An Acadian-Cajun Celebration of the Winter Solstice

17 Performances - Matinees & Evenings
DECEMBER 9-27, 2016
Harvard University's Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, MA
http://www.revels.org/shows-events/christmas-revels/Tickets: On Sale to the General Public October 20th at 12 Noon

A holiday tradition for more than four decades, The Christmas Revels is a joyful theatrical celebration of the winter solstice that travels the world each year showcasing cultural traditions including music, dance, folktales and rituals.

This year's Revels follows the original French immigrants who settled on the Canadian border but were later forced southward by the British to a new home along the bayous of Louisiana. Filled with toe-tapping fiddle tunes, lilting Cajun two steps, gorgeous anthems, and familiar touchstones like the Sussex Mummers Carol and Lord of the Dance, this will be a Christmas Revels to remember. See you there!"

This year's Revels will feature David Greely (notloB Music, September 10, 2015) and Lisa Ornstein.

David Greely, born in Baton Rouge of Cajun and Irish ancestry, learned Cajun fiddle on dance hall stages throughout South Louisiana, in the archives of Cajun and Creole music at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, and from his apprenticeship to Cajun fiddle master and National Heritage Fellow Dewey Balfa. David has toured Folk Festivals worldwide for 28 years and has been nominated for four Grammy Awards. He has received the Louisiana Artist Fellowship Award for Folklife Performance, and is an adjunct instructor of Cajun fiddle and vocals at the University of Louisiana. David is opening a new wing in his tradition, the home music of French Louisiana, taking the swampy syncopations of Cajun music and its renaissance French dialect to a new level of sophistication along with all its urgency and texture.

Lisa Ornstein is an outstanding interpreter of the traditional music of French Canada and Appalachia, blending compelling and inventive playing with impeccable tune choice. When a member of Quebec’s internationally renowned traditional supergroup, La Bottine Souriante, Lisa spent countless hours in Quebec visiting with older musicians and playing in kitchens and dance halls. She earned a master’s degree in folklore on her study of the life and music of master fiddler Louis “Pitou” Boudreault, as well as Magdalen Island fiddler and raconteur Avila LeBlanc, and Gaspé region fiddlers such as Édouard Richard and Yvon Mimeault, and spent 17 years as director of the Acadian Archives in Fort Kent, Maine. She has recorded for both Smithsonian Folkways and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Lisa and David’s collaboration on 2016’s Christmas Revels presents a perfect opportunity to revel in musical connections that still exist between Northern Acadians and their Louisiana cousins, separated by centuries in consequence of geographic and political events beyond their control.

Artist websites

David Greely – http://davidgreely.com/

Lisa Ornstein - http://www.lisaornstein.com/

Enquiring minds want to know

Enquiring minds want to know why The Revels' Patrick Swanson, Artistic Director and George Emlen, Music Director...

...attended the Ellie & Sumaia | Jenna Moynihan & Mairi Chaimbeul 3/22/15 concert?

Stay tuned!

Revels Announces 11th Annual RiverSing

11th Annual Revels RiverSing

A Family Celebration of the Autumnal Equinox

Sunday, September 21, 2014
Harvard Square and along the banks of the Charles River in Cambridge
FREE!
Learn more

One magical night each year, Revels waves goodbye to summer and welcomes in the fall with music, poetry and song.  This year's celebration includes family festivities in Harvard Square, a puppet-filled parade, and a glorious night of singing together as we revel in the change of season amidst the beauty of the Charles River and its parklands. 

Revels music director George Emlen hosts the night, sharing the stage with guest soloists, song leaders David Coffin and Stan Strickland, folksingers Chris and Meredith Thompson, and the 80-member RiverSing Chorus of adults and children.  Gabriel Q's giant illuminated butterflies and the Puppeteer's Cooperative's whimsical puppets will provide appropriate atmosphere.  There will be other surprises as well (this is Revels, after all) so "Save the Date,"  tell your friends, and come be a part of this growing  family tradition! 

Learn more  

With all due respect to the Boston Globe's learned music critics Martín Caballero, Jon Garelick, Luke O’Neil, Matt Parish, and James Reed, are their selections...

....really the

"Best local albums of 2013"? 

Read the article here.
I see pop, I see hip hop, I see rock, (did I say I see pop?), but to paraphrase Clara Pella, "where's the Celtic / bluegrass / singer-songwriter / folk / jazz / classical", or any other music forms that have large followings in the greater Boston area?

Misters Martín Caballero, Jon Garelick, Luke O’Neil, Matt Parish, and James Reed completely missed it, folks. Here, in no particular order, are several local and extremely worthy Celtic, bluegrass and stringband albums that were released to much national acclaim in 2013 .

NOTLOB'S LOCAL CELTIC ARTIST ALBUM RECOMMENDATIONS:


Fellswater - "Thursday Night"

These are shapeshifters of the first order and yet they are truly always Fellswater, unshakeable in their identity. And seldom has such depth on either side of the pond emerged in strictly instrumental work.
Thursday Night refers to Fellswater's weekly get togethers to produce this sound as natural as it is skilled, and wonderful to hear.
Art Ketchen, Celtic Beat magazine

Fellswater's latest release is full of tight tunes and lush melodies that are sure to get your toes tapping!
If not, you should check your pulse!
Tim Larkin, Celtic Stew, 89.3 WUMD

Celtic music fans rejoice for there is no sophomore slump here!
A march-strathspey-reel-hornpipe medley on the penultimate track has the band at peak operating capacity, featuring dead-on pipes-whistle-fiddle unison for “Devil in the Kitchen” and Ketudat’s flourishes behind Phelps and Sarah MacConduibh on “Heat from the Furnace,” building to a solid finish.
Sean Smith, Boston Irish Reporter

Joey Abarta "Swimming Against the Falls"

Joey Abarta has spent the last ten years of his life touring North America, Europe, and Asia, teaching and performing music on the uilleann pipes. A Los Angeles native, he first received instruction on the pipes from Dubliner Pat D’Arcy, a founding member of the Southern California Uilleann Pipers Club.

His musical skills were further honed on several visits to Ireland, a year-long stint working in Japan, and continuing relationships with master pipers. In August of 2009, Joey’s accomplished playing won him an All-Ireland championship, placing second worldwide at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.

Currently based in Boston, Joey divides his attention between performance, teaching, and recording. In addition to performing solo, he tours with Mick Moloney and the group The Green Fields of America. While at home, he organizes the meetings of the Boston Pipers Club, teaches for Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann's Boston Music School, and organizes various traditional music concerts and events in the region.

The Revels - The Road to Compostela: A Galician Christmas Revels

A new CD featuring the music from this year's Christmas Revels at Sanders Theater, Cambridge.Our musical journey in "The Road to Compostela" meanders through Spain, with a significant dip into Catalonia, but primarily it explores Galicia, home of the shrine at Compostela. Here we encounter stirring procssionals and swirling dances played on the gaita galega, the indigenous Galician bagpipe. We are transported to the 13th century by a devotional song to the Virgin Mary and a longing plea for a lover to return from the sea. An a capella chorus raises a Renaissance motet high into the arches of the cathedral. A lively band, anchored by guitar and harp and animated by tambourine and castanets, pulls us into boisterous village festivities. The fresh sound of children's voices can be heard in Christmas lullabies and carols. The rugged and generous spirit of the Galician people comes to life through traditional Nativity songs and rituals. The Road to Compostela: A Galician Christmas RevelsA new CD featuring the music from this year's Christmas Revels at Sanders Theater, Cambridge.Our musical journey in "The Road to Compostela" meanders through Spain, with a significant dip into Catalonia, but primarily it explores Galicia, home of the shrine at Compostela. Here we encounter stirring procssionals and swirling dances played on the gaita galega, the indigenous Galician bagpipe. We are transported to the 13th century by a devotional song to the Virgin Mary and a longing plea for a lover to return from the sea. An a capella chorus raises a Renaissance motet high into the arches of the cathedral. A lively band, anchored by guitar and harp and animated by tambourine and castanets, pulls us into boisterous village festivities. The fresh sound of children's voices can be heard in Christmas lullabies and carols. The rugged and generous spirit of the Galician people comes to life through traditional Nativity songs and rituals. A new CD featuring the music from this year's Christmas Revels at Sanders Theater, Cambridge.Our musical journey in "The Road to Compostela" meanders through Spain, with a significant dip into Catalonia, but primarily it explores Galicia, home of the shrine at Compostela. Here we encounter stirring procssionals and swirling dances played on the gaita galega, the indigenous Galician bagpipe. We are transported to the 13th century by a devotional song to the Virgin Mary and a longing plea for a lover to return from the sea. An a capella chorus raises a Renaissance motet high into the arches of the cathedral. A lively band, anchored by guitar and harp and animated by tambourine and castanets, pulls us into boisterous village festivities. The fresh sound of children's voices can be heard in Christmas lullabies and carols. The rugged and generous spirit of the Galician people comes to life through traditional Nativity songs and rituals. Our musical journey in "The Road to Compostela" meanders through Spain, with a significant dip into Catalonia, but primarily it explores Galicia, home of the shrine at Compostela. Here we encounter stirring procssionals and swirling dances played on the gaita galega, the indigenous Galician bagpipe. We are transported to the 13th century by a devotional song to the Virgin Mary and a longing plea for a lover to return from the sea. An a capella chorus raises a Renaissance motet high into the arches of the cathedral. A lively band, anchored by guitar and harp and animated by tambourine and castanets, pulls us into boisterous village festivities. The fresh sound of children's voices can be heard in Christmas lullabies and carols. The rugged and generous spirit of the Galician people comes to life through traditional Nativity songs and rituals. 

NOTLOB'S LOCAL BLUEGRASS AND STRING BAND ARTIST RECOMMENDATIONS:

The Deadly Gentlemen - Roll Me, Tumble Me!
Rounder Records
Rounder Records Has Released Our New CD: Roll Me, Tumble Me! American Songwriter Hosts Music Video Premiere!
Posted on July 11, 2013 by Doctor Liszt
BOSTON — Thanks to everyone who came out to our CD release shows in NYC and Boston! The crowds were really inspiring, and it was great to see so many of our talented and wonderful friends.

The big day has come at last: Roll Me, Tumble Me is out on Rounder Records! You can find it at all the big retail outlets.

Our new music video for “Bored Of the Raging” has premiered on American Songwriter. Watch it in all its anarchic glory!You can also find it on YouTube.

Rounder is also offering a free song download of “Bored Of the Raging” for a limited time!








Della Mae - This World Oft Can Be
Rounder Records

On May 28, Boston-based quintet Della Mae will release their debut for Rounder, This World Oft Can Be.  The album, which was produced by Bryan Sutton and mixed by Paul Q. Kolderie (Radiohead, Hole, Dinosaur Jr.)  shows that like the Avett Brothers, Lumineers, and Punch Brothers, these five multitalented young women are respectful of American musical tradition, but not restricted by it, combining centuries’ worth of musical influences with an emotionally tough, undeniably modern songwriting sensibility.This World Oft Can Be’s 12 songs—including such engaging originals as “Empire,” “Paper Prince” “Maybeline” and the feisty title track—showcase the fivesome’s world-class instrumental abilities, lilting harmonies and subtly commanding lead vocals.  Although the musicians’ sublime skills have already won them numerous individual honors, the album’s focus is squarely on the band’s emotionally potent songs and spirited, effortlessly expressive performances.“The identity that we’ve developed as a band is a melting pot of our different personalities and backgrounds,” asserts founder Kimber Ludiker. After having the idea at a summer festival, Kimber hand picked musicians from all over the country: singer Celia Woodsmith comes from a blues/rock background, guitarist Courtney Hartman studied at Berklee College of Music, bassist Shelby Means played with various bands in Nashville, and mandolin player Jenni Lyn Gardner was schooled in traditional bluegrass. Della Mae’s members hail from all over the United States, and the five women each bring impressive musical resumes amassed in their previous ventures.Della Mae recorded This World Oft Can Be at Cash Cabin Studio, Johnny Cash’s former recording base, in Hendersonville, Tennessee. In addition to absorbing the studio’s inspirational vibes, Courtney Hartman played June Carter Cash’s vintage 1933 Gibson L5 Round Hole guitar on “Some Roads Lead On,” while Ludiker had the honor of borrowing John Hartford’s custom carved fiddle on “Letter From Down The Road.”In addition to playing festivals and clubs throughout the United States, Della Mae recently expanded the scale of its touring efforts after participating in the U.S. State Department’s American Music Abroad program.  Selected as cultural ambassadors, the band spent 43 days traveling in Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, where they collaborated with local musicians, taught educational programs for children, and played concerts for local audiences.“It’s been a life-changing experience for us, individually and as a band,” Ludiker says of the tour. “A cool thing about playing music in Central Asian countries is in the lack of distinction their audience places between musical genres.  We found that if music is played with feeling, all people connected to it. They find themselves smiling and relating without even understanding the language.”Indeed, Della Mae demonstrates how effectively music builds bridges and transcends artificially constructed borders, whether they’re national or genre-based.


Sarah Jarosz - Build Me Up From Bones
Sugar Hill Records

A recent graduate from the prestigious New England Conservatory, she will release her third album, Build Me Up From Bones, for Sugar Hill Records on September 24th. Over the past four years, Jarosz, who musically fits comfortably where contemporary folk, Americana and roots music intersect, has covered a remarkable amount of ground thus far. She has toured the United States extensively, as well as Canada and the UK, taped Austin City Limits and the BBC Series The Transatlantic Sessions and appeared on A Prairie Home Companion. Her two previous records (Song Up In Her Headand Follow Me Down) received high praise from outlets includingRolling Stone, New York Times, USA Today, Paste, Mojo, Acoustic Guitar and American Songwriter, and she has received multiple Grammy and Americana Music Association nominations.

Aoife O'Donovan - Fossils
Yeproc Records

Long the face of Boston-based alt-bluegrass outfit Crooked Still, Aoife O'Donovan – also a member of female folk trio Sometymes Why – is finally striking out on her own. The tender-voiced 30-year-old, who in recent years has collaborated with members of the Punch Brothers and world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and has written songs for Alison Krauss, will issue her long-awaited solo debut Fossils June 11th. Recorded over three weeks in Portland with producer Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, Neko Case), Fossils is a must-listen blend of bluegrass, folk and back-porch Americana, highlighted by the wistful "Red & White & Blue & Gold."

Rolling Stone

These albums certainly are on Scott Alarik's radar! We miss you, Scott!

By the way Mr. Martín Caballero, Jon Garelick, Luke O’Neil, Matt Parish, and James Reed, the last three albums have been nominated for GRAMMIES® 

notloB Music's Annual Guide to Winter Solstice Celebrations and Events

This is our third or fourth guide to Winter Solstice celebrations and events. A week or three before the Solstice a thread is created in "Celtic Music in New England", where any member can add news and information. Append your news there or here.

The Shortest Day

If a Martian PhD student were to observe the patterns of public celebrations on earth, she would find a flurry of activity towards the end of December. With her knowledge of astronomy she might quickly identify the activities as related to the solstice but if she crunched the data in her Martian cell phone she might find material for a thesis on what links together a number of tribes,nations and religions on earth. 

The winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, occurs around the 21st of December and takes its name from the Latin sol - sun, and sistere - to stand still. The ancients observed that for two or three days the sun seemed to stay in the same place before resuming its arc of travel through the heavens. The Roman sun god was Sol Invictus and he galloped his fiery chariot across the sky for roughly 364 days before stopping to water the horses and then starting over. This pause or inflection point has been noted by many different cultures around the world as a significant bench mark in the cycles of life. There is prehistoric evidence of interest in this date such as the alignment of stones at Stonehenge and elsewhere that function as decent solar calendars, and several examples of early codices that mark the winter solstice as important. Sometimes there is what seems to be a deliberate alignment such as at the time of Pope Gregory when the church calendar was revised to give prominence to December 25th as Christ's birth, neatly layering the feast of the "Unconquered Son" over the "Unconquered Sun."

In the Northern hemisphere with its cold winters, the dying of the light was a matter of great importance and attention to the mysterious transition from the death to the prebirth of the year has been at the center of Yuletide celebrations and feasts for centuries: 

"Everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world 
Came people singing and dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive."

At Revels we do our best to keep the year alive - Susan Cooper's poem is our best manifesto: 

"We carol, feast, give thanks
And dearly love our friends.
And hope for peace.
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!" 

Paddy Swanson 
Revels
December 2013

THE SHORTEST DAY 

BY SUSAN COOPER So the shortest day came, and the year died,

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen;

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive,And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, reveling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing behind us - Listen!!

All the long echoes sing the same delight,

This shortest day,

As promise wakens in the sleeping land:

They carol, fest, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends,

And hope for peace.

And so do we, here, now,

This year and every year.

Welcome Yule!!

The Christmas Revels ~ In Celebration of the Winter Solstice
16 Performances
December 13-27, 2013
Show length about 2.5 hours
George Emlen, Music Director 

Directed by Patrick Swanson

Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Map 
Directions
Parking
Buy Tickets Online 
See the full schedule

The 43rd annual Christmas Revels takes us to Galicia in Northern Spain, an area with a strong sense of Celtic identity where, since the Middle Ages, pilgrims have walked the Camino de Santiago (The Way of Saint James). Our story follows Everyman, a allegorical character summoned by a mysterious figure who tells him his days are numbered.  He must go on a journey to the end of the earth to be there for the shortest day. Needless to say, colorful encounters - and glorious music- abound!

Filled with evocative Spanish music, exciting dance and magical stories, our celebration includes a treasure trove of Galician processionals, songs and carols plus many Revels touchstones audiences enjoy every year including Susan Cooper's classic poem, The Shortest Day, Dona Nobis Pacem, the Sussex Mummers Carol, a seriously funny Mummers play, and Revels' signature piece, the joyous and participatory Lord of the Dance.

CUUPs (Covenant of UU Pagans) Yule celebration
Saturday, December 21
7pm
First Parish Cambridge Unitarian Universalist.
Harvard Square, Mass Ave at Church Street

From Fred Small, senior minister at First Parish Cambridge Unitarian Universalist.

"On Saturday, December 21 at 7 pm in the Barn Room,  the Pagan Earth centered festival of light held at the time of Winter Solstice. Common to almost every world culture, many of our present day traditions come from this ancient Spiritual practice. With a Yule log as the center of our Circle we will meditate together, sing Yule songs and share in the joy of the Winter season. We will honor the sacred wisdom and strength in all of us to survive and renew our Spirit through each turn of the Seasons. Join us as we remind each other to respect and honor the gifts of Earth and life itself, especially it's material blessings and simple happinesses. After the Circle Ritual, we'll enjoy holiday treats brought by all who participate. Come if you can and leave when you must! For more information, please email LauraEstan@comcast.net."

Winter Solstice service featuring Aine Minogue
December 19, 7pm 

First Church in Boston, Unitarian Universalist
Marlborough at Berkley
Boston

"Usher in the season with our Winter Solstice service on 12/19 at 6 PM featuring world renowned harpist Aine Minogue!"

Check the websites of your local Unitarian Universalist parish. Services we are aware of:

From The First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist: "Our scheduled service for Dec 22 at 7pm is:(Multigenerational) THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS Today, in many manifestations, we celebrate the victory of goodness over evil, of life over death, of light over darkness. We will light Kwanzaa, Advent, Hanukkah and Solstice candles.https://www.facebook.com/uubelmontWaltham First Parish's is at 4p on the 21st."
From First Parish of Watertown: "We are having ours Sunday the 22nd at 7pm. Waltham First Parish's is at 4p on the 21st."https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Parish-of-Watertown/195737317133660

Winter Solstice Gathering at the Old Manse
December 21, 6pm-7:30pm
The Old Manse 
269 Monument St, Concord, MA 01742
(978) 369-3909
From the good folks at the Emerson Umbrella:
"Take a break during the hectic Holiday Season and join the Musketaquid crowd on Saturday, December 21 at the Old Manse from 6pm-7:30pm for a Winter Solstice gathering! Sing-along with Voices for the Earth, eat S'mores over a blazing fire and Celebrate the longest and darkest night of the year!"

In the Berkshires...

Solstice at Starseeed ~ Celebrate Joy ~ 

Saturday, December 21  

11:30am - 9:00pm
Celebrate this year's Solstice in an intentional way with other kindred spirits.  
Starseed Healing Sanctuary and; Holistic Retreat Center

672 Chapel Road 

Savoy, MA 01256

Phone: (413) 743-0417

Email: starseed@bcn.net

http://www.starseedsanctuary.org/

Let us come together in community. Enjoy delicious food and enlivening company. Commune with the land. Enjoy music and song; meditation and ceremony; gift-making and gift-giving; gift-purchasing and fun-raising. We are out to have a good time. Come Join Us!
Solstice Fun-Raising: We have a beautiful program with many festivities planned for the Solstice.Come Friday for Gifting of the Open Heart and stay overnight. Spend the morning the sanctuary. Gather for a powerful Solstice meditation and ceremony to receive the new solar light. Enjoy a Starseed-hosted lunch. Purchase beautiful and meaningful gifts. Create a wreath of your intentions for the new year.  Enjoy a holiday potluck supper followed by a celebration which includes offerings of music, song, poetry, dance, and laughter. Settle down for a restful sleep in sanctuary.  Join us for any of all of this. Throughout this event there will be music and song offerings by talented friends of Starseed, including, Sarah Pirtle, Giovanna Spies, and Elisabeth Taylor. We invite you to bring your offerings of music and song as well. 

Out of state...

THE CHRISTMAS REVELS

AN APPALACHIAN CELEBRATION OF THE WINTER SOLSTICE
 

4 East Wheelock Street
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH 03755

603.646.2422

Through December 16
https://hop.dartmouth.edu/Online/christmas_revels_2013Join Revels North in celebrating the shortest day of the year with a spectacular journey to Southern Appalachia, where Native American, African and European traditions combine in astonishing music, dance and folktales. More than 75 talented local adult and child singers and dancers are joined by singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist  Pete Sutherland, formerly of the folk trio Metamora; Ontario-based old-time music duo Sheesham & Lotus; and North Carolina-based singer Suzannah Park, of Village Harmony and the Starry Mountain Singers.

WELCOME YULE!

New England and Beyond Summer Solstice Celebrations

Summer Solstice is one of the great turning points of the year, when the sun is at its peak and the days abound with the promise of life’s fullness. Traditionally, people have paused at this time to reflect upon the journey of life.
The word solstice comes from Latin sol (sun) and stitium (to stand still). The winter solstice is when the Sun reaches it southernmost point from the equator and seems to pause before reversing its course; at summer solstice the Sun attains its northernmost point and, once again, seems to stand still before turning back.

It was believed that at the moment of solstice, time, flowing in a circle, stopped, before ends of the year were joined. These two great celestial milestones of the year, are perhaps humanity’s most ancient ritual observances. 

~Paul Winter

From Wiki

The summer solstice occurs when the tilt of a planet's semi-axis, in either the northern or the southern hemisphere, is most inclined toward the star (sun) that it orbits. Earth's maximum axial tilt toward the sun is 23° 26'. This happens twice each year, at which times the sun reaches its highest position in the sky as seen from the north or the south pole.
The summer solstice occurs during a hemisphere's summer. This is northern solstice in the northern hemisphere and the southern solstice in the southern hemisphere. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the summer solstice occurs some time between December 20 and December 23 each year in the southern hemisphere^[2] and between June 20 and June 22 in the northern hemisphere^[3] in reference to UTC.^[4]
Though the summer solstice is an instant in time, the term is also colloquially used like midsummer to refer to the day on which it occurs. The summer solstice occurs on the day that has the longest period of daylight – except in the polar regions, where daylight is continuous, from a few days to six months around the summer solstice.
Worldwide, interpretation of the event has varied among cultures, but most have recognition of sign of the fertility, involving holidays, festivals, and rituals around that time.^[5]
Solstice is derived from Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still).

Collected through Celtic Music in New England here are some suggestions, arranged in ascending distance from Boston, for places to celebrate the Summer Solstice.

In the Groves: A Summer Solstice Journey

Diane Edgecomb, Storyteller, and Margot Chamberlain, Celtic Harpist

2 Sessions (select one): Friday, June 21, or Saturday, June 22, 6:30–8:30pm
Location: Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain

Join us for an enchanting evening of tree lore and summer-solstice legends. Diane and Margot spin tales of the human connection with trees and the deep meaning we have assigned to them through the ages. This unique performance, designed specifically for the Arnold Arboretum, travels through the Arboretum with story and music. Each story is told under a different tree or among a unique collection of Arboretum plants. The program begins under a grand Cedar of Lebanon, moves into the rosaceous collection, to the oaks of Bussey Hill, then onward to Hemlock Hill, culminating with the haunting Czech legend “The Wild Woman of the Birch Grove” told amid the birches at sunset. Appropriate for adults and for children twelve years and above. Bring a cushion to sit on if you wish. Registrants will walk approximately two miles on and off trails on uneven terrain. The performance takes place rain or shine. In the event of rain, it will be held in the Hunnewell Building lecture hall. Register early for this popular event.
Fee $20 per person through June 10; $25 per person after June 10

Register

Summer Solstice: Night at the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture | Peabody Museum

Celebrate the longest day of the year with live music, food, hands-on activities, and free admission to the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture (Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard Museum of Natural History, Semitic Museum) on Friday, June 21, 2013 from 5:00-9:00 pm. Meet on the Plaza in front of the Harvard Science Center, One Oxford Street, Cambridge.
Friday, June 21, 2013
5:00-9:00 pm
Free
Public information: 617-496-1027
Free event parking in the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

(Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard Museum of Natural History, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and the Semitic Museum).
https://www.peabody.harvard.edu/node/895

 Recommended by Alan Casso, who writes "This ALMOST qualifies: Midsummer Night Revels: A Summer Solstice Soiree"

TS CENTER FOR SPIRITUAL STUDIES    This Friday, June 21 Community Potluck Dinner and Summer Solstice Ritual with Janet Kessenich   This Saturday, June 22:  Buddhist Meditation Retreat

On Friday, join us for a Community Potluck Dinner and Solstice Ritual. This gathering only happens every few months so we do hope you can make it.
Then, on Saturday, attend a Buddhist Meditation Retreat from 9am to 9pm.
Welcome, Summer!
Friday, June 21
Community Potluck Dinner at 6pm
&
Summer Solstice Celebration
at 7:30pm
All are welcome!
Bring a dish to share! Join with others in spirit, for good conversation and tasty food.
As Summer begins, we'll meet for an evening of celebration and ritual honoring Solstice to enrich our conscious connection with our planet's seasonal changes. Led by Janet Kessenich of www.spiralenergies.com and CSS Acting Vice President.
Come for one or both events!
This event is free.
The Theosophical Society is a community of spiritually-minded people who share a vision to make spiritual knowledge available to all seekers.
All programming is done through our TS Center for Spiritual Studies.
The TS campus is located at 21 Maple Street in Arlington.  We are behind 19 Maple. See you there!

Directions are available on our website, www.tsboston.org

Join us for the 2nd annual

Midsummer Night Revels

A Summer Solstice Soirée benefitting Revels

Saturday, June 15, 2013, 8PM
145 Brattle Street, Cambridge MA | Holy Trinity Armenian Church
BUY TICKETS NOW
Building on the excitement of last year's sold-out Irish "Christmas Revels," our annual summer fundraiser features a bevy of Irish performers including WGBH's "Celtic Sojourn" host Brian O'Donovan and his lovely wife Lindsay, Ciaran Nagle (a founding member of the Three Irish Tenors), violinist/fiddler Tara Novak, the inimitable David Coffin, and show-stopping step dancers Harper Mills and Kevin McCormack who performed for us last Christmas and is now a member of Lord of the Dance! The Revels Singers, led by Revels music director George Emlen, and guitarist Owen Morrison will also be part of the celebration as will the spoken word, including poetry by W.B. Yeats and a wild, mini Strawboy Mummers Play modified for the occasion by Revels artistic director, Paddy Swanson. The night's festivities also include delicious desserts and a fabulous silent auction with all proceeds benefitting Revels' education and public programs.
Tickets
Advocate ticket at $35 includes:
Decadent dessert buffet, cash bar, a silent auction with fabulous prizes, and festive seasonal entertainment

Benefactor ticket at $100 includes:
All of the above plus a 6PM pre-soirée reception with hearty hors d’oeuvres and wine. Hosted by Revels supporters, receptions will take place in the Cambridge area. (Guests will receive location information and directions in advance.)
Buy tickets online or contact Katheen at 617-972-8300 ext. 29
Questions
(617) 972-8300, ext. 29 kmaresco@revels.org

Kick-off Riverfest, June 21-22, 2013 with OARS and Musketaquid Arts and Environment

Summer Solstice Friday, June 21, 2013
Celebrate the arrival of Summer along the Assabet, Sudbury and Concord Rivers! Activities Begin At the Old Manse 4:30pm

Wild Plants I have Eaten with Ross Cohen, 4:30-6pm
Ross is an expert forager and author, on a 90-minute ramble around the Old Manse
to discover at least a dozen species of edible wild plants. Keys to the
identification of each species will be provided, along with information on
edible portions, seasons of availability, and preparation methods, along with
general guidelines for responsible foraging.

Ross is an expert forager and author, on a 90-minute ramble around the Old Manse
to discover at least a dozen species of edible wild plants. Keys to the
identification of each species will be provided, along with information on
edible portions, seasons of availability, and preparation methods, along with
general guidelines for responsible foraging.
  Robbins House Open House, 5:30-7:30pm
The Robbins House was built by the son of slavery survivor and Revolutionary War
veteran Caesar Robbins in the early 1800s. It was originally located at the edge
of Concord?s Great Meadows, in an area where self-emancipated Africans
established their homes. In 2011 the Drinking Gourd Project moved the house to
land adjacent to North Bridge; come hear about Concord?s early African
history.

The Robbins House was built by the son of slavery survivor and Revolutionary War
veteran Caesar Robbins in the early 1800s. It was originally located at the edge
of Concord?s Great Meadows, in an area where self-emancipated Africans
established their homes. In 2011 the Drinking Gourd Project moved the house to
land adjacent to North Bridge; come hear about Concord?s early African
history.
  Old Manse Open House Tours, 6 & 7pm
Join the Trustees of Reservations and enjoy free admission for a tour of the
first floor of the Old Manse situated on the banks of the Concord River.

Join the Trustees of Reservations and enjoy free admission for a tour of the
first floor of the Old Manse situated on the banks of the Concord River.
  Musical Picnic with Snow Crow on the banks of the Concord River, 6:30 pm
   Illuminated Flotilla from the Old Manse to the Old Calf Pasture
with Voices for the Earth, 8:00 pm
Launch your canoe, rowboat, or kayak for a trip up the Concord River to the
confluence of the Assabet and Sudbury Rivers at Egg Rock. Bring along a candle
lantern that you can attach to your boat. Boat rentals available from the
South Bridge Boat House. Boat take-out at Lowell Road bridge. For those who
want to participate without getting wet, the best viewing spot is from the
Lowell Road Bridge just outside Concord Center.
 with Voices for the Earth, 8:00 pmLaunch your canoe, rowboat, or kayak for a trip up the Concord River to theconfluence of the Assabet and Sudbury Rivers at Egg Rock. Bring along a candlelantern that you can attach to your boat. Boat rentals available from theSouth Bridge Boat House. Boat take-out at Lowell Road bridge. For those whowant to participate without getting wet, the best viewing spot is from theLowell Road Bridge just outside Concord Center.  Drum and Dance Bonfire at the Old Calf Pasture
with Earth Drum Council, 8:00 pm
 with Earth Drum Council, 8:00 pm  For more information call OARS at 978-369-3956
or Musketaquid Arts and Environment at 978-371-0820.
For canoe rental, call South Bridge Boat House 978-371-2465,
and ask for Solstice group rate.or Musketaquid Arts and Environment at 978-371-0820.For canoe rental, call South Bridge Boat House 978-371-2465,and ask for Solstice group rate.


 Not really a solstice celebration, but a pretty darned good way to celebrate

Féile Cheoil Boston 2013

June 22nd, 2013 at First United Methodist Church, Melrose, MA.

All are welcome to join us for a fun day of competitions, sessions, workshops, dancing, entertainment, and more.

- Adjudicated solo and duet competitions for beginner, intermediate, and advanced students of all ages

- Instrument categories include:

• Fiddle
• Flute
• Whistle
• Button Accordion
• Uilleann Pipes
• Concertina
• Bodhrán
• Banjo
• Singing
• Accompaniment (guitar, piano, bouzouki, etc)
• Miscellaneous

Summer Solstice at the Garden in the Woods
Course Code: fam6503
Instructor: Roland "Boot" Boutwell, naturalist 
Fee: $10 (Member) / $12 (Nonmember)
Limit: 24   Credit: 
Online Registration: 

The summer solstice marks the longest day and shortest night of the year.  Celebrate the season with solstice history and lore, poetry, songs, stories, and a short ceremony to welcome in the solstice.  Enjoy a walk in the woods to enjoy the beauty of summer’s longest day, to watch the sunset, and see the lighting of Garden’s “Fireball” sculpture. Refreshments follow.

Thursday, June 20, 2013, 7-9 p.m.

Location: Garden in the Woods, Framingham, MA

Summer Solstice at Starseed!

Friday, June 21

672 Chapel Road, Savoy, MA.
http://www.starseedsanctuary.org/

Celebrate the Longest Day of the Year and World Peace and Prayer Day!
We will walk in the Peace Labyrinth, making one prayer for all nations and all faiths.
We will then journey to the Medicine Wheel to anchor our prayer through fire ceremony, drumming, toning, and connecting our feet to the Earth.
Bring your drums, rhythm instruments, and delicious food!
6:00pm Vegetarian Potluck Supper
8:00pm Fire ceremony in sacred circle
RSVP to starseed@bcn.net
Suggested donation: $10

Starseed is an interfaith healing sanctuary, holistic retreat center, and developing intentional community dedicated to personal and planetary transformation.  Located in the hills of the northern Berkshires on 130 acres of fields, forests and wetlands, Starseed serves as a spiritual center and energy anchor for personal and planetary transformation. People come here to connect with Spirit, the Land, their inner Self and other Kindred Spirits.

Paul Winter Consort Summer Solstice Concert at St. John the Divine, NYC

4am, June 21

In early morning there’s a sense of timelessness and possibility.

When I’m awake in the darkness before dawn – as the birds begin to sing, and the Earth prepares for the Sun – I feel as if life is beginning again. There’s something magical about that virgin time, when we’re free of our habitual patterns and obligations. My dream of evoking this feeling in music was the original inspiration for Summer Solstice.
We begin playing in total darkness at 4:30 a.m. within the awesome space and acoustics of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. We embark on a continuous two-hour musical journey, with players stationed in distant corners or moving among the audience. Somewhere near the halfway point, listeners gradually realize that the Cathedral’s great stained-glass windows are beginning to illuminate. The light joins the sound to carry us into the first dawning of summer.
The musicians this year will comprise a new “summer consort,” with Eugene Friesen, cello; John Clark, French horn; Marcus Rojas, tuba; Tim Brumfield, organ; yours truly on soprano sax; along with four percussionists. We will be creating a new stage set and audience configuration this year. The audience will be seated in concentric circles under the great dome, surrounded by the musicians and instruments, including our nine huge Balinese Gamelan gongs, and other large percussion instruments.
For living music, Paul Winter

 

Summer Solstice Tradition

Summer Solstice is one of the great turning points of the year, when the sun is at its peak and the days abound with the promise of life’s fullness. Traditionally, people have paused at this time to reflect upon the journey of life.
The word solstice comes from Latin sol (sun) and stitium (to stand still). The winter solstice is when the Sun reaches it southernmost point from the equator and seems to pause before reversing its course; at summer solstice the Sun attains its northernmost point and, once again, seems to stand still before turning back.
It was believed that at the moment of solstice, time, flowing in a circle, stopped, before ends of the year were joined. These two great celestial milestones of the year, are perhaps humanity’s most ancient ritual observances.

 

A seven-time Grammy Award-winning saxophonist, Paul Winter was a college student in 1961, when his sextet won the Intercollegiate Jazz Festival and was signed by Columbia Records. The next year, the band toured Latin America as cultural ambassadors for the U.S. State Department, playing 160 concerts in 23 countries. At the invitation of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the Paul Winter Sextet presented the first ever jazz concert at the White House in 1962.
Hearing the songs of humpback whales for the first time in 1968 further expanded Winter’s concept of a musical community. The Consort’s rich sound textures give Winter’s Earth Music its unique and alluring quality; sounds from the natural world are interwoven with classical and ethnic traditions, then infused with the spontaneous spirit of jazz.
In 1980, the Paul Winter Consort became artists-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Each year’s Winter and Summer Solstice Celebrations and Earth Mass are among the most popular events in New York. “People get a sense of community – a sense of the whole wide community of life, which is one of the best things we could do with our music,” he says.
Paul Winter has performed in over 2,000 major concert halls, as well as Washington’s National Cathedral, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, the Grand Canyon, the Negev Desert in Israel and the palace of the Crown Prince of Japan. He has received a Global 500 Award from the United Nations, and the Peace Abbey’s Courage of Conscience Award, among others.

The Paul Winter Consort

The story of the Paul Winter Consort and its predecessor, the Paul Winter Sextet, has evolved during a forty-year saga of adventure-through-music. Milestones include:

• the Sextet’s horizon-expanding tour through twenty-three Latin American countries in 1962
• the Sextet’s seven initial albums for Columbia Records under producer John Hammond
• Paul Winter’s meeting with Pete Seeger in 1966, who encouraged him towards more participatory music
• Paul Winter hearing for the first time the songs of humpback whales. Their haunting voices affected him in the same way as had those of the great jazz players and singers, and planted the seeds of creative ideas that blossomed on a number of his and the Consort’s later albums.

Infused with the rhythms and melodies of so many of the world’s cultures, Winter decided in 1968 to form the Consort as a forum for combining elements from various African, Asian, and South American cultures with jazz. “I borrowed the name ‘consort’ from the ensembles of Shakespeare’s time, the housebands of the Elizabethan Theater, which adventurously blended woodwinds, strings and percussion, the same families of instruments I wanted to combine in our ‘contemporary’ consort,” Paul Winter says.
Musicians such as David Darling, Paul McCandless, Ralph Towner, Glen Moore, Collin Wolcott, Nancy Rumbel, Jim Scott, Rhonda Larson, Russ Landau, Glen Velez, Paul Halley, Dorothy Papadakos, Eugene Friesen, Susan Osborn, Paul Sullivan, Mickey Hart, Oscar Castro-Neves, Nóirín Ní Riain, Jordan Rudess, Davy Spillane and many others have performed with the Consort.

 

The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine

“Ever since St. John’s Day, Dec. 27, 1892, when the cornerstone was thrice struck into the living rock of Manhattan’s Morningside Heights, St. John’s has aimed to be a ‘house of prayer for all people.’ To its great bronze doors have come all the faithful — Christian, Jew, Buddhist, existentialist, best-dressed, lesser-blessed, socially distressed — seeking joy and triumph over the universal demons.
“In the arboreal stillness of its towering columns and arches, they have listened to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Buckminster Fuller, the Mayor of Jerusalem, Duke Ellington, the Dalai Lama, Cesar Chavez, Rene Dubos, Thomas Berry, Jesse Jackson, Vaclav Havel, Gary Snyder, Brian Swimme, Secretaries General of the United Nations, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Paul Winter Consort.
“Under the jewel light of its 10,000 pane Great Rose window, they have prayed together for war’s end. Though its keynote is distinctly American, as is that of the Episcopal Church, the Cathedral — affectionately called “Big John” — peals a message around the globe: ‘Peace on earth, good will toward all.’ ”
– Wendy Insinger (from Town & Country magazine)
For news and updates, visit the Cathedral of St. John the Divine website.

Summer Solstice Recollections

It’s always been difficult to describe Summer Solstice to someone who’s never attended. So recently we asked audience members who experienced the concert over the last two years to share their “summer solstice recollections.”
They said it better than we ever could:
“I’ve attended both the winter and summer solstice celebrations. I love both, but the summer solstice seems to resonate at a deeper level. The quiet darkness and smaller audience allows you to be more in tune with the music. You feel it throughout your whole body.”
“As my daughter and I found our seats among the hushed listeners, we felt the special peacefulness of the moment and the restorative calm of the dark morning hour. … As dawn approached the music changed with it. My daughter touched my shoulder to turn and see the stained-glass images that began to softly gather the early morning light.”
“From the first single note emerging from the darkness, all my senses are engaged.”
“It was not about seeing. It was about pure sound, the dawn of a new day.”
“I felt myself transported back to our earliest ancestors and their awe as the sun lined up to their sacred solstice markers.”
Read more summer solstice recollections or share your own >