Arts Fuse critics select the best in film, theater, music, dance, visual arts, and author events for the coming week.

By The Arts Fuse Staff

Film

Goodbye Gauley Mountain – An Ecosexual Love Story
June 9, 7:30 p.m.
Regent Theater
Arlington, MA

The unusual blend of ideas and themes in this film are described by the website Sexecology as the story of the “pollen-amorous” love affair between artist couple Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle as they speak out against mountain top removal mining (MTR ) practices. It weaves three themes to address issues of environmental and social justice: the joys of “ecosexuality,” the destruction of MTR, and Beth’s upbringing in the heart of a West Virginia in a coal mining family. The film’s structure juxtaposes the ugly and beautiful, sadness and humor and asks, “Can romantic love for nature mobilize others, before it’s too late, to fight for social and environmental justice?”

The Films of Roy Andersson
June 10—July 2
Museum of Fine Arts
Boston, MA

Andersson has made hundreds of elaborate and memorable commercials, but a limited number of films. These can be hard to find, so this series is chance to see what the British Telegraph describes as a “quirky, semi-comedic style . . . studio sets always meticulously designed . . .  and a keen eye for the absurd.” Andersson says “There are some subjects that I’m dealing with all the time. The vulnerability of the human being. Humiliation, when people humiliate each other and when they humiliate themselves.” Lars Von Trier says Andersson is the only Palme d’Or competitor he truly fears. Songs from the Second Floor took the Jury Prize at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. A sample of his slapstick style can be found on his first commercial reel.

Jauja
June 12—15
Brattle Theater
Cambridge, MA

Argentine filmmaker Lisandro Alonso has established himself as one of the most original international auteurs. Rigorously probing and destabilizing the boundaries between fiction and documentary, he has created an enigmatic cinema that questions the essence of reality, the limits of fiction, and the definition of “cinema” itself.

Jauja is Alonso’s first period piece and first film with a formal script with professional actors. Viggo Mortensen plays Danish general Gunnar Dinesen, who is assigned to a scouting mission in the wilds of Patagonia during the Spaniards’ 1882 campaign to rid the land of its indigenous people. When his beloved fifteen-year-old daughter Ingeborg (Villbjork Agger Malling) runs off with a young soldier, Dinesen mounts his horse and sets off in pursuit, desperately hoping to find her before she is caught by the notorious brigand Zuluaga, a former soldier who, like Joseph Conrad’s Kurtz in Heart of Darkness, has gone native. (Toronto Film Festival)

— Tim Jackson

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Dance

Cirque de la Symphonie
June 12, 8 p.m. and June 13, 3 and 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall
Boston, MA

Viewers of all ages will enjoy this fantastical merging of live orchestra and circus, with aerialists to dancers to “strongmen” taking the stage alongside the ever-popular Boston Pops.

Dance for World Community Festival
June 13, noon to 6 p.m.
Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre
Harvard Square
Cambridge, MA

Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre’s 7th annual Dance for World Community Festival boasts free indoor and outdoor performances by more than 80 dance groups. Food vendors and introductory dance classes offered throughout the afternoon, with a community dance party from 6 to 8 p.m.

Dancing in the Streets: Jean Appolon Expressions
June 13, 8:30 p.m.
7 Hills Park, Davis Square
Somerville, MA

Jean Appolon Expressions’ ANGAJE returns, this time presented by the Somerville Arts Council as part of its summer series. The show features Haitian folklore and the fight for social justice.

And further afield…

Providence International Arts Festival
June 11—14
Kennedy Plaza
Providence, RI

Produced by FirstWorks and the City of Providence, this festival in Rhode Island’s capital proffers art installations, dance performances, music, food vendors, and crafts.

— Merli V. Guerra

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Jazz

Clear Audience
June 7, 7 p.m.
Lily Pad
Cambridge, MA

The quartet Clear Audience returns after seven years with a new album, Medicine Ball, that finds them as adventurous as ever, mixing grooves and forms, written material and spontaneously improvised free-falls. Steve Fell (who does most of the writing) plays guitar and electronics, Andy Voelker is on saxophones, Jeff Charland is on bass, Luther Gray drums.

Joelle Lurie
June 9, 7:30 p.m.
Regattabar
Cambridge, MA

A former Bostonian, singer and songwriter Joelle Lurie brings cabaret-powered pipes and jazz feeling to standards, originals, and contemporary pop.

Django A Go-Go
June 10, 7:30 and 10 p.m.
Regattabar
Cambridge, MA

New York-based guitarist Stephane Wremble puts together a biennial touring group dedicated to the musical tradition codified by the great Roma guitarist and composer Django Reinhardt. This year’s edition includes Wremble, French guitarist Sebastien Felix, the French-Tunisian guitarist Kemlo, esteemed American swing guitarist Howard Alden, violinist John Intrator, bassist Kells Nollenberger, drummer Nick Anderson, and percussionist/washboard player David Langlois.

Marisa Licata
June 10, 8 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club
Boston, MA

Violinist Marisa Licata brings virtuoso chops to a varied repertoire that includes progressive jazz charts and world-music fusions of Eastern European, Arabic, and Afro-Latin traditions. Expect this show to lean on American blues, since veteran singer and harp player James Montgomery will be on hand as a guest.

Lee Konitz Quartet
June 13, 7:30 p.m.
Regattabar
Cambridge, MA

Alto saxophone seer Lee Kontiz, now 87, brings his superb quartet to town: pianist Dan Tepfer, bassist Jeremy Stratton, and drummer George Schuller.

The Cal Tjader Project
June 14, 7 p.m.
Lily Pad
Cambridge, MA

Titled “Caliente Meets Cool,” this program, put together by bassist Scott Samenfeld, digs into the music of Tjader (1925-1982) — a West Coast vibist whose laid back grooves have sometimes caused him to be lumped in with the lounge music “exotica” of Martin Denny and Les Baxter. But Tjader led formidable groups and worked with people like Dave Brubeck, Eddie Palmieri, Chick Corea, and Kenny Burrell. (His big hit was the album Soul Sauce, on which he covered the Dizzy Gillespie tune; a fictionalized version of Tjader’s band played “A Minor Goof” in the Tim Burton movie Big Eyes.) “Caliente Meets Cool” features vibist Rich Greenblatt, guitarist Ethan K, trumpeter Mark Mullins, pianist Susanna Fiore, percussionist Karen Gruber, sax-and-flute guy Jim Repa, and drummer Phil Neighbors.

Petros Klampanis
June 16, 7:30 p.m.
Regattabar
Cambridge, MA

The young Greek bassist and composer Petros Klampanis has been making waves since moving to New York several years ago. A regular sideman with Greg Osby, Klampanis comes to Boston to celebrate Minor Dispute (Inner Circle Music), which shows off his provocative skills as player and composer—writing for strings, mixing jazz and traditional Greek traditions, deploying “extended” techniques with his acoustic bass (including electronic looping). He brings the core group of seasoned musicians from that album—pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, guitarist Gilad Hekselman, and percussionist John Hadfield.

— Jon Garelick

The Burlington Discover Jazz Festival continues through next Sunday, New Haven’s International Festival of Arts and Ideas kicks off on Friday, and Saturday brings jazz to the South Coast with the New Bedford JazzFest. For more details, see our 2015 festival preview.

And a tip of the hat to Merli Guerra and Noah Schaffer for alerting us to the inaugural Providence International Arts Festival, and to Bill Marx for pointing us to trombonist/tubist Bill Lowe’s Kabnis: The Gothic Detective Musical—see their comments in the Dance, World and Roots Music, and Theater sections of this article.

— J. R. Carroll

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Theater

Melancholy Play: a chamber musical by Sarah Ruhl and Todd Diamond. Directed by Liesl Tommy. Staged by the Trinity Repertory Company in the Dowling Theater, Providence, Rhode Island, through June 28.

“Tony-nominated playwright Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House) teams up with prolific composer Todd Almond (New York’s Public Theater) for this world premiere musical directed by Obie Award-winner Liesl Tommy.”

after all the terrible things I do by A. Rey Pamatmat. Directed by Peter DuBois. Staged by the Huntington Theatre Company at the South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, through June 21.

We are told that this is a provocative drama from an “emerging Filipino American playwright” that “examines how our prejudices impact those closest to us and what the cost of forgiveness and second chances actually looks like. Pamatmat explores the origins of bullying and its mental and psychological ramifications.” The Huntington’s production of after all the terrible things I do will run alongside Company One Theatre’s production of Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them (directed by Shawn LaCount). Both productions will be produced in the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, the Huntington’s home for new plays. Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them will run from June 4 through 27 at in Deane Hall.

Three by Emily Kaye Lazzaro. Directed by A. Nora Long. Staged by Boston Public Works in the Black Box Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA, through June 20.

A good sign: the script doesn’t sound very empowering. It “is a coming-of-age story about three young women finding validation, struggling against loneliness, and losing everything. It’s about friendship and independence and death and adulthood. It also has a lot of jokes about genitalia.” See the Arts Fuse feature on Boston Public Works.

Light Up the Sky, by Moss Hart. Directed by Scott Edmiston. Staged by the Lyric Stage Company of Boston at 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA, through June 13.

Hart’s venerable backstage Broadway comedy in a production that features a dream cast of Boston actors—including Will LeBow, Will McGarrahan, Bob Mussett, Terrence O’Malley, Paula Plum, Alejandro Simones, Kathy St. George, Richard Snee, and Bobbie Steinbach.

The How and the Why by Sarah Treem. Directed by Nicole Ricciardi. Staged by Shakespeare & Company in the Bernstein Theatre, Lenox, MA, through July 26.

Dramatist Sarah Treem once told an interviewer that for a good play, “you put people in a room who have very good reasons to be furious at each other and you don’t let them leave. The How and the Why is somewhat based on that principle.” Tod Randolph and Bridget Saracino star in this production of a clash between two highly intelligent female scientists. See the Arts Fuse feature on The How and the Why.

Kabnis: The Gothic Detective Musical by Bill Lowe. Directed by Jacqui Parker. At the Hibernian Hall, Roxbury, MA, on June 13.

I usually don’t include staged readings, but this sounds pretty exciting—particularly because the evening includes live music. Jazz trombonist and tubaist Bill Lowe presents a staged reading/workshop of his “creative interpretation of the third section of Harlem Renaissance author Jean Toomer’s critically-acclaimed novel Cane, which includes a series of poems and short stories depicting African-American life in the early 20th century.” The production will feature a cast of five and a seven-piece musical ensemble, dance and video animation.

Sweet and Sad by Richard Nelson. Directed by Weylin Symes. Staged by the Gloucester Stage Company in collaboration with Stoneham Theatre at 267 Main Street, Gloucester, MA, through June 20.

Part Two of the Apple Family Plays, Richard Nelson’s series of scripts about an American family in which he mixes domestic issues and political commentary. Each drama takes place during a different time. This installment is set on “the tenth anniversary of 9/11” as “a family gathers to share a meal and grapple with topics of remembrance, loss, and change.” Here is my review/commentary on Part One, That Hopey Changey Thing, which was staged earlier this season at Stoneham Theatre with the same cast.

Seminar by Theresa Rebeck. Directed by Christine Toy Johnson. On the Julie Harris Stage at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, Wellfleet, MA, through June 13.

Alan Campbell stars in “a provocative comedy from Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck.” The script follows the experiences of “four aspiring young novelists who sign up for private writing classes with Leonard, an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, sex is used as a weapon and hearts are unmoored.”

Smile at Us, Oh Lord, an adaption for the stage of two novels by the Lithuanian-born Israeli writer, Grigory Kanovich. Directed by Rimas Tuminas. Performed by the Vakhtangov Stage Academic Theatre of Russia, presented by the Cherry Orchard Festival and Arts Emerson at the Emerson/Cutler Majestic Theatre, Boston, MA, on June 12 and 13.

“With a plot full of tragi-comedic moments, accented by soulful music,” this production “tells the story of a ‘little man,’ vehemently opposed to wrongdoing, even as the world around him crumbles.” In Russian with English subtitles.

Henry V by William Shakespeare. Directed by Jenna Ware. Staged by Shakespeare & Company in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, Lenox, MA, June 18 through August 23.

Those hungry for more history plays by the Bard after Henry VI, Part 2 have an opportunity to continue the adventure with the prequel: “Henry V is rare among Shakespeare’s works because it contains explicit references to true events in England’s history. Following the death of his father, Prince Hal takes on the crown, rallies his exhausted troops and sets forth to repair his post-civil war nation.” Is the text pro-war? Anti-war? A little of both? It depends on where director Ware puts the emphasis.

Shiver: A Fairytale of Anxious Proportions, written and performed by Project: Project at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, June 18 through 28.

In this intriguing effort, Project: Project has adapted an off-the-beaten-path Brothers Grimm fairy tale (“The Boy Who Went Forth to Learn How to Shiver”) for the stage. “Stressed-out academic Charlotte travels to an ancient German archive library in order to dig deeper and learn more about the fairytale. However, instead of finding answers in a book, she tumbles into a world of movement, shadow-play and nightmares, as three stories magically intersect across time and reality.”

The Farnsworth Invention, by Aaron Sorkin. Directed by Sarah Gazdowicz. Staged Flat Earth at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA, June 12 through 27.

Sorkin’s play about treachery and technology focuses on “Philo Farnsworth, a child prodigy raised on a farm in rural Idaho, [who] has overcome adversity to create the world’s first electronic television. Meanwhile, employing the top minds of a generation, self-made media mogul David Sarnoff seeks to uncover the secret to Farnsworth’s groundbreaking device through any means necessary.”

Dying City by Christopher Shinn. Directed by Cameron Cronin. Staged by the Happy Medium Theatre in Boston, MA, June 18 through July 11.

The local staging of this script—a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama—will be up front and personal. Cronin directs the “star power-house Fringe couple, Kiki Samko and Michael Underhill” in a “play about grief, identity, and violence in the human psyche—the lies, betrayal and self-deceptions and the centrality of hate in human existence.”

As for attending the show, please note that the production will take place in the living room of the performers, so special arrangements have to be made: “Due to the loss of the Factory Theater, HMT had to improvise this whole season and after not much deliberation, we collectively decided to still bring this wonderful piece of theater to the community in the most intimate form possible: the actual home of Kiki Samko and Michael Underhill. For privacy purposes, we are withholding the address in our press releases, but it will be provided by sending a reply email to mikeydiloreto@gmail.com.”

— Bill Marx

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World and Roots Music

Olivia Chaney with Floyd’s Row
June 9, 6:30 p.m.
Lizard Lounge
Cambridge, MA

Given her freshly minted Nonesuch record deal, British folk balladeer Chaney’s return visit to the Lizard Lounge is likely the last time she plays such a small venue in these parts. Her set is sandwiched between Floyd’s Row, a Northumbrian classical ensemble who probably don’t play too many pub dates either.

Songhoy Blues
June 10, 9 p.m.
Great Scott, Boston

Many of the Malian desert blues bands that have toured the U.S. hail from the Touareg ethnic group. But the Songhoy people have also turned to electrified guitar bands to tell their story of marginalized life in refugee camps. The band is featured in the forthcoming documentary They Will Have to Kill Us First. Breaking a new African band in the U.S. is never easy, and this show has been downsized from the larger Sinclair to Great Scott.

Roger McGuinn
June 11, 7:30 p.m.
Hanover Theatre, Worcester

The Byrds founder has spent recent years mining traditional ballads as part of his “Folk Den” web series and album. These days his one-man show is a musical memoir bringing together his early influences with his pioneering folk/rock hits.

Somerville Squeezebox Slam
June 13, noon to 6 p.m.
Seven Hills Park, Davis Square, Somerville

This annual celebration of the glorious-yet-maligned accordion includes jazz great Sonny Barbuto and Tokyo’s Jinta-la-Mvta. MC duties are handled by the accordion-fab Lady Kielbasia, the area’s foremost drag lunch lady.

Providence International Arts Festival
June 13
Providence, RI

This free day-long affair in downtown Providence includes soul shouter Lee Fields and the Expressions, Brazilian Afrobeat combo Bixiga 70 and a rare area appearance from Mali’s great diva Oumou Sangaré.

Jon Dee Graham
June 13, 4 p.m.
Atwood’s, Cambridge

When the veteran Austin rocker played an afternoon solo show at Atwood’s in 2014, his gruff and funny personality was so delightful it made the list of the top shows of the year.

Barrence Whitfield’s 60th Birthday Bash
June 13, 7:30 p.m.
Regent Theatre, Arlington

Boston’s great wild man of rock, rhythm and soul has never sounded better than he did when his Savages appeared with the Sonics in April. The long list of special guests at his birthday party includes the Spampinato Brothers and another great local soul act, 1960’s recording artist and octogenarian Shor’ty Billups.

— Noah Schaffer

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Visual Arts

Gods and Heroes: Masterpieces from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris
June 13—September 13, 2015
Portland Art Museum

When the French monarchy and the Catholic church ruled art as the great patrons of painting and sculpture, the state funded Ecole des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts) in Paris was the commanding French art academy. Established to train young artists in classical principles of form, technique, and content, the school survived revolutions and regime changes, attracting generations of the leading young talents in France,

Until the 20th century, to have a high profile career as an artist, designing work for churches, palaces, and public buildings, creating monuments for city square and parks, working for wealthy patrons, participating in state-sponsored exhibitions, and selling work to the great state museums, study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts was the one and only essential first step. During its decades at the center of French visual culture, the Ecole acquired an impressive inventory of work by its former students and faculty as well as important works by other European artists used as models for teaching. Some 140 paintings, sculpture, and works on paper from this collection will be on view at the Portland Art Museum this summer.

The title, “Gods and Heroes,” reflects the Ecole’s favored subject matter: dramatic scenes from Greek and Roman mythology and the Bible. The artists on view are a roster of pre-Impressionist greats, including Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Théodore Géricault, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Jean-Antoine Houdon, Adding to the banquet are a drawing by Raphael, prints by Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt, and Roman sculpture used by beginning students to study the human form.

Arlene Schechet: All at Once
June 10—September 7, 2015
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston

American sculptor Arlene Schechet creates in materials that change as they are worked: plaster, paper, and, especially clay, subjecting them to a whole range of experiments, indignities, and transformations. To beef up her skills and find new inspiration, she has taken residencies at the Dieu Donné Papermill in New York and at Germany’s famed Meissen factory, whose 18th-century technicians finally cracked the closely-guarded secrets of porcelain making.

Technically virtuosic and distinctly odd, Schechet’s work at times suggests piles of old rope or previously undiscovered swamp creatures that might have starred in an old X-Files episode. Avant-garde in approach, it is also part of a long folk and folk-inspired tradition of whimsical and non-classical object-making that blend the practical with the outrageously non-functional.

The ICA’s show is a major retrospective of twenty years of Schechet’s experiments and discoveries, with a strong emphasis on her love affair with clay, perhaps the most versatile and lasting of all artists’ materials. In these pieces, the ICA claims, she recasts “centuries of old traditions into her own mold.”

— Peter Walsh

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Classical Music

Voices
Callithumpian Consort
June 4, 7 p.m.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Boston, MA

The Gardner Museum’s contemporary music series ends its season with a pair of pieces by Helmut Lachenmann and Chaya Czernowin. Elizabeth Keusch—fresh off a brilliant performance with Odyssey Opera—joins baritone Brian Church, pianist Stephen Drury and Callithumpian.

Simply Sondheim
Boston Pops
June 10 and 11, 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall
Boston, MA

The Pops pay homage to the musical theater giant with selections from Follies, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, plus West Side Story and Gypsy. Kate Baldwin and Jason Danieley join Keith Lockhart, the Pops, and members of the Tanglewood Music Center.

Concert in the Round
Lexington Symphony
June 13, 8 p.m.
Winchester Town Hall
Winchester, MA

The LSO wraps up its 2014-15 season with its annual concert in the round, this year featuring music from the United States, Mexico, France, Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom. Music director Jonathan McPhee conducts.

Handel and Haydn Sings
Handel and Haydn Society
June 18, 7:30 p.m.
Symphony Hall
Boston, MA

H&H closes the first part of its bicentennial celebration (appropriately, it continues throughout the 2015-16 season) with music by Handel, Palestrina, and Bach, plus the world premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s My Angel, His Name is Freedom and recent pieces by James MacMillan and Arvo Part.

Powder Her Face
Odyssey Opera
June 18—20, 7:30 p.m.
Huntington Theater
Boston, MA

Odyssey Opera’s “The British Invasion” wraps up with Thomas Ades’ provocative 1995 opera on the scandalous life of Margaret Campbell, the so-called “Dirty Duchess” of Argyll. Patricia Schuman sings Campbell; Ben Wager, Daniel Norman, and Amanda Hall round out the cast. Gil Rose conducts.

— Jonathan Blumhofer

Boston Early Music Festival

Sunday, June 7, 3:30 p.m., Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria *
Tuesday, June 9, 7 p.m., L’incoronazione di Poppea *
Friday, June 12, 7 p.m., Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria *
Saturday, June 13, 8 p.m., Orfeo **
Sunday, June 14, 3:30 p.m., L’incoronazione di Poppea *

* Boston University Theatre
** Jordan Hall

The big event of the week is the biennial Boston Early Music Festival. For the June 2015 Festival—”Invention & Discovery”—BEMF is planning an unprecedented presentation of staged productions of Monteverdi’s three surviving operas, Orfeo, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, and L’incoronazione di Poppea, as well as the Vespers of 1610, all led by BEMF’s Grammy Award nominated Artistic Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, Opera Director Gilbert Blin, and Orchestra Director Robert Mealy. This once-in-a-lifetime celebration of Monteverdi and his most monumental works will feature an all-star cast of singers, instrumentalists, and dancers from across the globe forming the centerpiece of what BBC3 Radio has called “arguably the most important and influential Early Music event in the world”.

I also highly recommend the performances by Jordi Savall and Sequentia, but the many 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. concerts are quite worthwhile as well.

Friends of Tom Zajac presents Battaglia d’Amor
June 8, 6 p.m.
First Lutheran Church, 299 Berkeley Street
Boston, MA
Suggested Donation $20. All proceeds go directly to Tom.

Performers for this benefit concert include Arcadia Viols, Blue Heron, Boston Camerata, Boston Shawm and Sackbut Ensemble, Dünya, Exsultemus, Frances Conover Fitch, Balint Karosi, Meravelha, Piffaro, Renaissonics, Seven Times Salt, & Tapestry.

Nahant Music Festival presents Sleeping Beauty by Francine Trester
June 12, 7:30 p.m.
St. Thomas Church, 248 Nahant Road
Nahant, MA

Commissioned by the Nahant Music Festival, this is the premiere of Francine Trester’s opera in three acts, Sleeping Beauty, fully staged and directed by Frank Kelley. The cast includes 2015 Nahant Music Festival Apprentices: Eileen Huang and Samantha Dearborn, sopranos; Grace Allendorf and Kylee Slee, mezzo-sopranos; Fausto Miro and Kilian Mooney, tenors; Law-son Daves and Ethan Sagin, baritones. Instrumentalists are Francine Trester, violin; Timothy Steele, piano; Megan Jacobi, flute.

Rockport Music presents the Boston Trio
June 13, 8 p.m.
Shalin Liu Performance Center, 37 Main Street
Rockport, MA

The Boston Trio’s performance includes two American premieres, Sally Beamish’s The Seafarer (for narrator and piano trio) and her arrangement for piano trio of Debussy’s La mer, along with Gabriel Fauré’s Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120.

— Susan Miron

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Rock

Lana del Rey
June 9
Xfinity Center
Mansfield, MA

Lana del Rey had one-hit wonder written all over her following the huge success of her song “Video Games.” A disastrously received Saturday Night Live appearance and the lukewarm reception to her debut album were bad signs, and yet she has persevered. Now, she and Grimes will play the shed out in Mansfield and she appears to be in it for the long haul.

Florence + the Machine
June 10
Blue Hills Bank Pavilion
Boston, MA

Florence Welch is an intense performer. So much so that during her group’s set at Coachella this year, Welch jumped from the stage and broke her foot. Hopefully she’s fully recovered and the band will be going full throttle as they tour behind their latest, How Big How Blue How Beautiful, down by the water at Blue Hills Bank Pavilion.

Best Coast
June 12
Paradise Rock Club
Boston, MA

Dreamy-pop duo Best Coast have just released their third album California Nights, which mixes happy sounds with some darker undertones. They’re very much an L.A. band, but we won’t hold that against them here in the Hub, unless of course they start talking about basketball.

South Shore Indie Music Festival
June 13, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fuller Craft Museum
Brockton, MA

As the Fuller Craft Museum website puts it: “Imagine a bright summer day, lying on a blanket in the grass or staring out at Porters Pond, and hearing all around you music to stir your soul with new stories and new sounds.” That sounds like a nice day out, doesn’t it? The festival will host nothing but independent artists including Shea Rose, the Quins, and the Cultured, with proceeds going to the museum itself.

Paul Weller
June 13, 7 p.m.
Paradise Rock Club
Boston, MA

The Modfather Paul Weller started his career fronting influential groups the Jam and Style Council, but his live performances tend to stick to songs from his solo career, which started in the early 1990s. Expect a set heavy on his latest, Saturns Pattern.

Upcoming and On Sale…

Spoon (6/18/2015, House of Blues); Rush (6/23/2015, TD Garden); Morrissey (6/24/2015, Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts); Buffalo Tom (6/26 and 27/2015, The Sinclair); Huey Lewis and the News (6/27/2015, Indian Ranch); Melvins (6/27/2015, Paradise Rock Club); Brian Wilson (with Rodriguez) (7/2/2015, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion); U2 (7/10, 11, 14, 15/2015, TD Garden); Green River Fest (featuring Steve Earle, Punch Brothers, and tUnE-yArDs) (7/10-12/2015, Greenfield Community College); Mudhoney (7/11/2015, Brighton Music Hall); Billy Joel (7/16/2015, Fenway Park); Raekwon & Ghostface Killah (7/17/2015, Paradise Rock Club); Foo Fighters (7/18-19/2015, Fenway Park); Neil Young + Promise of the Real (7/22/2015, Xfinity Center); Modest Mouse (7/23/2015, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion); Interpool (7/23-24/2015, House of Blues); Greg Trooper (7/25/2015, Atwood’s Tavern); Bombino (7/27/2015, The Sinclair); X (7/30/2015, The Sinclair); Veruca Salt (7/30/2015, Paradise Rock Club); (the) Thurson MoOre Baand (8/2/2015, The Sinclair); Brandon Flowers (8/3/2015, House of Blues); Jamie XX (8/9/2015, The Sinclair); Dick Dale (8/15/2015, Middle East-Downstairs); Willie Nelson & Family (8/21/2015, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion); AC/DC (8/22/2015, Gillette Stadium); Counting Crows (8/23/2015, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion); Social Distortion (8/23/2015, House of Blues); J. Geils Band (8/27/2015, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion); Death Cab For Cutie (9/11/2015, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion); Albert Hammond Jr. (9/20/2015, The Sinclair); Bob Mould (9/23/2015, The Sinclair); Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls (9/25/2015, House of Blues); Boston Calling Music Festival (featuring Avett Brothers, Alt-J, and Alabama Shakes) (9/25-27/2015, City Hall Plaza); Kraftwerk (10/3/2015, Wang Theatre); Ride (10/3/2015, Paradise Rock Club); Mark Knopfler (10/9/2015, Orpheum Theatre); Ringo Starr and His All Star Band (10/23/2015, Citi Performing Arts Center); The Who (10/29/2015, TD Garden)

— Adam Ellsworth

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Author Events

Keren McGinty and Anita Diamant In Conversation
Marrying Out: Jewish Men, Intermarriage, and Fatherhood
June 8, 7 p.m.
Porter Square Books
Cambridge, MA
Free

In an event sponsored by InterfaithFamily Boston, the two writers will discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by Jewish intermarriage and the blended families that result. McGinty suggests that instead of assuming the loss their ethnic and religious traditions, Jewish fathers strive to raise their children with a newfound appreciation for passing on their heritage.

Alexandra Petri
A Field Guide to Awkward Silences
June 8, 7 p.m.
Harvard Book Store
Cambridge, MA
Free

Ever been afraid of social awkwardness? That pregnant pause you’re not entirely certain how to fill? How about your shame when you remember making a stupid and/or insulting remark at a party? Fear no more—Alexandra Petri has figured out how to handle embarrassment with aplomb. She’s risked looking ridiculous in a variety of ways, including an appearance on TV’s Jeopardy, reenacting the Civil War, and auditioning for America’s Next Top Model. In this collection of essays, Petri explains how to put humiliation into perspective.

Lev Grossman
The Magician’s Island
In conversation with Gregory Maguire
June 10, 6 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30)
Brattle Theatre
Cambridge, MA
$5 tickets

Grossman’s wildly successful Magicians trilogy centers on Brooklynites with super powers: it will soon be adapted for the silver screen. To celebrate the paperback edition of the conclusion of the trilogy, Grossman will sit down with Gregory Maguire, the author of the Wicked series. Tickets are bound to be going fast, so make sure you use whatever supernatural powers you possess and reserve one soon.

Jonathan Galassi
In Conversation with Helen Atwan
Muse: A Novel
June 11, 7 p.m.
Harvard Book Store
Cambridge, MA
Free

In an event co-sponsored by Grub Street, the former FSG president and publisher will sit down with Beacon Press president Helen Atwan to discuss his debut novel. It tells the story of a decades-long rivalry between two major book publishers, whose public and private lives clash over the work of a notorious and reclusive poet.

Colin Quinn
The Coloring Book: A Comedian Solves Race Relations in America
June 13, 6 p.m.
Brookline Booksmith, Coolidge Corner
Brookline, MA
Free

The former host of “Weekend Update” and legendary stand-up comedian comes to Brookline to read and discuss his new memoir, which draws on his years crossing the country on the road to take on what Quinn sees as the increasing political correctness that makes people less honest about who they are. Quinn asks the question “what are we so afraid of?” in his inimitably streetwise, honest way.

Boston By Foot: Literary Landmarks Walking Tour
June 14, 10 to 11:30 a.m.
$15 for adults/ $10 for children 6 to 12
Meet at the Irish Famine Memorial at the corner of Washington and School Streets.
Boston, MA

This group stroll highlights the homes and meeting places of literary Boston’s eminent nineteenth century writers: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, the Alcotts and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The tour meets at the Irish Famine Memorial at Washington and School Streets in Boston.

The Nation Celebrates 150 Years
Katrina Vanden Heuvel, D. D. Guttenplan, Chloe Maxmin
Discussing The Nation: A Biography
June 16, 6 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)
Brattle Theatre
Cambridge, MA
$5 tickets

Founded by abolitionists just months after Lincoln’s assassination, the venerable magazine has upheld a proudly progressive standard ever since. Guttenplan, the author of a biography of the magazine, sits down to discuss its colorful history including the rebels, mavericks, and visionaries whose work has appeared in its pages.

— Matt Hanson