Previewing Lexington Symphony's 2013-2014 Season

The 'Music of Masters' themed season promises to pay homage to distinguished composers.

Lexington Symphony has released details of its 2013-2014 season, which promises to pay tribute to distinguished composers like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky. On the heeels of a season that saw several commissions, this season will carry the theme of "Music of Masters," according to a press release, and pay homage to classical music's most prized composers and musical geniuses. “After an incredibly successful 2012–2013 season participating in the celebrations for Lexington’s 300th anniversary by commissioning three unique works, Lexington Symphony is looking toward a new season featuring one of the most defining compositions in Western civilization,” said Music Director Jonathan McPhee, looking ahead to a …

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Special Town Meeting: A Dedication, Then On with the Money Business

A special Town Meeting convening tonight will take up articles seeking additional funding for the Estabrook School building project and access improvements, along with a tax increment financing request from Vistaprint.

It'll start with a dedication, and then they get down to the money business. At 7 p.m. tonight at Cary Memorial Hall, prior to the start of a special Town Meeting, a ceremony will be held for the dedication of the building’s auditorium, to be renamed as Margery Milne Battin Hall. Over the summer, the Board of Selectmen approved the naming of the auditorium after Battin, a former longtime town moderator and role model for women who died less than two weeks after that decision. “I can’t think of anybody in this whole community who has made more of a contribution to the community,” Norm Cohen, a selectman, said at the time. The dedication came after a request from Bill Dailey, another respected resident, who suggested naming the auditorium …

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Cary Hall's Auditorium to be Named for Marge Battin

In recognition of her decades of service to the town of Lexington.

As if it wasn’t already, Marge Battin’s name will be linked with Lexington’s Town Meeting for at least the foreseeable future. In a move each of them said was fitting, the Board of Selectmen on Monday, July 30, approved the naming of the Cary Memorial Hall’s auditorium after the former longtime town moderator and planting a tree in her honor somewhere on the green in front of the town offices on Mass Ave. “I can’t think of anybody in this whole community who has made more of a contribution to the community,” said Selectman Norm Cohen. Approval of the dedication came at the request of another respected resident, Bill Dailey, who wrote to the selectmen suggesting naming the auditorium for Margery M. Battin in recognition of her nearly 50 …

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VIDEO: Lexington Symphony Vibes With Beethoven, Fantasia and Vader

The Symphony's educational Orchestrating Kids Through Classics" program attracts thousands of students.

Kids by the busload poured into Lexington’s Cary Memorial Building over the past few days for a field trip through orchestral history. The lights were dim, the seats were full and the entertainment was educational inside the hall as the Lexington Symphony explained to thousands of third-graders how the introduction of new instruments and composers influenced the direction of orchestral music over the centuries. “Beethoven gave us the world around him, Stravinsky gave us the universe and John Williams gave us Star Wars,” said Jonathan McPhee, the symphony’s musical director, as a cloaked Darth Vader darted across the stage. Over the course of four sessions held the mornings of Wednesday, Jan. 18 and Thursday, Jan, 19, the Lexington Symphony…

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Selectmen Weigh In On CPA Projects

Lexington's Board of Selectmen support some projects and question others as proposals shape up prior to annual Town Meeting.

Earlier this week, the Board of Selectmen was asked to offer some guidance on projects that could be put before annual Town Meeting for Community Preservation Act funding in fiscal 2013. Opinions were split this past Monday about stabilizing the White House, upgrading the Muzzey Senior Center and pushing forward with plans to upgrade the Cary Memorial Building, but the BOS was OK endorsing plans to continue with the Paint Mine barn preservation and implementing certain components of the Battle Green Master Plan. The Community Preservation Committee will consider requests at a public hearing on Monday. Dec. 19. (For more information about the projects, check out these fiscal 2013 Project Narratives.) In the meantime, here’s a quick rundown …

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PHOTOS: Lexington Honors Its Veterans on 11/11/11

Veterans Day ceremonies moved inside after forecasts called for morning rain, but Cary Hall was filled with local veterans and residents ready to honor them with roses, cards and essays.

Lexington High School's band filled the Cary Hall stage Friday morning, their tri-corn hats a nod to this town's colonist forefathers and their songs a tribute to the veterans for all they've done to protect that which was started here. Though the threat of rain washed out plans for a Veterans Day parade and swept the ceremonies down Mass Ave from the Battle Green to Cary Hall, most invovled felt the Nov. 11 ceremonies were a fitting tribute to the assembled veterans for their service and sacrifices for America and the greater good. Town Celebrations Committee Chairwoman Suzie Barry delivered the welcome and introduction. The invocation came from Rabbi Howard Jaffe of Temple Isaiah. The Lexington Police Department's Honor Guard posted the …

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About Town

About Town: Promises Kept with Cary Hall

Cary Memorial Hall Needs TLC and a $7.7 million update plan is expected to come before Town Meeting in 2013.

Our gorgeous Cary Memorial Building is so authentic it’s outdated. Yes, unfortunately it’s true – and there is a 305-page report to support that fact. (It's posted to the right for your viewing pleasure. A few weeks ago, I told you about the Sept. 20 public hearing on the Cary Memorial Building, done by the Cary Memorial Building Study group, which includes Facilities Director Pat Goddard, Donald Mills from Mills Whitaker Architects and Lexington resident and Historic Preservation Architect Wendall Kalsow. Cary Memorial is nestled between the Town Offices and the Lexington Police Station. Late for the meeting, I took the exterior granite stairs two at a time and grabbed the big wooden double door at the far right. Locked. They are always …

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Children's Center Celebrates 40 Years

An jazzed-up anniversary gala next weekend at Cary Hall will benefit the CCL school and scholarship fund.

Celebrating 40 years of nurturing and learning, the Children’s Center of Lexington is preparing to jazz things up with an anniversary event to benefit the school and its scholarship fund. On Saturday, Oct. 1, the CCL will host a gala benefit concert featuring the New Black Eagle Jazz Band at Cary Hall.  The concert begins at 8 p.m., and tickets are available at Catch a Falling Star and Signature Stationers.  In addition to the music, the gala event will honor “teachers of the past and present who have dedicated their time and expertise to the Center,” according to a press release. A photo montage of children who have attended CCL throughout the years will welcome guests in the lobby and run throughout the donation of the concert.  “We …

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About Town

About Town: Estabrook Hall

There's a reason ...

Some probably read the PDF included in this morning’s About Town. It’s pretty interesting – and it doesn’t even include the entire 1928 study or the Isaac Harris Cary Educational Fund President Robert Clapp’s remarks. Those are on a CD that Facilities Director Patrick Goddard made yesterday, for me – and for you. After I’ve finished reading the study, Clapp’s letter and the 1927 proposal, I’ll share more. For now, let me tell you about the small auditorium on the bottom of Cary Memorial Hall and how it became Estabrook Hall.   Kilham, Hopkins & Greeley and Willard D. Brown were hired as architects. The design became what we see today and followed specifications of the Educational Fund to every detail.   Once designed and approved, workmen …

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