MUSIC
Pop & Rock
TAYLA PARX The in-demand songsmith (she co-wrote chart-toppers like Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next” and Panic! at the Disco’s “High Hopes”) shows off her high-wattage, genre-agnostic solo material, which is led by her propulsive voice. She opens for Australian shapeshifter Tkay Maidza. Feb. 23, 7 p.m. Brighton Music Hall. 617-779-0140, crossroadspresents.com
JANE REMOVER “Census Designated,” the most recent album from this bedroom-pop phenomenon, turns crushing noise — whether from blown-out guitars, glitching synths, or all-enveloping static — into a channel for keenly described catharsis. Feb. 25, 7 p.m. Brighton Music Hall. 617-779-0140, crossroadspresents.com
LOST FREQUENCIES Belgian DJ and producer Felix De Laet has crossed over from the clubs with anthemic collaborations that blend tropical-house bounce with singer-songwriter grit, like his 2021 team-up with English troubadour Calum Scott “Where Are You Now” and his pulsing new track with British alt-rockers Bastille “Head Down.” Feb. 29, 10 p.m. Royale. 617-338-7699, royaleboston.com
MAURA JOHNSTON
Folk, World & Country
MATT POND PA AND ALEXA ROSE One song leads to another: Matt Pond heard Alexa Rose mention his band, Matt Pond PA, in one of her songs, and soon enough, they were writing the songs that appear on their new collaborative EP, “Call and Response.” They’ll feature it this Friday, and since the EP is five songs long, they’ll be getting up to more than that. Feb. 23, 10 p.m. $25. Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Cambridge. 617-492-7679, www.passim.org
TYLER RAMSEY; LILLY HIATT A pair of shows for roots-music aficionados at this Malden spot this week. Saturday, it’s ex-Band of Horses member Tyler Ramsey, who adds some new permutations (including strings) to his folk-indie rock mix on his just released “New Lost Ages”; second-generation singer-songwriter Lilly Hiatt arrives with her roots-rock iteration four days later. Feb. 24, 8 p.m. $17 (Ramsey); Feb. 28, 8 p.m. $20 (Hiatt). Faces Brewing Company, 50 Pleasant St., Malden. 781-851-4672, www.facesbrewing.com
TYLER BOOTH Same day, different Tyler; this one is a young tradition-leaning country singer with a well-deep voice who likes to name-check Kentucky forebears like Dwight Yoakam, Keith Whitley, the Judds, and Sturgill Simpson. That gives you a good idea of where he’s coming from musically, if not where he always ends up. Feb. 24, 8 p.m. $24. Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave. www.livenation.com
STUART MUNRO
Jazz & Blues
BRITTANY KARLSON, FORBES GRAHAM & NICK NEUBERG This Music Series presents avant-bassist and vocalist Karlson, an eclectic improvisor rooted in free jazz and grassroots Americana, with fellow explorers Graham, trumpeter extraordinaire, and dynamic drummer Neuberg. Feb. 23, 10 p.m. $10. The Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge. www.lilypadinman.com
DELTA GENERATORS The galvanizing quartet more than lives up to its name, merging deep blues and roots for an electrifying take on Americana. The band comprises singer-harmonica player Brian Templeton, brothers Charlie and Rick O’Neal on, respectively, guitar and bass, and drummer Jeff Armstrong. Feb. 24, 8 p.m. $18. Bull Run Restaurant, 215 Great Road, Shirley. 978-425-4311, www.bullrunrestaurant.com
HARVEY DIAMOND & PHIL GRENADIER DUO Profound pianist and local treasure Diamond, among the final students of legendary jazz pedagogue Lennie Tristano, joins forces with brilliant brassman Grenadier, typically a trumpeter but playing the mellower flugelhorn this time around. Feb. 29, 7 p.m. $20. The Mad Monkfish, 524 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. 617-441-2116, www.themadmonkfish.com
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY Harry Christophers returns to the Handel and Haydn Society podium in his first appearance with the ensemble as conductor laureate, leading a program of music from his wheelhouse: Haydn’s Symphony No. 49, and Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore and Mass in C Major, “Coronation.” The program also includes unaccompanied choral music by Hildegard von Bingen and Rafaella Aleotti. Featuring soloists Joélle Harvey, Helen Charlston, Aaron Sheehan, and Matthew Brook with the H+H Orchestra and Chorus. Feb. 23, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 25, 3 p.m. Symphony Hall. 617-262-1815, www.handelandhaydn.org
BOSTON PHILHARMONIC The Boston Philharmonic family of orchestras has a busy few weeks coming up. First, the Boston Philharmonic itself performs Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 1, alongside Berg’s Violin Concerto with violinist Liza Ferschtman (Feb. 24). Then, in celebration of founder and conductor Benjamin Zander’s 85th birthday, the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra presents what Zander called “the most varied and demanding BPYO concert ever,” featuring music by Britten, Ives, and Ravel, along with Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova as soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (March 3). Symphony Hall. 617-236-0999, www.bostonphil.org
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The “Music of the Midnight Sun” series kicks off with a Finland-focused concert as conductor John Storgårds leads the orchestra in tone poems by Finnish national hero Jean Sibelius and variations by Lapland-born composer Outi Tarkiainen. The program also includes the BSO’s first-ever performance of Carl Nielsen’s Violin Concerto, featuring Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto. Friday evening’s “Casual Friday” concert omits two shorter pieces by Sibelius. Feb. 29-March 2. Symphony Hall. 617-266-1200, www.bso.org
A.Z. MADONNA
ARTS
Theater
JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN A vibrant, insightful, and well-acted production of Kimberly Belflower’s play, which takes place in 2018 at a high school in rural Georgia, against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement. Issues of gender, power, and identity are anything but abstract to a group of female students who are studying Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” Neither, importantly, is the idea of friendship. Directed by Margot Bordelon. Through March 10. The Huntington. At Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. 617-266-0800, www.huntingtontheatre.org
GOLDA’S BALCONY The gifted Annette Miller portrays Israeli prime minister Golda Meir in William Gibson’s solo drama. It takes place on the eve of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and Meir has some momentous choices to make. Miller originated the role at Shakespeare & Company in 2002, directed by Daniel Gidron, who also returns for this production. Feb. 23-March 10. Shakespeare & Company. At the Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre, Emerson Paramount Center. 617-824-8400, emersontheatres.org
DISHWASHER DREAMS An autobiographical solo show, written and performed by stand-up comedian Alaudin Ullah, about growing up in Spanish Harlem as the son of Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh; the conflicts with his family in which he struggled to find his own voice; and his encounters with stereotypes about Muslims as he tried to build a career as a film and TV actor. Directed by Chay Yew. Feb. 28-March 17. Merrimack Repertory Theatre. At Nancy L. Donahue Stage, Lowell. 978-654-4678, www.mrt.org
MACHINE LEARNING Hoping to end their estrangement, Jorge (Armando Rivera), a brilliant young computer scientist, creates a nursing application (named Arnold, after the Terminator, and voiced by Matthew Zahnzinger) that is designed to provide individualized treatment for his ailing father, Gabriel (Jorge Alberto Rubio). But matters do not go according to plan, underscoring the perils of AI. Francisco Mendoza’s play is directed by Gabriel Vega Weissman. Through Feb. 25. Central Square Theater, Cambridge. 617-576-9278, ext. 1, www.centralsquaretheater.org
DON AUCOIN
Dance
AHUTI As part of the Dance Complex’s DIY Performance Series, Srija Wang/Nrityaarpana School of Bharatanatyam celebrate the legacy of legendary classical Indian dancer/choreographer/guru Sri Adyar K. Lakshman in this recital accompanied by a live orchestra. Srija Wang will present a set of traditional dances with three other dancers. Feb. 24. $15-$50. Dance Complex, Cambridge. www.dancecomplex.org
MOTION STATE DANCE FESTIVAL This fourth annual incarnation of the contemporary dance festival presents a wide-ranging array of performances, dance films, and artist/audience interactions. More than 25 established as well as emerging artists — local and national — are set to participate, including Shura Baryshnikov, in collaboration with cellist Adrienne Taylor, and Small Moves, Big Picture. Feb. 28-March 2. $20-$30. The Wilbury Theatre Group, Providence. www.motionstatearts.org
CONTRA-TIEMPO Based in Los Angeles, the multilingual activist dance theater company is dedicated to building community and fostering dialogue in addition to entertaining audiences with a vibrant blend of Afro-Latino dance. The company caps its Jacob’s Pillow Lab Residency with the performance of an excerpt from their full-length work “¡azúcar!,” which explores the complicated history of sugar fueled by the music and life of Cuban performer Celia Cruz. Feb. 23. Free. Zion Lutheran Church, Pittsfield. www.jacobspillow.org/events/10x10-contra-tiempo-2024/
KAREN CAMPBELL
Visual art
OUR TIME ON EARTH A shockingly upbeat view of a future planet adapting creatively to the accelerating impacts of the climate crisis, this exhibition, which comes from the Barbican Museum in London, engages viewers with immersive, experiential artworks meant to prompt out-of-box thinking to meet the inevitably massive change of the next few decades. Unexpected, at least by me, is a collaborative piece by the art/science/advertising collective Holition and noted climate sage George Monbiot, whose 2006 book “Heat” was among the very early warnings of a rapidly changing global climate. Through June 9. Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St., Salem. 978-745-9500, pem.org
THE WORLD OUTSIDE: LOUISE NEVELSON AT MIDCENTURY Nevelson, the flamboyant doyenne of American Modernism, was born just outside Kyiv and emigrated to little Rockand, Maine, as a child in 1905. Escaping Russian antisemitism for America saved her first; art saved her next, transporting her from the backwoods of early-20th-century Maine to New York City at midcentury, when radical new forms of art were taking hold. This show, at Colby College, just up the road from Rockland in Waterville, is as significant a survey as Nevelson has had in years. And you can double up in Nevelson’s hometown with the Farnsworth Museum’s “Louise Nevelson: Dawn to Dusk,” which runs through Sept. 24. Through June 9. Colby College Museum of Art, 5600 Mayflower Hill, Waterville, Maine. 207-859-5600, colby.edu/museum
MUNCH AND KIRCHNER: ANXIETY AND EXPRESSION More than 60 works on paper explore the shared distress of two of early Modernism’s towering figures over a world transforming before their eyes. They share a grim catalog of experience, from depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and psychiatric treatment, and who could blame them? Their adult lives spanned the onset of rapid industrialization, the First World War, and the rise of Nazism; their experimental printmaking is indelibly stamped with the harrowing truths of their age. Through June 23. Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven. 203-432-0600, artgallery.yale.edu
MURRAY WHYTE
I’VE BEEN TRYING TO REACH YOU In these recent portraits and still lifes, painter Shantel Miller plumbs the inner lives of her family’s matriarchs and the women in her church, and explores nexuses of identity — race, gender, faith, and culture. She mixes her realist style with pungent colors, as well as metaphors and citations (waterfalls, bits of Scripture) to evoke the subjective experiences of the people she portrays. Through March 23. Anderson Yezerski Gallery, 460 Harrison Ave. 617-262-0550, www.andersonyezerski.com
CATE McQUAID
EVENTS
Comedy
OH GOD NO: THE CURSE OF MENINO’S GOLD This is a stand-up showcase surrounded by sketches with a cohesive theme — the search for lost booty hidden long ago by the late mayor Thomas Menino. Stand-ups are Liam McGurk, Kathy Lynch, and Davey P. Feb. 24, 10 p.m. $15-$20. The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Somerville. www.therockwell.org
TICKLE ME TUESDAYS Producer Wendell Delk’s show has played a bunch of different venues around Boston, but its current incarnation is a monthly show at Laugh Boston. The February edition is topped by Brooklyn Mike (a.k.a. Mike Troy), and features Walt Da Wiz. Feb. 27, 8 p.m. $25. Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St. 617-725-2844, www.laughboston.com
POPCORN COMEDY Peter Liu and Jason Fishman host this monthly show with local headliners in the small room downstairs at the Somerville Theatre. Up this month are Emily Ruskowski with Guerby Laguerre, Uzair Malik, and Arianna Magee. Feb. 29, 7:30 p.m. $20. Somerville Theater, 55 Davis Square, Somerville. 617-625-5700, www.eventbrite.com
NICK A. ZAINO III
Family
ICE SKATING PARTY Kids ages 4 and up can enjoy a day of ice skating, music, food, and games in the North End. Participants are encouraged to stay for a special guest appearance from the Boston Bruins. Rental skates are available, and registration for this event is recommended. Feb. 23, noon-4 p.m. Free. Steriti Memorial Rink, 561 Commercial St. eventbrite.com
FAMILY DAY Harvard Art Museums is hosting an afternoon of family fun for all ages. Explore with scavenger hunts, create cardboard sculptures, and use your imagination to engage with displayed art. Advance registration is recommended, but walk-ins are welcome. Feb. 24, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Free. Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge. harvardartmuseums.org
CODING WORKSHOP FOR GIRLS This coding event is hosted by a Northeastern computer science professor and computer science students and is open to girls ages 10 to 14. Participants will celebrate the Leap Day with fun math facts, practice programming using Scratch, and eat pizza. Feb. 29, 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Free. Northeastern University, West Village H., 440 Huntington Ave. accelevents.com
ADRI PRAY