Pasta, gardens, egg-hunting & so much music: 12 top things to do on Cape Cod April 8-14
There's so much live music, and so many different types of concerts, playing around Cape Cod this week. An all-star band plays in Cotuit, a musician who started here and went on to Nashville comes back to Wellfleet, and a band helps the homeless.
The Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra finally shares a concert it had hoped to play two years ago, a musician uses his unusual condition to present music in a new way, and a Mid-Cape band's inspirational concert adds in support for Ukraine.
Two hunts in Hyannis help families get the jump (or hop!) on Easter, an expert shares gardening tips, twan author tells her story, and a virtual museum fundraiser combines art with pasta and wine. Here are some ideas for your week:
Set out on Easter egg hunts in Hyannis
Kids will have a chance to get a head start on the holiday by hunting for Easter eggs this weekend in Hyannis. The Cape Cod Mall will host a scavenger hunt Saturday morning around the mall starting at Macy’s Women’s Court, and the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District and Kilwin’s Hyannis candy store will host Sunday on the downtown Village Green. Bringing your own baskets is encouraged.
When and where: 10 a.m. Saturday at Cape Cod Mall, 769 Iyannough Road, Hyannis; noon Sunday on the Village Green on Main Street, Hyannis (rain date April 16)
Information: 508-771-0201 or https://www.simon.com/mall/cape-cod-mall/stream/easter-egg-hunt-6195586 at the mall; https://town.barnstable.ma.us/departments/specialevents/calendar.asp for the village green
Expert to share ideas for year-round garden color
People looking to up their garden game could get some advice from Master Gardener Marsha Alibrani, who will discuss how to achieve "Year Round Color For The Cape Cod Garden." Alibrandi will provide ideas for enhancing landscapes with year-round perennial color through appropriate plant species of various sizes and shapes, with thought given to sun and shade in regard to placement of plants, along with soil conditions and water requirements.
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Where: Osterville Village Library, 43 Wianno Ave.
Admission: Free
Registration (required) and information: http://www.ostervillefreelibrary.org/ or 508-428-5757
Author Buffington to sign her Cape memoir
Author and former Cape Codder Sally Buffington will do a meet-and-greet book signing related to her 2021 memoir “A Place Like This: Finding Myself in a Cape Cod Cottage.” The author grew up on the rural Outer Cape and was part of summer visits at a Craigville cottage that belonged to her husband’s family.
When: 1:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: The Brewster Bookstore, 2648 Main St.
Information: https://brewsterbookstore.com/
Singer Nygaard to bring her music back to Wellfleet
Award-winning singer-songwriter Claudia Nygaard will return to the Cape to perform a concert of her music — folk, country, roots, Americana and more — at Wellfleet Preservation Hall. Nygaard, who now lives in Tennessee, was first seen singing on the Cape as a waitress at the Woodshed Bar in Brewster, when she would get up to perform a few songs with singer-songwriter Chuck McCabe. She has since played around the Cape, worked in Nashville, and performed at more than 250 fairs and festivals in 48 states and 10 foreign countries. Her awards include, for the title cut of her latest album “Lucky Girl”, the Tumbleweed Music Festival Songwriting Comtest. “Lucky Girl” charted at No. 3 on the Folk Alliance Radio song chart and No. 5 on the album chart.
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: Wellfleet Preservation Hall, 335 Main St.
Tickets: $20, $10 for children
Reservations and information: https://www.wellfleetpreservationhall.org/
Homeless Prevention Council brings back fundraiser party
The Homeless Prevention Council in Orleans will hold its 2022 Rock To Stop Homelessness event live as a chance to dance to the five-piece JO&CO band at a fundraiser for the organization’s efforts. Lead singer Joanna Meager is a former client and graduate of the REACH project, which focuses on empowering participants to achieve goals through learning mindfulness and working with a coach and case manager. Attendees can bid on raffle baskets and auction items from local businesses.
When: 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Hog Island Brewery, 28 West Road, Orleans
Admission: $20 suggested donation
Reservations, information and donation: hpccapecod.org, 508-255-9667 on on Facebook
Pasta, wine and art for museum’s virtual Mangia
Cape Cod Museum of Art will again hold its popular Mangia al Museo as a live-streaming culinary event on Zoom. The evening includes a gourmet pasta dinner in a ceramic bowl made by the museum’s pottery students, with guests needing to reserve times to pick them up on Friday or Saturday morning in a Mangia Box. The box also includes a pint of fresh marinara sauce prepared by the Underground Bakery in Dennis, a pound of dry Penne Garofalo Premium Italian pasta, a half-bottle of Josh Wine (Cabernet Sauvignon) and a ticket for “screen prizes.” Zoom links will be sent via email. The virtual program will include a virtual visit to the Cape Cod home of Joseph Carr, founder of Josh Cellars, with staff from Underground Bakery; an art talk with director Benton Jones, live music with Lary Chaplan on violin and Frank Poranski on guitar and a brief silent auction.
When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday (with advance reservations required for Mangia Box pick-up required from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday or 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday)
Where: Event via Zoom; pick-up at Cape Cod Museum of Art, 60 Hope Lane, Dennis
Cost: $45, with add-ons available
Reservations (required, including for pick-up time) and information: https://www.ccmoa.org/mangia
Musicians gather for ‘sunny’ songs
An all-star cast of local musicians, gathered together by singer-songwriter Brendan Princi to create “an intensely talented band of beautiful souls for a magical night of music,” will present a show titled “Some Sunny Songs from the Salty Side.” The show will include original and cover songs to create a mix of Americana, funk and rock. The concert features Princi on vocals and rhythm guitar; Brian Sances on guitar, bass, 12-string guitar, and vocals; Siobhan Magnus on vocals; Ryan Tivey on saxophone and keyboard; Brendan O'Keefe on guitar and vocals; Sean Ball on drums; and Scott Lariviere on bass. Opening acts will be One Take Jake and James Rice.
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Falmouth Road (Route 28)
Tickets: $30, with a $2 discount for seniors and veterans, and a $5 discount for center members
Reservations and information: artsonthecape.org or 508-428-0669, ext. 0.
Musician uses his synesthesia to create unusual concert
Boston-based musician Julian Loida, a percussionist, composer and producer, will present a “Hear Color-See Sound” concert based in part on his synesthesia, through which sounds often invoke involuntary sensations of color, texture or even taste. With his musical curiosity, Loida has performed internationally and with a variety of groups and festivals, playing jazz, folk and classical. He has collaborated with dancers, visual artists, songwriters/composers and various musicians, with interdisciplinary projects aimed at breaking down artistic barriers.
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Cultural Center of Cape Cod, 307 Old Main St., South Yarmouth
Tickets: $25
Reservations and information (including COVID-19 policy): www.cultural-center.org or 508-394-7100
Band to play inspirational concert, help Ukraine
The Cape Cod Concert Band, with Tom Borning as new conductor, will present a concert titled “Peaks and Valleys,” which is described as “an exhilarating musical journey that concludes on the summit of Earth’s highest mountaintop.” The program will open with Ed Huckeby’s “Sunrise over Kilimanjaro” and conclude with Rossano Galante’s “Mount Everest,” with other pieces including Paul Murtha’s arrangement of songs by Journey and Jay Bocook’s arrangement of “There Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” The program for the 45-piece all-volunteer wind and percussion ensemble is designed as an instrumental tribute “to the determination and grit it takes to scale a mountain — or to navigate a global pandemic.” The band will also play the Ukraine national anthem and make a request for donations to help its children, as well as playing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Knight Auditorium, Barnstable High School, 744 West Main St., Hyannis
Admission: Free, but donations welcome to help citizens of Ukraine through Voices of Children
Information: http://www.capecodconcertband.org./
COVID-19 protocols: Vaccination proof is required.
Chamber orchestra presents wildlife-inspired program
In a collaborative performance with Wild Care Cape Cod, the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra will present “The Lark Ascending” concert — two years after the event was originally scheduled. Founding music director Matthew Scinto described Wild Care — which treats injured, ill and orphaned native wildlife for release — as “a wonderful organization and educational beacon when it comes to diverse wildlife that inhabit our home.” Wild Care will provide a live owl experience for a limited number of guests at 2 p.m., prior to the concert. CCCO Concertmaster Jean Huang will be featured as violinist in Vaughan Williams' “The Lark Ascending,” and the program also includes Benjamin Britten's Sinfonietta and Dvorak's sunny “Serenade for Strings.”
When: 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Pilgrim Congregational Church, 533 Route 28, Harwich Port
Tickets: $35 general admission, free for children and students
COVID-19 policy: Masks required, but check website for latest policy.
Reservations and information: https://www.capecodchamberorchestra.org/, info@capecodchamberorchestra.org, or Facebook and Instagram.
‘Violin Conspiracy’ author to give Zoom talk
Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill’s virtual author series will continue with a conversation via Zoom between author Brendan Nicholaus Slocumb and host Karen Dukess about Slocumb’s debut book “The Violin Conspiracy.” The book is about a Black classical musician whose family heirloom violin is stolen on the eve of a prestigious music competition, then the descendants of the man who once enslaved his great-grandfather also claim the valuable instrument belongs to them. Slocumb is a longtime music educator and musician himself, including as former concertmaster and principal violist for the University Symphony Orchestra at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
When: 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 13
Where: Via Zoom
Admission: Pay what you can
Registration (required): https://www.castlehill.org/special-events/castle-hill-author-talk-brendan-slocumb
Information: 508-349-7511 or https://www.castlehill.org/events#all-events
Woods Hole fest brings film weekend to Cotuit
Woods Hole Film Festival will return to Cotuit Center for the Arts for three evenings of screenings of award-winning and specially curated films. On April 14, the choice is “The Automat,” Lisa Hurwitz’s 2021 documentary about the lost history of the iconic restaurant chain Horn & Hardart, which served affordable-priced quality food to millions of New Yorkers and Philadelphians for more than a century. Celebrities include Mel Brooks, Colin Powell, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Carl Reiner. On Friday, it’s “Give or Take,” a Cape Cod-filmed 2020 movie by Paul Riccio about a man who must decide what to do with his estranged father’s home, where his father’s gay lover lives; and on Saturday, “Vinyl Nation,” a 2021 documentary by Kevin Smokler and Christopher Boone about the vinyl record renaissance. The Woods Hole festival will also show films in Cotuit in May.
When: 7 p.m. nightly Thursday, April 14 through April 16
Where: Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Falmouth Road (Route 28)
Tickets: $14, $12 for members
Reservations, information and COVID-19 policy: www.artsonthecape.org, 508-428-0669
For your event to be considered for Best Bets, contact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod things to do: Pasta, gardens, Easter eggs, concerts, movies
