BPL President Bernard Margolis welcomes WGBH's Emily Rooney to the "Party on the Plaza." (Photo by Roger Farrington)
 

More than 450 guests gathered under a huge glowing tent in Copley Square on June 6th to celebrate the Boston Public Library (BPL) Foundation's annual spring fundraiser, "Party on the Plaza."

A pre-dinner cocktail reception was held in the Library's McKim Courtyard. The black-tie gala raised more than $1 million for branch programs, improved access through new technologies, and to complete the restoration of the National Historic Landmark McKim Building.

Among the guests were Foundation Chairman Ronald O'Hanley and Vice Chair Sharyn Neble,
BPL President Bernard Margolis and WGBH's Emily Rooney, Caroline Holland and Vivien Li, Muriel and Norman Leventhal, Marina Kalb, Kristina Hare Lyons and BPL Foundation Development Director Daria McLean, Joshua and Elizabeth Snyder and BPL Trustee Ray Tye and Eileen Tye-just to name a very few.

Founded in 1992, the BPL Foundation has raised more than $78 million to date. Congratulations and Best Wishes all around!

"Lantern Festival" Scheduled at Forest Hills Cemetery

Sponsored by the Forest Hills Educational Trust, the "10th Annual Lantern Festival" takes place at Forest Hills Cemetery on Thursday, July 17 from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.

In this breathtaking ceremony of remembrance, visitors to the lush, Victorian landscape make paper lanterns and set them afloat on the peaceful waters of a small lake. The ritual is based on the traditional "Japanese Bon Festival," a time when "a door opens to the world of the ancestors, allowing us to send messages to the other side."

Visitors may bring picnics to enjoy on the lawn while being entertained by a multi-cultural program of music and dance. Afterwards, participants will decorate their lanterns with calligraphy and notes to those who have died.

Forest Hills Cemetery is located at 95 Forest Hills Ave., Jamaica Plain. While the event is free, there is a parking fee. The rain date is Thursday, July 24.

For more information, call 617-524-0128 or visit www.foresthillstrust.org.

Free Concert by Boston Landmarks Orchestra in Jamaica Plain

On Sunday, July 20 at 6:30 p.m. we are invited to enjoy "Green Masterpieces - Air and Water," one of four free-and-open-to-the public Neighborhood Concerts, being presented by the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, taking place on the Great Lawn and Jamaica Pond, across from Pinebank Promontory (333 Jamaica Way, Jamaica Plain).

The concert will feature the world premiere of "Speak, Sing, Whale," by Steven Feigenbaum. In addition to the world premiere, performances include "Overture to The Thieving Magpie," by Gioachino Rossini; "Nocturnes: Nuages and Fêtes," by Claude Debussy; "Menuetto" from "Cassation in G" (Toy Symphony), by Leopold Mozart; "The Seasons: Autumn," by Alexander Glazunov; "Water Music," by George Frideric Handel; and "The Moldau" from "My Fatherland," by Bedrich Smetana.

The Orchestra's mission is to present high quality professional orchestral music for free to diverse audiences that include residents of and visitors to Boston. Last year, more than 50,000 people attended the Landmarks Festival at the Shell, which will take place this year every Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the DRC's Hatch Shell on the Esplanade.

For more information, please visit www.landmarksorchestra.org or call 617-520-2200.

New Song Celebrates Cape Cod

It must be something in the Cape Cod air that brought three Cape Cod musicians together by an interested fourth party. By coincidence each has a home in Mashpee.

This collaboration of forces and talent has resulted in a new Cape song that tells the story of a woman's life and how time goes by in a blink. The lyrics speak to woman's strength, intelligence and values. "Forever Young on Cape Cod" is now a CD with music by Silvard Kool, lyrics by Barbara Brilliant and sung by Tedi Marsh. It is available on iTunes.

Silvard, originally from Holland, has several chart-topping instrumental CDs inspired by the Cape. Brilliant also has an extensive career in music having won many awards for her CD "Brilliant, Better Late Than Never." She also has a soon-to-be-released new Christmas song, "It's Christmas." She is a composer/lyricist whose musical roots go back to her father, a flutist and violinist, and to her studies at McGill Conservatory of Music in Montreal (where she was born).

"Forever Young on Cape Cod" is based on a Silvard composition from one of his many instrumental CDs. Silvard, when featured on QVC sold more than 80,000 CDs. Both artists have had their works performed on radio, TV and live; and both boast of rave reviews for their craft.

Brilliant is remembered for her long career as host/producer on WBZ-TV's "Prime Time," where she hosted and produced talk shows, news and musical specials. Presently she is a composer, artistic director and host of a classical music television show "Conversation With the Conductor."

Tedi Marsh has performed as a featured soloist with the Cape Cod Symphony under the baton of Royston Nash and has also sung at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis for the National Democratic Convention. In the fall of 2005, she was invited back to New York City to appear in a seasonal off Broadway musical entitled "A Broadway Diva Christmas."

Enjoy!

In addition to events covered and reported by the columnist, "The Scene..." 
is compiled from various other sources such as news releases, PRNewswire services, etc.

bostonevents.com    bostontravel.com    bostongardens.com    bostonautos.com