 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Library Events
View as Calendar
View My Events
Advanced Search
The performance will start at 6 pm. All welcome! Southbridge Community TV will be recording the reading for later upload to YouTube.
Remedial follows Robin Gamble, a once-promising writer who now finds himself teaching a remedial English class to adult learners. As he navigates this unexpected chapter of his life, Robin is challenged by a diverse group of students whose stories begin to mirror and confront his own personal and professional disappointments. Through sharp dialogue and layered character development, the show explores themes of regret, resilience, and redemption. With a blend of wit and poignancy, Remedial examines the power of language-not just to communicate, but to reconnect, reimagine, and rebuild.
Playwright's Bio:
Jordan A. Miller is an actor and playwright from central Massachusetts, whose work artfully combines humor and emotional depth. With a background in public speaking and speech writing, Jordan transitioned to theater in 2023, where his understanding of human behavior, drawn from his training in psychology, deeply informs his storytelling. His plays often explore the complexities of connection and resilience, blending drama and comedy to create poignant narratives surrounded by humor.
Email
Text
Add to Calendar
.jpg "Dances, Lullabies an")
Acclaimed international recording and touring guitarist and composer Aaron Larget-Caplan is an exciting and innovative leader in classical music. Noted as a "master guitarist" by Fanfare and for his “astounding technical proficiency and artistic delicacy” by the Boston Musical Intelligencer, Larget-Caplan has performed throughout the USA Europe, Russia, and Taiwan, including El Palacio de Linares in Madrid, Spain, Sheremetev Palace in Russia, and Palazzo del Te & Ducale in Mantova, Italy.
Mr. Larget-Caplan has 11 critically acclaimed solo albums and over 10 million streams on Tiger Turn and Stone Records (UK). His first album of his own compositions, honey cadence, was released in April 2022 on Tiger Turn, featuring six meditative solos written in December 2021 and January 2022. A score collection is published by the American Comopsers Alliance. The album has become Aaron's most popular album with over 6 million streams
Larget-Caplan is the founder of numerous commissioning and performance endeavors, including the New Lullaby Project, which bridges the chasm of fear audiences towards contemporary music and composers to writing for guitar, for who's afraid of a lullaby?! Since 2007 Aaron has premiered 77 new lullabies by 72 different composers from eleven countries. In January 2021, Mr. Larget-Caplan in partnership with the American Composers Alliance began publishing the award winning multi-volume anthology collection ofscores of the New Lullaby Project: volume 1 'Nights Transfigured' and volume 2 'Hushed' features 16. Three albums have been recorded: New Lullaby, Nights Transfigured, and Drifting.
Mr. Larget-Caplan is currently collaborating with composer Vineet Shende of Bowdoin College for his multi-movement choir & guitar work Pravasa (migration in Sanskrit) and his 12 Carnatic Preludes, After J.S. Bach, a re-imagining of Bach preludes from the Well-Tempered Clavier as if Bach were from South India (Carnatic music). Each prelude is paired with an Aaron's arrangement of Bach's keyboard prelude.
Mr. Larget-Caplan is the founder of the ensemble ¡Con Fuego! (With Fire!), a passionate cross-fertilization of flamenco dance and Spanish classical music featuring acclaimed dancer La Conja and guest cellists.
Larget-Caplan is the director and curator of Now Musique, which explores the new and neglected in the recital format. After a sucessful debut in 2019, it has since held over a dozen performances and received multiple grants. From 2010-2014 Aaron directed Greater Boston House Concerts presenting 23 international artists.
Sponsored by Southbridge Cultural Council and Massachusetts Cultural Council.
From the publisher:
"A kaleidoscopic portrait of one family’s displacement across four countries, Kantika - “song” in Ladino - follows the joys and losses of Rebecca Cohen, feisty daughter of the Sephardic elite of early 20th-century Istanbul. When the Cohens lose their wealth and are forced to move to Barcelona and start anew, Rebecca fashions a life and self from what comes her way - a failed marriage, the need to earn a living, but also passion, pleasure and motherhood. Moving from Spain to Cuba to New York for an arranged second marriage, she faces her greatest challenge - her disabled stepdaughter, Luna, whose feistiness equals her own and whose challenges pit new family against old. Exploring identity, place and exile, Kantika also reveals how the female body - in work, art and love - serves as a site of both suffering and joy. A haunting, inspiring meditation on the tenacity of women, this lush, lyrical novel from Elizabeth Graver celebrates the insistence on seizing beauty and grabbing hold of one’s one and only life."
Griffin Hansbury will present a virtual book discussion on his book "Some Strange Music Draws Me In" Sponsored by Joshua Hyde Library Sturbridge, Charlton Public Library and Jacob Edwards Library.
Summary:
Cana, Massachusetts: a utopian vision of 18th-century Puritan New England. To the outside world, Reverend Nathaniel Whitfield and his family stand as godly pillars of their small-town community, drawing Christians from across the New World into their fold. One such Christian, physician Arthur Lyman, discovers in the minister’s words a love so captivating it transcends language.
As the bond between these two men grows more and more passionate, their families must contend with a tangled web of secrets, lies, and judgments which threaten to destroy them in this world and the next. And when the religious ecstasies of the Great Awakening begin to take hold, igniting a new era of zealotry, Nathaniel and Arthur search for a path out of an impossible situation, imagining a future for themselves which has no name. Their wives and children must do the same, looking beyond the known world for a new kind of wilderness, both physical and spiritual.
Set during the turbulent historical upheavals which shaped America’s destiny and following in the tradition of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, All the World Beside reveals the very human lives just beneath the surface of dogmatic belief. Bestselling author Garrard Conley has created a page-turning, vividly imagined historical tale that is both a love story and a crucible.
Sponsored by Jacob Edwards Library, Joshua Hyde Library and Charlton Public Library.
Delve into the captivating stories of brave potters who fought valiantly during the Revolutionary War as demonstrated by Master Potter Rick of Pied Potter Hamelin. Our meticulously curated program invites you to explore the trade through our hands-on portion. You'll have the opportunity to experience the magic firsthand! Picture yourself passing from person to person a freshly made pot, feeling the texture of a dry and wet pot as it rotates on the wheel. But wait, there’s more! Each participant will have the chance to create their very own pinch pot. Using the simple technique of pinching clay between your thumb and finger, you'll craft a unique unfired cup which you get to take home. Whether you're a pottery enthusiast, history lover, or simply looking for a fun and hands-on experience, this workshop is for you.
From the presenter: My work: redware pottery inspired by the historical potters of Early America
Hailing from Central Massachusetts, I have been honing my pottery skills since 1976 and have developed a deep fascination for the rich history of redware pottery. Each piece is hand-thrown on the wheel, carefully dried, and then bisqued before being coated with my own lead-free glaze formulation and fired once again. To add a touch of antiquity, a natural finish is meticulously applied to the unglazed surfaces. What makes my wares truly one-of-a-kind are the running cat paw prints adorning all Kulina Folk Art and Pied Potter Hamelin plates and platters. These distinctive imprints were inspired by the playful act of one of our cats, Ashby, leaping onto the clay slab. Drawing from my experience teaching and working in museums, I continue to share my knowledge and passion for pottery through lectures and demonstrations throughout New England. Sponsored by Southbridge Cultural Council and Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Take the personal narrative of someone growing up French in New England. Take the relatively unknown story of a people. Weave these together and you have a most compelling tale.
For over 25 years Jeanne Douillard has probed the history of the French in the Americas. She began by researching her own family genealogy and discovered she had Québecois, Acadiens, Algonquin and English roots. She wanted to find out more about these people. Her passion led her to delve deeply into the quagmire of conflicting historiographies. English, French and American historians of the past offered up irreconcilable views of La Nouvelle France [New France] and its people. She was intrigued. What is the truth and why have the French in particular been such a silent presence in New England?
The results of her research and personal reflections offer unique insights into the story of an “invisible” people. With compassion and understanding she unravels a long and complex history in an attempt to make it understandable for all. Even if you are not French, you are sure to gain greater understanding of the interesting tale she tells.
Jeanne has put together a talk accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation in which she distills the complex narrative of the French in the Americas. Her discourse brings a unique, fresh look at the story of this people. She accepts invitations to speak in all parts of New England.
Her book, I Remember… Je Me Souviens… will be available at the Presentation.
Sponsored by Friends of Jacob Edwards Library.
Free event! All welcome! Sponsored by Friends of Jacob Edwards Library.