Around Hear: AMOR, AMOR, AMOR

Free concert, Sunday, December 14th, 2025, 2-4pm, Mystic Activity Center, 530 Mystic Ave. Somerville, MA

All you need is love, but there are three kinds that you shouldn’t miss out on, at least according to the Ancient Greeks. There’s eros: that Valentine’s Day kind of love that makes the knees quiver and heart sing. There’s philia: the love of friendship, such as the warm bond we musicians feel as we play together. And there’s agape, a term that encompasses holy love and the goodwill shared and felt by people in strong community, such as the musical community that we are creating together, month after month, year after year, through Around Hear.

The music on this program was made with love across four centuries, in Little Rock, Arkansas, Pernambuco, Brazil, Leipzig, Germany, and St. Petersburg, Russia: Florence Price’s unfinished string quartet in G major palpates with romance, sunny and tender; J.S. Bach’s A-flat Major Prelude and Fugue shines with religious devotion; Luiz Paixao and Renata Rosa’s “Amor Amor Amor” is an ecstatic song of love to our green and blue planet; and Dmitri Shostakovich’s piano quintet reminds us that in times of darkness we must do all we can to keep the light of love burning.

There will be other treats on the program, including a prelude performance by the Around Hear all-ages violin and piano classes, a love-themed crankie made by Healey 4th graders, and a grand finale that will send all the overplayed holiday tunes running and hiding their shiny, red noses.

★ Free
★ Open to the public
★ Listeners of all ages are welcome
★ Refreshments served
★ Write, draw, move while you listen
★ After-concert pizza party!

PERFORMERS
Josh Addison and Marji Gere, violins
Jenn Chang, viola
Adrienne Taylor, cello
Dan Sedgwick, piano
Students from our Around Hear All-Ages Violin and Piano Classes
…and other surprise guests!

Learn more at www.aroundhear.org

SUPPORT FOR THIS PROGRAM
This program is supported by The Boston Foundation Free for All Endowment Fund, the Somerville Housing Authority Provider’s Grant, and the Somerville Arts Council. Special performances will also be shared with 4th and 5th graders from the Healey School and for Somerville Housing Authority residents at Brady Towers, Properzi Manor, and Bryant Manor.

OUR MISSION
The mission of Around Hear is to enrich the life of the City of Somerville by offering innovative, uplifting, free chamber music concerts and community music classes to generationally, culturally, and economically diverse audiences. We collaborate with the Somerville Housing Authority, Mystic Learning Center, local social service organizations, and community-oriented artists to make all of our activities inviting and accessible to all. We especially strive to connect with low-income citizens, youth, seniors, recent immigrants, and people with disabilities. We invite all who feel inspired by our music, art, and community-building activities to partner with us.