The Wellesley Symphony Orchestra (WSO) has announced that Dr. David Podell, President of Massachusetts Bay Community College, will narrate the orchestra’s upcoming performance of Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait” on Sunday, February 8, 2pm, at Wellesley High School, 50 Rice St.

David Podell, Ph.D. joined MassBay in 2016 as its sixth president. A long-time academic leader and scholar, Dr. Podell’s passions have focused on expanding higher education access and providing high-quality educational opportunities to help students advance their academic goals, advance their careers, and enrich their lives.

“We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Podell to the stage,” said Carol Davidson, President of WSO. “David Podell is a strong supporter of the Wellesley Symphony. We could not ask for a better partner towards our mission of promoting and introducing classical music of diverse composers to a broad audience throughout MetroWest and beyond.”

“Lincoln Portrait”, composed in 1942, combines Copland’s stirring orchestral music with excerpts from Abraham Lincoln’s speeches and writings. The work has become a celebrated piece of Americana that honors Lincoln’s legacy of democracy and freedom. Dr. Podell adds, “I am moved by the beauty of Copland’s music and the power of Lincoln’s words. To me, Lincoln Portrait couldn’t be more timely.”

In addition to Lincoln Portrait, the orchestra will perform Sinfonia India by Carlos Chavez and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 – Eroica.

MassBay serves approximately 6,000 students from the greater Boston and the Metrowest region on campuses in Wellesley Hills, Framingham, and Ashland. Through transformative education, MassBay contributes to the growing regional economy and cultivates the potential of their students, empowering them to thrive in our local and global communities

Now in its 77 th season, the Wellesley Symphony is the orchestra-in-residence at MassBay, directed by Mark Latham. The Symphony presents six concerts from October through May and performs at MassBay’s Spring Commencement.

Alison Brown’s website claims that the award-winning musician “doesn’t play the banjo,” but rather “plays music on the banjo.”

In other words, you won’t just hear conventional bluegrass or sounds you might come across during a movie car chase or bank robbery scene, but a range of material influenced by everything from jazz to Celtic and Dixieland to Latin sounds.

“We’re very cognizant of entertaining the audience and exposing them to the unique beauty of the banjo,” Brown told me during a phone interview from her home base in Nashville ahead of her 7:30pm show on Jan. 11 at Natick’s TCAN ((purchase tickets). “The banjo has a deep legacy and can do so many things so well.”

For those attending the TCAN show, don’t be surprised if you hear a Marvin Gaye tune, or a rendition of Chuck Mangione’s “Feels So Good” featuring an extended banjo solo.

Brown will perform at TCAN as part of a quintet (John Ragusa on flute, Jody Nardone on piano, Garry West on bass, and Bryan Brock on drums).

Brown’s backstory and accolades are inspiring and impressive to say the least. She famously ditched a career in investment banking to embrace a passion for music that started as a youngster, and has put her business education to full use as co-founder of roots music label Compass Records Group.

Both her music and management accomplishments have been recognized many times over, from Grammy and Emmy Awards to a truly meaningful honor last year at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum (Brown cites the music of Earl Scruggs, Louise Scruggs’ husband, as her inspiration to play banjo). And thanks to a collaboration with Steve Martin (“a musical force to be reckoned with,” per Brown) on last year’s “Safe, Sensible and Sane” album, Brown’s talents have been exposed to an even wider audience, with appearances on mainstream TV shows such as “The View.”

We focused our conversation more on what to expect at TCAN, where Brown will wield a trusty 5-string banjo as well as a “low banjo” that —like it sounds—is tuned lower. That translates to what she described as “a warmer and more resonant sound.”

Brown specializes in the three-finger (aka, Scruggs) style of playing, though is gaining strength with the much cooler sounding clawhammer style that emphasizes down-picking.

Expect to hear originals composed by Brown, whose catalog stretches back to the early ’90s, as well as “banjo forward” covers of pop classics such as “Here Comes the Sun” and “Time After Time.”

Music will dominate the TCAN performance, but Brown and bandmates will also share stories and background. Brown’s a student of the banjo who cites its wild popularity in the late 1800s, and its significant role within the overall American Experience.

“I’m on a crusade to bring the banjo back to mainstream America to the best of my ability,” she said.

Brown loves talking banjo history, including how the instrument made its way from west to east—from the United States to Ireland and other European countries. And before that, from West Africa to the America, with early versions made from gourds. Brown’s currently immersed in a book in which she’s learning from Frank Converse, a 19th century banjo pioneer.

Many associate the banjo with the south, though Brown points out that the big manufacturers used to be based in the northeast. Brown has ties to this part of the country, having been born in Connecticut and attended Harvard University as an undergrad (she grew up in southern California).

I mentioned to Brown that my late paternal grandfather played banjo and led bands in Boston back in the 1930s, and she confessed to “ancestor envy.” We both sighed when I mentioned failing to snag one of his instruments before they made their way elsewhere.

While I sometimes feel guilty asking artists about those who influenced them or who they’ve played with—rather than focusing on themselves—Brown readily cites her influences and celebrates those she has performed with, from Martin to the Indigo Girls to Alison Krauss. She’s also a big fan of ukulele maestro Jake Shimabukuro, a TCAN favorite who was a guest performer on Brown’s “The Song of the Banjo” album in 2015.

As for working with Martin, he’s certainly opened new doors for Brown. But she’s also done some of the same for him, including getting him to co-host the International Bluegrass Music Association awards event last year in Chattanooga (his writers upped the banter quality). Brown said it’s been a great privilege working with Martin, who she calls “one of the most iconic entertainers and creators on the planet.”

Brown saw early evidence of his talents when writing “Foggy Bottom Morning” for her 2023 “On Banjo” album. She wrote the first part of the tune then handed it to Martin to write the next section. He took it from there.

The fact that Martin not long after went back to work with Brown on the release of the”Safe, Sensible and Sane” album, then promoted it robustly with her, showed his respect for her as well.

Those attending the TCAN show will get to hear why.

Interested in having Natick Report cover your music festival or concert? Reach out at natickreport@gmail.com

More:

• Incoming Executive Director Erin Basile evolving with TCAN’s audiences
• Levitate reveals line-up headlined by Alanis Morissette and Caamp

James Mastro’s career in music has spanned from playing guitar at CBGB during punk’s NYC heyday in the 1970s to rolling out his first solo album last year—with loads of action in between. He’s played with bands like The Bongos and Health and Happiness Show, and collaborated with the likes of Mott the Hoople’s Ian Hunter.

On Thursday, Nov. 20, the self-described “guitar fanatic” will make his Natick debut, opening for Marshall Crenshaw at TCAN. Mastro, who has known Crenshaw for decades and shares musical tastes with him, will be playing songs from his own 2024 album “Dawn of a New Era” and mixing in older favorites and requests.

We spoke to the versatile Mastro ahead of the show, as he drove between gigs. Mastro is a busy guy, not just actively touring, but running a guitar shop where he admits he’s his own best customer as well as a gallery/studio that displays art (including Mastro’s photos) and hosts performances (“largely so I can hear my friends play”).

TCAN, I assured him, was no hole in the wall, though a former fire station with gussied up sound and light systems.

Mastro will look to take advantage of whatever he can get. When he performs closer to home he generally plays with a band. Playing solo, “you’ll see one guy trying to sound like six people,” he says. One thing Mastro likes about playing solo is that he has more freedom to talk about the songs with the audience, or change up the setlist on the fly. “I can be a little more off the cuff,” he says.

I asked if he really takes requests: “I do as long as it’s not to stop playing,” he quipped.

Mastro looks forward to exposing more people to songs from his “Dawn of a New Era,” which features tracks such as “Right Words, Wrong Song” and “My God.” Mastro been working on songs for years but was busy performing with others and producing their work. He had no plans to release an album, but found it materializing after helping friend Tony Shanahan (bassist for Patti Smith’s band) test out the acoustics and gear at his new Hobo Sound Studios. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and a forced hiatus ensued, the two looked at what they’d put together and realized Mastro was close to having an album’s worth of music.

Given that the album came together over time, Mastro didn’t consciously focus on a theme for it. “But afterwards when it was all done, there seems to be a thread of hope running through each song,” he says. Mastro lost family members and friends during the time when he was writing the songs, and some songs were therapeutic for him to write.

He added that “there’s always a political event that’s going to upset you… I mean times don’t change. So there are some songs that reflect that, but still, sadly, are timely with what’s going on today.”

Mastro, who owns dozens of guitars, says his playing style is specific to the song. “I always feel like a guitar part should be as memorable as a lyric and should complement what the song is about, be it tone wise or melodically,” says Mastro, whose performance style also includes donning a smart chapeau, an ode to generations before where people wore hats when going out.

Mastro says he’s been fortunate to play with some of the best guitarists, including Richard Lloyd of Television when Mastro was just 17. “In my mind he’s as good as Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page,” he says.

Expect Mastro to be wielding an old Guild acoustic guitar made in Hoboken when he plays TCAN.

While Mastro has never played in Natick, he says wherever he performs with old friend Crenshaw “I will feel right at home.”

More:

• Jake Shimabukuro shows Natick that the uke has no limits (2024)
• Firefall rockin’ from the 70’s straight into 2025 at Natick’s TCAN (2025)

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