Arts & Culture

Jazz is streaming from the best jazz clubs in New York City, and for the first time in history you can see and hear top musicians live at these venues from your living room. It’s always been expensive to go and stay in NYC. Now’s the time to sit back and experience the city without leaving Boston.

The Esplanade Association wants to brighten life in Boston – literally. “Hatched: Breaking through the Silence” is a four-week illumination and sound installation celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Esplanade Association’s partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

In partnership with the Boston Foundation and the Barr Foundation, the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture will provide $25,000 unrestricted grants to 17 Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) arts and culture organizations around Boston. The grants are meant to provide some relief for the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Castle of Our Skins, a Boston-based collective of artists committed to advancing Black artistry through music, celebrates Martin Luther King’s legacy with two free concerts, both produced by Celebrity Series.

Regina King’s brilliant feature film directorial debut, “One Night In Miami…” is a celebration of Black men, brotherhood and friendship set against the backdrop of the political and cultural turbulence and music of a 1960s divided America.

Teatro Chelsea, Boston’s newest bilingual theater company, debuts the North American premiere of “Sonia se fue,” Jan. 14-17. In this Spanish translation of “Sonia Flew” by local playwright Melinda Lopez, Sonia is reminded painfully of her childhood in Cuba when her son decides to enlist in the army in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

VLA Dance, a Black-owned contemporary dance company affiliated with Hibernian Hall and Boston Center for the Arts, has launched a new series of online dance classes every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday through March 2021.

The Museum of Fine Arts Boston has commissioned Lauren Halsey and Diedrick Brackens to create the second and third editions of “The Banner Project,” a large-scale installation in the museum’s contemporary wing.

On cold, isolated early January nights, Boston Lyric Opera welcomes Bostonians to cozy up (virtually) by the fire at the Crane Estate in Ipswich for an intimate recital featuring rising soprano Gabriella Reyes; BLO Emerging Artist alumnus and pianist Brett Hodgdon; classical guitarist Zaira Meneses and host Sabrina Victor.

The Boston Children’s Chorus will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a free, virtual concert debuting on January 17. In “Born on the Water,” over 300 local singers, alongside Massachusetts-born opera star Andrea Baker, will raise their voices in tribute to the civil rights leader.

Candelaria Norma Silva is a creative powerhouse. A community arts and culture advocate, consultant and writer, the Dorchester resident has been crafting children’s stories for years. The 2020 COVID-19 shutdowns finally gave her the time and headspace she needed to publish her first standalone children’s book, “Stacey Became a Frog One Day.”