Live, in-person music returned to downtown Amherst for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than a year ago.
On Saturday and Sunday, Bach in Amherst featured outdoor pop-up performances of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach as part of the 2021 University of Massachusetts Bach Festival and Symposium.
Performances will be Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Town Common, and
Ann Tweedy, marketing director for the Amherst Business Improvement District, said the performances follow from the Bach in the Subways held indoors in 2015 at Amherst Books and Black Sheep Deli.
Tweedy said the BID supports the work coordinated by Amanda Stenroos at the UMass Department of Music and Dance.
This live music will be followed by a performance May 1 at noon at Sweetser Park by the UMass Wind Ensemble, conducted by Matthew Westgate, also of the UMass Department of Music and Dance.
Former state Senate President Stan Rosenberg, who twice served as the Senate Redistricting Committee chairman, and State Rep. Michael Moran, of the 18th Suffolk District and chairman of the House Redistricting Committee, will participate in a webinar to raise awareness and promote action on redistricting.
The League of Women Voters of Amherst is sponsoring the event, “Redistricting 101: Then and Now,” April 29 from 7 to 8 p.m., to raise awareness and promote action on redistricting.
The presentation will explain how the census is connected to redistricting at the local, state and federal levels. There will also be discussion about how individuals can help shape fair maps and influence the process.
League member Adrienne Terrizzi will moderate.
The webinar comes as the Governance, Organization and Legislative Committee of the Amherst Town Council drafts the charge for the town’s nine-member District Advisory Board, which will prepare the town for adjusted voting districts.
Registration in advance is required and can be done by going to the League’s website at lwvamherst.org.
The Human Rights Commission is seeking nominations for the 14th year of honoring local youths who have shown compassion and concern for neighbors and honored the diversity of the town.
Both individuals and youth groups can be nominated, with a minimum of nine awards to be made, equally divided between elementary, middle and high school students. Students must either live or attend school in Amherst. A community picnic, with the format to be determined in person or remote, is scheduled for June 5,
People can visit the town website for more information and send forms to Humanresources@amherstma.gov by May 21.
The state Department of Housing and Community Development recently announced that it will be providing 10 Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program vouchers to homeless individuals who will live at the Valley Community Development project on Northampton Road.
Valley CDC will be constructing a building with 28 enhanced single-room occupancy units, each with a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, as well as one office for onsite property management and another office for a resident services coordinator.
The rental subsidies enable tenants with extremely low incomes to pay one-third of their income for rent and utilities, with the balance of the housing cost covered by the state.
The Amherst Survival Center and the Jones Library are joining together for virtual poetry reading.
Participants can read an original poem or share a poem by a favorite poet. The poem can be in any language.
To register, send email to programs@joneslibrary.org by April 29.
