Summer's Hottest Ticket at SSC's Summer Spotlight Series

The celebratory 20th anniversary season of South Shore Conservatory’s (SSC) Summer Spotlight presents summer’s hottest entertainment ticket on the South Shore with two special events next week! SSC’s Evening Under the Stars concert series presents WGBH’s Celtic Sojourn: Roots and Branches in a rare special appearance in Hingham on Saturday, July 16, 7 pm, a highlight of the summer’s Celtic calendar in New England. Wacky Wednesdays family entertainment ramps up with popular duo Little Groove on Wednesday, July 13 at 10 am. All performances take place in the Jane Carr Amphitheater at One Conservatory Drive in Hingham.

The Celtic Sojourn: Roots and Branches concert features a range of traditional and contemporary artists from around the Celtic world in what promises to be one of the highlights of the series. Over the last 30 years, local, regional, and national broadcasts of O’Donovan’s radio program, A Celtic Sojourn have proven extraordinarily popular. This concert follows the format established for the wildly successful Christmas Celtic Sojourn series of concerts and A St. Patrick’s Day Celtic Sojourn. Each Saturday on the air at WGBH the program explores and celebrate the roots and branches of Celtic music, while growing a world-wide audience.

SSC fiddle instructor Christine Hedden performs as part of O’Donovan’s program. As a performer and a composer, Hedden has explored the fiddle in a variety of contexts: free jazz and improvisation, electronic music, contemporary classical music, and in the great rivers of tradition. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Michigan, she performs regularly as a solo fiddle player, as well as with her beloved Father-Daughter duo, Headin' Home, and with a quartet of folk-inspired composers from University of Michigan, Ensoleil.

Little Groove brings audiences to their feet while they enjoy the crowd-surfing, brightly colored parachute over their heads! Little Groove performances, ideal for children infant through eight, feature fun, educational music that adults also enjoy. Children are encouraged to use their bodies and voices to sing along to catchy songs that help them build important motor and social skills.

Little Groove founder, singer-songwriter/guitarist/pianist Sara Wheeler writes the groups acoustic rock songs. Over the past few years she has recorded more than 100 children’s tunes, including Building Blocks, a Parents Choice Award-winning CD, lauded for having a fun song for almost every hour of the day. At Little Groove performances, children play real instruments such as drums, shakers, and tambourines while they dance, sing, and groove to songs about playtime, sleep time, trains, planes, rainbows, pigs, monkeys, butterflies, ducks, and dogs!

Wacky Wednesdays family concerts are sponsored by the The Harold and Avis Goldstein Trust, with WATD as the media partner. Evenings Under the Stars Saturday evening concerts are generously sponsored by Hingham Institution for Savings. The Celtic Sojourn concert is sponsored by Deborah Allinson.

Prior to the concert audience members are invited to enjoy light hors d’oeuvres and drinks, mingle with guests and meet the performers at a pre-concert reception. WGBH is the reception sponsor.

Summer Spotlight concerts continue on Wednesday mornings and Saturday evenings through July 30. All concerts take place in the Jane Carr Amphitheater, One Conservatory Drive, Hingham. Evenings Under the Stars Saturday evening concerts start at 7 pm, Wacky Wednesdays family concerts start at 10 am. Parking for Wednesday morning concerts is onsite for everyone. Although limited onsite parking is available for handicapped patrons, parking for Saturday night concerts for the public is at the Hingham School Bus Depot.

Tickets for Evenings Under the Stars performances purchased before the day of the concert are $40 for pavilion and $25 for lawn seating. Evenings Under the Stars tickets purchased at the door are $45 for pavilion seating and $30 for the lawn. With the exception of A Celtic Sojourn, cabaret seating for six is available at Evenings Under the Stars concerts for $140 per table, and includes a bottle of wine. Preconcert reception tickets are $25.

Tickets for Wacky Wednesdays family concerts are $15 adult and $5 children. Season subscriptions to the four Saturday evening concerts are available for $240 for pavilion and $180 for lawn seating and include the pre-concert receptions. There is no charge for children under three. Tickets may be purchased online at www.sscmusic.org. For more information or to order tickets, visit www.sscmusic.org or call 781-749-7565, ext. 22.

About South Shore Conservatory

South Shore Conservatory, (SSC) has been providing access to and enriching the lives of South Shore residents through music and the arts for 45 years. Recognized as a national model for arts education by the National Guild for Community Arts Education, SSC is the largest, not-for-profit, community school for the arts in Massachusetts, serving over 3500 students of all ages and abilities at its two beautiful campuses and in partnership with schools, and social service and community agencies throughout the South Shore. Students participate in more than 50 diverse programs in music, dance and drama, with performance playing an important role in overall education. With more than 100 exceptional musicians on faculty, SSC offers 30 professionally produced concerts annually. Through innovative partnerships, SSC’s Creative Arts Therapies department supports the mental, emotional, and physical health of some of our community’s underserved members, and the ImagineARTS program strengthens pre-reading skills for young learners in Brockton Schools through integrated music and dramatic play. SSC’s campuses are located at One Conservatory Drive, Hingham, (781-749-7565) and 64 St. George Street, Duxbury (781-934-2731). SSC programs are supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. For more information call us, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram or visit www.sscmusic.org.

In keeping with SSC’s inclusive mission to provide access to quality education in the arts for all, the Conservatory offers programs for all segments of the population to enjoy, regardless of age, ability, geography, and financial means. Furthermore, South Shore Conservatory admits students and families of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school.