December 12-18
THURS
MUSIC
Ginsberg: funk band, Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, 41 E Second St, Cambridge, 8.
Boston Symphony Orchestra: conducted by Seiji Ozawa, Symphony Hall, 8.
Empire Brass: Boston University Concert Hall, 855 Commonwealth Ave, 2.
La Fontegara, Medieval and Renaissance Music: MIT Chapel, noon.
MIT Symphony Orchestra: Kresge Auditorium, MIT, 8:30.
LECTURES
Defense: Which Future for America? upcoming candidates luncheon, Harvard Club, 1 Federal St.
Symbol and Substance in Grade School Science: Dr. Philip Morrison, New England Aquarium's Auditorium, 7:30.
Fantasy and Utility: Ornament Prints: David P. Becker, Museum of Fine Arts, 11.
Life at Court: Art for India's Rulers: Tracy White, Museum of Fine Arts, 7.
THEATRE
A Christmas Carol: Loeb Ex, 64 Brattle St, Cambridge, 7:30.
Grease: Winthrop House JCR, Harvard, 8.
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf: Leverett House Old Library, Harvard, 8.
Rejecting the Impure We Zoom Toward Greatness: by Eric Kaplan, The Union Performance Room, Harvard, Friday at 8, Saturday at 4.
The Sorcerer: Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players, Agassiz Theatre, Radcliffe Yard, 8.
Camelot: Dunster House JCR, Harvard, 8.
Richard II: Holmes Living Room, North House, Harvard, 8:30.
The Second Shepherd's Play: Holmes Dining Room, North House, Harvard, 7:45.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat: Kirkland House JCR, Harvard, 8.
Mainly Jazz Dance Company Concert: Adams House, Harvard, 8:30.
Leave Her to Heaven: film, Harvard-Epworth Church, 1555 Mass Ave, Cambridge, 7:30.
Occupational Hazards: Ann Magnuson, Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge, 7:30.
De Peliculas: Archives of Latin American Conflict, 1890-1940, Harvard Film Archive, 8.
FRI/SAT
MUSIC
Bach's B Minor Mass: Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, conductor, Symphony Hall, Friday at 2, Saturday at 8.
MIT Symphony Orchestra: featuring Quintet for glass harmonica, Kresge Auditorium, MIT, Saturday at 8:30.
Advent Jazz Vespers: Old Cambridge Baptist Chuirch, Friday at 5:30.
Christmas in Cambridge: Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society, St Paul Church, Bow St, Harvard Square, Friday at 8.
Following the Star: Mistral Vocal Ensemble, Old Cambridge Baptist Church, Friday and Saturday at 8.
Arlington Folk Society Holiday Concert: featuring Scott Alarik and Betty Lehrman, St John's Church, 74 Pleasant St, Arlington Center, Saturday at 8.
Marcel Khalife and Al-Mayadeen Ensemble: benefit concert, Strand Theatre, 543 Columbia Rd, Dorchester, Saturday at 7.
Handel's Messiah: Banchetto Musicale orchestra and chorus, Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Friday at 8.
Longy Faculty Artist Series Concert: Sophia Vilker and Bertica Shulman Cramer, Edward Pickman Concert Hall, Follen & Garden Sts, Cambridge, Friday at 8.
Music and Puppets for Christmas and Hanukkah: with Jean Tibbils, Main Library Children's Room, Copley Square, Saturday at 3.
A Wintersauce Holiday: Wintersauce Chorale, First and Second Church, 66 Marlborough St, Back Bay, Friday at 8.
Pro Musicis: with Robert Dick and Kenneth Bowen, Edward Pickman Concert Hall, Follen & Garden Sts, Cambridge, Saturday at 8.
The King of Glory Christmas Concert: Kuumba Singers, Harvard-Epworth Church, 1555 Mass Ave, Friday at 8.
White Christmas Cabaret: Upstairs Lounge, Hasty Pudding Club, Harvard Square, Friday at 8 and 10.
Winter Concert: Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, Sanders Theatre, Harvard, Friday at 7.
Sally Rogers and Howie Bursen: in concert, First Church Congregational, Garden and Mason Sts, Cambridge, Saturday at 8.
Lydian String Quartet: performing Beethoven, Slosberg Recital Hall, Brandeis, Waltham, 8.
World Peace Concert featuring Do'a World Music Ensemble: Paine Music Hall, Harvard, Saturday at 8.
Quadrivium: medieval music and dance, Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St, Cambridge, Friday at 8.
Newton Opera Workshop: Hansel and Gretel and other scenes, Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St, Cambridge, Saturday at 8.
LECTURES
Resource Conservation and Reforestation in Nicaragua: slide presentation, Boston Urban Gardeners, 33 Harrison Ave, 5th floor, Friday at 12:30.
The Religious Renewal of Soviet Jewry: Sylvia Rothchild, Riesman Center, Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel, Friday at 8:30.
Saturday Family Special: Harvard University Mseums of Natural History, Saturday, 10:30-12:30.
Medieval Art in the Service of the Church: Lisa C. Kahn, Museum of Fine Arts, Saturday at noon.
Nude, Naked, Stripped: public preview and reception, Hayden Gallery, Wiesner Building, MIT, Friday, 6-8.
THEATRE
A Christmas Carol: Loeb Ex, 64 Brattle St Cambridge, Friday and Saturday at 7:30, Saturday matinee at 2:30.
Richard II: Holmes Living Room, North House, Harvard, Friday and Saturday at 8:30.
Four Quartets: Lowell House JCR, Harvard, Friday at 11 am, Saturday at 3.
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf: Leverett House Old Library, Harvard, Friday and Saturday at 8.
The Sorcerer: Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players, Agassiz Theatre, Radcliffe Yard, Friday and Saturday at 8.
The Second Shepherd's Play: Holmes Dining Room, North House, Harvard, Friday and Saturday at 7:45.
Mainly Jazz Dance Company Concert: Adams House, Harvard, Friday at 8:30.
Camelot: Dunster House JCR, Harvard, Friday and Saturday at 8.
Grease: Winthrop House JCR, Harvard, Friday at 10:30, Saturday at 8.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat: Kirkland House JCR, Harvard, Friday and Saturday: 8 and 10.
Occupational Hazards: Ann Magnuson, Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge, Friday at 7:30, Saturday at 7:30 and 10.
Christmas Program of Storytelling: Sharon Kennedy, BU Bookstore, 660 Beacon St, 1:30.
Scattering Pine Needles: music-theater, Thunder Bay Ensemble, Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury St, Friday and Saturday at 8.
Le Signe Du Lion: film, French Library, 53 Marlborough St, Arlington, 8.
Irish Christmas Show: the Chieftains with Burgess Meredith, Symphony Hall, Friday at 8.
Festival of Light and Song: with Kolea and Wild Rose, Tremont Temple, 88 Tremont St, Friday at 8, Saturday at 3 and 8.
Persephone and Hades: Mobius Performing Group, 354 Congress St, Friday and Saturday at 8.
SUN
MUSIC
Christmas Scenes From Operas: Directed by John Moriarty, Gardner Museum, 3.
Bach's Christmas Oratorio: Boston Premiere Ensemble, Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, 7.
Robert Tumarkin and Marilyn Smith: piano music, New School of Music 25 Lowell St, Cambridge, 8.
Newton Opera Workshop: Hansel and Gretel, Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St, Cambridge, 3.
Handel's Messiah: Banchetto Musicale orchestra and chorus, Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, 3.
Chamber Orchestra Concert: Mystic Valley Orchestra, with harpist Elizabeth Morse, Paine Hall, Harvard, 3.
Masterpieces of Choral Music: Harvard Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, Sanders Theatre, Harvard, 3.
Handel's Messiah: Tinity Church Choir and Orchestra, Trinity Church, Copley Square, 7.
Following the Star: Mistral Vocal Ensemble, Parish of the Messiah, 1900 Commonwealth Ave, Auburndale, 3.
LECTURES
Kings, Courtiers, and Company Officials: Rulers of India, 16th-19th Centuries: Ainslie Embree, Remis Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts, 3.
Painted Portraits: Barbara T. Martin, Museum of Fine Arts, 2.
Alternatives to a Military Mentality: Dr. Jean Baker Miller, The Community Church of Boston, 602 Commonwealth Ave, Morse Auditorium, 11 am.
A Damsel in Distrers: film, Harvard-Epworth Church, 1555 Mass Ave, Cambridge, 7:30.
THEATRE
Four Quartets: JCR, Lowell House, Harvard, 8.
Richard II: Holmes Living Room, North House, Harvard, 8:30.
Rejecting the Impure We Zoom Toward Greatness: by Eric Kaplan, The Union Performance Room Harvard, 2.
MON
MUSIC
MIT Chamber Music Society: Macus Thompson, Director, Music Library, MIT, Memorial Drive, 5:15.
Beethoven's Birthday Concert: with Lydian String Quartet members, Kresge Auditorium, MIT, 8.
TUES
MUSIC
Greater Boston Yourth Symphony Orchestra: Eigi Oue, Conductor, Gardner Museum, 6.
The Glory of Christmas: musical adapted from The Wakefield Mystery Plays, Boston Renaissance Ensemble, St. Paul's Church, 59 Church St, Dedham, 8.
WED
MUSIC
A Renaissance Christmas: Christmas music, performed by The Boston Camerata, Trinity Church, Copley Square, 8.
Holiday Concert: with duo pianists Anthony and Joseph Parratore, Gardner Museum, 6.
A Company Christmas at Pops: special performance with John Williams and the Boston Pops benefitting the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall.
A Tribute to Count Basie: Harvard Monday Jazz Band with Clark Terry on trumpet, Agassiz Theater, Radcliffe Yard, across from Cambridge Common, 8.
LECTURES
Traumatic Brain Injury: Silent Epidemic: Marilyn Spivak, Cambridge Forum, 3 Church St, Harvard, Cambridge, 8.
The Forsyth Wickes Collection: Barbara T. Martin, Museum of Fine Arts, 6.
ONGOING
THEATRE
The Juniper Tree: opera, performed by the American Repertory Theatre, Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge, Tuesday-Sunday at 8, weekend matinees at 2, through Feb. 20.
Enough: by Samuel Beckett, Suffolk University Theater, 55 Temple St, Thursday-Sunday at 8, through Dec. 14.
The Changeling: by Thomas Middleton, performed by the American Repertory Theatre, Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge, Tuesday-Sunday at 8, weekend matinees at 2, through Feb. 19.
The Nutcracker: performed by the Boston Ballet, Wang Center, through Dec. 29.
A Child's Christmas in Wales: by Dylan Thomas, Lyric Stage, through Dec. 22.
The Misanthrope: by Moliere, Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, Tuesday-Saturday at 8, Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday matinees at 2, through Dec. 22.
EXHIBITS
Renoir: Museum of Fine Arts, through January 5, 720-3450 for tickets.
Life at Court: Art for India's Rulers, 16th-19th Centuries: Museum of Fine Arts, through Feb. 9.
Golub: painter, Museum of Fine Arts, through Feb 2.
Christmas Secrets: seasonal crafts, 474 Boylston St, through Dec. 24.
The Christmas Star: possible astronomical explanations for Christmas traditions, Charles Hayden Planetarium, through Dec. 29.
Seventeen Angels: works by Mina Abbate, Off The Wall, 17 Pearl St, Cambridge, through Jan. 1.
Establishing a Threshold: Twelve Architectural Practices in Boston: Bank of Boston, 36th floor gallery, 100 Federal St, through January 31.
Nude, Naked, Stripped: painting, sculpture and photography, Hayden Gallery, Wiesner Building, MIT, Dec. 13 through Feb. 2.
Beatrix Farrand's American Landscapes: Her Gardens and Campuses: Gund Hall Gallery, Harvard School of Design, through Jan. 3.
Women and the Printing Press: work by women printers, Margaret Clapp Library, Wellesley College, through December.
Arthur Clifton Goodwin: oils and pastels, Vose Galleries, 238 Newbury St.
A Biblical Garden: Paintings and drawings by Carol Lerner, The Visitor Center, Jamaica Plain, through Dec. 15.
One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: modern works, Harcus Gallery, 7 Newbury St, Dec. 7 through Jan. 15.
Jackson Pollock: 44 Works on Paper, 1939 through 1940, Nielsen Gallery, 179 Newbury St., through Dec. 14.
Adolphe Appia 1862-1928: actor, space, light: Dreitzer Gallery, Brandeis, through Dec. 14.
Heuristic Journeys: by Jeremy Gardiner, George Sherman Union Gallery, Boston University, through Dec. 20.
Artists Proof, Printmakers: Upstairs Gallery, Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., Cambridge, Dec. 13 through Jan. 17.
Eva Hesse: The Early Drawings and Selected Sculpture: Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, through Dec. 19.
For Kids' Sake: Photographs of Today's Youth: 605 Commonwealth Ave, through Dec. 21.
Henry Moore: The Reclining Figure: The Bakalar Sculpture Gallery, MIT, Cambridge, through Jan. 5.
Bernice Abbott: Vision of the Twentieth Century: photographs, MIT Museum, Cambridge, through Dec. 27.