Orchestra Without Borders Boston
Luca Antonucci, music director
presents
Dances and Meditations
Music for Strings from Around the World
plus
The Ally Project
featuring Jonathan Fagan and
former poet-laureate Terry Carter
at the intersection of Jazz and social justice
plus
Helena Froehlich and CreationDance
Intermission with refreshments and African Art for sale
Saturday, May 3, 2025, 7:30 pm
First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton
1326 Washington St.
Newton, MA 02465
Tickets: $30 or $15 for students
to benefit the work of
Communities Without Borders
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The theme for this concert will be “Dances and Meditations Across the Divide,” and the program will feature a selection of classical and jazz music, including highlights from the upcoming season of Orchestra Without Borders. The Orchestra will be joined by dancer/choreographer Helena Froelich and the Ally Project, featuring jazz pianist Jonathan Fagan and former poet-laureate Terry Carter at the intersection of music and social justice. Join us for a program that explores the meditative and dynamic sides of the human experience, drawing on folk cultures from around the world from Latin America to the Near East alongside the music of American composers Florence Price, William Grant Still, and Reena Esmail.
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Luca Antonucci is
a rising conductor noted for his dynamism, entrepreneurial spirit, and commitment to community service. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Michigan, where he studies with Kenneth Kiesler. At Michigan, Luca is a fixture with all six orchestras on campus. He has served as cover conductor for the Portland Symphony and was recently invited to be a cover conductor for the Detroit Symphony. In Boston, Luca is the founder and conductor of Orchestra Without Borders and Boston Summer Singers, ensembles dedicated to social action through music. A native of Watertown, MA, Luca is a graduate of Amherst College and the Hartt School of Music, where he earned an M.M. in Orchestral Conducting. He is the son of renowned pianist Lois Shapiro and was active in the Boston area as a freelance trumpeter, singer, organist, teacher, and conductor. As a 2014 Fulbright Fellow in Vienna, he worked and published his scholarly work at the Arnold Schönberg Center and studied at the University of Vienna and University of Music and Performing Arts. When not on the podium or studying scores, Luca enjoys performing as a jazz and classical trumpet player, reading, hiking, and running.
Jonathan Adam Fagan is
a prolific jazz pianist, composer, and educator in the Boston area. After completing his masters degree in Jazz Studies at the Eastman School of Music, he moved back to his hometown of Arlington, joining the music faculty at the Winchester Community Music School, Concord Academy, and Brandeis University. In addition to performing frequently around Boston as a theater pianist, pop accompanist, and soloist, Jonathan composes for and leads “The Ally Project,” which lies at the intersection of Jazz and social justice-related poetry. Jonathan also founded the Medford Jazz Festival in 2020 and released his first solo recording in 2021, featuring his contemporary takes on Jazz standards.
is a writer, a professional editor, an ordained Christian pastor, and has worked in the Human Resources and career development fields. He currently directs Elder Services for a community center in his hometown of West Medford, MA. He is a classically-trained poet whose influences range from Shakespeare to the Harlem Renaissance. He is also a visual artist and a jazz aficionado. He takes contemporary life and faith experiences and translates them into word pictures that engage people in a truly unique way. His life influences are family, race, culture, and a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. He has published six volumes of poetry. He has recorded a jazz/poetry CD called The Ally Project. Terry was named the inaugural “Poet Laureate” of the City of Medford, MA in 2021. Terry belongs to the National Black Poet Laureates Society (NBPLS) and his work is included in their 2023-24 anthology In Fullness of the Word.
The Ally Project features pianist Jonathan Fagan and former poet-laureate Terry Carter at the intersection of Jazz and social justice. Fagan’s dynamic compositions underscore Carter’s thought-provoking words in an interdisciplinary collaboration around themes of culture, race, and local history. Musical improvisation complements Carter’s vibrant delivery of each text. Bassist Max Ridley and drummer Gordon Englegau create engaging grooves behind Carter’s vibrant delivery of each text, adding a dynamic layer of improvisation to the whole experience.
Helena Froehlich is from Strasbourg, France. She has been on the faculty of Boston Ballet School since 2005. She received her dance training in ballet and modern with Maître Jean Garcia and Gunilla Lervick, as well as training in jazz, flamenco, tap and African dance. She received scholarships from the French government to study modern dance at the Merce Cunningham School, and choreography with Alvin Nikolais/Murray Louis.
Froehlich has performed and choreographed with Opera du Rhin, ACTES, les Arts Scéniques, Fusion, National Center for Contemporary Dance, Renate Pook, Crescendo, and Association Creation Danse in France; Peter Janssens, Tanz!, Staatstheater Biberach, and Felix Ruckert in Germany; and Gerald Otte, Rob McWilliams, Nikolais/Louis Repertory Group, T3, Soulstice, Wing it!, Reverence, American Repertory Ballet, Teamwork, and currently CreationDance in the United States.
Froehlich was a faculty member at American Repertory Ballet’s Princeton Ballet School, teaching ballet, modern, tai chi, Acu-Yoga, sacred, and choreography. She was also a choreographer for school productions of Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, and Swan Lake.
CreationDance is the dance company of FUUSN (First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton) since 2005. Its purpose and joy is to share the beauty and expression of dance and music, to develop awareness, and to build community through dance as a way of communication. Short dances as well as full-length programs are created and performed during services, mainly at FUUSN and also in other churches, theatres, spiritual venues, or charitable events. The choreography for the dances are inspired by diverse spiritual themes, dance styles and music pieces. Founder and choreographer Helena Froehlich loves to collaborate with the dancers and musicians as they create the pieces. Through the years, together they have created about 100 pieces. CreationDance also loves to invite the community to participate in Tuning Moving Meditation, where body, mind, emotion and energy can flow together.
earns enthusiastic acclaim on operatic, concert, and recital stages alike. Her extensive repertoire spans from Baroque to modern. 
a saxophonist, composer, vocalist, lyricist, songwriter and educator. He 
Dor Herskovits is an Israeli drummer and composer based in Boston. Following his passion for jazz and improvised music, Herskovits received his Bachelor’s degree from the Berklee College of music and his Master’s degree in Jazz Performance from the New England Conservatory. During these formative years, the drummer also began his journey as a composer and bandleader. Today, Herskovits performs and records as a sideman and a bandleader around the world. His current projects include – Earprint, Tetraptych, Bert Seager, Elan Mehler trio, TJ and the Revenge, Max Ridley’s Basement Orchestra, Xiongguan Zhang, and many others. He has shared the stage with great musicians such as Jason Palmer, Steve Cardenas, Jon Cowherd, Daniel Rotem and George Garzone. 
Lili Shires, vocalist, has been singing on stages since she was six years old. Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, she attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts from grades 4 to 12. Bert Seager met her last year at the New England Conservatory where she studied with Dominique Eade. Lili won the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists’ YoungArts Jazz scholarship competition in 2020.
When the award-winning and internationally known 
Soprano 
