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Music and Movement Classes for Kindergarten and First grade students started Tuesday January 10th at the Lura A. White School. We meet in the gym from dismissal until 4 pm for 7 weeks, then we will perform for family and friends. Email mail@shirleyarts for more details.

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Christmas is when we sponsor performances that help our neighbors in need. Thank you to everyone who performed, and everyone who was in the audience.

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On Sunday December 18th, the Children's Touring Christmas Choir  performed at the Bull Run Brunch. Their performance raised over $500 for the Shirley Friendship Fund. With songs like the Reindeer Boogie, and the audience help with 12 Days of Christmas, and the story of the first Christmas, they also brought smiles to many faces.  Thank you Susan Dean for your accompaniment.

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On Sunday December 11th, we performed a Community Christmas Celebration in Song and Dance at the Ayer Shirley Middle School, Dancers and singers were from ages 8 through adult. Music Director was Meredith Marcinkewicz . Choreographer was Daisy Giunta, with MIcheal Hoffmann as accompanist. The first half of the show was a variety of contemporary songs and dances. The second half of the program was the narrated cantata, Home for Christmas.Through admissions and donations, we raised over $500 for Loaves and Fishes, our local food pantry.

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 PAST EVENTS

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The Worcester Telegram said that we CHARMED the audience with the three numbers from OLIVER  that we performed at the Hanover Theater last month.

This month the children's choir charmed the folks at the town tree lighting. 

More charm to come with  the two fundraising Christmas Concerts.

 The Summer Children's musical was Tom Sawyer. The boys and girls did a great job both on stage and back stage. Their singing, dancing, and acting left a smile on everyone's faces.

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The LAW Spring Concert - Movie Music was held on June 10th with members of the Lura A. White School Chorus also taking part. They did songs from old movies like "Mary Poppins," and new movies like "Despicable Me". Great fun was had by all.

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Ukulele Classes are done for this season, but some of us performed at the Ayer 4th of July celebrations, at Pirone Park.

Classes will begin again in early 2012.

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Our LAW Talent Show raised $888 for the Playground.  Then three of those talented students reprieved their acts and performed at the Shirley Memorial Day Commemorations.  Olivia Pampinella sang "My Country Tis of Thee."  Brianna Finnegan and Savannah Caldbeck sang "God Bless the USA."  By the end of OCtober, the new playground was built and we were glad to be part of this great community project.

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The MUSIC AND MOVEMENT CLASSES for kindergarten and first grade students had their class performance on March 22nd, providing enjoyment to many family members and friends.

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The Butler Did It, Again , performed last spring, was great fun, with a cast of wacky characters and several mysteries to be solved. We were pleased to have people from all over north central Massachusetts taking part on the stage and in the audience.

Events from 2010

Christmas was a Time of Music and Giving

The Children's Touring Christmas Choir performed a concert to benefit the Shirley Friendship Fund on Sunday December 19th at the Bull Run brunch. They raised $387 to help Shirley families in need.

The Community Christmas Concert was on Friday evening December 17th and raised $705 to benefit our local food pantry - Loaves and Fishes.

Great thanks go to the singers, dancers, musicians, staff, and audience members  who made all this possible.

Our family fall musical was OLIVER and was a great success which was enjoyed by participants and audience alike. Plus - we were able to raise awareness of issues of violence to women and we also raised over $400 for Loaves and Fishes.

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Our 2010 children's summer show Disney's Cinderella Kids was enjoyed by both the cast and the audience. It is wonderful to see these boys and girls learn their lines and songs and choreography and then figure out when and where to move scenery pieces and change costumes quickly and still keep the audience entertained. We had participants from Ayer, Groton, Harvard, and even Arizona, and now they all have new friends.

A group of nine adults directed by Rob Houle and Joanne Landry received rave reviews for their performance of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. We were thrilled to have this opportunity to attract so many performers and audience members from outside Shirley. We hope they will come back often.

Our February 2010 energetic teen production of The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet kept the audience smiling and laughing out loud. Some folks on our facebook page said they were sorry they missed it. Keep checking this page for other upcoming events so you don't miss anything.

***** Useful Information *****

Warning - Please do not go by mapquest! For accurate directions to the Shirley Middle School, where many of our events take place, click here.

Possibilities - If you know a professional or amateur class or performance that you would like to see brought to Shirley, please tell us about it. For a production proposal form,contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

SCHOLARSHIPS to arts events and arts classes are available through ShirleyArts! for All, a Youth Ventures program.ShirleyArts!will also be raising money to help ASMS students with their spring musical. Did you know that band and drama students do better on their SATs than math or science majors ? Please help us support the arts.

Some ShirleyArts! productions receive financial support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council through the local Shirley Cultural Council. This help is much appreciated.

For a History of our past productions, Click Here.

For membership information, Click Here.

Note that we are a 501(C)(3) non-profit corporation and all your donations are tax-deductible.

Officers for ShirleyArts! for 2011 are President and Treasurer John Rounds, Artistic Director Meredith Marcinkewicz, Secretary Laurie Marcinkewicz, and Board Members Kathy Ellis, Roy Ellis, Mike Hoffmann, Vicky Landry, and Kathryn Lyon. Pass on your comments and suggestions to any of them.