Members Events

Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 5:30-7:30 PM

This February, the Laurel Circle Concert Series will return with a performance by the Rasa String Quartet. Escape the cold for an evening filled with music, food, and good company inside the warmth of our historic Bigelow Chapel.

Formed in 2019, the Boston-based Rasa String Quartet consists of violinists Emma Powell and Maura Shawn Scanlin, violist Kiyoshi Hayashi, and cellist Mina Kim, who are graduates of the New England Conservatory, the Shepherd School of Music, and Yale University.

As with all Laurel Circle Lectures and Concerts, the program will begin with an hour-long reception, followed by an hour of performance. The event is free for Laurel Circle members; $50 per ticket for non-members of the Laurel Circle.

If you have questions about this event or need more information, please contact Matthew Tufts at mtufts@mountauburn.org or 617-540-0076.

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Stay tuned as more member events are announced and check out our full list of upcoming public programs.

Friday, December 6, 5:30-8:30 PM

Tickets: $125 per person

This year Mount Auburn Cemetery will open its 2024 run of our signature annual event, SOLSTICE: Reflections on Winter Light, with a celebratory VIP Night.

Join Mount Auburn leadership, key figures from our event partner, MASARY, SOLSTICE sponsors, and surprise special guests as we mark the opening of this annual winter tradition.

The evening's program will also include remarks from Mount Auburn and MASARY leadership, food and beverages, and a behind-the-scenes preview of the SOLSTICE artworks, including details on their development and execution.

Be the first to experience two new artworks in a small group setting before the event opens to the public on December 7th!

Tuesday, October 29, 5:30-7:30 PM

For the final 2024 installment of our Laurel Circle Lecture Series, our very own Vice President of Horticulture & Landscape Ronnit Bendavid-Val will provide an in-depth look at the current effects of the changing climate on our landscape and what to anticipate in the future. Among a host of relevant topics, Ronnit's discussion will focus on ways that horticulturalists can adapt to changes in the environment.

To celebrate Mount Auburn’s 193^rd birthday, we are thrilled to announce our inaugural Dinner Under the Oaks—a unique opportunity to come together, connect, and dine in our beloved early fall landscape. Please join us and other close friends who share a passion for the Cemetery at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 25th, for a reception on Bigelow Lawn and dinner to follow at 7:00 p.m.

Thank you to all who joined us! Check out our photo gallery of the event.

Naturalist, artist, educator, and author Clare Walker Leslie will lead a walk noting specific autumnal changes as participants tour Mount Auburn Cemetery's evolving landscape. Participants are encouraged to write their reflections on this season of change. Paper and pencils will be provided.

In 2019, Mount Auburn began a three-phase project to restore the landscape along Indian Ridge Path, one of our oldest and most significant areas. With more than 15,000 recently installed plants, the newly-restored area promotes biological diversity while enhancing the site’s natural beauty. Join Mount Auburn's Director of Ornamental Horticulture Rie Macchiarolo as they discuss the history and horticulture of this newly rejuvenated area. 

Led by Artemis yoga teacher Tracy Affonso, the class will include a moving meditation and a flowing, physical practice infused with a sense of calming energy. She will mindfully instruct you through sequences while offering you the space to listen to your body and move with intention. All set in the recently-enhanced beauty of Hazel Dell to create a calming and healing experience.

Cyanotypes are one of the oldest photographic printing processes in the history of photography. Join Mount Auburn Artist-in-Residence Madge Evers for a workshop on how to make your own cyanotype compositions. Evers will teach participants an experimental form of the cyanotype process by which she will create a series of images on paper that use and depict the flora of Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Amidst a landscape filled with programming for our upcoming Summer SOLSTICE, join us for our next Laurel Circle Lecture Series event, when Berklee College of Music professor Stan Strickland will help us celebrate the longest day of the year with a performance and accompanying commentary in Hazel Dell. The event will begin with a catered reception in Hazel Dell, 5:30-6:30 p.m., with the performance beginning at 6:30 p.m. 

Stan Strickland is a vocalist, saxophonist, and flutist, and is the leader of Stan Strickland & Ascension, and the Stan Strickland Trio. He is a member of the Bob Moses-Stan Strickland Duo, the Laszlo Gardony-Stan Strickland Duo, Mama Tongue, and the Phil Argyris Quintet. He has performed with the Boston Pops, Take Six, Herbie Mann, Marlena Shaw, Pharaoh Sanders, Danilo Perez, and Yusef Lateef. His work appears on released recordings by Stan Strickland & Ascension, Bob Moses, Brute Force, and others. Registration is free for Laurel Circle members, $50 for non-members of the Laurel Circle. 

Cannon Hersey, grandson of author John Hersey who wrote “Hiroshima,” will discuss the Survivor Trees of Hiroshima, over 160 trees within a mile of the epicenter of the atomic bombing that still thrive today. Since 2015 during 31 journeys to Hiroshima, Hersey has documented over 60 of these trees with 35mm photography. Within an interactive discussion, Hersey and Peabody award-winning filmmaker Taku Nishimae will share clips from the movie “SURVIVOR TREES Hiroshima Revealed III,” and photographs as well as large scale silkscreens of these survivor trees. Hersey and Nishimae will also discuss their work as creatives and educators convening diverse, multi-generational audiences, to look at disruptive ways to tackle a range of environmental, community, and human rights issues to engage issues important to local residents and the world. Registration is free for Laurel Circle members, $50 for non-members of the Laurel Circle.