for the ARTS record
HAUNTED WHISPERS, VOICES FROM THE PAST The Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) will hold its second Tales in the Twilight, on Saturday, Oct. 27, at 4 p.m. in the Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street.

Join the NHA for an afternoon of storytelling and tales about deceased "Nantucketers of Note," who will be portrayed through monologues spoken in the first person.

"We understand the strong fascination with hearing about the people from Nantucket's historical past," said NHA Manager of Interpretation & Education Kim McCray. "While alive, their personalities helped define the island we know today. We believe that by bringing them to life by retrieving their stories, at a truly imaginative time of the day, is a wonderful way to keep their histories alive."

Costumed storytellers, thanks to the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, will portray these historic Nantucket personalities; peppered between the stories, photos will materialize on the big screen, and information will be given about the island's cemeteries and the work the cemetery commission is presently undertaking.

Cost: $5 for members; $10 nonmembers; $3 youth (under 17). Call 228-1894, ext. 0 for additional information.

Note: On All Hallows Eve, (Wednesday, Oct. 31), Nantucket children are invited to stop by the Whaling Museum at 13 Broad Street, where costumed staff members will greet trick-or-treaters. Happy Haunting.

SING! SING! SING! The Women's Chorus of Nantucket, now in its second year, will be singing at the Unitarian Church on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 4 pm.

Founded and conducted by Marcia Hempel, the chorus has grown and will have about 23 singers performing, singing a variety of different kinds of music, from the Wailin' Jennys' "One Voice" to "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" to Billy Joel's "Lullabye," and "And So it Goes." There is a suggested donation at the door of $10 for adults and $5 for children.

The chorus began in 2006 and has had two concerts. The chorus is open to all women on the island. Some of the singers are experienced and have sung in church choirs and in the NCMC Chorus, and others are new to choral singing. The chorus has received two grants from the Nantucket Arts Council to support their search for new repertoire.

The chorus sings jazz, pop, gospel and folk music, and will include in this concert Hempel's arrangement of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," which was premiered this past June.

In addition to the two new Billy Joel songs which the chorus learned recently, other new repertoire includes "Someone To Watch Over Me," the Mamas and the Papas song "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and a setting of the Yeats poem "Song of Wandering Aengus," by Canadian composer Paul Halley. Gospel great Moses Hogan's pieces "I Am His Child" and "Music Down In My Soul" will also be in the program on October 28.

WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH WHALE OIL Peter Roncetti, Nantucket Historical Association interpreter, will host "What's the Deal with Whale Oil? Learn how the Candle Factory Worked" at the Food for Thought Series on Thursday, Oct. 18, in the Whaling Museum, 13 Broad St., at noon. Free admission; bring your lunch.

The NHA's candle factory, built following Nantucket's great fire of 1846, still has the original whale-oil beam press - a three-story wooden structure that is the only such artifact surviving in its original location anywhere in the world. Roncetti will talk about how this predecessor to today's modern petroleum refinery utilized an ingenious method of physical separation to extract spermaceti from whale oil for candlemaking. Learn how this was done and why the candle factory's products to provide lighting were so important in their time.

On October 25, the Food for Thought Series will continue with "The Siren Call of Nantucket" hosted by Nantucket Independent associate publisher Dan Drake. Bring your lunch. Each talk begins at noon and is free to the public.

For additional information about the Brown-Bag Luncheon Series, please call 228-1894, ext. 0, or

visit www.nha.org to view the full schedule. I