Tag Archives: Massachusetts Business

The Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association, Inc. Extends Long-Standing Partnership with Sports Connect

LEOMINSTER, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- Stack Sports, the largest and fastest-growing global provider of sports technology, announced today that it has extended its partnership with The Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association, Inc. (Mass Youth Soccer), which will leverage the Sports Connect platform for its state and member club management. As strategic partners, both organizations are committed to supporting the members of Mass Youth Soccer to make soccer easy for volunteers, administrators, coaches, and parents.

"We are excited to continue to partner with Sports Connect. Our relationship has proven that Sports Connect is the best platform capable of managing our unique compliance needs and the most prepared to help our members," said Rob Holliday, Executive Director of Mass Youth Soccer. "Many Mass Youth Soccer programs already trust Sports Connect with their club management needs, and we are confident that our continued partnership will guarantee clubs the most innovative solution on the market along with unmatched support for the volunteers and administrators that make each season possible."

Member clubs partnering with Sports Connect have access to a full suite of features, including Mobile-First Registration, seamless data integration, exclusive website designs, secure online payment processing, and much more.

"Mass Youth Soccer has been a long-standing partner of Sports Connect and we are honored to extend the relationship," said Adam Abney, General Manager of Sports Connect. "For years, Mass Youth Soccer has supported US Soccer's efforts to make soccer the preeminent sport for all children, creating a lifelong passion and love for the game. Our partnership allows for continued innovation and resources that will serve our shared mission of giving more young players the opportunity to play sports."

With the expansion of its partnership with Mass Youth Soccer, Sports Connect now powers more than 20,000 sports clubs and leagues, and two million teams. Managing over $1 billion in payments annually, Sports Connect provides unprecedented scale and best-in-class technology with the goal of increasing sports participation and transforming the sports experience.

To learn more about Sports Connect features for Mass Youth Soccer, visit: https://sportsconnect.com/massachusetts-youth-soccer/.

About The Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association, Inc.:

Mass Youth Soccer, a nonprofit educational and service organization, is dedicated to the equitable and ongoing development of youth soccer players, coaches, referees, clubs, and leagues in an inclusive, unbiased, safe, affordable, and fun environment. To learn more about Mass Youth Soccer go to https://www.mayouthsoccer.org/.

About Stack Sports:

With nearly 50 million users in 35 countries, Stack Sports is a global technology leader in SaaS platform offerings for the sports industry. The company provides world-class software and services to support national governing bodies, youth sports associations, leagues, clubs, parents, coaches, and athletes. Some of the largest and most prominent sports organizations including the U.S. Soccer Federation, Little League Baseball and Softball, and Pop Warner Little Scholars rely on Stack Sports technology to run and manage their organizations.

Stack Sports is headquartered in Dallas and is leading the industry one team at a time focusing on four key pillars - Grassroots Engagement, Participation Growth, Recruiting Pathways, and Elite Player Development. To learn more about how Stack Sports is transforming the sports experience, please visit https://stacksports.com/.

Stack Sports, the largest and fastest-growing global provider of sports technology, announced today that it has extended its partnership with The Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association, Inc. (Mass Youth Soccer), which will leverage the Sports Connect platform for its state and member club management.

Related link: https://stacksports.com/

New Book ‘And Then I Met You’ by Mackenzie Lee Illuminates an Enduring and Miraculous Love Story

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- Author Mackenzie Lee unveils a heartwarming tale of eternal love that defies all odds in her latest book, "And Then I Met You" (IBSN: 978-0228887737; Released March, 2023). This poignant true story weaves a mesmerizing narrative of a love that transcends the boundaries of time, space, and even life itself.

Have you ever questioned whether love endures beyond the veil of death? "And Then I Met You" introduces readers to two souls whose love is tested at every twist and turn, facing countless barriers that seem insurmountable. But amidst the challenges, a remarkable journey unfolds, leading to an unexpected and miraculous reunion.

Within the pages of this compelling book, readers will embark on an emotional rollercoaster, witnessing the power of love to overcome the impossible. As the story unravels, barriers that once separated the two hearts vanish, leaving behind an unforgettable tale of unwavering devotion and connection.

"And Then I Met You" promises to leave a lasting impression on readers, resonating long after the final chapter. With every turn of the page, the book invites you to look at life, love, and loss from a fresh perspective, igniting a spark of hope and renewal in your heart.

Join the elusive Mackenzie Lee on this transformative journey of love and faith, as she captures the essence of an eternal bond that continues to shine as a guiding star in the sky. "And Then I Met You" is more than a book; it's an enchanting reminder that love knows no bounds.

For more information about the author and her book, please visit https://a.co/d/fSQ5KMm

Mackenzie Lee has a unique ability to weave heartfelt narratives that touch readers' souls. With a passion for exploring the human spirit and its capacity for love, she captivates audiences with her deeply personal storytelling. "And Then I Met You" is her debut book, offering a glimpse into the boundless power of love.

BOOK SUMMARY:

Author: Mackenzie Lee

Email: authorpress[@]tellwell.ca

Buy Link: https://a.co/d/fSQ5KMm

Genre: Memoir

Released: March, 2023

PAPERBACK ISBN-13: 978-0228887737

Publisher: Tellwell (www.tellwell.ca)

Author Mackenzie Lee unveils a heartwarming tale of eternal love that defies all odds in her latest book, "And Then I Met You" (IBSN: 978-0228887737; Released March, 2023). This poignant true story weaves a mesmerizing narrative of a love that transcends the boundaries of time, space, and even life itself.

Related link: https://a.co/d/cWATAtR

Lowell Chamber Orchestra announces fifth season, largest yet

LOWELL, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- The Lowell Chamber Orchestra has officially announced its fifth season, which will be comprised of seven concerts starting in September of this year, and running all the way until June of next year.

This season will be the most ambitious yet in LCO's history in many ways - not only there will be more concerts than ever in one season, but also will feature more living composers, more soloists, will perform in new venues, will encompass some of the most challenging chamber orchestra repertoire, and will collaborate with not one, but two other musical groups.

Three women composers will be the center of the living composers' feature. All of them commissioned by the LCO for different projects - Brittney Benton and Yoko Nakatani, who were previously commissioned for LCO's "Lowell Threads" initiative, and currently Betsy Schramm, whose piece will be premiered in December. The other two living composers are the winners of the LCO's annual international call-for-scores: this year, two composers tied and agreed to share the prize - Cory Brodack and Martin Schreiner. Both of them were selected after an anonymous process of selection from over 180 scores.

Three soloists will be featured with the ensemble this season, two of them members of the orchestra itself. Principal chair trumpet player Adam Gallant will perform Persichetti's "The Hollow Men," and concertmaster Katharina Radlberger will perform Mozart's Concerto No. 3 in G major. The third soloist is the winner of LCO's International Concerto Competition, Taiwanese marimbist Nikki Huang, based currently in Canada. She will be featured in Séjourné's Concerto for marimba.

Each concert of the season is centered around an iconic work of the classical tradition, chosen for its historical importance. In September, audiences will hear Schönberg's First Chamber Symphony, which changed how the symphony was defined as a genre; In December, Charles Ives' Third Symphony, a Pulitzer Prize winning score, depicting a very traditional American gathering in the inimitable style of Ives; In February, Bartók's mesmerizing "Music for String Instruments, Percussion and Celesta," made famous in Kubrik's film "The Shining." Finally, May culminates the season with the monumental Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, through a first time collaboration with Boston Cecilia, and its music director, Michael Barret, who will conduct one of its two performances.

"This is a celebratory year for us." says LCO's Music Director Orlando Cela. "We managed to remain active and relatively unscathed during the pandemic, and now in our fifth year, we are looking to share much more with our audiences."

As usual, the concerts are free to the public, although donations are requested from those who can afford them - LCO is committed to demolish the socio-economic barriers to classical music by providing the best professional grade classical music concerts without an onerous financial burden.

Visit http://lowellchamberorchestra.org/events to find out the details of the next season.

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra has officially announced its fifth season, which will be comprised of seven concerts starting in September of this year, and running all the way until June of next year. Three soloists will be featured with the ensemble this season, two of them members of the orchestra itself.

Related link: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

Lowell Chamber Orchestra announces the winners of its Call-for-Scores and Concerto Competition

LOWELL, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- The Lowell Chamber Orchestra congratulates composers Cory Brodack and Martin Max Schreiner for winning the orchestra's 2023 Lowell Chamber Orchestra Call-for-Scores, and marimba player Wei-Hsing Nikki Huang, for winning the 2023 Lowell Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition.

In this third edition of the call for scores, two composers tied for first place. Both winners agreed to split the monetary prize, as well as the free year of publishing through Universal Edition's scodo. The seven judge panel chose both winners after two rounds, the last round completely anonymous, from among 182 entries, written by professional composers, students, amateurs, and ranging in a wide variety of genres - opera scenes, sinfoniettas, concertos, and diverse combinations of chamber ensembles.

The second edition of the concerto competition was also comprised of two rounds. The first round, being virtual, was comprised of about 140 videos of an eclectic and varied mix of instruments. Twelve finalist were invited to participate, one coming from as far as Japan. Huang, who will be heard performing in the LCO concert of February 3rd, 2024, is a Taiwanese artist based in Toronto. The second prize winner was a 12-years-old violinist who impressed with his technical mastery.

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra produces these competitions as part of their mission to promote the advancement of contemporary music, and give opportunities to young performers at the beginning of their performing careers. All of the LCO concerts are completely free and provide the Lowell greater area with a professional ensemble producing extremely high quality concerts without a socio-economic barrier.

Please consider donating to our end-of-season appeal by clicking here: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/endofseasonappeal

For more information about the winners, click on the links below:

2023 Lowell Chamber Orchestra Call-for-Scores: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/2023-call-for-scores

2023 Lowell Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/2023-concerto-competition

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra congratulates composers Cory Brodack and Martin Max Schreiner for winning the orchestra's 2023 Lowell Chamber Orchestra Call-for-Scores, and marimba player Wei-Hsing Nikki Huang, for winning the 2023 Lowell Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition.

Related link: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

Valo Media and OptionsSwing Partner to Bring Innovative User-Generated Content Solutions to the Online Education Market

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- Valo Media, a user-generated content (UGC) agency, announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with OptionsSwing, an online education technology company. This new partnership will bring innovative solutions for strategic marketing initiatives as well as brand new content that will help OptionsSwing reach and engage a wider global audience.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with OptionsSwing, a company that shares our passion for using technology to enhance learning and engagement," said Valo Media CEO Elijah Khasabo. "By combining our expertise in UGC with OptionsSwing's cutting-edge online education platform, we will be able to offer students new and innovative ways to learn."

The partnership will focus on developing UGC-based solutions for use in stock and finance education, including interactive videos, polls, and discussions, as well as tools for creating and sharing user-generated analysis, strategies, and insights. By leveraging Valo Media's experience in UGC and OptionsSwings's expertise in stock market and finance education, the partnership aims to help traders and investors to better engage with content, increase collaboration, and improve overall learning outcomes.

"We are excited to be working with Elijah and his team at Valo Media to bring new and innovative UGC solutions to the educational market," said OptionsSwing CEO Jason Lee. "Their expertise will be invaluable as we develop new content and educational resources together to reach a wider and broader audience."

Together, the companies will be working to bring new and exciting UGC-based solutions to the world of stock trading education.

About Valo:

Valo Media provides your customers with high-performing content wherever they are. We are the only enterprise-level, all-encompassing platform for user-generated, influencer, and short-form video content that offers you the scalability and content you need while making sure that it is optimized for use across all of your marketing channels.

Without having to search for, acquire, and onboard the correct creators, we assist you in decentralizing your creation efforts. Our creators are aware of social media trends and comprehend engagement.

Learn more: https://www.valomedia.agency/

Valo Media, a user-generated content (UGC) agency, announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with OptionsSwing, an online education technology company. This new partnership will bring innovative solutions for strategic marketing initiatives as well as brand new content that will help OptionsSwing reach and engage a wider global audience.

Related link: https://www.valomedia.agency/

Arlington Philharmonic to premiere 242 year-old work in upcoming concert

ARLINGTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- The Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra will perform the United States premiere a composition written in 1781 by Marianna Martines, a student of Franz Joseph Haydn. Martines work is the overture to her oratorio "Isacco." This edition by the Philharmonic Orchestra's Music Director Orlando Cela aims to preserve as much as possible the intentions of the composer, and show the mastery of Martines.

Martines was born in Vienna in 1744, in a building where luminary artists resided - Nicola Porpora and Franz Joseph Haydn, for example - above the chambers of the Esterhazy dowager princess. The poet Metastasio lived with Martines' family since 1734, and he helped to connect Martines to these artists, and more. By age ten, Martines was performing for the Imperial court, either singing or playing her compositions, which showed amazing prowess in her writing and her singing, since these compositions were not easy. She was the first woman to be inducted into the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, and became a very popular musician in her day, being compared to CPE Bach on her harpsichord playing, and possibly having influenced the then 12 y.o. Mozart's Mass KV. 139.

The overture to be performed will open the Philharmonic Society of Arlington's Mid-Winter Concert entitled "It's All About Papa," since all the works are written by or influenced by "Papa" Franz Joseph Haydn. The rest of the program will include Johannes Brahms' "Variations on a Theme by Haydn," and Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 2 in D, featuring the 2022 Philharmonic Society of Arlington's Young Artist Competition Winner, cellist Elena Ariza.

Schedule:

The concert will take place on Saturday, February 11, 2023, 7:30 p.m. at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist, 630 Mass. Ave, Arlington, MA, led by Cela.

Tickets will be on sale at the door:

$20 General Admission, $15 Students/Seniors, $5 Children 17 & Under. Wheelchair Accessible. Masking required to attend.

About The Philharmonic Society of Arlington:

The Philharmonic Society of Arlington, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community organization incorporating The Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra, The Arlington-Belmont Chorale, and The Arlington-Belmont Chamber Chorus.

For more information, visit https://psarlington.org/.

The Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra will perform the United States premiere a composition written in 1781 by Marianna Martines, a student of Franz Joseph Haydn. Martines work is the overture to her oratorio "Isacco." This edition by the Philharmonic Orchestra's Music Director Orlando Cela aims to preserve as much as possible the intentions of the composer, and show the mastery of Martines.

Related link: https://psarlington.org/

Lowell Chamber Orchestra’s December performance contemplates immigration, history

LOWELL, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- Nearly forty percent of Americans can trace at least one ancestor to Ellis Island, and the Lowell Chamber Orchestra will present a work based on three actual stories of the famous islands that encompass the immigrant experience.

Composer Gabriele Vanoni spent half year researching for his work "Island of Peoples," a multimedia composition based around three true stories from Ellis Island that are just as relevant today as they were when they happened, since they deal with struggle, pain and sadness, but also joy, love, friendship, and faith.

"My family has a connexion with Ellis Island because in the museum, you can look up for passengers," says Vanoni, "And I found the record. I found the ship where they came. When I got to passengers' search looking for my family's history, I found out about the Ellis Island Oral Histories.I found this amazing collection of stories of people who basically just left their country without knowing what to expect."

These stories are told and unfold intertwined around a few common traits: the longing for home, the perils of traveling for days, and the cultural, social and human uncertainties of the new world, through the fabric of musical mastery that only Vanoni can delivery.

When asked to describe his work "Island of Peoples," Vanoni says "What you're gonna hear is basically three snapshots. This is a multimedia work in which you will have electronic music interludes with some media projection, and you're gonna have three works for ensemble, which are snapshots of three stories."

While the ensemble is very small - flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion - Vanoni's orchestration makes it a perfect vessel to express the many feelings imbued in the stories. Soprano Mary Mackenzie and tenor Kartik Ayysola are the vocalists who bring to life the three stories, sometimes singing, sometimes speaking.

Vanoni decided on three particular stories because "it was important to give a little bit of a glimpse of the experience to the listener. The scenes do follow pretty much like a trip. So the first section talks about leaving the country. Then the interviews and the middle section talks about being on Ellis Island. And the end of it is just the legacy, if you wish: the history and the future if you wish."

Like all Lowell Chamber Orchestra concerts, the performance is free and open to the public, and will take place on: Saturday, December 17, 2022, 7:30 p.m., at Middlesex Community College's Richard and Nancy Donahue Academic Arts Center (240 Central Street, Lowell, MA).

This concert is part of Middlesex Community College's "A World of Music Concert Series."

Please click the link below for more information:

https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/island-of-peoples-fundraiser

VIDEO (YouTube): https://youtu.be/D94wBi0gmzw

Nearly forty percent of Americans can trace at least one ancestor to Ellis Island, and the Lowell Chamber Orchestra will present a work based on three actual stories of the famous islands that encompass the immigrant experience. "Island of Peoples" is free and open to the public, and will take place on: Saturday, December 17, 2022.

Related link: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

BioBuilder and K2 Scientific Bring Synthetic Biology Programs and Laboratory Equipment to High-Need High Schools Around the Country

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- As a world-recognized program that trains the next generation of innovators and skilled workers in synthetic biology, the BioBuilder Educational Foundation announced new work with K2 Scientific to make high quality tools and equipment for life science research widely accessible. BioBuilder has partnered with K2 Scientific, who will donate industry-grade refrigeration units to four high-need high schools participating in the BioBuilderClub this academic year.

Consistent refrigeration of laboratory reagents is essential for a wide variety of biotechnology experiments and applications. Without precise temperature control and storage, materials and supplies for life science research degrade. Yet many high school educators, especially those in under-resourced school districts, rely on limited and unreliable cold-storage units. Many teachers forgo hands-on laboratory experiments without the appropriate cold storage equipment.

Recognizing that many high schools face financial constraints that limit classroom opportunities in the field of synthetic biology, BioBuilder annually runs the BioBuilderClub program. Since its inception in 2015, more than 1850 students from demographically and geographically diverse schools in 24 states and 7 countries have participated in a total of 202 BioBuilderClubs at low or no cost to the schools themselves. The BioBuilderClub supports real and meaningful student research, enabling high school students to take their ideas from concept to prototype to publication.

On November 9, 2022, staff and leadership from K2 Scientific and BioBuilder identified the first of four BioBuilderClubs to receive a freezer this academic year. The first recipient is the BioBuilderClub team from the Manhattan Comprehensive Night and Day High School (MCNDHS), a public school in New York City that serves students in grades 10-12.

Alfred Lwin, the MCNDHS BioBuilderClub lead teacher, said, "Our refrigerator is 20 years old, and sometimes we have difficulties using its freezer for cold storage. Thanks to the generous donation of a lab grade refrigerator by K2 Scientific, we will be able to use cold storage for our BioBuilder and other biotechnology labs."

Dee Jetton, COO from K2 Scientific, shared, "We could not be prouder to support this program. I am always so excited to see the great things the BioBuilder Program and its participants are accomplishing. We are thrilled to contribute to BioBuilder programs around the country. K2 Scientific is committed to equity and inclusion, so bringing medical and laboratory grade equipment to high-need schools is a perfect mission fit. It's nice for our team to learn about students' aha moments and accomplishments resulting from K2's support of young scientists in the field."

Founder and Executive Director of BioBuilder, Dr. Natalie Kuldell noted, "Our BioBuilderClubs are often the first - and sometimes the only - time high school students can engage in authentic research before they launch into college or careers. By making that research experience more accessible and more meaningful, we can effectively engage the next generation of scientific innovators and productively prepare our future citizens."

About BioBuilder:

Created by an award-winning team from MIT, BioBuilder empowers teachers and schools to better serve students and employers by elevating the skills that students are taught. Founded in 2011, BioBuilder has grown to partner with schools in almost every state and around the world. BioBuilder builds confidence in teachers to learn and apply the synthetic biology curricula, and provides laboratory kits and an openly accessible textbook that enable experiential learning.

BioBuilder also works directly with district and community leaders to identify potential roadblocks to narrow the gap between science innovation and science education - at least for biology - across the U.S., and better match the skill of our nation's workforce to the needs of the synthetic biology industry. Learn more by visiting https://biobuilder.org/.

About K2 Scientific:

K2 Scientific provides high-performance, medical, cold storage solutions at value prices, offering an extensive line serving US Life Science corporations and North and South American distributors. All K2 orders ship from the North Carolina basecamp. For more information, visit https://k2sci.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram @K2_Scientific

As a world-recognized program that trains the next generation of innovators and skilled workers in synthetic biology, the BioBuilder Educational Foundation announced new work with K2 Scientific to make high quality tools and equipment for life science research widely accessible. BioBuilder has partnered with K2 Scientific, who will donate industry-grade refrigeration units to four high-need high schools participating in the BioBuilderClub this academic year.

Related link: https://biobuilder.org/

Beyond Benign Launches Initiative to Support Green Chemistry Educators at Minority-Serving Higher Education Institutions

WILMINGTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- Beyond Benign announced a new Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Initiative, designed to provide green chemistry educational support for faculty and students at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). Being built and executed in collaboration with MSIs, the initiative is intended to ensure the next generation of world-class chemists and scientific leaders are reflective of the diversity of the global community and prepared to address sustainability through chemistry.

"It is critical that MSI leadership and expertise is included in the growing green chemistry education community. The inclusion and involvement of institutions that serve students from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities into our Green Chemistry Commitment program is central in ensuring the talent pool of sustainable scientists is diverse and equipped with a diversity of perspectives and approaches that will solve global and local challenges," says Dr. Amy Cannon, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Beyond Benign.

The key objectives of this initiative include: partnering with MSI chemistry and science departments, through funding opportunities, professional development and leadership opportunities, to evolve chemistry teaching and practice at their institutions to include green chemistry and sustainable science; building inclusive, diverse community spaces for MSI and BIPOC faculty to collaborate, learn, and share about green chemistry; and engaging and supporting green chemistry student leaders.

The MSI initiative is a critical component of the Beyond Benign Green Chemistry Commitment (GCC) 25x25 program, which seeks to ensure that 25 percent of graduating chemists in the U.S. have a background in green chemistry by 2025. The Commitment program offers higher education institutions a flexible model to expand green chemistry education through their science departments. Through signing the GCC, higher education institutions become part of a broad network advocating for green chemistry education, and gain access to professional development opportunities, funding opportunities, mentorship, peer-to-peer support, and much more.

Through this initiative, Beyond Benign will conduct outreach and discussions with faculty members across a variety of MSIs to better understand the unique needs and challenges they face in incorporating green chemistry into their classrooms, labs, and departments. By bringing their leadership and expertise to the table, MSI faculty will help shape adaptable models to scale green chemistry educational programming for higher education students across the nation. Beyond Benign intends to support MSI faculty in their green chemistry work with resources, peer networks, and funding and professional development opportunities.

About Beyond Benign:

Beyond Benign, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit envisions a world where the chemical building blocks of products used every day are healthy and safe for humans and the environment. Beyond Benign's mission is to foster a green chemistry community that empowers educators to transform chemistry education for a sustainable future. Beyond Benign is working to equip educators from K-20 with the ability to teach chemistry and STEM through a lens of sustainability grounded in the 12 principles of green chemistry. By providing educators with tools, training and a peer support network, educators are equipped to train the next generation of scientists and citizens with the skills and knowledge to create and choose products that are safe for human health and the environment.

Co-founded in 2007 by Dr. John Warner, the co-founder of the field of green chemistry, and Dr. Amy Cannon, who holds the world's first Ph.D. in Green Chemistry, Beyond Benign has an extensive history of service. Over the past 15 year, Beyond Benign has trained over 6,500 K-12 teachers in sustainable science and green chemistry, designed over 200 open-access lessons, reached over 35,000 youth and community members through outreach, & partnered with 103 universities to transform chemistry education. Together we can catalyze the development of green technological innovations that result in safer products and processes in support of a sustainable, healthy society.

Learn more at: https://www.beyondbenign.org/

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and on LinkedIn.

RELATED LINKS:

https://cmsi.gse.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/2022%20MSI%20List.pdf

Beyond Benign announced a new Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Initiative, designed to provide green chemistry educational support for faculty and students at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). Being built and executed in collaboration with MSIs, the initiative is intended to ensure the next generation of world-class chemists and scientific leaders are reflective of the diversity of the global community and prepared to address sustainability through chemistry.

Related link: https://www.beyondbenign.org/

Thousands To Be Tattooed at 20th Annual Boston Tattoo Convention at Hynes Convention Center

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- The Boston Tattoo Convention announces its 20th annual gathering in the heart of downtown Boston! The event will be held this weekend Friday September 23 - 25, 2022 at the Hynes Convention Center.

A tradition for the past 20 years, the Boston Tattoo Convention brings together artists, collectors, shops, vendors, performers, and tattoo culture to Boston's Back Bay for a weekend of live tattooing, art, and entertainment. Ticket prices start at just $30.

Event highlights include live tattooing from top-tier tattoo artists, live music and performances, and the Miss Boston Ink beauty contest.

For additional information including the full schedule of events, visit https://bostontattooconvention.com/.

Check out the attending artists' portfolios on Instagram at @bostontattoocon

Thank you for doing your part to help us make it a fun and safe event for all! KEEP BOSTON BEAUTIFUL, GET A TATTOO!

The Boston Tattoo Convention announces its 20th annual gathering in the heart of downtown Boston! The event will be held this weekend Friday September 23 - 25, 2022 at the Hynes Convention Center. Event highlights include live tattooing from top-tier tattoo artists, live music and performances, and the Miss Boston Ink beauty contest.

Related link: https://bostontattooconvention.com/

BioBuilder funded to expand student opportunity in rural and urban areas through its collaborative after school program

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- Thanks to a two-year grant recently awarded by BioMADE, the BioBuilder Educational Foundation will expand a program that has supported thousands of high school inventors over the last decade. BioBuilder is leading the project, "Launching High School Bioengineers on their Paths to College and Careers," with funding that will bring the authentic tools and approaches for engineering biology to BioBuilderClub students nationwide in collaboration with East Tennessee State University, Ars Biotechnica, and Daicel Arbor Biosciences.

Support from BioMADE will enable these organizations to provide teams of young innovators new opportunities to design, build and test their biodesigns, and submit their research for publication as peer-reviewed manuscripts in BioTreks (Ars Biotechnica). Industry-standard biomanufacturing reagents and mentorship from professional scientists will be provided by Daicel Arbor, while East Tennessee State University will expand the geographic and demographic reach of the BioBuilderClub and spearhead a rigorous evaluation of its impact.

Thomas Tubon, Chief Workforce Development Officer for BioMADE said, "With the bioeconomy expected to contribute over a million jobs in this field by 2030, and the growing desire to connect local feedstocks to nearby manufacturing capabilities, a program like this is essential as it can raise awareness and provide opportunities to students, regardless of geography or demography."

Founder and Executive Director of BioBuilder, Dr. Natalie Kuldell shared that, "We are thrilled to be building momentum in non-traditional STEM hubs. By simultaneously training students and celebrating their achievements, this work will draw students into the exciting and creative sides of science and engineering. It will also increase awareness among community stakeholders, including parents of participating students, high school teachers, college admissions officers, and relevant local businesses."

These goals are fully aligned with the recently signed Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy that establishes the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative. The National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative will create jobs, leverage biotechnology to build more resilient supply chains, improve health outcomes, and lower prices for Americans by expanding biomanufacturing capacity, creating market pathways for bio-based products, training a diverse workforce, and fostering innovation.

About BioBuilder:

Created by an award-winning team from MIT, BioBuilder empowers teachers and schools to better serve students and employers by elevating the skills that students are taught. Founded in 2011, BioBuilder has grown to partner with schools in almost every state and around the world. BioBuilder builds confidence in teachers to learn and apply the synthetic biology curricula, and provides laboratory kits and an openly accessible textbook that enable experiential learning.

BioBuilder also works directly with district and community leaders to identify potential roadblocks to narrow the gap between science innovation and science education -- at least for biology - across the U.S., and better match the skill of our nation's workforce to the needs of the synthetic biology industry. Learn more by visiting https://biobuilder.org/.

About BioMADE:

Launched in 2021, BioMADE is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense. By supporting the development of biomanufacturing technologies, BioMADE and its network of 150+ members across 29 states are strengthening American competitiveness, creating a more resilient supply chain, and helping the U.S. becoming more self-sufficient. Learn more about BioMADE by visiting https://www.biomade.org/.

About ETSU:

East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is the fourth largest university in the state with nearby off-campus centers. It hosts the James H. Quillen College of Medicine, often ranked as one of the top schools in the United States for rural medicine and primary care education; the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, and the recently formed College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences. Learn more about ETSU at https://www.etsu.edu/.

About Ars Biotechnica:

Ars Biotechnica is a public nonprofit corporation with the goal of teaching high school students and teachers about synthetic biology. They publish BioTreks, the first international synthetic biology journal to be authored and reviewed by high school students. The journal is intended to give participating students the valuable experiences of writing and evaluating scientific papers, while offering them opportunities to share their own synthetic biology ideas, techniques, and results in a professionally edited, online publication. Learn more by visiting https://biotreks.org/.

About Daicel Arbor Biosciences:

Daicel Arbor Biosciences, a subsidiary of Chiral Technologies, Inc. (part of Daicel Corporation), is a biotech company that is specialized in targeted Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), in situ hybridization probe design, and cell-free protein expression. Their products and services have been utilized in broad applications in genomics, cytogenetics, and synthetic biology. They have served customers in plant, animal, human, bacteria, and virus areas for more than fifteen years. Learn more by visiting https://arborbiosci.com/.

Thanks to a two-year grant recently awarded by BioMADE, the BioBuilder Educational Foundation will expand a program that has supported thousands of high school inventors over the last decade. BioBuilder is leading the project, "Launching High School Bioengineers on their Paths to College and Careers," with funding that will bring the authentic tools and approaches for engineering biology to BioBuilderClub students nationwide in collaboration with East Tennessee State University, Ars Biotechnica, and Daicel Arbor Biosciences.

Related link: https://biobuilder.org/

Couto Construction Donates 200+ Backpacks in Back-to-School Campaign

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- Couto Construction, a group of exterior home experts, is truly a company that cares. Its company is rooted in family values and it's an important part of their mission to give back. That's why they decided to help area schools and kids to get ready for the academic year ahead. They pledged to donate five backpacks for every new job sold. The campaign ended on August 31 and they donated more than 200.

Couto Construction will drop the backpacks off at the Balanced Learning Center in Fall River and they'll be distributed to many schools in the Southcoast area, including Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Freetown, Fall River, and New Bedford.

The Balanced Learning Center prides itself on working collaboratively with community partners to create a healthier, safer place where people can thrive.

Sara Rodrigues, executive director, Balanced Learning Center, said, "The donation of these backpacks will go towards furthering our partnership with area schools. They will be filled with school supplies as well as needed personal items for our homeless youth enrolling in our schools. Thank you, Couto Construction, for helping us support our community."

Couto Construction was happy to be part of this project because they know that kids are the future and they're passionate about their education.

"We're happy to contribute and to give back to our community," Jason Couto, co-owner Couto Construction, says. "Our team wants every child to be equipped with the tools that they need to be successful when going back to school; we're proud to make an impact."

About Couto Construction:

Couto Construction provides home improvement services to help families have worry-free home improvement projects. Founded in 1987, it is a dream realized for Portuguese immigrant Gil Couto. Couto Construction has built its reputation on being a trusted and knowledgeable contractor in Southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Its services include roofing, siding, gutters and more. Now a second-generation owned company led by two of Gil's sons, Jason and Derek, they continue to change the construction industry by giving customers the high level of service they deserve. They do this through innovation, community and safety.

Learn more: https://www.coutoconstruction.com/

Couto Construction, a group of exterior home experts, is truly a company that cares. Its company is rooted in family values and it's an important part of their mission to give back. That's why they decided to help area schools and kids to get ready for the academic year ahead. They pledged to donate five backpacks for every new job sold. The campaign ended on August 31 and they donated more than 200.

Related link: https://www.coutoconstruction.com/

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra releases ‘Miniature Symphonies,’ a pandemic-defeating album

LOWELL, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- he Lowell Chamber Orchestra announces the release of its second album, "Miniature Symphonies," a project started at the height of the pandemic, and designed to keep selected composers and musicians active at a time of insecurity in the performing arts.

The album is part of an initiative by the Lowell Chamber Orchestra's Music Director Orlando Cela called "Lowell Threads," a way to pay homage to the textile history of the city of Lowell. The orchestra commissions a new way to showcase new composers alongside a set of works by a well-known composer, a genre, a style, etc., and programs them next to each other, allowing for a multidimensional experience akin to a fabric of new works crisscrossing with established masterpieces. In the case of these album, four living composers - Brittney Benton, Yoko Nakatani, Quinn Mason, and Kevin L. Scott - were commissioned to write a piece matching the instrumentation of one of five chamber symphonies by Darius Milhaud.

"Orlando Cela's creative ideas always inspire me, and this project was no exception," says composer Yoko Nakatani. "I was honored to be a part of it, and wish the Lowell Chamber Orchestra great success in the future with Orlando's excellent leadership. I would also like to thank the recording engineer Will Holland, who is a true professional and made a difficult process easy."

Producing this album kept a number of musicians active during the pandemic. The reduced instrumentation - no more than 10 and as little as seven players at a time - eased the finding of venues; the shortness of the works, none longer than 7 minutes, allowed more recording time to commission more composers.

"We started recording 10 feet apart from each other, and behind plexiglass shields" says LCO's Music Director Orlando Cela, "but we kept going when concert halls were closed. We were very fortunate to be able to access the beautiful spaces at Middlesex Community College Lowell campus. Such great acoustics!"

The four commissioned works sometime compliment, sometimes opposed the nature of the matching work. Las Vegas composer Brittney Benton's "The Sentinel" was written with the same instrumentation as Milhaud's first chamber symphony: while Milhaud's work (subtitled "Spring") has a bright and pastoral quality to it, Benton's work offers a dramatic story filled with foreboding. On the other hand, Dallas-based composer Quinn Mason wrote a work orchestrated for the exact instrumentation, and is heavily inspired by the style of Milhaud's fourth chamber symphony, as the title suggests - Petite Symphonie de Chambre Contemporaine (après Milhaud).

Composer Brittney Benton says, "'The Sentinel' was a joy to write, and I'm excited to bring the story I've crafted through my music to CD and to the world."

"I thoroughly enjoyed writing for the Lowell Chamber Orchestra and to have a work recorded by them is an honor. The entire process had me involved in some way so it truly felt like a fruitful collaboration," says composer Quinn Mason.

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra is Lowell's first and only professional orchestra. We provide the area with an ensemble that presents music at a very high level, of all styles and time periods, entirely free to the general population. The performances take place at Middlesex Community College, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and at other venues around the area, to provide students easy access to concerts without leaving their respective campuses, and allow the public in general to attend a concert at a proper performance space. The LCO is a member of Lowell City of Learning, working to make Lowell an UNESCO learning city.

The album will be released this Friday, August 26th, in the most popular digital platforms. For more information about the album, visit: https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6447/

Listen to the first track of the CD here: https://tinyurl.com/LCOMason

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra survives solely by donations, you can make a huge difference by donating here: https://tinyurl.com/LCOdonate

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra announces the release of its second album, "Miniature Symphonies," a project started at the height of the pandemic, and designed to keep selected composers and musicians active at a time of insecurity in the performing arts.

Related link: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

Can a MacBook Air Be Repaired? – Appleparts.io

MIDDLEBORO, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- AppleParts.io is your number one source for Apple Parts. We're dedicated to giving you the very best of Apple parts with a focus on affordability, quality, and customer service. Founded in 2017 by Ihor Kyselov, AppleParts.io has come a long way from its beginnings in Middleboro, Massachusetts.

Getting a MacBook device repaired can be a really stressful affair. Well, there are a lot of stores that offer apple repair services. However, all stores might not be reliable enough and going to the wrong store can cause more harm to the Apple device than good. So, it is always important to get Apple products repaired from a reputable store only.

Apple products can be really expensive and no one would want to compromise when it comes to repairing and replacement services for Apple devices. So, below are a few checkpoints that need to be considered while going for Apple repair services from a service provider:

Reputation Is Important:

It is really important for Apple users to check the reputation of the store before availing of the services being offered. There are different quick and easy ways by which the reputation can be checked. One of the easiest ways to know about the reliability of the store is to go through its website of the store. If the website is well-built with all the services properly mentioned, then it can be assumed that the store is a reputed one.

There are a lot of stores that provide details of user reviews and ratings on the website itself. They also provide the contact details of their previous clients. Apple users can refer to that to know more about their reputation. Performing a general query on the internet about Macbook Air Logic Board I7 Online in USA can also give an idea about the reputation of the store.

The Store Should Offer Quality Services:

Next comes the quality of services being offered by the Apple repair store. The store should be offering Apple users impeccable services so that they are able to go back with their Apple devices functioning as well as new. The quality of the services is really important when it comes to Apple products.

This is because Apple products can burn holes in the pockets and no one would want the devices to be mishandled. The quality of the services can also be known by looking for reviews and ratings from previous clients. The website can also provide details about the services being offered by a particular repair service center.

A Wide Range of Services:

It can be very difficult to predict what exactly is wrong with an Apple part. It may seem that there is a defect with a particular path, but after analysis, it may come to light that there are quite a number of defects in the device. So, it is always better to go for one such store that offers a wide range of services to the customers. This is going to make it really easy for the customers to get their Apple devices repaired.

The customers will be able to get everything repaired from one particular store instead of moving from one state to another. The information about the type of services can again be seen on the website. The users can also directly connect to the store and know more about the services being offered there.

The Store Should Be Authorized One:

It is again a really wise decision to get Apple servicing done from an authorized store only. This means that the store is a really genuine one. The services offered are quite reliable. This can help Apple users get rid of all their stress and worries.

The users will also be able to remain assured of the fact that they will get the best services at the proper rate. They will also not have to worry about the original parts of their device getting replaced. Everything will be done in a smooth and transparent way.

The Services Should Be Affordable:

Apple users should get their products repaired from a store that offers affordable services. No one likes to spend tons of money on repairing activities. So, it is important to choose one such store that offers quality services at an affordable price. This is going to give Apple users the desired satisfaction. They will also not have to be burdened with repairing charges.

So, get Macbook Air Parts for Sale in USA and give the laptop a new life.

LEARN MORE AT: https://appleparts.io/

AppleParts.io, 25 Wareham St, Middleboro MA 02346; +1 (888) 993 9308.

AppleParts.io is your number one source for Apple(r) Parts. We're dedicated to giving you the very best of Apple parts with a focus on affordability, quality, and customer service. Founded in 2017 by Ihor Kyselov, AppleParts.io has come a long way from its beginnings in Middleboro, Massachusetts.

Related link: https://appleparts.io/

Mixed Use Development Utilizes Solar Energy in Hamilton, MA

HAMILTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- In June 2022, SunBug Solar finished installing a 54.75 kw rooftop solar array on 59 Willow Street in Hamilton Massachusetts, built by Traggorth Companies of Boston, Mass. This mixed-use development helps the town towards achieving a variety of economic and sustainability goals.

The solar installation will offset 64% of electrical usage for the 18 residential apartments (nine of which will be affordable at 80% the area median income) and the 2,400 square foot ground floor that will have retail space, a lobby, fitness center, and office.

The building design meets Passive House standards, which aim to reduce a building's carbon footprint and ultimately require less energy for heating or cooling.

It's also ideally located for walkability and access to public transportation. It is located one block west of Main Street in downtown Hamilton, a two-minute walk to the Hamilton / Wenham Commuter Rail Station, which provides access to Boston's North Station.

Overall, this project greatly helps the town of Hamilton toward achieving several goals named in the 2014 Hamilton-Wenham Village Vision + Action Plan, the 2020 Housing Production Plan, and the Hamilton Master Plan in regards to economic diversity, access to public transportation, and sustainability.

ABOUT SUNBUG SOLAR:

Founded in Somerville, Massachusetts in 2009, SunBug Solar has spent more than a decade navigating the complexities of the emerging energy landscape, providing best-in-class renewable energy solutions to a wide range of residential and commercial customers. As an employee-owned B Corp and longtime member of the Amicus Solar Cooperative, SunBug believes that doing right by their customers and doing the right thing go hand-in-hand. Their responsive team brings expertise, experience, and a customer-first approach to every project. They embody the SunBug commitment to building a more resilient future by enabling a fundamental shift toward accessible, high-quality renewable energy.

LEARN MORE AT: https://sunbugsolar.com/

In June 2022, SunBug Solar finished installing a 54.75 kw rooftop solar array on 59 Willow Street in Hamilton MA built by Traggorth Companies of Boston, Massachusetts. This mixed-use development helps the town towards achieving a variety of economic and sustainability goals.

Related link: http://sunbugsolar.com/

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra announces its fourth season

LOWELL, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- The Lowell Chamber Orchestra announces its fourth season, with five free concerts that look to entertain, educate, and enlighten Lowell audiences. "The season is designed to turn the western classical musical canon on its head," says Music Director Orlando Cela. "The programming elevates contemporary works above established masterpieces, demonstrating that music keeps evolving in the orchestral medium."

The season will feature works by very well-known composers such as Manuel de Falla, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Franz Joseph Haydn, but these will have very unusual features, such as flamenco style chanting, a vanishing orchestra, and unusual instruments. The newer works will have influences by grindcore punk, Latin-American rhythms, Cornish traditions, and more.

Most of the works have an important social message, such as Gabriele Vanoni's multimedia oratorio "Island of Peoples," about the immigrant experience, and Estefanía Pardo Perez's "Paikuna Saqinku," about displacement of ethnic communities due to environmental disasters - the latter piece being the winner of LCO's second call-for-scores.

"Even the last movement of Haydn's 45th symphony is a social commentary," continues Cela. "The ending is not so much about requesting to go back to Eisenstadt, as it is about demonstrating the importance of teamwork and working together (as told by Giaccomo Ferrari); and in a world where war and political tensions plague our everyday life, we program this piece as a call for global unity and peace."

The season features many guest artists: for the first time ever, the Lowell Chamber Orchestra will feature Canadian conductor Geneviève Leclair as the LCO's first ever guest conductor, and Roi Karni, the winner of LCO's first ever concerto competition. Vocalists Sophie Michaux and Rose Hegele, and cellist Leo Eguchi will also be featured, among others.

All of the concerts are completely free, consistent with the LCO's mission to provide extraordinarily high level classical music performances and take down socio-economic barriers to access these concerts. The LCO survives only through donations.

To see the entire upcoming season, click here: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/events

To donate to the Lowell Chamber Orchestra, click here: https://tinyurl.com/LCOdonate

MULTIMEDIA:

VIDEO (YouTube): https://youtu.be/h_IHd23O9-s

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra announces its fourth season, with five free concerts that look to entertain, educate, and enlighten Lowell audiences. All of the concerts are completely free, consistent with the LCO's mission to provide extraordinarily high level classical music performances and take down socio-economic barriers to access these concerts.

Related link: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

Hit Psychology Book Gets Updated Edition

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- "Calm & Sense: A Woman's Guide to Living Anxiety Free," the hit novel by psychologist Wendy Leeds (Calm Day Publishing, ISBN 978-0999901526), has an updated edition out with new updated studies and information. In honor of the new edition, there will be a limited time sale on the ebook version of the book across platforms.

Calm and sense uses a unique women-centric approach to anxiety. The book focuses on the needs of women. Combining up to date data from anxiety studies, personal stories, and practical tips, author Wendy Leeds offers something special in the space.

Leeds is a practicing psychotherapist with both a professional and a personal interest in finding ways to heal anxiety without medication. She has dealt with anxiety all her life and knows what it's like to live with the kind of worry and fear that make the smallest things in life difficult.

In 1995, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent several surgeries and six months of chemotherapy. It was at that low point, that she began a life-long journey to create a calm, centered joyful life, for herself and others. She began by reading everything she could get her hands on about anxiety. Then in 2006 she went back to school to earn two graduate degrees in psychology.

Ashley L Peterson of Mental Health at Home said, "['Calm & Sense'] doesn't feel like a therapist trying to educate you; rather, it has the feel of another regular person having a conversation with you, who just happens to have the knowledge and experience of a therapist. With the wide range of ideas offered in the book, I think any reader is likely to find things that work for them."

"For those who endure chronic anxiety, even seemingly innocuous daily tribulations can take on giant, scary, insurmountable portions," said Roberta Rosenthal Hawkins, MFA, PhD. "'Calm & Sense' is a loving, gentle, often witty, and infinitely helpful path through one's jungle of fears. As one might hope of any jungle guide, the author's compass is sure, her survival kit is well-stocked, and her cheerful, can-do spirit is reassuring and encouraging the whole way."

"Calm and Sense" is nationally distributed by Cardinal Publishing Group. It is published by Calm Day Publishing, and available for sale on Amazon, Barnes and Noble.com, and where books are sold.

Learn more about the author at: https://www.wendyleeds.com/

Find the book on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999901524

"Calm & Sense: A Woman's Guide to Living Anxiety Free," the hit novel by psychologist Wendy Leeds (Calm Day Publishing, ISBN 978-0999901526), has an updated edition out with new updated studies and information. In honor of the new edition, there will be a limited time sale on the ebook version of the book across platforms.

Related link: https://www.wendyleeds.com/

Roofing Contractor Couto Construction Wins Owens Corning Award for Philanthropy

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- In 2018, "Couto Cares" became Couto Construction's company motto and it continues to be at the heart of what this roofing contractor stands for most. That's why they're excited to announce that they were the recent recipient of the Pinnacle Award, an Owens Corning Community Award, in the community category.

The award is given out to companies that are making a difference in their communities, while having a direct involvement with local families. Owens Corning narrowed down the entries to 16 and then determined the winner based on three criteria:

* Community: philanthropic endeavors and/or charitable efforts consistent with Owens Corning's spirit and values of giving back to the local community.

* Safety: commitment to safe practices and advancement of safe practices on the jobsite, road, in the office and community.

* Sustainability: ongoing commitment towards creating a business that contributes to environmental health of our world through advancing sustainability of company's operation.

"We're always so appreciative when we're awarded for the work we do, whether it's for service excellence, product excellence or a feature in a national industry publication," Derek Couto, co-owner says.

This award is about being good neighbors and about helping in both big ways and small gestures.

"Whether it's a roof giveaway, supporting a local sports team or even adopting a family for Christmas, it's an amazing feeling to help someone," Jason Couto, co-owner, shares. "There's no feeling that compares to doing a good deed."

To date, Couto Construction has given back more than $500,000 to the community.

About Couto Construction:

Couto Construction provides home improvement services to help families have worry-free home improvement projects. Founded in 1987, it is a dream realized for Portuguese immigrant Gil Couto. Couto Construction has built its reputation on being a trusted and knowledgeable contractor in Southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Its services include roofing, siding, gutters and more. Now a second-generation owned company led by two of Gil's sons, Jason and Derek, they continue to change the construction industry by giving customers the high level of service they deserve. They do this through innovation, community and safety.

More information: https://www.coutoconstruction.com/

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Couto_Construct

In 2018, "Couto Cares" became Couto Construction's company motto and it continues to be at the heart of what this roofing contractor stands for most. That's why they're excited to announce that they were the recent recipient of the Pinnacle Award, an Owens Corning Community Award, in the community category.

Related link: https://www.coutoconstruction.com/

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra is proud to present ‘LCO Pride: A Rainbow of Repertoire’

LOWELL, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- The Lowell Chamber Orchestra is proud to present "LCO Pride: A Rainbow of Repertoire" on Sunday, June 5, 2022 at Middlesex Community College in Lowell, Massachusetts. This chamber concert will celebrate Pride Month by showcasing LGBTQ+ composers from the Lowell area and around the world.

Creative director of LCO, Em Russell, states that putting on this concert has been a dream of the theirs since the orchestra's very first season! As well as works by Jean-Baptiste Lully, Benjamin Britten, this concert will showcase a World Premiere by composer Julia Moss, featuring soloist mezzo-soprano Julianna Smith, as well as exciting works by four other living composers.

Queer people have made many significant contributions to the classical music community, yet their identities are often concealed. This concert is meant to embrace and celebrate these identities, which we hope can one day become the norm in classical music culture.

Stylistically, this concert really has something for everyone, from poetry lovers to rock metal-heads. While Kevin Lubin's string quartet "The Flower Shop" includes a spoken narration with words by Virginia Woolf; Hannah Rice has written a Heavy Metal string quartet called "SQ666," which has been composed using techniques from heavy metal rock music.

This concert also features a variety of ensemble sizes, varying from string quartets all the way up to large ensemble works conducted by LCO's music director Orlando Cela. Steven Sérpa's "An Invocation," for solo oboe and strings, is a tone poem inspired by his long-time collaborator, queer poet Jeffery Beam, about the small beauties of nature. Sérpa has also written about more difficult topics, including an oratorio on HIV stigma with Inversion Ensemble and an opera responding to the Pulse nightclub shooting with companies in Chicago, Montréal, Hartford, and Austin.

Ethan Soledad's "Why Wait," for a 9-person ensemble, is about his own journey of self-discovery and defeating self-doubt. Ethan's music has been described as "bold, dramatic, and unapologetically expressive."

The largest work of the afternoon will be a World Premiere by composer Julia Moss: "The World is Too Much for Us". Written for mezzo-soprano soloist Julianna Smith and a 10-person chamber ensemble, the work is based on conversations between the composer-performer pair about the feeling of being overwhelmed by the ever-growing clutter of life. Inspired by these ideas, she chose to set the piece to a poem by William Wordsworth about how we have become so obsessed with possessing material items and controlling nature.

"By drowning out nature," Moss says, "we are really drowning out ourselves. The piece is meant to be an optimistic and empowering reminder of what we should really be paying attention to." In the fall of 2022, Moss will enroll at the University of Southern California's (USC) Thornton School of Music to earn a Masters in Music Composition.

"We also wanted to show through our programming that queer composers have stood the test of time. There are so many composers whose music we play all the time and whose names most anyone would recognize, but nobody knows they were queer. Tchaikovsky, for instance. He was queer. Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, Benjamin Britten, just to name a few more of the "classics." And of course this doesn't even start to scratch the surface of the loads of queer composers living today, nor accurately represent the diversity that exists among them. But this is why we wanted to program someone as old as Baroque composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, who was born in 1632, to show that we really have been here all along, only now can we start to proudly assert our identities."

TICKETING / DONATION INFO:

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra is Lowell's first and only professional orchestra, demolishing the socio-economic barriers to classical music by always providing the area with music at a very high level, of all styles and eras. Consequently, this event is free of charge, but donations are kindly requested.

If you believe this concert to be a worthy cause and are able to contribute to the event funds, please donate at the link below. Thank you! https://glcf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create?funit_id=2326

"LCO: Pride: A Rainbow of Repertoire"

Sunday, June 5, 3 p.m.

Richard and Nancy Donahue Academic Arts Center

Recital Hall

240 Central Street, Lowell, MA

Free to attend, no tickets, just show up - Mask required

For more information, visit: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/events

VIDEO (YouTube): https://youtu.be/Mua2UoBBld0

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra is proud to present "LCO Pride: A Rainbow of Repertoire" on Sunday, June 5, 2022 at Middlesex Community College in Lowell, Massachusetts. This chamber concert will celebrate Pride Month by showcasing LGBTQ+ composers from the Lowell area and around the world.

Related link: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

Training the Biomanufacturing Workforce: BioBuilder Leads Regional Partnership with Federal Funding Awarded through BioMADE

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- The BioBuilder Educational Foundation announced that they are to lead the "Regional Partnerships for Training the Biomanufacturing Workforce in Worcester, MA" project. The project was funded through BioMADE, the Bioindustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem, which is aimed at accelerating bioindustrial manufacturing knowledge, capabilities, and workforce in the U.S.

BioBuilder is working with Worcester Public Schools (WPS)to offer a credit-bearing after-school program for high school students to prepare them for biomanufacturing careers. In 2021, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education approved an Innovation Pathway for Life Science for Worcester Public Schools. It is through this Innovation Pathway that the Regional Partnership will address the talent pipeline.

BioBuilder's Founder and Executive Director said, "By adapting our proven educational content to address workforce needs, we can help Worcester's talented high school students be career-ready. BioMADE funding will also help us build student relationships to local industry and our post-secondary educational partners."

Partner organizations include Worcester Public Schools (WPS), Quinsigamond Community College (QCC), Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), and Twist Bioscience. QCC and WPI will help align the new training program to existing college certificate and credentialing programs. Twist will provide input to ensure that the training program content meets industry's technical and hiring needs. Twist will further help expand the training model being developed in Worcester to serve as a template for nationwide implementation.

"This project will create industry-informed training for the workforce of the future, and brings together a diverse group of partners in Worcester's growing biomanufacuturing industry," said Thomas Tubon, Chief Workforce Development Officer for BioMADE. "The outcomes of this project will aid in advancing bioindustrial manufacturing across the U.S."

Announcement from BioMADE: https://www.biomade.org/announcing-16-projects-to-accelerate-bioindustrial-manufacturing-in-the-u-s/.

About BioMADE

BioMADE is one of nine Department of Defense-sponsored Manufacturing Innovation Institutes. Through funding, action, and engagement, BioMADE supports the development of biomanufacturing technologies to strengthen American competitiveness; create a more robust, resilient, and bio-based supply chain; and help the U.S. become more self-sufficient. BioMADE is also building a diverse and globally competitive STEM workforce by partnering with K-12 schools, community colleges, universities, and professional development organizations to ensure the workforce is prepared and ready to fill new jobs.

Learn more: https://www.biomade.org/.

About BioBuilder Educational Foundation

Created by an award-winning team at MIT, BioBuilder offers new ways to teach, learn, and explore cutting-edge science and engineering. BioBuilder provides students the chance to integrate biology and engineering through practical, hands-on lessons, club activities, and school-to-work experiences. Teachers learn new methods of teaching that engage and inspire the young scientists in their classrooms.

Learn more: https://biobuilder.org/.

The BioBuilder Educational Foundation announced that they are to lead the "Regional Partnerships for Training the Biomanufacturing Workforce in Worcester, MA" project. The project was funded through BioMADE, the Bioindustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem, which is aimed at accelerating bioindustrial manufacturing knowledge, capabilities, and workforce in the U.S.

Related link: https://biobuilder.org/

HomeBinder’s Adaptive Home Value™ model keeps homeowners coming back to mortgage lenders, home inspectors and Realtors with equity-building insights

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, home inspectors, Realtors and other authorized professionals, today announced the availability of its Adaptive Home Value™ tool. The tool paints a more accurate picture of a home's value by taking into consideration property-specific details that other automated valuation models (AVMs) fail to consider, such as regular maintenance and upkeep, projects and renovations, and updates to the major systems and appliances of the home.

HomeBinder's Adaptive Home Value tool is powerful enough to take in a breadth of home data logged in a homeowner's binder, analyze that data and algorithmically calculate its immediate and long-term impact on overall home value. The web-based platform also features a user-friendly interface, ensuring homeowners can easily log maintenance, home improvement projects, appliance upgrades and other items that can affect their adaptive home value estimate.

In addition to tracking homeowners' personalized adaptive home value within the HomeBinder dashboard, the platform automates monthly emails containing adaptive home value updates and maintenance recommendations for increasing home value. HomeBinder's adaptive home value email updates are branded with the colors, logos and images of authorized professionals who have gifted the HomeBinder, keeping them top of mind with homeowners for years beyond close.

"Most homeowners are aware that home valuation goes beyond beds, baths and square footage, but are in the dark about the types of work that grows their home's value and by how much," said HomeBinder Chief Product Officer Guy Tassinari. "Our goal with Adaptive Home Value is to gamify equity building by showing homeowners the quantifiable impact maintenance and home improvement projects have on their home's value."

"Empowering homeowners with transparency into adaptive home value helps them be better stewards of their investment, and directs them back to their HomeBinder sponsor when they're in the position to sell, refinance or buy another home," continued Tassinari.

HomeBinder will be providing demos of Adaptive Home Value at exhibit booth 121 of ICE Mortgage Technology's Experience 2022 conference, being held at the Wynn Las Vegas, March 14-16, 2022.

Onsite demos can be scheduled in advance by clicking here https://meetings.hubspot.com/marketing-homebinder?utm_campaign=Lender%20Vertical%20Campaign&utm_source=Marketing%20Calendar

About HomeBinder:

HomeBinder is a home management platform that makes maintaining a home's value easy and actionable while improving relationships between homeowners and the businesses that serve them. Unlike traditional leave-behinds like business cards and refrigerator magnets, HomeBinder maintains an ongoing digital connection with homeowners as they manage their home improvements, data, documents and relationships over time. Founded in 2015, HomeBinder is a venture-backed Techstars Boston '19 company headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.

For more information, visit https://pages.homebinder.com/.

HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, home inspectors, Realtors and other authorized professionals, today announced the availability of its Adaptive Home Value™ tool. The tool paints a more accurate picture of a home's value by taking into consideration property-specific details that other automated valuation models (AVMs) fail to consider.

Related link: https://pages.homebinder.com/

HomeBinder lands a spot on HousingWire’s 2022 Tech100 list

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, home inspectors, Realtors and other authorized professionals, today announced that it has been honored on HousingWire's (HW) Tech100 list of the most innovative companies shaping the housing industry.

As a 2022 HW Tech100 Real Estate honoree, HomeBinder was recognized for helping housing professionals increase repeat and referral business with its digital platform that makes managing a home and maintaining its value easier. A gift that homeowners love and use, HomeBinder's features include document storage, maintenance reminders, appliance recall notifications, digital home inventory and a first-of-its-kind adaptive home valuation tool. Prominent placement of branding and contact information keeps housing professionals top of mind with homeowners long after close.

"HomeBinder has seen incredible growth in the past year thanks to our platform's ability to deliver unmatched value to its more than 700,000 homeowner users," said HomeBinder Founder and CEO Jack Huntress. "Now in the ranks of HousingWire's Tech100, we look forward to furthering HomeBinder's partnerships with real estate agents, mortgage lenders, home inspectors and home professionals who share our vision of creating deeper, longer-lasting relationships with homeowners."

"This year's list of Tech100 honorees proves once again that innovation within housing is vital in differentiating the organizations who will thrive and those who will be left behind," said Clayton Collins, CEO of HW Media. "This list spotlights the innovators that are making the housing sector better and more sustainable by increasing efficiency, improving user and borrower experiences and bringing elasticity and improvements to age-old processes."

About HomeBinder:

HomeBinder is a home management platform that makes maintaining a home's value easy and actionable while improving relationships between homeowners and the businesses that serve them. Unlike traditional leave-behinds like business cards and refrigerator magnets, HomeBinder maintains an ongoing digital connection with homeowners as they manage their home improvements, data, documents and relationships over time. Founded in 2015, HomeBinder is a venture-backed Techstars Boston '19 company headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.

For more information, visit https://pages.homebinder.com/.

HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, home inspectors, Realtors and other authorized professionals, today announced that it has been honored on HousingWire's (HW) Tech100 list of the most innovative companies shaping the housing industry.

Related link: https://pages.homebinder.com/

Lowell Chamber Orchestra makes landmark agreement with Universal Edition

LOWELL, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- The Lowell Chamber Orchestra and Universal Edition have partnered to give composers an unusual opportunity to promote their works in print. The orchestra recently announced its second call-for-scores in order to stimulate the creation of new works for chamber orchestra. Just like in the first, very successful call-for-scores, the Lowell Chamber Orchestra will select a work to be performed during its fourth season.

However, this time, in conjunction with Universal Edition, the winning composer will also win a way to publish their work with Universal Edition through their web tool scodo for one year - a value of about €600. Six finalists will win a voucher with which to publish a limited amount of works through Universal. Scores submitted through scodo can be obtained immediately via the Universal Edition website. Composers retain the large majority of rental fees.

"We are very happy with this new cooperation between the LCO and Universal Edition," says LCO's music director, Orlando Cela. "The orchestra provides a performance and professional grade audio and video for the composer to promote their work, so it's a perfect companion to have Universal Edition also promote the score in print."

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra is Lowell's first and only professional orchestra. LCO provides the Merrimack valley area with an ensemble that presents music at a very high level, of all styles and time periods, entirely free to the general population.

Now in its third season, the LCO has presented concerts that encompass established orchestral repertoire as well as multimedia works, stage works, lecture-presentations, and chamber music. As part of its mission of promoting, preserving and educating, the repertoire include works from the Baroque, to current commissions. The LCO has presented over a dozen local and world premieres by Anna Clyne, Dana Kaufman, Brian Raphael Nabors, José Luis Elizondo, Anthony R. Green, Bongani Ndodana-Breen, Jeremy Gill, and many others.

The deadline for submission to the call-for-scores is Sunday, May 1, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Learn more at: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/2022-call-for-scores

MULTIMEDIA:

VIDEO (YouTube): https://youtu.be/QXzrMgRyUng

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra and Universal Edition have partnered to give composers an unusual opportunity to promote their works in print. The orchestra recently announced its second call-for-scores in order to stimulate the creation of new works for chamber orchestra.

Related link: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra combines innovation, tradition, in latest offering

LOWELL, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- On Saturday, February 19, the Lowell Chamber Orchestra will become a vessel through which works explore the concept of new and old. "Antique Modernity" is a concert that revolves around Dana Kaufman's brand new work, written specifically for the Lowell Chamber Orchestra, and works by Francis Poulenc, Georg Philip Telemann, and Jean Philip Rameau, that challenge our concepts of contemporary and traditional.

Dana Kaufman's "Greyed Rainbow" was commissioned by the Lowell Chamber Orchestra and written in 2021. When asked about her inspiration for the work, Kaufman says "I considered the concept of 'Antique Modernity' in the context of the past two years of the COVID pandemic: what do we now consider 'antique,' and what do we now consider 'modern?' What is old, and what is new? I thought of a communal melancholy, a sense of optimism, and a continued surrealness in our daily lives."

An art connoisseur, Kaufman continues: "On a visit in 2021 to the Art Institute of Chicago (in my hometown), I saw what I thought to be a fitting exploration of this 'old and new' reflected in Jackson Pollock's Greyed Rainbow. Jackson Pollock's Abstract Expressionist work, which bridges traditional and contemporary 20th-century aesthetics in visual art, has always resonated with me. One of the painting's elements that I find particularly striking is its use of palettes that may initially appear to conflict with one another. Approximately two thirds of the painting is starkly monochromatic, while the bottom third of the painting incorporates hints of several colors. Pollock's work connects bleakness and solace."

The program starts with Francis Poulenc's "Suite Française d'après Claude Gervaise," a collection of Renaissance tunes. In 1935, Poulenc arranged (with his personal touch) a few dances in Claude Gervaise's "Livre de Danceries" for an unusual combination of winds, brass and percussion instruments - "unusual" for our times, but probably common during Gervaise's time.

The concert will continue with a concerto for two instruments seldom seen together: recorder, and transverse flute. Written by Georg Philip Telemann, this is the only concerto to make use of this combination, conceived at a time when the orchestras of the time were growing, and the sweet sound of the recorder was slowly being replaced by the traverso - the Baroque equivalent of the modern flute.

The end of the program is a suite from the opera "Castor et Pollux," by Jean-Philippe Rameau, which tells the fantastic origins of the constellation Gemini. The music, which at the time was designed to be arranged for whatever instruments were available at a given ensemble, finds a modern design in LCO's brand new orchestration. The suite will be accompanied with a slideshow that will tell the story of the opera.

The concert is free to attend, as always. Attendees will be able to meet composer Dana Kaufman. For more information, please visit https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

WHEN:

Saturday, February 19, 2022, 7:30 p.m.

WHERE:

Richard and Nancy Donahue Academic Arts Center

240 Central Street, Lowell, MA

VIDEO (YouTube): https://youtu.be/0Rd37JM1DIE

On Saturday, February 19, the Lowell Chamber Orchestra will become a vessel through which works explore the concept of new and old. "Antique Modernity" is a concert that revolves around Dana Kaufman's brand new work, written specifically for the Lowell Chamber Orchestra, and works by Francis Poulenc, Georg Philip Telemann, and Jean Philip Rameau, that challenge our concepts of contemporary and traditional.

Related link: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

HomeBinder and Own Up announce strategic partnership to strengthen borrower relationships with lenders, real estate agents and home pros

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, home inspectors, Realtors and other authorized professionals, today announced a strategic partnership with Boston-based Own Up to support homeowners who receive HomeBinder from a non-mortgage industry business, such as a home inspector or insurance agent. Together, HomeBinder and Own Up provide a customizable and personalized experience for today's homeowners that strengthens their relationships with lenders, real estate agents and home professionals before, during and after the transaction.

HomeBinder is a centralized online platform designed to make home management and home value actionable with features that include adaptive home valuation, document storage, maintenance reminders, appliance recall notifications, a digital home inventory and more. Binders are provided by business partners supporting the homeownership journey, automatically pre-populated with documents from the transaction and delivered to clients upon closing. Homeowners that do not have a mortgage lender associated with their binder can now leverage the Own Up experience to understand refinancing options for their existing home or compare loan options for their next home purchase.

Own Up is a technology service that empowers borrowers to make smarter home financing decisions by providing customized data, personalized advice and a hassle-free mortgage shopping and comparison service. Both HomeBinder and Own Up are alumni of the Techstars Boston Accelerator, a program that helps Boston-based startups connect with other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders and corporations to grow their companies. The companies' founders share a belief that mortgage, real estate and home professionals should empower borrowers with transparency and access to educational information that supports each stage of the homeownership journey.

"HomeBinder is excited to partner with a member of the Techstars family to enable mortgage lenders that already work with Own Up to enhance their borrower experience after the loan closes and ultimately build a 'client for life' experience with their borrowers," said HomeBinder Chief Strategy Officer Pete Paglia.

"In an increasingly competitive market, lenders are seeking meaningful ways to differentiate themselves and remain top of mind with their clients," said Own Up SVP and Director of Lender Relations Matthew Wildman. "Compelling rates and fast cycle times are not enough; it takes a memorable borrower experience to keep today's clients engaged, and delivering that experience is at the heart of what Own Up and HomeBinder do."

For more information, visit https://hubs.ly/Q010X6yT0.

About HomeBinder:

HomeBinder is a home management platform that makes maintaining a home's value easy and actionable while improving relationships between homeowners and the businesses that serve them. Unlike traditional leave-behinds like business cards and refrigerator magnets, HomeBinder maintains an ongoing digital connection with homeowners as they manage their home improvements, data, documents and relationships over time. Founded in 2015, HomeBinder is a venture-backed Techstars Boston '19 company headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://pages.homebinder.com/.

About Own Up:

Own Up was founded in 2016 with a mission to ensure no borrower overpays for their mortgage. The company provides a hassle-free mortgage shopping and comparison experience coupled with independent, expert advice to ensure homebuyers and homeowners have the data they need to make smarter financing decisions. For more information, visit https://www.ownup.com/.

HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, home inspectors, Realtors and other authorized professionals, today announced a strategic partnership with Boston-based Own Up to support homeowners who receive HomeBinder from a non-mortgage industry business, such as a home inspector or insurance agent.

Related link: https://pages.homebinder.com/

HomeBinder partners with Thumbtack to expand homeowners’ access to home service professionals

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, Realtors and other authorized professionals, today announced a new integration with Thumbtack. The integration expands upon the more than 23,000 recommended service providers already listed in HomeBinder to provide consumers with access to hundreds of thousands of home service professionals across every county in the United States.

HomeBinder simplifies home management with interactive to-do lists, maintenance records, home project planning tools and online storage of documents, appliance models, property details and photos. Before gifting HomeBinder to a client, home inspectors, mortgage lenders and Realtors can populate the 'Home Service Provider' tab with a personalized list of recommended home service professionals, strengthening their relationships with those referral partners while providing a valuable service to homeowners.

Thumbtack helps homeowners effortlessly manage their homes - confidently knowing what to do, when to do it and who to hire. Once a homeowner is ready to start a project, Thumbtack intelligently matches them to skilled local professionals with the right expertise, availability and pricing. Through this new integration, homeowners on HomeBinder can now instantly book top-rated professionals on Thumbtack from television mounters to house cleaners and local movers.

"Partnering with Thumbtack enhances HomeBinder's ability to connect homeowners with local handymen, electricians painters and more - and each time homeowners are helped by their HomeBinder, they are reminded of the mortgage lender, real estate agent or authorized professional who gifted it to them," said HomeBinder Chief Strategy Officer Pete Paglia. "Our ultimate goal is to help our clients increase repeat and referral business, and teaming up with Thumbtack is just one of the ways we are doing that."

"From small fixes and routine maintenance to major improvements, Thumbtack helps millions of homeowners across the United States manage their home from top to bottom," said Thumbtack Director of Partnerships David Steckel. "We're excited to partner with HomeBinder to help homeowners more seamlessly connect with the right pro for all their home needs - without the hassle."

The Thumbtack integration is available in the United States to all HomeBinder customers. To enable the integration, visit https://hubs.ly/Q010N_H80.

About HomeBinder:

HomeBinder is a home management platform that makes maintaining a home's value easy while improving relationships between homeowners and the businesses that serve them. Unlike traditional leave-behinds like business cards and refrigerator magnets, HomeBinder maintains an ongoing digital connection with homeowners as they manage their data, documents and relationships over time. Founded in 2015, HomeBinder is a venture-backed Techstars Boston '19 company headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://pages.homebinder.com/.

About Thumbtack:

Thumbtack is a technology leader building the modern home management platform. Through the Thumbtack app, homeowners can effortlessly manage their homes - confidently knowing what to do, when to do it and who to hire. Bringing the $500 billion home services industry online, Thumbtack empowers millions of homeowners to fix, maintain and improve their most valuable asset. Hundreds of thousands of local service professionals, from painters and plumbers to photographers and math tutors, use the Thumbtack platform to grow their business each year. The company is backed by Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, Javelin Venture Partners, Baillie Gifford and CapitalG, among others.

HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, Realtors and other authorized professionals, today announced a new integration with Thumbtack. The integration expands upon the more than 23,000 recommended service providers already listed in HomeBinder.

Related link: https://pages.homebinder.com/

Journalist Elaine Alice Murphy is set to release her memoir, ‘In for Life’

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- This Jan., journalist Elaine Alice Murphy is set to release her memoir, "In for Life" (ISBN: 978-0578965659; Satuit Press), about her two-decade exploration of the wrongful murder conviction of her son's classmate and friend, Sean K. Ellis. The high-profile Boston case gained international attention when it became the subject of the eight-part Netflix docuseries "Trial 4."

Ellis was convicted in 1995 of the murder and robbery of Boston detective John J. Mulligan and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Mulligan was white, Sean is black. Age 19 at the time of the crime, Sean insisted he was innocent. It took three trials to convict him; his first two trials ended with hung juries.

Murphy, working with Ellis's family and attorneys to gain him a retrial, discovered previously undisclosed evidence of police corruption that the courts called a "game changer" and led to his release after he'd spent nearly 22 years behind bars.

"In for Life" is Murphy's riveting account of her journey through a corrupt criminal justice system and her distress at the two different Americas Sean Ellis and her son faced growing up. Woven throughout are insights from her prison conversations with Ellis that deepened their bond over two decades - a bond that became life changing for both.

Senior Harvard Lecturer and retired federal judge Hon. Nancy Gertner called "In for Life," "a remarkable story beautifully told ... of what it takes to make the criminal legal system fair - dogged determination, years and years of work, and a clear-eyed vision of what is right, no matter what the cost."

"In for Life" is available where all books are sold in January, 2022. It is nationally distributed by Cardinal Publishing Group.

Additional details can be found at https://www.satuitpress.com/, https://www.justiceforseanellis.com/, and @emurphyauthor on Twitter.

This Jan., journalist Elaine Alice Murphy is set to release her memoir, "In for Life" (ISBN: 978-0578965659; Satuit Press), about her two-decade exploration of the wrongful murder conviction of her son's classmate and friend, Sean K. Ellis. The high-profile Boston case gained international attention when it became the subject of the eight-part Netflix docuseries "Trial 4."

Related link: https://www.justiceforseanellis.com/

If a child had a pillow placed over their face when no one else was around, did it really happen?

SEEKONK Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- The Team Shawnie Group was founded on one basic principle. To give voice to those who struggle to be heard. We help children with disabilities gain access to a proper and legally required Individual Education Plan.

It would shock most people to learn that child abuse happens in "good school districts" too. That for children with disabilities, going to school means being bullied by their peers, and sometimes abuse by ill-prepared staff.

Shane Halajko, President said, "At one point, Shawnie (whom the group was founded after) was almost suffocated by a staff member who placed a pillow over his face while he was sleeping. Fortunately, he is strong and was able to fight for his life." The perpetrator denied the allegations and was not charged...let that sink in for a moment. Families in your neighborhood, city and town are dealing with these issues every day.

If you are a family in need of assistance, please contact The Team Shawnie Group. Our services are free.

Journalists, are you interested in making a real difference? Help fight the abuse and the antiquated system that keeps parents on the sidelines and budget concerns the priority over the well-being of our children. Shawnie's heartbreaking journey and the toll it took on his family is hard to imagine. After a decade, Shawnie was finally admitted into the proper treatment facility. But the system that almost killed him and kept his body full of prescription drugs - hasn't changed.

Support the Shawnie Bill H.230 - An Act ensuring the appropriate and timely payment and residential service placement for children deemed to be a safety risk, and then email your Representative and ask them to support it. Thanks to Representative Steven S. Howitt, Bristol, for his esteemed leadership on this bill along with Representatives, Mathew J. Muratore, Plymouth, Michael J. Soter, Worcester, and Adam J. Scanlon, Bristol.

Team Shawnie Advocacy Group Inc. is a non-profit in the process of receiving its 501(c)(3) status. Serving Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Get involved | We need volunteers and donors

https://teamshawniegroup.com

Twitter: @teamshawniegrp

The Team Shawnie Group was founded on one basic principle. To give voice to those who struggle to be heard. We help children with disabilities gain access to a proper and legally required Individual Education Plan.

Related link: https://teamshawniegroup.com/

Lowell Chamber Orchestra presents ‘As One,’ the most produced contemporary opera in North America, on the Transgender Day of Remembrance

LOWELL, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- Lowell Chamber Orchestra is proud to present "As One" on Saturday, November 20, 2021, 7:30 p.m., at Middlesex Community College. The critically acclaimed, 75-minute chamber opera created by composer Laura Kaminsky and librettists Kimberly Reed and Mark Campbell with film by Ms. Reed, has had nearly 50 productions around the world and, according to OPERA America, is the most produced contemporary opera in North America.

In "As One," two voices-Hannah after and Hannah before-share the part of a sole transgender protagonist. Fifteen songs comprise the three-part narrative; with empathy and humor, they trace Hannah's experiences from her youth in a small town to her college years-and finally traveling alone to a different country, where she realizes some truths about herself.

For the first time in the opera's history, "As One" will be performed by an entirely gender-expansive cast: mezzo-soprano Tona Brown and baritone Rahzé Cheatham will play "Hannah after" and "Hannah before," respectively. Further, the work will be performed on the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day that commemorates violence against the transgender community.

Says Ms. Brown: "Hannah's story is a story of struggle, self discovery and triumph...and anyone can relate to that even if they don't know much about transgender people. For the first time in history transgender people can see themselves represented on the stage of an opera! This performance will go down in history!"

Orlando Cela, music director for Lowell Chamber Orchestra, will conduct with stage direction by Em Russell.

Like all Lowell Chamber Orchestra concerts, the concert is free of charge, but donations are kindly requested. Audiences must show proof of vaccination upon entry and remain masked during the entirety of the opera.

Learn more: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/events/as-one

SUMMARY:

"As One"

Saturday, November 20, 7:30 p.m.

Richard and Nancy Donahue Family Academic Arts Center

Middlesex Community College

240 Central Street, Lowell, MA

Presented by Middlesex Community College "A World of Music" Concert Series

Sponsored by the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, and Parma Recordings

REVIEWS:

"As One forces you to think, simultaneously challenging preconceptions and inspiring empathy." - The New York Times

"Its universality is key to As One's becoming the hottest new American opera of recent years. It challenges us to ponder questions of authenticity, identity, compassion and self-love. And it does so without preachiness." - The Chicago Tribune

Lowell Chamber Orchestra is proud to present "As One" on Saturday, November 20, 2021, 7:30 p.m., at Middlesex Community College. The critically acclaimed, 75-minute chamber opera created by composer Laura Kaminsky and librettists Kimberly Reed and Mark Campbell with film by Ms. Reed, has had nearly 50 productions around the world and, according to OPERA America, is the most produced contemporary opera in North America.

Related link: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

HomeBinder debuts new features that strengthen the relationship between homeowners, home professionals, mortgage lenders, insurance providers and other authorized partners

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, home inspectors, insurance providers, home pros, real estate agents, and other authorized professionals, today announced the release of new features and user interface (UI) improvements designed to enhance the home management experience. By fostering greater consumer engagement in digital home management, HomeBinder keeps homeowners connected with the businesses that support their ownership journey, creating opportunities for repeat and referral business and helping build clients for life.

Notably, HomeBinder had introduced a proprietary home valuation tool that aggregates multiple data points - including renovations, appliance upgrades and the completion status of maintenance tasks - to estimate the home's current value and appreciation. The tool also tracks information including purchase price, current loan balance, loan term, interest rate, annual taxes and hazard insurance. The feature is designed to help homeowners better track their home's value and provide future buyers with deeper transparency into the history of the home.

The platform update also introduces an evergreen "To Do" list on the homeowner's homepage. The list highlights important tasks driven both by homeowner-specific binder data as well as the stage of ownership, following models used by many other successful SaaS platforms.

The new UI also features enhanced navigation and workflows that improve organization of tools such as document storage, maintenance history, home improvement projects, appliance models, property details and photos.

"This latest update to the HomeBinder interface strengthens homeowner engagement with the platform, keeping users connected with their mortgage lenders and other authorized home professionals," said HomeBinder Chief Product Officer Guy Tassinari. "By offering unique new capabilities and targeted improvements to organizational workflows, HomeBinder continues to be a valuable, user-friendly resource homeowners will return to again and again, creating long-term referral and repeat business opportunities."

To see how HomeBinder can help keep businesses connected with homeowners and support the journey of homeownership, schedule a demo at sales@homebinder.com.

About HomeBinder:

HomeBinder is a home management platform that makes maintaining a home's value easy while improving relationships between homeowners and the businesses that serve them. Unlike traditional leave-behinds like business cards and refrigerator magnets, HomeBinder maintains an ongoing digital connection with homeowners as they manage their data, documents and relationships over time. Founded in 2015, HomeBinder is a venture-backed Techstars Boston '19 company headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://pages.homebinder.com/.

HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, home inspectors, insurance providers, home pros, real estate agents, and other authorized professionals, today announced the release of new features and user interface (UI) improvements designed to enhance the home management experience.

Related link: https://pages.homebinder.com/

NJ Lenders to roll out HomeBinder home management platform

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, Realtors and other authorized professionals, today announced that NJ Lenders has selected HomeBinder to deliver a post-closing home management experience that improves customer retention and strengthens referral partner relationships.

NJ Lenders is an independent mortgage bank that has helped more than 125,000 families in fourteen states and the District of Columbia achieve their homeownership dreams over the course of its 30 years in business. With HomeBinder, NJ Lenders will replace the three-ring binder of loan documents it has long presented to customers with a personalized, cloud-based home management platform that helps homeowners care for their home and track its value over time.

HomeBinder features include an interactive to-do list and organizational tools such as centralized document storage, maintenance history, home improvement projects, appliance models, property details and photos. The platform also keeps contact information for loan officers, Realtors and other home service providers at homeowners' fingertips throughout the homeownership journey for increased referral and repeat business.

"HomeBinder offers tremendous value as a tool today's consumer will use again and again, long after moving into the home," said Steven Grossman, owner of NJ Lenders. "Moreover, as a lender that's built our model around repeat and referral business, we love giving our Realtor referral partners an opportunity to have their brand presented alongside ours every time a consumer accesses their HomeBinder."

Added Grossman, "HomeBinder is a great tool to present to buyers at closing. We used to create literal binders to collate loan documents, insurance info and contact information for the loan officer, Realtor and attorney and then ship them out via UPS. It was a massive undertaking that required a team of interns, and it only delivered a fraction of the value of HomeBinder."

"HomeBinder makes an excellent closing gift, but it's also so much more than that," said HomeBinder Chief Strategy Officer Pete Paglia. "Mortgage companies like NJ Lenders are embracing HomeBinder as an educational tool for first-time homebuyers, a wealth-building tool for protecting the value of the asset, a customer retention tool that keeps lenders top of mind and a relationship-building strategy that referral partners will love."

For more information, reach out to sales@homebinder.com.

About HomeBinder:

HomeBinder is a home management platform that makes maintaining a home's value easy while improving relationships between homeowners and the businesses that serve them. Unlike traditional leave-behinds like business cards and refrigerator magnets, HomeBinder maintains an ongoing digital connection with homeowners as they manage their data, documents and relationships over time. Founded in 2015, HomeBinder is a venture-backed Techstars Boston '19 company headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://pages.homebinder.com/.

About NJ Lenders:

NJ Lenders is a leading mortgage company that is privately owned and licensed as a residential mortgage banker. Founded in 1991, the company currently originates first and second mortgage loans in NJ, NY, CT, MA, PA, DE, DC, VA, MD, NC, GA, TN, TX, CO and FL. With seven offices and over $30 billion in closed mortgage loans, many of NJ Lenders' mortgage loan originators are recognized nationally as the best in their field. For more information, visit https://www.njlenders.com.

HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, Realtors and other authorized professionals, today announced that NJ Lenders has selected HomeBinder to deliver a post-closing home management experience that improves customer retention and strengthens referral partner relationships.

Related link: https://pages.homebinder.com/

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra earns recognition in national competition

LOWELL, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- The Lowell Chamber Orchestra has been awarded third place in The American Prize Competition for the Performing Arts. The orchestra was recognized for their performances in its inaugural season, in a division that appraises professional orchestras around the United States.

The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation's most comprehensive series of contests in the classical arts. The American Prize is nonprofit, unique in scope and structure, and is designed to evaluate, recognize and reward the best performers, ensembles, composers, directors and administrators in the United States, based on submitted recordings.

Upon hearing about the award, LCO music director Orlando Cela said: "The orchestra is honored and grateful to have been awarded this prize. Congratulations to the other winners, and best wishes for their continuing musical endeavors."

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra provides the city of Lowell and surrounding areas with an ensemble that presents music at a very high level, of all styles and time periods, entirely free to the general population.

Upcoming offerings include performances of established masterpieces and brand new compositions by living composers, as well as lecture presentations in collaboration with Middlesex Community College, Lowell City of Learning, and other local organizations.

Visit https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/ for more information about the ongoing season.

VIDEO (YouTube): https://youtu.be/qOCHXV7QqUM

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra has been awarded third place in The American Prize Competition for the Performing Arts. The orchestra was recognized for their performances in its inaugural season, in a division that appraises professional orchestras around the United States.

Related link: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra opens their third season with cosmic music, premieres

LOWELL, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- The Lowell Chamber Orchestra opens its third season this Saturday, September 25, with music inspired by the cosmos. The three works by Anna Clyne, Micah Roberts, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, all allude to a cosmic object.

The program starts with "Hypernovae," written by Tennessee composer Micah Roberts. "Hypernovae" was written for the Lowell Chamber Orchestra's first ever call-for-scores. Roberts' score was measured against about other 120 from nine different countries, and the judges were impressed by its driving force and unusual orchestration. "Hypernovae" will receive its first ever performance at the beginning of the program, and the composer will be present.

Following a world premiere, the second work in the program will be heard for the first time in Massachusetts. Anna Clyne's "Three Sisters" is a concerto for mandolin and string orchestra inspired by the three stars that make the "belt" of the constellation Orion.

About her piece, Clyne says "It's a piece I actually wrote in 3 locations. And one of the locations was my apartment in Brooklyn that had access to a rooftop and I would sit on the rooftop looking at the stars, often seeing the constellation Orion, which is also known as 'Three sisters.' So just thinking about the stars, the passage of time, and that journey."

Joseph Brent will be the featured soloist of the evening. Called, "one of the truly exceptional musicians of his generation," Brent has worked closely with many of the great modern composers, and has performed with many well-known chamber ensembles, including The International Contemporary Ensemble, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, among many others. He is a published author of mandolin pedagogy, and has released a few albums. "By the time I was 13 I knew mandolin was my voice," says Brent about his musical career's beginnings. Today, Brent plays mandolins with 5, 8, and 10 strings, all custom-made for him.

The concert ends with the very well know forty-first symphony by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Truthfully, Mozart was not thinking about Jupiter - the planet after which the symphony is named - when he wrote this symphony. According to a story, the nickname comes from a British publisher, who upon hearing the opening chords, thought of the thunderbolts of the ancient Greek god Jupiter. However, the symphony's majestic structure and use of instruments does compare with the largest planet of the solar system.

The concert is free to attend, but donations are most welcome. Audience is required to show proof of vaccination, and to be masked while indoors.

Learn more at: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

WHEN AND WHERE:

Saturday, September 25

7:30 p.m.

UTEC

35 Warren Street, Lowell MA

MEDIA CONTACT

Antonio Mak

Lowell Chamber Orchestra

admin@lowellchamberorchestra.org

Phone Number: 781-583-6160

MULTIMEDIA:

VIDEO: Interview with composer Anna Clyne about her work "Three Sisters." https://youtu.be/j7ktdbLM44k

The Lowell Chamber Orchestra opens its third season this Saturday, September 25, with music inspired by the cosmos. The three works by Anna Clyne, Micah Roberts, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, all allude to a cosmic object.

Related link: https://lowellchamberorchestra.org/

Thousands to Be Tattooed at 19th Annual Boston Tattoo Convention at Hynes Convention Center

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- The Boston Tattoo Convention announces its 19th annual gathering in the heart of downtown Boston! The event will be held this weekend Friday September 17 - 19, 2021 at the Hynes Convention Center.

A tradition for the past 18 years, the Boston Tattoo Convention brings together artists, collectors, shops, vendors, performers, and tattoo culture to Boston's Back Bay for a weekend of live tattooing, art, and entertainment. Ticket prices start at just $25!

Event highlights include live tattooing from top-tier tattoo artists, live music and performances, the Miss Boston Ink beauty contest and an after party at King's Boston!

For additional information including the full schedule of events, visit https://bostontattooconvention.com/.

Check out the attending artists' portfolios on Instagram at @bostontattoocon and on https://www.facebook.com/bostontattooconvention.

The Boston Tattoo Convention will be a mask required event. Thank you for doing your part to help us make it a fun and safe event for all! KEEP BOSTON BEAUTIFUL, GET A TATTOO!

Event Media Contact:

info@bostontattooconvention.com

978-744-9393

The Boston Tattoo Convention announces its 19th annual gathering in the heart of downtown Boston! The event will be held this weekend Friday September 17 - 19, 2021 at the Hynes Convention Center.

Related link: https://bostontattooconvention.com/

HomeBinder joins The Mortgage Collaborative’s Preferred Partner Network

BOSTON, Mass. /ScoopCloud/ -- HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, Realtors, and other authorized professionals, today announced it has joined The Mortgage Collaborative's (TMC) Preferred Partner Network. The new membership enables HomeBinder to offer preferential pricing to TMC's nearly 150 member banks, credit unions and independent mortgage banking companies. Trusted by over 600,000 homeowners to date, HomeBinder simplifies homeownership, improves home values and increases repeat and referral business for mortgage lenders and Realtors.

"HomeBinder is an exciting addition to the TMC Preferred Partner Network that offers a fresh competitive advantage to Lender Members," said Steven A. Milner, founder and CEO of nationally licensed direct mortgage lender US Mortgage Corporation for 28 years and a TMC board member. "A core value here at US Mortgage is to 'seek longevity.' It is a belief that informs everything from how we make business decisions of the long-term success of the company in mind to how we foster a work environment where employees want to build a lifelong career. We also seek longevity in our client relationships, and in that quest we seek to become a lender for life to all our clients. HomeBinder is the ideal partner to Lender Members for that purpose."

By partnering with HomeBinder, mortgage lenders can furnish each borrower with an online platform designed to make managing a home and maintaining its value easier. HomeBinder features include document storage, maintenance reminders, appliance recall notifications, a digital home inventory and more. The platform also helps lenders and real estate agents stay connected with clients long after the home sale thanks to prominent placement of their contact information within each borrower's HomeBinder.

"Our mission is to deliver homeowners peace of mind and optimize their home's value by being the bridge between them and the businesses that support their ownership," said HomeBinder Founder and CEO Jack Huntress. "We are delighted to join The Mortgage Collaborative and look forward to working with lenders who share our vision of supporting the homeownership journey and see the value in having deeper, longer-lasting relationships with their clients."

"We started The Mortgage Collaborative eight years ago to leverage the collective power of the lending community, share ideas and become more efficient and profitable together," said TMC CEO Jim Park. "We welcome HomeBinder as our newest Preferred Partner and encourage our Lender Members to see for themselves how this powerful little app engages borrowers and keeps lender relationships sticky at the same time."

HomeBinder comes with plug-and-play integrations with Encompass(r) by ICE Mortgage Technology(tm), Salesforce and other leading mortgage loan origination software (LOS) and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. For more information, visit https://pages.homebinder.com/lenders or book a demo today!

About HomeBinder:

HomeBinder is a home management platform that makes maintaining a home's value easy while improving relationships between homeowners and the businesses that serve them. Unlike traditional leave-behinds like business cards and refrigerator magnets, HomeBinder maintains an ongoing digital connection with homeowners as they manage their data, documents and relationships over time. Founded in 2015, HomeBinder is a venture-backed Techstars Boston '19 company headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://pages.homebinder.com/.

About The Mortgage Collaborative:

Based in San Diego, Calif., The Mortgage Collaborative was founded in 2013 by four notable industry leaders and is the nation's largest independent mortgage cooperative network. TMC is singularly focused on creating an environment of collaboration and innovation for small to midsize mortgage lenders across the country to reduce cost, increase profitability, and better serve the dynamic and changing consumer base in America. For more information, visit https://www.mortgagecollaborative.com.

Twitter: @MtgCoop @HomeBinder

HomeBinder, a centralized home management platform that keeps homeowners connected with mortgage lenders, Realtors, and other authorized professionals, today announced it has joined The Mortgage Collaborative's (TMC) Preferred Partner Network. The new membership enables HomeBinder to offer preferential pricing to TMC's nearly 150 member banks, credit unions and independent mortgage banking companies.

Related link: https://pages.homebinder.com/