Music In The Air At Allerton Overlook At Brookline's Olmsted Park

BROOKLINE, MA — Nearly two decades ago Allerton Overlook at Olmsted Park was restored as part of a project converting Riverdale Parkway in Brookline into a walkway and bikeway. With the restored slope of the Overlook creating an ideal seating area for an audience, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy is helping showcase the park through featuring it in this year’s Summer on the Emerald Necklace Concert Series.

The Henry Acker Jazz Trio will play the final show of the season at Allerton Overlook Sunday night at 6 with the concerts then shifting to Pinebank Promontory at Jamaica Pond for the next three weeks before concluding at Franklin Park Zoo on Aug. 18. Admission for all shows is free.

"You can find culture in all of the parks," said Evan Bradley, marketing and communications director for the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. "We want these to be places where you can hear the artistic voices of the people of Boston and Brookline. We want to highlight the work that's been done in the park and give people another reason to get out to them, and enjoy the parks in the spring and summer."

Olmsted Park is one of six parks in the Emerald Necklace that spans from Brookline into Boston's Bay Back and Dorchester neighborhoods. The Emerald Necklace Conservancy was created 21 years ago with the concert series debuting 12 years ago.

"This is the first year of offering it at every park in the Necklace," Bradley said. "A lot of people are aware of their own parks in their backyards — Jamaica Pond, the Arnold Arboretum — but few people know that they are all connected in one system of parks. We're hoping that if people visit one park for some good music they will then go to all the different parks to see those too."

The Henry Acker Jazz Trio features 15-year-old guitarist Henry Acker, who is from Boston, earned the 2017 Djangofest North West Saga Award and a is three-time winner of the Downbeat Magazine Student Award for jazz guitar soloist.

Other events at the park this summer include movie nights at Fenway Victory Gardens and Charlesgate East in Boston, yoga, fitness classes and a Tai-Chi class on Aug. 3 at Olmsted Park.

"Some of the other events aren't quite Brookline, but we would love to have people from Brookline visit them and enjoy free family fun," Bradley said.