Peak foliage color is later this year than what used to be the norm. The rise in average temperatures affects this process of nature as well. Not only is the onset of color change delayed, but the colors themselves are changing – the intense oranges and reds of autumn will become more and more rare, giving way to muted yellows and browns.

I learned this from an article about interactive maps that point travelers to where to go for the best colors at any given moment in time, something I had been curious about. It is, to put it mildly, dispiriting when you try and read up on nature and can’t avoid bad news even with the simple inquiry about the timing of fall colors….

So let’s balance that out with some good news, at least for us here in town. Last year’s Lenny Bernstein craze around the centennial of his birth led to an explosion of Bernstein-related musical programs but also a traveling exhibition about the composer/ conductor’s life curated by the GRAMMY museum. After previously having been shown at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Skirball Cultural Center, and the New England Conservatory, among others, it has now reached its 9th stop: the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education.

OJMCHE will have the exhibit of 150 artifacts on display until early January, but, importantly, will augment what’s there to see with some promising events linked to the show. Among others, there will be a story swap between musicians from a variety of genres, reaching from classical music to ska-punk. 45th Parallel will offer two concerts of Bernstein’s chamber music at the museum. Fall might be colorful, after all, if only in musical modulation.

What’s likely not covered in the exhibit (I have yet to visit) are the less public and darker aspects of the maestro’s life. A short and sensitive summary can be found here.

For music it shall be a symphony often connected to autumnal moods: Brahm’s No.4 in E minor. Conducted by Bernstein, of course.