Soprano Claudette Peterson, formerly with New York’s City Opera, and renowned bass-baritone David Kline, will present a master class for singers at the Martha’s Vineyard High School on Monday. Dan Murphy, director of music at the high school, arranged for the class to give interested students the opportunity to work with these world-class artists and to introduce them to Operafest 2008, a summer program for which Mr. Murphy will serve as choral conductor and accompanist.

Program Offered to Girls

The Adolescent Balance Living Experience (ABLE) offered through the YMCA of Martha’s Vineyard for girls ages 11 to 14 is seeking referrals for the spring session which begins Monday, April 14.

Run, herring, run!

Or, rather, swim, herring, swim, to your natal stream. River herring — harbingers of spring — should be back soon, if they are not already.

By LYNNE IRONS

I love Easter. Not only is church filled to capacity, but it is the real turning point between winter and spring. It doesn’t seem to matter that it is particularly early this year. Main street is getting its annual makeover. Especially lovely is the store front of the Two Susans. There is a shocking number of têteàtête daffodils. As I recall, that bed looks spectacular all summer.

Between now and mid-April, occasional migrating small birds arrive on the Island exceptionally early.

The body of an Edgartown man who reportedly drove off a cliff along East Chop in Oak Bluffs Thursday evening was recovered Saturday morning after being spotted by a woman aboard a Steamship Authority ferry in Vineyard Haven harbor.

Oak Bluffs police started their search for Benjamin Viera, 35, late Thursday evening after receiving a report from his family that they had received a disturbing message from him and were concerned about his safety.

Katherine Campbell of Vineyard Haven has been named to the dean’s list at Emmanuel College in Boston for the fall 2007 semester.

A suicidal husband, a vaudeville act down on its luck, a pair of commedia dell’arte clowns, two morbidly sensitive shepherds, and a train passenger trapped in the loo with an idiot conductor on the far side of the door. What do these characters have in common? Well, brought together in one-act plays under the aegis of Island Theatre Workshop, they represent a fruitcake slice of the human predicament. They are also, as samples of the absurdist tradition, a whole bunch of fun.

A young filmmaker perched on a stool in the Chilmark Community Center Saturday afternoon, microphone in hand. An Island woman born and raised, she waited for the lights to flicker on and then watched, her eyes twinkling, as the members of the audience joined in steady round of applause for her film about her Island and featuring the people who call it home.

Three questions came to mind as I headed out this past Friday to see Berklee College of Music students and faculty work their therapy magic on the Island. One, can you ever get high school kids to sit around and pay attention? Two, is there a career in music therapy? And three, can nursing home residents carry a beat?