On March 22, Cary Hall will come alive with music and dance as part of Love Now, a community performance celebrating Lexington’s connection and culture. Lexington residents Mary Ross, a folk artist who goes by the stage name Mah Ree, and classical Indian dancer Jayshree Bala Rajamani organized the event, joining forces with local poet Regie O’Hare Gibson, the poet laureate of Massachusetts.
Ross emphasized that Love Now is designed to reflect the full diversity of voices within Lexington, bringing together performers across cultures, generations, and lived experiences. The event has also created a space for multiple forms of expression to coexist and inform one another.
“We have Rajamani leading Bharathanatyam, a form of traditional South Indian dance. We are also bringing the Chinese American Association of Lexington (CAAL) singers together and the SNAP (Special Needs Arts Programs) singers,” Ross said.
Despite their different backgrounds, the performers are united by common values.
“We all care about our families, we care about our friends, and we care about our planet. All of us coming together, this is about saying we are one human family,” Ross said.
For Ross, this sense of unity is not just an artistic message but a broader social one. In today’s increasingly polarized world, she hopes Love Now will serve as a reminder that common ground can still be found.
“We are trying to break down barriers and encourage all people to see love in every face. I feel like you know we’re living in a troubled time where people are divided, and whatever we can do to dispel fears and show that we are so much more the same than we are different,” Ross said.
Ross said her path into music was rooted in family, where she learned multiple instruments including the guitar, piano, and ukulele.
“When my older sister started to play the guitar, my entire family ended up learning how to play. I later learned how to sing into a microphone when I was about 10, and that gave us a real ease with performing,” she said.
That early exposure to music naturally evolved into creative expression of her own. As she grew older, Ross began channeling her experiences into writing: “Around six or so, I started writing poetry. And by the time I was an adolescent, I turned that into music and started to write my own songs.”
Today, Ross has published multiple albums and dozens of songs. Many of the pieces from her latest album This Day are inspired by what initially got her into music: her family.
“I had a phone conversation with my younger brother, and we were talking about resilience. He mentioned prayer and that became the theme of the first song of the album,” Ross told LexObserver.
Other songs draw inspiration from the local community, reflecting Ross’s appreciation for the people and places that surround her.
“The next song is called Green, and I wrote that song after a walk through Minuteman National Park,” Ross said. “There is sort of an almost meditative nature, the beauty that can just give you so much peace in the woods.”
Through the wide range of themes explored, Ross believes they are ultimately united by an appreciation for everyday life.
“There is so much beauty in day to day life. That’s what it’s really about, recognizing the beauty in everyday life, and it is challenging to do so,” she said.
Ultimately, Ross hopes audiences will walk away from Sunday’s performance not only inspired, but more connected to one another. She said the show is meant to leave listeners with a renewed sense of appreciation for both relationships and the shared human experience.
“Listeners should be looking forward to being uplifted by all of these different groups coming together,” Ross said. “For example, they’ll hear CAAL sing a song about valuing friendships and asking deeper questions about love: about taking the time to reflect and recognize how important our relationships really are.”