“To be an artist is to believe in life.”—Henry Moore

As life springs anew this season, Newton gives it an artistic accompaniment. Spark Newton’s annual Linda Plaut Festival of the Arts is set to run from May 9 to June 30, featuring more than 20 events throughout the city. For opening night, the New Philharmonia Orchestra and special guest singers will perform at 6 p.m. at the Newton City Hall War Memorial Auditorium.

There are several other concerts to keep the music going all weekend, as well as an Icelandic film screening and a 5K run.

Here are seven things to do in Newton this weekend.

Saturday, May 9

At 1 p.m., the Scandinavian Cultural Center will host a screening of the Icelandic film, “Fjallið” (“The Mountain”), about a teacher and amateur astronomer who ventures into the highlands to photograph a comet with her father and the lessons that entails. Tickets are $10 for general public, $5 for members.

From 3 to 4:30 p.m., The Highland Glee Club Men’s Chorus, the Apollo Club and Saengerfest will celebrate of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States of America with a 100-man mega-chorus, singing songs from the Civil War and Randall Thompson’s Testament of Freedom, set to the words of Thomas Jefferson. Tickets are $20 general admission.

From 4 to 7 p.m., Newton Family Singers will perform a concert featuring the music of R.E.M. and Indigo Girls, two bands that originated in the same clubs in Athens, Ga., at the Newton Community Stage, Lincoln-Eliot School, 15 Walnut Park. Tickets are $20 for adults. Kids’ tickets (12 and under) are always $15.

From 6 to 7:30 p.m., the Linda Plaut Festival of the Arts in will kick off with the New Philharmonia Orchestra at the the War Memorial Auditorium, with a concert titled “Music for All,” a family-friendly concert featuring soprano Olga Lisovska. There will be a community sing-along and an Instrument Petting Zoo at the end of the performance. Admission is free.

From 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., The Bay Colony Brass will perform a concert, “Springtime Salmagundi,” featuring the world premiere of American composer Carson Cooman’s “Suncatchers: Pageant in Four Scenes for Two Horns and Brass Ensemble” with soloists Hazel Dean Davis and Nick Auer, at Second Church in Newton, 60 Highland St. Admission is free.

From 7:30 to 9 p.m., Boston Chamber Symphony, conducted by Avlana Eisenberg with MET Opera Principal Seth Morris on flute, will perform Reinecke’s lyrical Flute Concerto along with Brahms’s spirited Hungarian Dance No. 1 and Sibelius’s Valse Triste. At Grace Episcopal Church, 76 Eldredge St. Tickets are $30, with discounts for seniors and students.

Sunday, May 10

From 9:30 to 11 a.m., the Newton Chinese Language School will host the Dragon’s Path 5K/1K AAPI Run in celebration of heritage, health and family, at 154 Wells Ave. There will be kid-friendly activities and a post-race party. Registration is open to all age groups.

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You can find more events or submit your own on our Events Page.

And the city has an ongoing list of arts-related events on the Newton Arts Calendar.