From rousing renditions of The Star Spangled Banner and Sweet Caroline to a Shubert string quartet or a captivating dance program, the arts have a way of stirring souls, uniting audiences in appreciation, and, in the case of a post-Marathon broken community such as ours, helping us heal and shining a beacon on the positive, beautiful, and profound things that bind us. We have plenty of homegrown and Boston-based artists, such as James Taylor, Aerosmith, the Boston Pops, and American Idol's Angie Miller. (Go Angie! Don't forget to vote.) But we also heartily welcome visiting performers, such as Neil Diamond, to help us be Boston Strong.

For 75 years, the Celebrity Series of Boston has been welcoming artists to the city's concert halls and helping to establish our reputation as one of the nation's leading metropolises for the performing arts. The organization's programming, which includes orchestras, opera, dance companies, jazz, and more, is diverse, eclectic, and impeccably curated. Its upcoming presentations, which demonstrate the vitality of the arts in Boston, will also help to comfort us. Performances include baritone Thomas Hampson and the Jupiter String Quartet on April 26 at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, NPR's Terry Gross speaking about her popular show, Fresh Air on May 10 at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater presenting a series of shows from May 16 to 19 at the Citi Wang Theatre. Looking ahead to the next season of the Celebrity Series of Boston, which kicks off in September 2013, highlights will include jazz greats such as Sonny Rollins, Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, and Bela Fleck, as well as the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, soprano Deborah Voigt, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, and NPR's Ira Glass. We look forward to welcoming these wonderful artists to Boston. But we also invite and look forward to welcoming you.

Share the joy of music, dance, and more at the city's magnificent concert venues with us. Stand with us as we heal. Witness Boston Strong in person. The Celebrity Series is yet another shining example that we are open for business.

Photos: Top: Boston Red Sox. Bottom: Celebrity Series of Boston.