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Archived schedules

Stockbridge schedules 160th annual Laurel Hill Day August 18, 2012

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Stockbridge’s Laurel Hill Association will hold its 160th annual Laurel Hill Day on Saturday, at 2:00 P.M. at the rostrum on Laurel Hill. The rostrum is located behind the Stockbridge Town Offices building on Main Street. The public is invited to attend. In the event of rain, the program will be held in the Stockbridge Library on Main Street.

The speaker for the Program will be Mr. Robert Chicks, President of the Tribal Council of the Stockbridge Munsee Community of the Mohican Nation. Mr. Chicks’ topic will be Stockbridge and the Mohican Connection. Joanne Schedler, member of the Tribal Council, and Sherry White, Historic Preservation Officer, will also attend Laurel Hill Day.

Association President Kirsten Fredsall will preside. The recipient of the annual $2,000 college scholarship will be announced. Belle Fox-Martin, Minister, will give the Invocation and the Benediction.

During the program the choir from the First Congregational Church of Stockbridge will sing Mohican Sunrise, a composition by Brent Michael Davids, the Native American composer and flutist whose Stockbridge Mohican Song was written for and sung on the July 2, 2005 performance of A Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood.

ps21 Chatam schedule

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TAKE Dance returns to PS21 Friday and Saturday, August 10 and 11 with the world premiere of a new work created especially for PS21, along with two other expressive and distinctive pieces. This contemporary dance ensemble will perform at 8:00 pm under The Tent at PS21, located at 2980 Route 66 in the Town of Chatham.

Led by Japanese native, Juilliard graduate and Paul Taylor Dance Company alum Takehiro Ueyama, Take Dance blends eastern and western sensibilities to communicate the universal human condition. Take Dance is known for bringing a unique depth and fulfilling experience to audiences through diverse movement, musical choices, subject matter and artistic partnerships.

The Friday and Saturday shows will include three pieces: “Salaryman,” “Distance of the Moon,” and the premiere of a yet to be named work made especially for PS21.

Take Dance Company will be at PS21 Friday and Saturday, August 10 and 11, at 8:00pm. Admission is $30 non-members, $25 members, and $18 students. Please call 518.392.6121 or visit www.ps21chatham.org. Tickets will also be available at the door until the show sells out.

PS21 presents five dance companies this summer:

  • Jamal Jackson Dance Company,
  • Dances for a Variable Population,
  • Take Dance,
  • The Vanaver Caravan,
  • Parsons Dance.

PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century is a not-for-profit organization in Chatham, NY, dedicated to the performing arts and to serving a diverse community with concerts, programs and residencies by professional artists and ensembles, youth and children’s programming and cultural education opportunities for all ages.

Elm Court, last Berkshire cottage, sold to developers

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Elm Court, last family-owned Berkshire cottage, sold to developers

Elm Court, the Sloane-Vanderbilt estate, built in 1886 on Old Stockbridge Rd. in Lenox, 55,000 sq. ft. on 44 acres, the largest shingle style residence in the country, was sold by its 4th generation owners to developers in Colorado for a little less than ten million dollars. (See Bob Villa video about fixing-up Elm Court.) With that transaction, the Berkshire Cottage era has come to an end. Speaking of rapacious developers, the best of the lot today would be hard-pressed to match the me-my-mine meme that was the defining characteristic of the bluestockings who inspired Mark Twain to coin the “Gilded Age,” whence the Berkshire cottage had its day in the sun.

More here: Berkshire cottages Shadowbrook, Bellefontaine, Belvoir Terrace, et. al.

Commonwealth signs tentative agreement with Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

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Governor Deval Patrick announced on July 11, 2012 that the Commonwealth has reached a tentative agreement with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on a Compact agreement which outlines the terms, consistent with federal law, under which the Tribe can operate a gaming facility in Massachusetts.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council and the Massachusetts Legislature must vote to authorize the Compact. If approved by both bodies, the Compact will then be sent to the United States Department of the Interior for final approval.

“This is a good deal for everyone,” said Governor Patrick. “This Compact balances the interests of the Commonwealth with the inherent rights of the people of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. If this Compact is approved, it will allow the Mashpee Wampanoag to open a unique facility that is governed and regulated by the Tribe itself, in partnership with the state. I thank the Tribe for their good faith negotiations to reach an agreement that is in their best interests as well as those of the Commonwealth.”

The Commonwealth and the Mashpee Wampanoag negotiated the Compact over the course of several months. As a tribal government, the Mashpee Wampanoag is not subject to the recently passed Expanded Gaming Act. In exchange for several concessions from the state, the Compact establishes guidelines for a potential tribal casino that are consistent with the policies and principles outlined in the Expanded Gaming Act.

Whether or not there will be casinos in Massachusetts, it is unlikely one will be built in the Berkshires, for any nimber of reasons. At any rate, there are plenty of alternatives to traveling to a casino. Among the alternatives is a visit to partycasino.com.

In November 2011, Governor Patrick signed the Expanded Gaming Act, which authorized the creation of three resort-style gaming facilities in Massachusetts, along with one slot facility. The Act allows for the gaming facilities to be built in three regions, Western Massachusetts, Greater Boston and Southeastern Massachusetts. The Act directed the Governor to negotiate a compact with any eligible, federally-recognized sovereign tribe for a facility in the Southeastern region. The compact must be negotiated and ratified by the Legislature by July 31, 2012. If those requirements are not met, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is required to put out to bid a commercial license for the facility.

Berkshires arts and entertainment news items

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Berkshires arts and entertainment news items

Gary Smulyan Noah Baerman jazz concert Aug. 3 in Pittsfield

Gary Smulyan in double-bill concert with Noah Baerman Aug. 3, Pittsfield, MA
BerkshiresJazz.org presents Gary Smulyan in double-bill concert with Noah Baerman Aug. 3, Pittsfield, MA
BerkshiresJazz.org presents baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan and pianist-composer Noah Baerman in concert August 3, 2012 in downtown Pittsfield, MA. The special double-bill will take place at 8PM in the backroom at Baba Louie’s Sourdough Pizza, where BerkshiresJazz.org has instituted a jazz series to follow Pittsfield’s monthly First Fridays Artswalks. Tickets are $20, general admission, and can be ordered online: Gary Smulyan, Noah Baerman concert Aug. 3, Pittsfield, MA.

Berkshire Fringe begins performances

World premiere July 25 – Bazaar Productions Co-Artistic Directors Sara Katzoff, Peter Wise and Timothy Ryan Olson collaborate on DARK: An End of the World Play with Music and an Exercise Bike. In the aftermath of a cataclysmic event, DARK chronicles one family’s attempt to survive in a one-room cabin atop a lonely mountain. Stylized physical action, dark comedy and hauntingly beautiful songs tell this tale of desperation, deception and hope — where a single ration of beans can mean the difference between life and death.

Opening July 26 – Yelling at Bananas in Whole Foods – Organic. Raw. Vegan. Locally Grown. Gluten Free. Sugar Free. Free Range. Hormone Free……STOP THE INSANITY!!!!!!!!!! After a chance meeting with a famed 1990’s health guru at a smoothie shack in Taos, New Mexico, Dan embarks on an epic journey to radically change his relationship with the food he consumes. But will his journey into the rabbit hole of the future of food, the effects of food, and on and on, turn into a militant obsession that isolates him from all of human kind?

Berkshire Playwrights Lab Announces Readings of New Plays

Berkshire Playwrights Lab announced that its staged reading of James DeMarse’s new play, Existing Privilege, that was to be directed by Matthew Penn on August 8 will now take place on August 22, directed by Joe Cacaci, and with the new title, Ceasefire. On August 8, the company will now present Jessica Provenz’s new play, Andromeda, directed by Tom Bloom. Both of these performances will take place at 7:30pm at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. There is no charge for admission, however, Berkshire Playwrights Lab suggests a $10.00 donation to help offset its programming costs.

Tanglewood offers free digital streams of archival programs

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Tanglewood offers free digital streams of archival programs

As part of the celebration of Tanglewood’s 75th anniversary season, the Boston Symphony Orchestra launched its first-ever 75 free digital streams program on June 20, designed to offer music lovers around the globe a glimpse into the storied performance history of the famed music festival founded in 1937. The Tanglewood 75 free streams will be available through tanglewood.org, with one free stream being offered each day of the summer, June 20-September 2, starting at 8 a.m. EST; when the 24-hour stream has ended, the digital music will be available at www.tanglewood.org for purchase as a download. Most of the recordings featured have been digitized, re-mastered, and are being made available to the public for the first time ever, offered in MP3 128 kbps formats. Both 320 kbps MP3 and 24bit 44.1kHz FLAC versions will be available for purchase.

Schedule of free digital streams from Tanglewood

JULY 4-10

  • Wednesday, July 4 – GERSHWIN Concerto in F. BPO/Fiedler/Wild (1962/1967/1970)
  • Thursday, July 5 – BACH Suite No. 2 and Concerto No. 1 in C minor, for two pianos. BSO/Munch/Dwyer, Foss, and Lipkin (July 8, 1955 and July 5, 1957)
  • Friday, July 6 – Excerpts from Inaugural BSO concert at Tanglewood and MOZART Symphony No. 25. BSO/Koussevitzky (August 5, 1937 and 1944)
  • Saturday, July 7 – MOZART “Ruhe Sanft” from Zaide, “Marten aller arten” from Die Entführung aus dem Serail, “Exsultate Jubilate” K.165, and “Ah se in ciel benigne stelle” K.538, BSO/Leinsdorf/Sills (June 6, 1968)
  • Sunday, July 8 – BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Divertimento. BSO/Bernstein (July 4, 1981)
  • Monday, July 9 – MESSIAEN Turangalîla-Symphonie. BSO/Ozawa/ Yvonne and Jeanne Loriod (August 16, 1975)
  • Tuesday, July 10 –DVO?ÁK Symphony No. 8. TMCO/Levine (June 30, 2008)

PURCHASING STREAMS FOR DOWNLOAD

When the 24-hour stream has ended, the digital music will be available at tanglewood.org for purchase as a download. MP3’s are priced at $.89 for tracks 7 minutes or less, and FLAC are priced at $.99 for tracks 7 minutes or less. Any content longer than 7 minutes will be priced according to duration, with operas costing $16.99-$18.99. A music subscription for the Tanglewood 75 streams is available for $50 for MP3s and $60 for FLAC, offering all 75 days worth of content as it is released for download. (Some select content will not be available for purchase with the subscription after the 75 day period is complete.)

About the streams – concert listings, performance details, artists, and composers

Links to complete details of Tanglewood’s digital audio streams: An essay by Anthony Fogg, the BSO’s artistic administrator, about the sources, organization, and selection process behind the Tanglewood 75 Free Stream project. For cross-referencing purposes, appearing in links below are three different ways of viewing the music included in the 75 streams: