Greg Watson, Sallie Calhoun to deliver 39th annual E.F. Schumacher lectures
Great Barrington — On Sunday, Oct. 27, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Saint James Place, the Schumacher Center for a New Economics will present Sallie Calhoun and Greg Watson, who will deliver the 39th annual E. F. Schumacher lectures, titled “Actionable Responses to Climate Change.”
As Massachusetts commissioner of agriculture, Watson established one of the first statewide urban agriculture programs, including organizing the first urban farmers’ markets in the greater Boston metropolitan area. He served as the first executive director of the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, co-founder of the U.S. Offshore Wind Collaborative and executive director of Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative. He began his 45-year career as education director at the New Alchemy Institute on Cape Cod and remains a close associate of its founders, John and Nancy Todd. His talk will explore use of Buckminster Fuller’s World Game, designed to illuminate global systems dynamics shaping our world and guide participants to discover their agency in creating a future of prosperity for all.
An engineer by training, Calhoun founded Globetrotter software with her husband. When, after 25 years, the company sold, the couple bought the 7,600-acre Paicines Ranch in central California. A talk by Allan Savory inspired Calhoun to take over management of the ranch to apply holistic practices improving the health of the soil, increasing biodiversity, sequestering carbon and producing grass-fed beef and lamb. She founded Cienega Capital, an investment company focused on regenerative agriculture projects. Her Globetrotter Foundation uses philanthropy to share the risk with farmers applying innovative soil enhancing practices and also supports education of a new generation of farmers. Calhoun’s talk will address her “all-in” commitment to regenerative agriculture and its role in alleviating climate change.
Tickets are $20. Pre-registration is required. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Schumacher Center for a New Economics at (413) 528-1737 or schumacher@centerforneweconomics.org.
–E.E.
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‘Baroque Splendor’ to showcase musical masterworks
Lakeville, Conn. — Crescendo has announced that it will present celebrate its 15th anniversary with “Baroque Splendor: Bach’s Magnificat and Handel’s Coronation Anthems” Saturday, Oct. 26, at 4 p.m. at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and Sunday, Oct. 27, at 4 p.m. at Trinity Lime Rock.
Bach’s Magnificat BWV, written in 1723 in Leipzig, anticipated the great choruses of Bach’s later works such as the Mass in B minor. Handel’s Coronation Anthems were originally commissioned for the coronation of George II of Great Britain and have become standard for later coronations. The four ceremonial anthems “Zadok the Priest,” “Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened,” “The King Shall Rejoice” and “My Heart Is Inditing” have been popular and regularly played in concerts and festivals — even during Handel’s own lifetime. They were originally composed for an enlarged choir of the Chapel Royal with an orchestra of 160 players.
Performers are the Crescendo Chorus, soprano Julianne Baird, countertenor Nicholas Tamagna, tenor Philip Anderson and bass-baritone Joseph Charles Beutel. The Period Instrument Orchestra of trumpets, timpani, oboes, bassoons, traversi (Baroque flutes), strings and basso continuo are played by Early Music specialists from Boston and New York. Crescendo’s founding artistic director Christine Gevert will conduct.
Tickets are $10-$100. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact Crescendo at (860) 435-4866 or crescendo@worldclassmusic.org.
–E.E.
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Common’s FODfest 2011 at Club Helsinki in Hudson, New York. Photo: Lee Everett
Music in Common to present 15th annual FODfest
Sheffield — Music in Common will present its 15th annual FODfest Sunday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. at Dewey Hall.
FODfest concerts take place each October as a registered event of Daniel Pearl World Music Days as a way to honor and celebrate the life of slain Wall Street Journal and Berkshire Eagle reporter Daniel Pearl.
FODfest features local musicians in a format that is part concert, part song swap and part jam session. FODfest concerts are a living demonstration of the power of music to connect people, generating a sense of community and often serving as a call to action for individuals and communities to discover common ground. This year’s lineup includes Fiora Laina, Haley Trapella, Sandy McKnight’s Pop-Clique, Aimee Van Dyne, Melissa Brinton, Joel Blumert, Todd Mack and Marisa Massery. The newly formed Amplify Berkshires youth band will also make their debut appearance, performing songs written by Music in Common youth from around the globe.
The concert is free and open to the public. Guests are welcome to BYOB. Donations will be gratefully accepted. For more information, contact Music in Common at (413) 248-6070 or info@musicincommon.org.
–E.E.
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Norfolk Hub to host holiday papercrafting workshops
Norfolk, Conn. — The Norfolk Hub will host a series of holiday papercrafting workshops presented by Leslie Watkins from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. beginning Saturday, Oct. 26, with “Halloween & Thanksgiving,” during which participants will make autumn-themed cards, treat boxes and place cards.
Workshops will continue Saturday, Nov. 2, with “Christmas Cards,” in which participants will stamp and paint with watercolors; Saturday, Nov. 23, when “Christmas Boxes & Tags” will feature ready-to-make and -embellish gift tags and boxes; and Saturday, Dec. 14, with “Fancy Gift Boxes,” in which participants will learn box-building basics and decorate using an assortment of materials.
Watkins’ watercolor designs are featured in “Decorative Gift Boxes,” “Floral Gift Labels” and “Holiday Gift Labels,” published by Dover Press. Her clients include Tiffany & Co., Caspari and various publications. She presents watercolor painting and papercrafting workshops throughout the year.
The cost is $35 per class or $99 for all four. Preregistration is required. For more information, contact (860) 542-3920 or leslie@lesliewatkinsdesign.com.
–E.E.
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Library calls for local authors for group reading panels
Hillsdale, N.Y. — The Roeliff Jansen Community Library invites local writers of recently published work to submit a proposal to participate in a group reading and panel to be scheduled at the library for winter 2019-20. The event will include readings of short selections followed by a panel question-and-answer session. The exact format and further details of the events will be worked out depending on the number and type of submissions.
Work can be poetry, fiction, memoir or nonfiction that has been published within the past few years or is pending publication. Submission instructions are online. The deadline for submissions is Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019. For more information, call the Roeliff Jansen Community Library at (518) 325-4101.
–E.E.
