Fifth annual Dead of Winter jam
Pittsfield — Berkshire Theatre Group will host the fifth annual Rev Tor’s Dead of Winter Jam, celebrating the music of the Grateful Dead, at the Garage on Thursday, January 21, at 8 p.m.
The midwinter celebration of the music of the Grateful Dead will feature area blues/jam band the Rev Tor Band and guest artists the Whiskey Treaty Roadshow, Rebel Alliance, the Picky Bastards, Misty Blues, Domino Theory, and Who Are You as well as Gina Coleman, Billy Keane, Rob Sanzone, Jennifer Schultheis, Craig Simmons, Mike Wood, and Ward Woolverton.
Tickets to the Dead of Winter Jam are $10 in advance and $12 on the day of the show. See the Berkshire Edge calendar for tickets and more information or call the Colonial ticket office at (413) 997-4444. Attendees are asked to bring a non-perishable food item to be donated to local food pantries.
–E.E.
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BCC South County Center’s spring workshops
Great Barrington — Berkshire Community College’s (BCC) South County Center will offer a full slate of noncredit workshops this spring. The courses will include Film Production I, Do Your Own Interior Design, Remarkable New England Women of the 18th Century, How to Profit from Integrated Marketing Communications, and Introduction to Decorative Painting.
Language courses in conversational French and introductory Spanish will be also held as well as workshops on wine, songwriting, and guitar instruction.
Classes, with the exception of the wine workshop, will take place at the South County Center; most will begin within the next two weeks. A list of all 2016 noncredit and credit classes is available online. Workshop registration is also available online. For more information call (413) 528-4521.
–E.E.
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Ferrin Contemporary at New York Ceramics and Glass Fair
North Adams – Ferrin Contemporary will participate in the New York Ceramics and Glass Fair Thursday, January 21, through Sunday, January 24.
The gallery will exhibit works by Robin Best, Stephen Bowers, Claire Curneen, Bouke de Vries, Sergei Isupov, Steven Young Lee, Kadri Pärnamets, Peter Pincus, Paul Scott, Caroline Slotte, Mara Superior, and Kurt Weiser. The gallery will also offer the lectures “Past Imperfect: The Art of Inventive Repair” with Andrew Baseman; “Fragile Beauty: Re-animate, Repair, Meld and Mend” with Paul Scott, Bouke de Vries, and Leslie Ferrin; and “Ming Goes Bling & the Slightly Satirical Aroma of Eucalyptus” with Stephen Bowers as part of the Fair.
Contact the Gallery for more information at (413) 346-4004.
–E.E.
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‘Ancient Roots and Modern Fruits’ with Rabbi Josh Breindel
Pittsfield — On Thursday, January 21, at 10:45 a.m., the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires will present Rabbi Josh Breindel who will speak about Tu b’Shevat, the Jewish calendar’s New Year of the Trees. The free program will take place at Congregation Knesset Israel.
Rabbi Josh Breindel of Temple Anshe Amunim will lead an interactive exploration of the ancient holiday of Tu b’Shevat. Beginning with the Biblical directives to care for the earth, Rabbi Breindel will trace the development of the Festival of Trees through its Rabbinic flowering and growth to the modern day.
For more information call the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires at (413) 442-4360 x10.
–E.E.
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Berkshire School students semifinalists in Intel Science Talent Search
Sheffield — Two students at Berkshire School have been selected as semifinalists for the Intel Science Talent Search. Shuvam Chakraborty of Bennington, Vt., and Josiah Tolvo of Sheffield were named among the 300 students chosen from 1,750 entrants to the nation’s oldest and most prestigious pre-college science competition. As a result of their work, both will receive a $1,000 award from the Intel Foundation. Berkshire School will receive an additional $2,000.
Under the direction of Dr. April Burch of Berkshire’s Advanced Math/Science Research program, Tolvo was able to develop a procedure to screen new viruses for the ability to infect bacteria in a complex 3-D matrix. According to Dr. Burch, the procedure might ultimately help researchers develop therapies for stubborn microbial diseases such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus and tuberculosis. Chakraborty, who was mentored by Dr. Shadi Shahedipour-Sandvik at the State University of New York at Albany, developed thermochemical devices aimed at capturing wasted heat, with the goal of turning it into energy. The devices, said Dr. Burch, could be useful in biosensors such as pacemakers.
Forty finalists will be selected on Wednesday, January 20. Each finalist will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete for more than $1 million in awards.
–E.E.
