Violinist Kutik to join Berkshire Lyric for Haydn’s ‘The Creation’ at Tanglewood
Lenox — On Sunday, May 27, at 3 p.m., Yevgeny Kutik will be the featured guest violinist with Berkshire Lyric in its spring masterworks concert at Tanglewood’s Seiji Ozawa Hall. In the all-Haydn program, Kutik will be the soloist and conductor for Violin Concerto No. 1 and will join the orchestra as concertmaster for “The Creation.”
Kutik was a Berkshire Lyric competition winner as a young teenager and his mother and first teacher, Alla Zernitskaya, is the director of the string program at Pittsfield High School. Five of the top PHS strings will sit in with Lyric’s professional orchestra for “The Creation,” along with vocal soloists Maureen O’Flynn, William Hite and Woodrow Bynum, plus a combined 140-voice chorus including the Berkshire Lyric Chorus and young singers from Monument Mountain Regional High School, Mount Everett Regional High School and Taconic High School. Berkshire Lyric’s two choruses for young singers, the Blafield Children’s Chorus and Melodious Accord, will join the Berkshire Children’s Chorus to open the program with Haydn’s “Te Deum for Empress Maria Therese.”
A native of Minsk, Belarus, Kutik immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 5. Kutik released his third solo album, “Words Fail,” in October 2016. In January 2016, he and composer/pianist Timo Andres performed the world premiere of “Words Fail,” a violin and piano piece he commissioned from Andres, at the Phillips Collection as part of a three-concert series. Additional premiere performances include the world premiere of Ron Ford’s concerto “Versus” with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra at Ozawa Hall; the New York premiere of George Tsontakis’ Violin Concerto No. 2 at the 92nd Street Y; and the world premiere of Sheila Silver’s “Six Beads on a String,” which he commissioned. Kutik made his major orchestral debut in 2003 with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops as the first-prize recipient of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. He has performed with orchestras throughout the United States and abroad. Kutik holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory and currently resides in Boston. His violin was crafted in Italy in 1915 by Stefano Scarampella.
Tickets are $25 for adults and free for children ages 12 and under. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact Berkshire Lyric at (413) 499-0258 or berkshirelyric@gmail.com.
–E.E.
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Chesterwood to open Ledges Trail
Stockbridge — Chesterwood will begin its 2018 season Saturday, May 26, at 9 a.m. with a ribbon cutting and hike to celebrate the restoration of its historic Ledges Trail, designed by Daniel Chester French. The event will begin in Chesterwood’s main parking lot, followed by a guided hike of the trail with staff from the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area and Greenagers.
“As a partner program of the National Park Service, we place a high value on preserving and celebrating the historic resources of the upper Housatonic River valley,” said Dan Bolognani, executive director of the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area. “We’re especially pleased to assist with the Greenagers / Chesterwood partnership to restore this important historical landmark, and to facilitate a dimension of youth engagement.”
The ribbon-cutting event and hike are free and open to the public. Participants are advised to wear hiking shoes. For more information, contact Chesterwood at (413) 298-3579 or chesterwood@savingplaces.org.
–E.E.
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Bidwell House Museum to present folksong history program
Monterey — The Bidwell House Museum will present a concert and reception Sunday, May 27, at 3 p.m. with singer-songwriter Diane Taraz, who will perform “A Silver Dagger: Exploring Women’s History Through Folksongs.”
Taraz will perform songs of love, childbirth, marriage and adventure in traditional dress and accompany her singing with lap dulcimer and English guitar. A Pittsfield native, Taraz has long made her home in the Boston area, performing extensively throughout New England. She is the director of the Lexington Historical Society Colonial Singers and a longtime member of the Gloucester Hornpipe & Clog Society.
The event is free and open to the public, though donations are welcome. A reception to celebrate the end of the museum’s successful capital campaign and the newly completed restoration of the house will follow the concert. Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact the Bidwell House Museum at (413) 528-6888 or bidwellhouse@gmail.com.
–E.E.
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Berkshire Art Association calls for art for upcoming autumn show
Pittsfield — The Berkshire Art Association has issued a call for original, contemporary art exploring themes of community and civic engagement for its 2018 biennial exhibition titled “Showing Up: for Our Neighborhoods, Our Communities and Each Other.”
Open to artists living and working in New England and New York, the exhibition will be shown at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts Friday, Oct. 5, through Friday, Nov. 16. The deadline for submission of up to three works in any visual media is Friday, June 15. An opening awards reception will take place Friday, Oct. 5, during the First Fridays Artswalk. For more information, contact info@berkshireartassociation.org.
–E.E.
