Opera program dedicated to Black composers
PITTSFIELD— On Wednesday, August 10, at 7:30 p.m., Berkshire Opera Festival (BOF) will present a free program dedicated to compositions by Black artists.
The program, High on the Ramparts, will be hosted by the Berkshire Museum. This evening of arias and art songs by Black composers will feature soprano Kearstin Piper Brown, tenor Joshua Blue, and pianist Travis Bloom.
Brown has recently appeared as the lead in Ricky Ian Gordon’s new opera, Intimate Apparel, at Lincoln Center Theater. Blue will soon perform the role of Don Ottavio in Berkshire Opera Festival’s Don Giovanni.
Neglected for far too long, these trailblazing women and men wrote outstanding, powerful works that influenced generations of composers to come. BOF Artistic Director and Co-Founder Brian Garman will host the celebration of this rich history of music.
The performance will be held in the Ellen Crane Memorial Room in the Berkshire Museum. The concert is free but reservations are required, and can be made HERE.
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Parents of public school students invited to free online IEP training
GREAT BARRINGTON— For parents of public school children who need special education, planning may be confusing or overwhelming. To help these parents, CHP Family Services offers a free, online workshop, “IEP Training 101” on Wednesday, August 10 at 6:30 p.m.
Participants may register and request a log-in link by contacting Rania Markham, rmarkham@chpberkshires.org, or call (413) 528-0457. There is no charge for the program.
Children with functional needs are entitled to an individualized education plan (IEP), which is developed in collaboration with parents/caregivers and school education specialists. IEPs are intended to ensure that students in special education programs receive the best possible education and support, but parents play an important advocacy role for their child.
“It’s important for IEP families to understand the process, their options and their rights,” said Markham, workshop co-leader and parent of a child with special needs. “The more information parents have, the better they can communicate with the school and advocate for their child.”
Guest presenters for the workshop are Kornelia Krzyzanowska, CHP school liaison, and Karen Mowry, IEP advocate.Markham will co-lead the workshop with Melanie Wickwire, South Berkshire WIC Coordinator and also the mother of a child with special needs.
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Limited Performances Series begins at the Mac-Haydn Theatre
CHATHAM, N.Y.— The Mac-Haydn Theatre’s Limited Performance Series begins August 10 with “To Sondheim, With Love.” The Limited Performance Series is a set of programs with three to four performances, and will feature four different programs
“To Sondheim, With Love,” a new musical featuring the work of the late Stephen Sondheim, will begin the Series with a debut on August 10. The production, created by Meredith Lustig, runs August 10, September 14 & 16.
In “To Sondheim, With Love,” Lustig takes us through a musical correspondence with one of the greatest theatrical minds in history. Along the way she discovers the content of the letter she wishes she had written to a man who helped shape an entire generation of artists.The performance features some of the composer’s greatest hits, including selections from “Into the Woods” and “Merrily We Roll Along.”
“A Call To Places: Gabe Belyeu” premiers on August 24, and will have additional showtimes on September 3 and 10.
From work to vacation, solitude to sanctuary, the reasons we travel across the globe are as varied as the people who live on it. Join Gabe Belyeu as he explores the traveling in all of our lives through an eclectic mix of music from jazz to classic rock to musical theater and back again; hits including “I’ve Been Everywhere,” “Walking in Memphis,” “Journey On,” and many more.
Showstoppers 2022, the annual fundraising event, returns with four showtimes on September 3, 14, 21, and 28, Join Mac-Haydn cast members as they deliver show stopping performances of musical theater’s greatest hits. From classic to contemporary, it’s the ultimate show tunes revue.
Major Arcana returns for The Next Draw, which takes the audience on a journey of self discovery through the lens of the Major Arcana of Tarot. Part improvised immersion, part cabaret Tarot reading, this performance curated by toUch Performance Art, invites the audience to experience both intimate interactions and spectacular performances. Shows will be held on September 23 and 30, and on October 1.
Vaccination and masks are required for all patrons at the Mac-Haydn. For tickets, visit www.machaydntheatre.org or call the box office at (518) 392-9292.
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Clark Art Institute presents Moonlit Meander
WILLIAMSTOWN—On Friday, August 12 at 5 p.m., the Clark Art Institute will host Moonlit Meander, an evening-long celebration featuring art, food, live music, and more. The event begins at the Lunder Center at Stone Hill and is presented in conjunction with Tauba Auerbach and Yuji Agematsu: Meander.
The Lunder Center galleries will be open until 11 p.m. to provide an after-hours experience of Tauba Auerbach and Yuji Agematsu: Meander. Outdoors, the Afro-Brazilian Samba Trio will perform on the Moltz Terrace, with beer and wine available for purchase. BB’s Hot Spot’s food truck will be on-site, offering Caribbean-inspired fare from 5:30–8:30 pm. At 8:30 pm, join in a musical meander under the full moon as the Samba Trio leads everyone out to the Stone Hill pasture for s’mores and conversation around a moonlit campfire.
Tauba Auerbach and Yuji Agematsu: Meander, on view through October 16, 2022, pairs new work by Tauba Auerbach and Yuji Agematsu, across parallel galleries, under the rubric of the meander as both noun and verb, motif and method. In plainly different ways, both artists sharpen our perception of the flows of matter and energy around us, oscillating between intuition and analysis, difference and repetition, the quotidian and the cosmic. The exhibition publication, a special issue of the journal The Serving Library Annual, is themed on the meander more broadly, with contributors approaching it from archaeological, ecological, mathematical, narrative, neurological, and other perspectives.
This event is free. Please check the website on the day of the event in case of weather-related cancellation. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.
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New work by David Eddy at Lauren Clark Fine Art
GREAT BARRINGTON— Lauren Clark Fine Art presents, “West St. Paintings,” new work by David Eddy. The show runs from August 13 through September 5, with a reception for the artist, Saturday, August 13 from 5-7 p.m.
With over 30 new paintings for this show, David Eddy continues to create semi-abstract figurative and landscape paintings full of raw energy and emotion, exhibiting a sophistication of color, marks and composition. Eddy’s interest in exploring the relationship between abstraction and figuration is evident in each of his paintings, offering a very unique, very personal vision.
Eddy is a self-taught painter whose talent, vision, and very hard work have paid off handsomely — both in terms of gallery representation nationally, and through an enduring and growing recognition of his work. Most of Eddy’s paintings center on figures, solo or in groups, and may include animals within the overall narrative of a piece. There is a child-like, naive quality to his work, but the modeling of facial expressions and the delightful complexity and subtlety of the whole speak to a creator with deep insight and expert craftsmanship.
For more information please contact the gallery at 413-528-0432 or Lauren@LaurenClarkFineArt.com
