Plein Air Landscapes displays elegant oil paintings by Walter Pasko
West Stockbridge— Art on Main Gallery will host an exhibition by Walter Pasko entitled Plein Air Landscapes March 17-19, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday to Sunday; and March 24-26, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday to Sunday.
Walter Pasko, a long time member of The Guild of Berkshire Artists, is a familiar figure in the Berkshires, outdoors with his easel and painting gear. He can frequently be seen in West Stockbridge interpreting the local street scenes and familiar landscapes in the area, and he is quite famous for painting directly from nature, or “en plein air”.
An avid student of the fleeting effects of light and shadow on the landscape, Walt’s works depict a fusion of current observation and past experience gained from a lifetime of direct observation and painting in the natural world. He values the total experience of searching for a composition in various weather conditions and seasons, working with the material and equipment on location to capture the effect of light on the landscape, and then making final adjustments to the composition and color in the studio. He finds winter especially interesting because of the bold patterns created by the light snow and dark background of trees and buildings. Since snow reflects the light from surrounding objects its color can vary with location and time of day.
The Berkshire Hills continues to provide Walt with the perfect home base from which to regularly scout the backcountry, looking for sawmills, sugar houses, streams, and small villages as subject matter for his paintings. More about Walt Pasko is available at: www.paskofineart.com
Details about this show, The Guild of Berkshire Artists, and Art on Main Gallery may be found at www.berkshireartists.org.
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Community Performance by Shakespeare & Company will be held in Pittsfield
Pittsfield— Shakespeare & Company will stage a free, community presentation of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare on Friday, March 17 at 7 p.m., featuring the cast of the Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare and directed by Kevin G. Coleman.
Romeo and Juliet will be staged at the Zion Lutheran Church of Pittsfield, featuring Travis Ascione, Cameron Davis, Ptah Garvin, JoJo McDonald, Stephanie Neuerburg, Savanna Padilla, and Naire Poole, with costume design by Shakespeare & Company Costume Director Govane Lohbauer and production design by Devon Drohan.
Joel Bergeland, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church, said the performance will be held at The Common Room at Zion – an already bustling community space ideal for a wide range of events.
The Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare has introduced Shakespeare to schools, colleges, community centers, and other venues since 1982, sending touring productions of Shakespeare’s plays along with a variety of related workshops across the Northeast U.S., and beyond. These performances reach more than 20,000 students, teachers, and audience members each year. This production is part of Shakespeare in American Communities, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.
For more information, visit shakespeare.org, or call the Box Office at (413) 637-3353.
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The Young Dubliners will appear with special guest Kilashandra
Pittsfield— On St. Patrick’s Day, Friday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m., The Young Dubliners will appear at the Colonial Theatre.
Come celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the Colonial with The Young Dubliners, an American rock band who have been recording albums and touring since 1993 and whose style of music has come to be called Celtic Rock for the fusion of Irish traditional music with modern rock ‘n’ roll. Band members Keith Roberts (vocals, guitar), Chas Waltz (violin, keys, vocals), Justin Pecot (guitar, vocals), Dave Ingraham (drums) and Ethan Jones (bass guitar) caution that they are more than just traditional Celtic Rock. The Irish influence is certainly there, but it’s not the only influence that bursts through on their albums or live shows. After all, several of the band members have no Irish roots of any kind.
Special guest Kilashandra will also perform. Kilashandra is an award-winning Albany, NY–based band. They began meeting in fall 2021 as a group of friends getting together to play Celtic music in pubs and at regional Irish Festivals. Quickly, they became a known entity in the Irish music world as well as the Americana/Blues/Jam Band Circuit.
The kids dance troupe Scoil Rince Bréifne Ó Ruairc will perform before the show in The Garage from 6:30p.m. Scoil Rince Bréifne Ó Ruairc is an Irish dance school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Their mission is to inspire the love of Irish dance in everyone they meet. They teach traditional Irish dance classes to students preschool age through adults, performing throughout Berkshire County, and competing in open-platform Irish dance competitions worldwide.
Tickets are $50, available here.
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“Lohengrin” opera and exhibition inspired by the performance comes to the Clark
Williamstown— The Metropolitan Opera’s broadcast production of Lohengrin airs at the Clark Art Institute on Saturday, March 18 at 12 p.m. in the latest installment of the 2022–23 season of The Met: Live in HD. The award-winning series of live, high-definition cinema simulcasts features the full live performance along with backstage interviews and commentary. The Clark broadcasts the opera in its auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.
Richard Wagner’s soaring masterpiece makes its triumphant return to the Met stage after seventeen years. In a sequel to his revelatory production of Parsifal, director François Girard unveils an atmospheric staging that once again weds his striking visual style and keen dramatic insight to Wagner’s breathtaking music. Conducted by Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the production features tenor Piotr Beczała in the title role of the mysterious swan knight, soprano Tamara Wilson as the virtuous duchess Elsa, soprano Christine Goerke as the cunning sorceress Ortrud, bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin as Ortrud’s husband, Telramund, and bass Günther Groissböck as King Heinrich.
In conjunction with the broadcast, the Clark’s Manton Study Center for Works on Paper hosts a special pop-up exhibition themed to the broadcast. The exhibition includes a sampling of images from theater interiors, inspired by Lohengrin. The pop-up exhibition is free and on view from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 18.
Tickets are $25 ($22 for members, $18 for students with valid ID, and $7 for children 10 and under). To purchase tickets, visit clarkart.edu/events or call the box office at 413 458 0524. Advance reservations are strongly suggested.
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Attend a community discussion around resources for imigrant artists
Pittsfield— The Iris Artistic Residency is up and running and as part of the programming, BIC and The Studios at MASS MoCA are happy to invite you to the Iris Residency Community Day on March 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Berkshire Community College (Connector Space) in Pittsfield.
In this event:
– There will be a presentation by Clemente Sajquiy-Ramirez (4:15 p.m.)
– Discussion with organizations that are working with arts/migration to map the difficulties, available resources, and desired resources for immigrant artists (4:30 p.m.)
– Q&A with Assets for Artists about Capacity Building Grant for Pittsfield (5:30 p.m.)
– Live music by Yo Soy Arte and local artists and food from immigrant owned businesses (6-7 p.m.)
Here learn more about the Iris Residency and selected artists
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The Slambovians Play The Beacon
Beacon, N.Y. — On Saturday, March 18 at 8:30 p.m. at the Towne Crier Cafe, The Slambovian Circus of Dreams will perform their “rootsy psychedelica.”
The Slambovians create a show that is constantly evolving “with a little help from their friends” and connects with audiences on a deep level. 2023’s line-up includes exciting newcomers to the band, RJ McCarty (keys, sax, banjo) and Matthew Abourezk (drums) with bassist Bob Torsello. With a voice described as “Soothing and bewitching as a snake oil tonic,” Joziah Longo is joined onstage by long time bandmates Tink Lloyd (accordion, cello, mandolin, flute) and the impressive guitar-slinging skills of Sharkey McEwen. Elements of Dylan, Bowie, Incredible String Band, Syd Barrett and The Waterboys flavor the musical mix (Waterboys co-founder Anthony Thistlethwaite is featured on A Very Unusual Head as well as singer-songwriter Dar Williams). Woodstock-tinged psychedelia, a hint of southern rock and solid songwriting elevates this version of Americana to new heights.
