ArtWeek Berkshires 2022
Berkshire County— 1Berkshire and the five Cultural Districts of Berkshire County are collaborating on a 10-day festival from September 15 through the 25, featuring all things creative. In 2021, the festival included over 100 distinct events, from open studios and live performances to poetry readings and online crafting classes.
“ArtWeek Berkshires 2022 is not your everyday art fair or music festival,” says 2022 co-chair Cecilia Hirsch, “With nearly 70 artists registered and many more expected…this county-wide event encompasses everything from painting and African dance to theater and pottery, with activities that appeal to kids, families, and adults alike. There will be open studios, demonstrations, and hands-on events. It will truly capture in 10 days why the region has always attracted the world’s great creative minds, including the next Edith Wharton and James Van Der Zee.”
For the county’s individual artists and cultural organizations, ArtWeek Berkshires comes at a particularly auspicious time of year. “The buzz of the summer has quieted down and fall leaf-peeping is on the horizon,” explains Lenox Chamber of Commerce director and Cultural District Co-Chair Jenn Nacht. “But for artists, that sweet spot in early fall is when activity picks up again, whether that’s gallery shows in New York or theater, film, and opera seasons around the world. We want audiences to know the Berkshires cultural season is year-round, too, not just in summer.”
The ArtWeek Berkshires steering committee has been collaborating since January with a diverse team of artists, chamber of commerce representatives, and small business owners to make the event as successful as it was in year one.
To learn more about ArtWeek Berkshires 2022 and view the full list of participating artist and events, visit: https://berkshires.org/artweek-berkshires/.
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Harlem Quartet at Hudson Hall
Hudson, N.Y.– Clarion Concerts will open its Fall 2022 series at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 17 at Hudson Hall. The first concert of the season features the Grammy-winning Harlem Quartet in a program that gracefully blends adventure, diversity, and reverence for tradition:
- Francesco Molino: Grand Trio Concertante, Op. 45. No. 2
- Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel: String Quartet in E-flat Major
- Dizzy Gillespie: A Night in Tunisia (arranged by Dave Glenn and Harlem Quartet)
- Guido López-Gavilán: Cuarteto en Guaguanco
- Caroline Shaw: Entr’acte
- Benjamin Britten: String Quartet No. 2 in C Major, Op. 36
Harlem Quartet has been praised for its “panache” in The New York Times and hailed in the Cincinnati Enquirer for “bringing a new attitude to classical music, one that is fresh, bracing and intelligent.” It has also won plaudits from such veteran musicians as Jazz at Lincoln Center woodwind virtuoso Ted Nash, who declared in a 2018 Playbill article, “Harlem Quartet is one of the greatest string quartets I have ever heard. They can play anything.” Since its public debut at Carnegie Hall in 2006, the ensemble has thrilled audiences and students throughout the U.S. as well as in the U.K., France, Belgium, Brazil, Panama, Canada, Venezuela, Japan, Ethiopia, and South Africa.
The quartet’s mission is to advance diversity in classical music, engaging young and new audiences through the discovery and presentation of varied repertoire that includes works by composers of color. Passion for this work has made the quartet a leading ensemble in both educational and community engagement activities. It began a multi-year residency with London’s Royal College of Music in 2018. From 2015 to 2020 it led an annual workshop at Music Mountain in Falls Village, Connecticut. In 2021 it began two other institutional affiliations: as the inaugural Grissom Artist in Residence at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, and as Quartet in Residence at Montclair State University in northeastern New Jersey.
Harlem Quartet was founded in 2006 by the Sphinx Organization, a national nonprofit dedicated to building diversity in classical music and providing access to music education in underserved communities. It is represented worldwide by New York-based Sciolino Artist Management.
Harlem Quartet members are: Ilmar Gavilán, violin; Melissa White, violin; Jaime Amador, viola; and Felix Umansky, cello.
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Pittsfield native to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery
Pittsfield– Roman Sadlowski, a native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, who died aboard the USS Oklahoma during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack of Dec. 7, 1941, will have his remains buried on September 19 in Arlington National Cemetery.
SadIowski, a member of the Navy on the USS Oklahoma, was an Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class. He was awarded multiple medals including a Purple Heart Medal.
To learn more about the USS Oklahoma, visit: this website.
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Clark Art Institute screens Summer of Soul
Williamstown— On Wednesday, September 14, the Clark Art Institute, in partnership with Images Cinema, will screen Summer of Soul, the Oscar-winning documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. The film will be shown outdoors near the Clark’s Reflecting Pool at dusk, around 7:30 p.m.
Over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1969, just one hundred miles south of Woodstock, the Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park). More than 300,000 people attended the summer concert series that celebrated Black history, culture, and fashion. After the summer of 1969, the festival footage sat in a basement for fifty years . . . until its debut in Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s debut film, Summer of Soul. The documentary—hailed as part music film, part historical record—includes concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, The 5th Dimension, and more. Summer of Soul premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the documentary categories. The recipient of an Academy Award, a Grammy, and a Peabody Award, Summer of Soul stands as a testament to the healing power of music during times of unrest, both past and present.
Free; no registration is required. The film is rated PG. Bring a picnic and your own seating. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.
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Yamma Ensemble at Race Brook Lodge
Sheffield— On Wednesday September 14 at 7:30 p.m., Yamma Ensemble, one of Israel’s leading world music groups, will begin their first-ever US Tour at Race Brook Lodge.
The group members stay true to the character of the Middle East, the region where they were born and raised. Their soulful, exotic music is accompanied by ancient musical instruments (oud, kopuz, duduk, hand drums) used in cultures from Morocco to Persia and throughout the Middle/Near East.
In addition to their unique art, Yamma also performs the traditional music and material of various Jewish diaspora. Songs of the Jewish communities from Yemen, Babylon, and Sepharad, as well as Hasidic music, preserved by generations of tradition, are a regular part of their repertoire.
Tickets start at $20, and can be purchased on the Race Brook Lodge website.
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Retired Professor of Art to speak on Tiffany and Co.
Lenox– Historian, retired Professor of Art, and former Ventfort Hall Board Member Julie Agar will highlight Tiffany’s career and her family’s association with Tiffany during her presentation at Ventfort Hall on Saturday, September 10 at 3:30 p.m. A tea will follow her presentation.
She will trace the history and development of Tiffany’s jewelry store from its founding in 1837 as a stationary and notions store. Emphasis will be placed on the expansion of selling Bohemian glass, porcelain, stained glass and jewelry.
Agar is the great, great grandniece of Charles T. Cook who became assistant secretary in 1868 and president in 1902. He started with the company at age 14. Her family was a major stock holder until the 1930s. She will share some of the family stories about Tiffany.
As the golden boy of America’s Gilded Age, Tiffany orchestrated glass, color and light into memorable visual symphonies. Many people know his stained glass work but are unaware that he created mosaics, vases, jewelry, metal work and desk sets. In addition he was a highly creative interior designer and known for designing the interior of Mark Twain’s home in Hartford, CT.
Agar is a retired professor of art and museum education at Carlow University, Pittsburgh, PA and a former board member of Ventfort Hall.
Tickets are $30 for members and with advance reservation; $35 day of; $22 for students 22 and under. Reservations are required as seats are limited. Walk-ins accommodated as space allows. For reservations call us at (413) 637-3206. Please note that all tickets are nonrefundable and non-exchangeable. Masks are required. The historical mansion is located at 104 Walker Street in Lenox.
