Wednesday, November 6, 2024

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Bits & Bytes: Children’s Theatre auditions; jazz concert at Simon’s Rock; Fairview health series

Last year's children’s production, Seussical, was a heart-warming and widely successful production, featuring more than 100 talented children and adults from the community. Berkshire Theatre Group's 10th Annual Children's Theatre Production will be directed by Travis G. Daly, with music direction by Mark Gionfriddo.

BTG auditions for 10th annual Children’s Theatre Production

Pittsfield, Mass, — Berkshire Theatre Group, under the leadership of Artistic Director/CEO Kate Maguire, is holding auditions for its 10th Annual Children’s Theatre Production this coming Friday and Saturday, January 30 and 31.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Berkshire Theatre Group’s Annual Children’s Theatre Production. For the past 10 years, BTG’s community production has brought together children and adults who have learned from each other all in the midst of collaboration and creativity.

Ticket proceeds benefit BTG PLAYS!, Berkshire Theatre Group’s year-round education program. At the heart of BTG PLAYS! is a commitment to bring live theatre and all its inherent excitement and creativity to children throughout our region. In addition, this is the first theatrical experience on a professional stage that many of these children will have the opportunity to participate in.

Last year’s children’s production, Seussical, was a heart-warming and widely successful production, featuring more than 100 talented children and adults from the community.

Berkshire Theatre Group’s 10th Annual Children’s Theatre Production will be directed by Travis G. Daly, with music direction by Mark Gionfriddo.

Audition Information: 
Berkshire Theatre Group seeks child and adult actors, musicians, backstage crew, technical support, usher staff and parent volunteers to participate in its upcoming community production. The roles and positions are open to members of the Berkshire community, third grade through adults. Rehearsals will begin June in Pittsfield.

Auditions times:

Friday, January 30: 6 -10 p.m.

Saturday, January 31: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

All auditions will take place at:

The Colonial Theatre, 111 South St., Pittsfield, MA 01201

Student auditions will be held during the first three hours of each session and the last hour will be for adults. Adults should be prepared to sing only 16 bars of a song and bring the accompanying sheet music that is in the key in which they prefer to sing. Students should be ready to learn songs from Mary Poppins. Callbacks will take place as needed.

Appointments are necessary to audition:

To schedule an audition time slot or for further information, please
call 413-448-8084 x23.

For more information about Berkshire Theatre Group and our upcoming season, please visit our website at www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org.

— H.B.

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John Myers (electric guitar), Bob Gluck (piano), Neil Rolnick (computer), and Christopher Dean Sullivan (bass). will be performing electronic music and jazz.
John Myers (electric guitar), Bob Gluck (piano), Neil Rolnick (computer),
and Christopher Dean Sullivan (bass). will be performing electronic music and jazz.

Electronic music, jazz concert at Simon’s Rock

Great Barrington — Simon’s Rock will host an evening concert of electronic music and jazz by notable musicians/composers, including jazz pianist/composer Bob Gluck, avant-garde keyboard and computer composer Neil Rolnick, and bassist Christopher Dean Sullivan, joined by faculty member John Myers on guitar. The program crosses stylistic boundaries melding jazz, electronic, classical and everything in between, including Rolnick’s Dynamic RAM & Concert Grand, Gluck’s adaptation of Herbie Hancock’s Sleeping Giant suite, and other works. They will be performing on Saturday, January 31 at 8 p.m. at the Kellogg Music Center.

Waking the Sleeping Giant was originally a 1972 work by Herbie Hancock, crafted for structured improvisation for solo piano and electronics. The piece was performed in the 1970s by Hancock’s pioneering Mwandishi band, exploring the integration of free, yet rhythmically dynamic improvisation within the jazz idiom with electronic sounds. Gluck’s sonic commentary on the original work in 2008 was expanded by Gluck and Rolnick in 2012 to become a quasi-concerto for piano and computer.

Other works to be performed include Dynamic RAM & Concert Grand, a virtuoso romp for piano and laptop computer, composed by Neil Rolnick in 2014. The title also suggests a focus on the computer (“Random Access Memory”) and the piano playing together. Much of the computer’s material comes from processing the piano in real time, creating rhythmic delays or granulated clouds of sound surrounding the piano. For the pianist, this virtuoso romp demands a lot from the performer. This piece was made possible by a grant from the Fromm Music Foundation.

Bassist Christopher Dean Sullivan is a player of many musical languages: Jazz, Funk, Reggae, Latin, Fusion, Caribbean, Indian, African and more. He has shared the stage with Stanley Jordan, Pete Seeger, Archie Shepp, Charli Persip, Yusef Lateef, to name a few, as well as touring the U.S. and abroad with his own ensembles.

John E. Myers is a guitarist, composer, musicologist, and interactive media developer, whose work has been included in numerous recordings, multimedia productions, and printed publications. Myers is a faculty member at Bard Collegse at Simon’s Rock and appears regularly as a guitar soloist, in both jazz and classical venues.

For more information, including a complete list of events, directions, or parking instructions, visit www.simons-rock.edu.

— D.S.

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 CROPPED FAIRVIEW

Fairview Hospital wellness programs

Great Barrington – Beginning Wednesday, February 4 and continuing for eight weeks, Fairview Hospital will live stream Berkshire Medical Center’s “Creating Wellness Roadmap in 2015 Series,” a health program  presented by Dr. Mark Pettus.

The  program will be screened at Fairview’s conference room. Those intending to attend should register by calling 413-528-8606 x9609  to help us make sure we have the room set up with enough seats!

Dr. Pettus will join Dr. Menendez and Sophia Veinoglou as speakers at Fairview Hospital CCU’s upcoming Fairview Heart Night on Friday, February 6 at Berkshire South Regional Community Center on Crissey Road.

— D.S.

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