Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox: Life in the Past Lane Tour at the Mahaiwe
Great Barrington— On Friday, March 17 at 8 p.m. the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center presents “Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox: Life in the Past Lane Tour.”
Times change and trends come and go, but – like a 1961 Jaguar XK-E – the classic sounds of the past only appreciate with age. Postmodern Jukebox’s Life In The Past Lane Concert Tour is a celebration of the greatest 20th century musical genres, fused with the recognizable hits of our own modern era, for the perfect patina of “vintage” and “modern.” As always, the PMJ Universe will be brought to life with a cast full of today’s most exciting vocalists, instrumentalists, and tap dancers, to bring you the top-shelf entertainment experience for which the group is known. Whether you’re a vinyl aficionado or a TikTok fashionista, catch a ride with PMJ for an unforgettable trip through 100 years of timeless music.
Tickets are available here: https://mahaiwe.org/event/postmodern-jukebox-2023/
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Learn to identify wild edible plants this spring
Monterey— On March 15 at 7 p.m. wild edibles enthusiast Russ Cohen, will present “Springtime Wild Edibles in the Southern Berkshires,” online via the Bidwell House Museum.
Cohen will share a slideshow covering at least two dozen wild edibles available in the springtime. These include plant species everyone knows well, like Daisies and Dandelions, to species they may never have even heard of, like Calamus and Carrion Flower. While the main season for mushrooming in the Berkshires doesn’t begin until the summer, Russ’s talk will also cover a few edible mushroom species available in the springtime. Keys to the identification of each species will be provided, along with info on edible portion(s), season(s) of availability and preparation methods, as well as guidelines for safe and environmentally-responsible foraging.
Until his retirement in June of 2015, Russ Cohen’s “day job” was serving as the Rivers Advocate for the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration. Now Russ has more time to pursue his passionate avocation, which is connecting to nature via his taste buds, and assisting others in doing the same. In addition to leading over three dozen foraging, he has set up a small nursery (in Weston, MA) where he grows/keeps plants that he propagates from seed (some of which he collected himself). He is then partnering with land trusts, cities and towns, schools and colleges, state and federal agencies, tribal groups, organic farms and others to plant plants from his nursery in appropriate places on their properties.
Russ will follow up this talk with a guided foraging walk later in the spring. Members: Free. Non-members: $15. The lecture will be held via Zoom. Registration via the Museum event page is required, https://www.bidwellhousemuseum.org/event/springtime-wild-edibles-in-the-southern-berkshires/
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Margaret S. Graves to discuss the “Invisible Hands” of the Middle East
Williamstown— On Tuesday, March 14 at 5:30 p.m., the Clark Art Institute’s Research and Academic Program hosts a talk by Research and Academic Program Fellow Margaret S. Graves, who discusses craft skills in the Middle East. These skills are usually portrayed as dying out in the nineteenth century but were in fact redirected toward a new market generated by the colonial project: the faking, forging, and fictionalizing of antiquities, especially ceramics. By recognizing faking and forgery on the market for Middle Eastern ceramics as skilled forms of craft and as sites of Indigenous participation in global capitalism, this project reveals the challenges that colonial modernity presents to the discipline of art history, via the objects that moved through it and were remade in its image.
Margaret S. Graves is an associate professor of art history at Indiana University in Bloomington. She specializes in the plastic arts of the Islamic world. Her publications include “Arts of Allusion: Object, Ornament and Architecture in Medieval Islam” (Oxford University Press, 2018), as well as several edited and co-edited volumes on the art and material culture of the Islamic world, including “Making Modernity in the Islamic Mediterranean” (Indiana University Press, 2022, with Alex Seggerman). At the Clark, Graves is writing a book titled “Invisible Hands: Islamic Ceramics and the Colonial Art Market,” which discusses modern collecting economies and the craftsmanship of faking in a work.
Presented in person in the Clark’s auditorium. Free, with a reception in the Manton Research Center’s Reading Room starting at 5 p.m.
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As summer approaches it’s time to design your container garden
Stockbridge— Attend Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Container Garden Design class in person March 15 to March 29 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Acquire knowledge of the skills required for beautiful and successful container gardens with Jenna O’Brien, owner of Viridissima Horticulture and Design. Get to know the plants that thrive in containers and how to care for them. This class will cover practical aspects of gardening with style in containers throughout the New England garden season. Considerations will include container selection, siting, planting, growing, controlling pests, and maintaining moveable gardens.
Jenna O’Brien has been working in Berkshire gardens for over 20 years. She is also a member of the BBG Horticulture Advisory Committee and the Education Committee. Jenna specializes in container gardening, perennial garden design and care, country estate garden management, and Berkshire Garden Style.
Class tuition is $165 for members, $175 for nonmembers. Register here.
Also the Berkshire Botanical Garden is hosting an online class on native groundcovers presented by Duncan Himmelman on March 15 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Register here.
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Emerging Artist Series highlights local young performers
West Stockbridge— The Foundry presents the latest in its Emerging Artist Series on Tuesday, March 14 at 6:30 p.m. featuring the Pittsfield Youth String Quartet.
The four high school-aged performers are Zoë-Ruth Brizan, Cellist; Ethan Maisonneuve, Violist; Andrew Tullock, 2nd Violinist; Davis Albayeros, 1st Violinist. Instructed by Alla Zernitskaya, these four student musicians are always excited to play for an audience. They are determined and always strive do their best in rehearsal and on stage. They interpret music as more than just notes: they make music like a story being told.
The program includes Beethoven Quartet no. 16 Mvt. 3; Dvorak’s “American” Quartet no. 12, Mvt.; Schubert’s Quartet no. 1, Mvt. 1; Mozart’s Quartet no. 19, Mvt. 1; Schubert’s Quartet no. 4; Heitor Villa-Lobos String Quartet no. 1 Mvt. 3; and Smetana’s Quartet no. 1 Mvt. 1.
Tickets are $10 at the door. All proceeds go to the artists.
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Jazz Brunch with Bobby MacVeety
Sheffield— Join The Stagecoach Tavern at Race Brook Lodge, for a delicious fireside brunch and soulful jazz and blues with Berkshire legend Bobby MacVeety and his trio on Sunday, March 12. Brunch will be served from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The live music starts at 12:30 p.m. with a $10 cover for the music. There is no cover to enjoy brunch in a different part of the restaurant.
