Thursday, July 10, 2025

News and Ideas Worth Sharing

HomeLife In the Berkshires

Life In the Berkshires

BITS & BYTES: Berkshire Pride ‘NOH8’ photoshoot; Elisapie at Fisher Center; WAM at Ventfort Hall; Qualia Dance Collective at The Foundry; Chantell & Friends...

Since its launch in 2008, the NOH8 Campaign has grown into a global movement promoting love, acceptance, and equality.

BITS & BYTES: Geoffrey Moss and Jennifer Violette at Childs + Clark Gallery; Bernay Fine Art annual group exhibition; Pamela Berkeley and Joan Griswold...

“The Era of Manifestations” was a period from 1837 to the mid-1850s when Shakers came under a spiritual revival marked by visions and ecstatic experiences among the followers.

BITS & BYTES: ‘Jubilee’ at Fisher Center; Ancram Center for the Arts presents regional premiere; ‘Tosca’ at Glimmerglass Festival; Aston Magna 2025 concert season;...

Replete with dancing bears and bags of luck, and set on the day after the Emancipation Proclamation, “Jubilee” joyfully asks what the world might become when all people are truly free.

EYES TO THE SKY: Star-spangled heavens. Fireflies flash from treetops to terra firma

Summer’s brightest stars appear, echoing these Earth-bound lights, beginning around 9:20 p.m. through mid-month.

BITS & BYTES: Kyle Marshall at PS21; Yiddish Book Center presents Yidstock 2025; Gaby Moreno at The Clark; Alex Harvey and Shinbone Alley at...

The evening-long dance piece is set to composer Julius Eastman’s jubilant work of the same title, “Femenine” is a vibrant embodiment of queer joy, celebrating Black and Brown LGBTQ+ people and artistry in times of resilience and solidarity.

BITS & BYTES: Glori Wilder at Berkshire Botanical Garden; Roberta Harold at Ventfort Hall; Ashley Gilbertson and Franco Pagetti at Mad Rose Gallery; Michelle Young at...

Wilder’s rich, soulful sound and growing catalog of original, captivating music will be accompanied by the Moonflowers in front of the Fitzpatrick Greenhouse.

BITS & BYTES: ‘Reading Frederick Douglass Together’ at TurnPark Art Space; BODYTRAFFIC at Jacob’s Pillow; Daniil Trifonov at Tanglewood; Taconic Music presents Matthew Lee...

“Reading Frederick Douglass Together" is being presented at more than 50 sites across Massachusetts in partnership with the Du Bois Freedom Center, the West Stockbridge Historical Society, and American Composer and West Stockbridge resident Eric Shimelonis.

BITS & BYTES: Pittsfield’s Fourth of July Parade; ‘We Are America Too’ at Installation Space; Fourth of July at Norman Rockwell Museum; Balla Kouyaté at...

The Pittsfield Parade Committee presents the Pittsfield Parade Concert, an evening of incredible live music at the Pittsfield Common, featuring the iconic Greater Kensington String Band, affectionately known as “The Mummers” with special guests, the WhoaPhat Brass Band.

THEN & NOW: Clayton school house

The school house continued to be owned by the town of Sheffield, but by the 1930s, Clayton students were bussed to a new school in Mill River.

A Heartfelt Evening with Kids 4 Harmony

As they addressed the audience with warmth, humor, and intelligence, we were not only impressed by their musicianship but by the thoughtful, poised young adults they have become.

BITS & BYTES: William Parker and Patricia Nicholson at The Clark; Pure Prairie League at The Mahaiwe; Euclid Quartet at Music Mountain; ‘A Shakespeare...

You’re invited to an evening of visionary improvisation as William Parker and Patricia Nicholson present a duo adaptation of “Hope Cries for Justice,” an urgent call for justice and to create a world rooted in hope and equity.

BITS & BYTES: Jaye Alison at GALLERIE 271; The Lucky 4 at Becket Arts Center; Berkshire Bach Society presents Dane Johansen; Steven Masi at...

“In a world that often feels fractured and uncertain, ‘Remain Calm’ is both a personal journey and an invitation.”

DATELINE STOCKBRIDGE: History Repeats

One nice thing about history repeating itself is that we can learn what happens next.

BITS & BYTES: Jazzmeia Horn at MASS MoCA; Jon Batiste at Tanglewood; Las Guaracheras at PS21; Marie Basse-Wiles and Omari Wiles at Jacob’s Pillow;...

Called one of “the most exciting young vocalists in jazz” by The New York Times, Jazzmeia Horn has been nominated for multiple Grammy Awards on top of winning the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and the 2015 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition.

CONNECTIONS: No Kings Rally

If the people believe in natural, inalienable rights, they have a moral obligation to resist the government's denial of those rights.

BITS & BYTES: Heidi Wastweet at Chesterwood; Prehistoric Body Theater at Jacob’s Pillow; World premiere at Fisher Center; Hot Plate Brewing Co. presents Ciarra...

Drawing examples from her own work as well as her observations of Daniel Chester French, Heidi Wastweet will demonstrate harmonious geometry hidden in select pieces.

NATURE’S TURN: Timeless sense of wonder. Urgency to act to protect public lands

If stalk-eyed flies thrive along with skunk cabbage in the Berkshires, we might see them feeding on the remains of skunk cabbage blossoms, fungi and unseen bacteria which they scavenge from decaying vegetation.