Thursday, June 19, 2025

News and Ideas Worth Sharing

HomeLife In the Berkshires

Life In the Berkshires

BITS & BYTES: Marmen Quartet at Music Mountain; ‘HOMOS! A Solo Disaster Musical, bitch’ at The Foundry; Ariel Klein and Emilee Yawn at Eclipse...

Recent first prize winners at the prestigious Bordeaux and Banff International String Quartet competitions, the Marmen Quartet will perform quartets by Haydn and Grosshandler, as well as the Brahms Piano Quintet with pianist Victoria Schwartzman.

BOB GRAY: Signs of spring

Spring geese suffer from a touch of spring fever and have trouble sticking to the serious business of migration.

Bits & Bytes: Writers-in-residence at the Mount; Nature Institute film screening; Ellen Berrey at Williams; Panorama at Olana; Anna Rogovoy dance performance

Anna Rogovoy is a 2009 graduate of Monument Mountain Regional High School. "West" is a technically demanding peek at effort, fame, and tumbleweeds, created in part during a residency at Bennington College.

Bits & Bytes: Tarbox Ramblers at Helsinki Hudson; ‘Deep AIR’ at Olana; ‘Peep Show’ at Ventfort Hall; Ramsdell Library Sundays; lecture on boosting memory

Neuroscientist Christina Williams will discuss her research on nutrition, including the nutrient choline, a critical factor in brain development. Lecture at Williams College.

Bits & Bytes: Rocks and Water at Ventfort Hall; Elizabeth Kolbert at Williams; animal tracking hike; new teacher at GBRSS; breakdancing competition

Kolbert’s lecture will be based on her book, “The Sixth Extinction,” that describes how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before.

Bits & Bytes: Dance for Justice at Dewey Hall; GB rabies clinic; Dr. Lawrence Cohen at Simon’s Rock; ‘From Age-ing to Sage-ing;’ Vitaly Komar...

The Berkshire Center for Justice offers free legal clinics and other free and reduced-cost legal services to Berkshire County residents in need.

Bits & Bytes: High Mud Comedy Fest; Edgar Heap of Birds at Williams; the Receiver at the Garage; Sonia Pilcer at Hevreh; learning differences...

The College Internship Program presentation will focus on simple strategies that can make navigating life a bit easier for young adults with autism, ADHD, and other learning differences.

Bits & Bytes: Casting call for short film; WordXWord Teen Poetry Festival; ‘Environmental History” panel at Williams

WordXWord Festival invites poets ages 13 - 19 to participate its first annual Teen Poetry Slam Festival which will take place the evening of Friday, May 6, and all day Saturday, May 7,

Bits & Bytes: Project Native Film Festival; Robert Hass at Williams; ‘Baseball in the Berkshires;’ MiC documentary premiere; juried photo show; ThunderFest update

Pittsfield was the town in which baseball first received legal recognition when, in 1791, the town fathers signed an ordinance banning it from being played in the town square.

Bits & Bytes: Dust Bowl Faeries at Club Helsinki Hudson; flutist Diva Goodfriend-Koven at Simon’s Rock; Mahaiwe March programming; Ramsdell Library Sundays; family snowshoe...

In addition to her solo career as a chamber music recitalist, Diva Goodfriend-Koven plays the flute and piccolo worldwide with major orchestras.

Bits & Bytes: Housatonic River paddle trip; BBG spring workshops; John ffrench retrospective; Merwin House open house; Blue Rider Stables members’ dinner

The paddle trip and series of riverside celebrations will follow the Housatonic River from its source in the Berkshires through Connecticut to Long Island Sound.

Music in Common: Bridging cultural divides

Created in the memory of Daniel Pearl, Music in Common performs here in the Berkshires, across the country, and in Israel, where they work with Arab and Jewish students.

Bits & Bytes: First Fridays Artswalk; DCSC March line-up; Ethan Frome talk; Jonathan Weiner at Williams; dementia, Alzheimer’s talk

The Down County Social Club (DCSC) will present area performers in its March line-up of events, beginning with the acoustic ensemble Quiet in the Head on Thursday March 3.

CONNECTIONS: Zika and Spanish flu, pandemics then and now

In 1918 the Spanish Flu pandemic killed 5 percent of the world’s population. To say they didn’t know what hit them is a precisely accurate statement.

Bits & Bytes: ThunderFest; Berkshire Award; Winter Melt dance party; MMRHS pops concert; prison symposium at Williams College

The Monument Mountain Regional High School concert at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center is part of the bands' celebration of national Music in Our Schools Month.

Bits & Bytes: ‘Behind Closed Doors;’ Fabienne Kanor at Williams College; Senior Center art workshops; RSVP presentation

“Walking (in) the world means retracing the paths of undocumented migrants and exiles in order to tell their stories." -- Film director Fabienne Kanor

Bits & Bytes: Swing dancing at Shire City Sanctuary; W.E.B. Du Bois talk at Race Brook Lodge; Sheffield Land Trust bird walks & panel...

The Lucky 5 blends swing and gypsy jazz to create a unique, foot-stomping blend of music that appeals to a wide range of music lovers.