Lenox — In 1990, the Jewish Federation helped Belarusian-Jewish refugee Yevgeny Kutik find a new home in Pittsfield. He was five years old and just beginning to learn the violin. More than three decades later, Kutik is a renowned concert violinist and recording artist who has asked himself, “What can I do to help benefit the community that has been there for me for so many years?”
Kutik and his wife, Rachel Barker, have answered this question by founding the Birch Festival, a new non-profit organization whose mission is to bring world-leading musicians to the Berkshires for artist residencies in local schools and to partner with local business and cultural organizations to host two week-long music festivals every year. Barker, who writes about science and engineering for Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, is the organization’s executive director. Her MEd is from Boston College, where she graduated with a focus on social justice and teaching English language learners. Her undergraduate degree in anthropology is from Boston University, and she currently studies religion at Harvard.
A native of Minsk, Belarus, Kutik began violin studies with his mother, Alla Zernitskaya, before immigrating to the U.S. with his family at the age of five. He made his major orchestral debut in 2003 with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops as the First Prize recipient of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. In 2006, he received the Salon de Virtuosi Grant as well as the Tanglewood Music Center Jules Reiner Violin Prize. His discography includes “The Death of Juliet and Other Tales” (2021), “Meditations on Family” (2019), “Words Fail” (2016), “Music from the Suitcase” (2014), and “Sounds of Defiance” (2012), all on the Marquis Classics label. In August 2022 at Tanglewood, Kutik gave the world premiere of “Cântico,” a work for solo violin by Portuguese composer Andreia Pinto Correia that the Boston Symphony Orchestra co-commissioned for him. (See Kutik perform the piece at his YouTube channel.)
Here is the schedule for the Birch Festival opening weekend celebration:
Friday, October 13, 7 p.m.
Music and light refreshments
Venue: Sohn Fine Art
69 Church Street, Ste. 2, Lenox
Suggested door donation: $50-$200.
All proceeds will go toward the educational programming and artist residencies for the Spring 2024 Birch Festival.
Saturday, October 14, 9 a.m.
Yoga by Birch
Rachel Barker, a yoga and meditation instructor (E-RYT® 200, YACEP®), will lead a free yoga workshop in the labyrinth room of the Church on the Hill Chapel. After the class, the group will walk up the hill together to attend the next event, “Don’t Tap on the Glass.” Bring your own mats. Class size is limited to 10.
Venue: Church on the Hill Chapel, 55 Main St., Lenox
Admission is free, registration required, limited to 10 participants.
Saturday, October 14, 10:30 a.m.
“Don’t Tap on the Glass” open rehearsal
An open rehearsal, “warts and all!” Musicians will talk through thorny passages, play through complicated sections, and negotiate tempos. After the rehearsal, Kutik, clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and pianist Renana Gutman will host a group conversation.
Venue: Church on the Hill, 169 Main Street, Lenox
Admission is free.
Saturday, October 14, 4:30 p.m.
The Birch Festival Concert: “Bartók, Folk Music, and More,” featuring Yevgeny Kutik, clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and pianist Renana Gutman performing a program of works by Bela Bartók, folk songs by Aram Khachaturian and László Draskóczy, as well as contemporary works by Kinan Azmeh: “Deir Ezzor from Syrian Dances” (2018), and “A Scattered Sketchbook” (2012).
Venue: Church on the Hill, 169 Main Street, Lenox
Tickets: $20. Free admission for any Berkshire County K-12 student and their guardian.
Click here for ticket and registration information.
