1 week Ago By Monica Bliss
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Art presents a Musical Petting Zoo with the Springfield Symphony OrchestraAmherst— On Thursday, April 24th from 1 p.m. to 2 p.
m., the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Art presents a Musical Petting Zoo, a traveling exhibit of musical instruments, with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. Children will have an opportunity to hear, experience, and play the instruments of the orchestra and will receive a fun activity book to take home.
The event is on Thursday, April 24th from 1 p.m. to 2 p.
m. at the the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Art, located at 125 West Bay Road in Amherst. More information can be found online.
***Berkshires Jazz announces nineteenth annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival and winners of annual student art contest and student art winnersPittsfield— From April 24th through May 4th, Berkshires Jazz presents the nineteenth annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival. The 11-day affair features a wide array of free and ticketed events, including the annual “jazz crawl,” an open jam session, the jazz prodigy concert, and two ticketed headline concerts featuring Dawning Holmes and the Legendary Count Basie Orchestra. The are jazz brunches schedule for both Sundays.
A listing of events can be found online.Berkshires Jazz 2025 Student Art Contest winning piece by Kayleigh Capitanio. Courtesy Berkshire Jazz.
The Berkshires Jazz Student Art Contest is designed to engage more of the community –especially student artists—and raise the awareness of jazz, “America’s classical music”, the country’s cultural gift to the world. The works are exhibited in the corridors of Pittsfield City Hall through the end of April. The winning entry appears on the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival’s posters and program cover.
This year’s winners are:First: Kayleigh Capitanio, Pittsfield High SchoolSecond: Sara Sofia Plazas Cortez, Pittsfield High SchoolThird: Maso Casucci, Pittsfield High SchoolThe festival runs from April 24th through May 4th in Pittsfield. The student art exhibit runs through the end of April at Pittsfield City Hall. More information can be found online.
***Berkshire Theatre Groups presents Roald Dahl’s ‘Matilda The Musical JR.’ at The Colonial TheatrePittsfield— From April 25th through the 27th, Berkshire Theatre Groups presents Roald Dahl’s “Matilda The Musical JR.” at The Colonial Theatre, featuring over 50 Berkshire County (and beyond) elementary, middle, and high school students.
Courtesy Berkshire Theatre Group.Join Matilda, a clever and courageous girl with extraordinary gifts, as she takes a stand against the odds. From her cruel parents to her tyrannical headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, Matilda shows that even the smallest voices can spark big changes.
With her wit, intelligence, and remarkable courage, Matilda inspires her classmates and her kindhearted teacher, Miss Honey, to stand up for what’s right and proves that “sometimes, you have to be a little bit naughty” to rewrite your story.The performances run from April 25th through the 27th at The Colonial theatre, located at 111 South Street in Pittsfield. It is recommended for ages severn and up.
Tickets and more information can be found online.***Close Encounters with Music presents ‘Classical Roots, Latin Soul,’ a concert by The Dalí String Quartet at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts CenterGreat Barrington— On Sunday, April 27th at 4 p.m.
, Close Encounters with Music presents “Classical Roots, Latin Soul,” a concert by The Dalí String Quartet at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.Alongside Beethoven’s “Quartet No. 1 Op.
18” and Mendelssohn’s “Op. 80 Quartet,” this program is infused with striking Latin repertoire: Sonia Morales-Matos’ “Divertimento Caribeño No. 3” (dance suites of Caribbean merengue sandwiched around a Cuban bolero) and Astor Piazzolla’s “Tango Ballet,” a work that paints pictures through rhythms and melodies.
Beethoven’s first of his 16 string quartets contains thematic scaffolding and inspiration from Mozart and Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Mendelssohn’s “Quartet No. 6 in F minor” was written in homage to his sister Fanny, shortly after her death and just before his.
Dalí String Quartet. Courtesy Close Encounters with Music.The Dalí Quartet (Ari Isaacman-Beck, violin; Carlos Rubio, violin; Adriana Linares, viola; Jesus Morales, cello) is Chamber Music America’s 2024 Ensemble of the Year and the 2019 recipient of the Atlanta Symphony’s esteemed Aspire Award for accomplished African American and Latino Musicians, among other awards.
The concert is on Sunday, April 27th at 4 p.m. at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, locates at 14 Castle Street in Great Barrington.
Tickets and more information can be found online.***Images Cinema presents the Beyond Borders Film FestivalWilliamstown— On April 24th, May 1st, and May 8th, Images Cinema presents the Beyond Borders Film Festival. Join the Center for Global Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, International Student Services, and the Coalition for Immigrant Student Advancement for a film festival focused on the experiences of immigrants across political, national, and identity borders.
Each film invites attendees to reflect on powerful stories and timely explorations for this political moment.Courtesy Images Cinema.The festival opens on Thursday, April 24th at 7 p.
m. with “I Carry You With Me, an epic love story spanning decades, sparked by a chance encounter between two men in provincial Mexico. Based on a true story, ambition and societal pressure propel an aspiring chef to leave his soulmate and make the treacherous journey to New York, where life will never be the same.
Director Heidi Ewing and her co-writer, Alan Page, paint a journey — and a love story — defined by compromise.The screening is on Thursday, April 24th at 7 p.m.
at Images Cinema, located at 50 Spring Street in Williamstown. Admission is free. The series continues with “Flee Thu” on May 1st and “Farewell Amor” on May 8th.
Tickets and more information can be found online.***Mason Library presents ‘Thanks for Typing: Wives, Mothers, and Other Women behind Famous Men’ with Karen ChristensenGreat Barrington— On Friday, April 25th from 4 p.m.
to 5:30 p.m., the Mason Library presents “Thanks for Typing: Wives, Mothers, and Other Women behind Famous Men” with Karen Christensen.
Christensen will talk about how #ThanksForTyping went viral in 2017, highlighting the wives, partners, daughters, mistresses, and secretaries who labored in the shadow of famous men, seldom credited or even mentioned by name. In particular, she will talk about the famous keepers of the flame she knew well: Valerie Eliot, widow of the poet T S Eliot, and Sophia Mumford, widow of social historian Lewis Mumford. “Thanks for Typing” is a way of looking at “hidden figures” in history and a chance to explore and acknowledge the contributions made by little-known women.
Courtesy Mason Library.Karen Christensen’s controversial memoir “Dear Mrs. Eliot” was a cover story in the Guardian’s literary review.
She spoke at the 2019 Thanks for Typing Conference at Oxford University, and contributed a chapter to the book “Thanks for Typing: Remembering Forgotten Women in History.”The talk is on Friday, April 25th from 4 p.m.
to 5:30 p.m. on the Mason Library, located at 231 Main Street in Great Barrington.
More information can be found online. ***Berkshire Botanical Garden to celebrate Earth Day with a free tree giveawayStockbridge— On Friday, April 25th at 11 a.m.
, Berkshire Botanical Garden (BBG) will celebrate Earth Day by giving away 100 trees at the Stockbridge Library, located at 46 Main Street. White Oak, Eastern Pine, Silky Dogwood, and Sugar Maple trees, all native to our region, will be available for you to take home and plant. BBG’s Ron Kujawski will be on site to answer questions about selection and planting.
Courtesy Berkshire Botanical Garden.An additional supply of trees will be available on Friday, May 2nd from 4 p.m.
to 6 p.m., outside the Education Center at Berkshire Botanical Garden, located at 5 West Stockbridge Road in Stockbridge.
More information can be found online..
