MASS MoCA announces 2024 winter and spring programming
North Adams— MASS MoCA announces its dynamic 2024 winter and spring programming.
Winter and spring at MASS MoCA features immersions in “Like Magic,” Touki Delphine’s “Firebird orchestra of light,” Flamenco dance, Antonio Sánchez’s Grammy Award-winning film score of “Birdman” performed live, the return of Community Free Day, performances in cabaret-style seating in MASS MoCA’s Club B-10 including comedian Zainab Johnson, a concert to mark the release of Lizzie No’s new album Halfsies, a new sonically-varied collaboration with Gabriel Kahane and Pekka Kuusisto, and an after-hours celebration in Building 5 of “EJ Hill: Brake Run Helix” with music, dancing, and activities from the diaspora.
Tickets for all upcoming events are on sale now. Several events & programs are free or free with gallery admission. Winter and spring hours are Wednesday to Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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A world premiere and new spins on Shakespeare lead off the 47th Season at Shakespeare & Company
Lenox— Shakespeare & Company announces its first four titles of the 2024 season, including a world premiere and a musical exploration of Shakespeare’s language and music.
Shakespeare & Company’s 47th Season will include “Shake It Up: A Shakespeare Cabaret” directed by Allyn Burrows, “The Comedy of Errors” directed by Kate Kohler Amory, an enhanced staged reading of “The Winter’s Tale” directed by Tina Packer, and the world premiere of “Three Tall Persian Women” by Anita Abdinezhad, directed by Dalia Ashurina.
FLEXpasses are on sale now. Through April 23rd, three-show FLEXpasses are on sale now for $165, and five-show packages for $265. More information can be found online or by calling 413-637-3353.
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Barrington Stage Company presents the 13th Annual 10X10 New Play Festival
Pittsfield— From February 15th through March 10th, Barrington Stage Company presents the 13th Annual 10×10 New Play Festival, as part of the 2024 10×10 Upstreet Arts Festival.
Directors for the 10X10 New Play Festival are BSC Artistic Director Alan Paul and returning for his eighth year, Emmy-nominated Matthew Penn (BSC’s Judgment Day, Typhoid Mary). Penn is co-Artistic Director of the Berkshire Playwrights Lab in Great Barrington. The cast features 10X10 veterans Matt Neely, BSC Associate Artist Peggy Pharr Wilson, and Robert Zukerman. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.
“The 10×10 New Play Festival is one of my favorite events at Barrington Stage,” said Alan Paul. “In the cold of the Berkshires winter season, it’s so much fun to come to the theatre and see 10 new plays. The 10×10 Festival is a great local tradition and a celebration of new plays that are funny, outrageous, smart, and always engaging.”
The performances run from February 15th through March 10th on the St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center at Barrington Stage Company on Linden Street in Pittsfield. Tickets start at $40, with a price increase on January 1st. Tickets, additional discounts, and more information can be found online.
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Hilda Banks Shapiro Community Day named for longtime Berkshire supporter
Great Barrington— This month, the tall steeple at the First Congregational Church in Sheffield is shining brightly to honor one of the Berkshires’ most staunch supporters of the arts and artists.
Hilda Banks Shapiro, the “red-sneakered pianist who went from a teenage sensation at Carnegie Hall to a hitchhiking mother of twelve known and beloved throughout South County,” would have been 97 this December. The steeple lit in her honor is fitting considering Shapiro’s guiding light in the lives of scores of artists in all genres across Berkshire County, who credit Ms. Banks Shapiro with helping to start their careers.
During a celebration of Ms. Banks Shapiro’s life on October 15th at Berkshire Waldorf School, Berkshire County State Representative Smitty Pignatelli read the statement proclaiming the second weekend in October an annual, no cost Hilda Banks Shapiro Community Day.
Representative Pignatelli introduced the proclamation with his personal experience of Ms. Banks Shapiro. “She was this humble spitfire of a woman who I admired so much. Her spirit was healthy, her smile lit up the room, and those bright red Converse sneakers! That’s what I want to be when I get older…someone who is comfortable in their own skin and doing these things for the community. What an amazing woman, and to have her tucked away here in the Southern Berkshires. So I am really happy and honored to read this proclamation.” The proclamation reads in part, “Now, therefore, Berkshire County can be inspired to celebrate nature, creativity, volunteerism, activism, the arts and world peace in the spirit of Hilda.”
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Race Brook Lodge hosts a vigil and fundraiser for Gaza featuring Mona Miari, Zafer Tail, and Rabbi Zach Fredman
Sheffield— On Saturday, December 23rd from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., Race Brook Lodge hosts a vigil and fundraiser for Gaza featuring a performance by Palestinian-American vocalist Mona Miari with multi-instrumentalist Zafer Tawil, and Rabbi Zach Fredman.
Mona Miari is an independent Palestinian-American artist, singer-songwriter, and lawyer based in New York City. Growing up influenced by various cultures, Mona is devoting her musical career to enrich the Arabic culture and music by exploring and reapplying the Arabic language (songwriting) through different kinds and genres of music from all over the world.
Zafer Tawil is an accomplished Palestinian musician whose areas of expertise include the oud, violin, qanun, and Arab percussion. Tawil performs across the U.S. and in the Middle East, and holds workshops in oud technique and Arabic music theory. He has performed with some of the most celebrated world music artists including violinist and oud master Simon Shaheen and Rai singer Cheb Mami. Zafer is continuously exploring the boundaries of Middle Eastern music.
Rabbi Zach Fredman is the Creative Director of the Temenos Center for the Arts, a New York non profit organization that creates projects, wisdom and ceremonies that live at the intersection of spirituality and the arts. Zach is composer, oud player, and bandleader of the Epichorus, an ensemble performing new music rooted in classical Arabic maqam and Hebrew poetry. They have released three studio albums and a book of stories.
Race Brook Lodge made a statement about the event, “Gaza is on the brink of imminent devastating humanitarian crisis. We are calling the community together to do our part. Proceeds from this event will go to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and their efforts to support people in Gaza.”
The event is on Saturday, December 23rd from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Barnspace at Race Brook Lodge on South Undermountain Road in Sheffield. Tickets are $20 to $100 on a sliding scale. Tickets and more information can be found online.
