The Stockbridge Library will welcome Martin Baron, former editor of The Washington Post and The Boston Globe, for a talk on censorship, libraries, media, and the stability of democracy, on Saturday, March 12 at 3 p.m.
The Wallflowers set to perform at The Mahaiwe May 20
GREAT BARRINGTON — The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center announces the American rock act the Wallflowers — Jakob Dylan’s Grammy-winning outfit — will perform live on its stage Friday, May 20 at 8 p.m.
For the past 30 years, the Wallflowers have meshed timeless songwriting and storytelling with a modern sound. That signature style has been present through the decades, most noticeably in the hit 1996 album “Bringing Down the Horse,” as well as more recent and exploratory fare like 2012’s “Glad All Over.”
In recent years, Dylan — the Wallflowers’ founding singer, songwriter, and guitarist — has also stepped outside of his band, first with a pair of acoustic and rootsy records, 2008’s “Seeing Things” and 2010’s “Women + Country,” and then with the 2018 film “Echo in the Canyon” and the accompanying soundtrack, which saw him collaborate with artists Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Beck, and Fiona Apple, and others.
In 2021, the Wallflowers released the much-anticipated “Exit Wounds,” with Dylan leading a fresh cast of musicians.
Tickets go on sale to Mahaiwe members Thursday, March 10 at 12 p.m., and to the public Saturday, March 12 at 12 p.m. Tickets range from $50–$90, with discounts for members and those age 30 and younger. Contact the box office at 413-528-0100, Wednesday–Friday from 12–4 p.m. or visit the website to purchases tickets.
—A.K.
* * *
BCC’s MADE Center to hold series of workshops this month
PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Community College (BCC)’s Multicultural Affairs, Diversity and Engagement (MADE) Center, recently created as part of a campus-wide commitment to support historically minoritized and marginalized students, will offer a series of six one-hour workshops this month. The MADE Center provides academic and social support services for all students, with a special focus on supporting traditionally underserved populations.
Students receive forum credit for attending the workshops. They include:
—A.K.
* * *
Baron to discuss censorship, democracy, and more at Stockbridge Library
STOCKBRIDGE — The Stockbridge Library will welcome Martin Baron for a talk on censorship, libraries, media and the stability of democracy, Saturday, March 12 at 3 p.m.
Book banning is not a new phenomenon. But as the culture wars grow ever more strident and aggressive, libraries, schools, and even bookstores are under increasing pressure to strip their shelves of material tagged as subversive, obscene or otherwise offensive. In a conversation with André Bernard, Baron, former editor of The Washington Post and The Boston Globe, will discuss book banning and other forms of censorship, and what that means for a literate and informed public.
Martin (Marty) Baron retired in February 2021, after eight years as executive editor of The Washington Post. News staffs under his leadership won 17 Pulitzer Prizes, including 10 at The Post, which was recognized for a wide variety of coverage that included investigations of the National Security Agency and the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. While Baron was the top editor of The Globe, it won six Pulitzer Prizes, including for its investigation into the Catholic Church’s concealment of clergy sex abuse. That coverage was portrayed in the Academy Award-winning movie “Spotlight.” The Miami Herald under his leadership won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the raid to recover Elián González.
This program is free and open to the public. The discussion will be held in person at the Stockbridge Library, Museum & Archives. For more information, email [email protected].
—A.K.
* * *
Simon’s Rock to present classical Hindustani music concert March 13
GREAT BARRINGTON — Bard College at Simon’s Rock will present a Hindustani Classical Music Concert, featuring mother and son Veena Chandra, sitarist and vocalist, and Devesh Chandra, tabla. The concert will be held Sunday, March 13 at 7 p.m. at the McConnell Theater in the Daniel Arts Center.
The concert is free and open to the public, who must show vaccination certificates upon entry and attend fully masked. The Daniel Arts Center staff is ensuring that audience members will be safely seated in socially distanced groups. Reservations should be made on this webpage.
Veena Chandra is an internationally renowned sitarist, composer, teacher, and choreographer. She is the founder and director of the Dance and Music School of India in Latham, New York, where she teaches Indian classical music. She has been a faculty member at Skidmore College since 1990. Since 2014, she has also been the Artist Associate in Sitar at Williams College.
Devesh Chandra has studied the tabla since the age of three, learning Northern Indian Classical Music by accompanying his mother. In addition to tabla solos and playing Indian classical music, he has collaborated and worked with musicians across a broad range of musical genres, from western folk and western classical to flamenco, jazz, and Latin music. He has collaborated with Sumitra Guha, Anup Jalota, Susie Ibarra, Tarun Bhattacharya, Brian Mellick, and Alex Torres. He has also composed music for modern dance, most notably his highly acclaimed commission “House of Fables” for the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company. Devesh teaches tabla as an Artist Associate at Williams College.
—A.K.
* * *
WAM Theatre announces 2022 season 
LENOX — Producing Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven, Associate Artistic Director Talya Kingston, and the WAM team announce a 2022 season centering different versions of empowerment through four groundbreaking theatrical stories and a cabaret benefit performance that will take place in venues across the region. The season includes: “The New Galileos” by Amy Berryman, “Bright Half Life” by Tanya Barfield, a MisCast Cabaret, “Escaped Alone” by Caryl Churchill, and “Cadillac Crew” by Tori Sampson.
“WAM’s 13th season puts women center stage and in control of their own lives and bodies,” said Kingston. “At each event, we will witness women stepping out of a narrative that has been set for them and into their own power in unexpected ways. Written by some of our best living playwrights, the stories we will share explode with ideas but center on relationships and in doing so offer new perspectives on how to interact with each other and the world.”
The season begins with a staged reading of “The New Galileos,” directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian, performed Sunday, May 1 at 2 p.m. at Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield. This reading is being presented in partnership with the museum and Flying Cloud Institute’s Girls in Science Program. The piece is set in a future not too distant from our own, where three female scientists — a marine biologist, a glaciologist, and a soil expert — are being held hostage by their government because of their work fighting climate change. As they are interrogated, the women face the ultimate question: what are they willing to sacrifice to defend the truth?
The next Fresh Takes Play Reading will be “Bright Half Life,”directed by Gina Kaufmann. This play will be presented at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Sunday, June 5 at 2 p.m., in celebration of Pride Month 18 years after Massachusetts became the first state in the country to legalize gay marriage. A kaleidoscopic play about love, heartbreak, skydiving, and the infinite moments that make a relationship, “Bright Half Life” follows the deep and complicated love story of Vicky and Erica.
On Thursday, July 7, WAM will present an evening of Broadway music, hosted by Jayne Atkinson. In this MisCast Cabaret, WAM artists, accompanied by live musicians, will perform favorite songs from musical theater roles in which they would not traditionally be cast.
The next play reading will be “Escaped Alone,” directed by Kristen van Ginhoven, Sunday Aug. 7 at The Mount in Lenox. Back by popular demand and featuring some of the region’s favorite actors, this play by iconic feminist playwright Caryl Churchill brings viewers to a back yard where three old friends and a neighbor spend a series of summer afternoons chatting, while visions of apocalyptic horror play out inside their minds.
WAM’s fall mainstage production will be “Cadillac Crew,” featuring MaConnia Chesser, performed at the Tina Packer Playhouse at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox. The play opens with four female activists working in a Virginia civil rights office on the day of a much-anticipated speech by Rosa Parks. From the Civil Rights Movement to the present day, “Cadillac Crew” illuminates forgotten leaders who blazed the trail for desegregation and women’s rights.
In addition to WAM’s performance programming, the company has expanded its Community Engagement programs and outreach. Beginning in March with two free online workshops —playwriting with Winter Miller and improvisation with Tatiana Godrey — WAM also will be bringing back its popular devised theater ensembles: the Teen Ensemble during the April school break and the Elder Ensemble in August. Other programming includes a new online conversation series which will allow WAM patrons to interact with some of this season’s groundbreaking theater artists and activists.
Much of the 2022 season will also be available as a livestream.
TICKETS: WAM’s Fresh Takes Play Pass is now on sale. Seating is limited and expected to sell-out. Each Pass includes one ticket each to: “The New Galileos” on May 1, “Bright Half Life” on June 5, and “Escaped Alone” on August 7. Single tickets to Fresh Takes play readings will go on sale March 15. WAM will release tickets for the MisCast Cabaret and fall mainstage show in the coming months.
—A.K.
Receive daily updates in your inbox
Berkshire Bach presents organist Renee Anne Louprette
March 05, 2022 @ 02:00 pm –
Umama Womama in concert in Great Barrington!
March 19, 2022 @ 07:00 pm – 08:30 pm
Close Encounters With Music Presents: A Night of Chopin and Brahms—Presenting Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Yekwon Sunwoo
March 20, 2022 @ 04:00 pm – 06:00 pm
Website by Web Publisher PRO © 2022 The Berkshire Edge, LLC. All rights reserved. Read our Terms of Use
