MARK AUERBACH
New Director at Jacob’s Pillow
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival announced that arts leader Pamela Tatge will join the organization as Executive Director in April. For the past 16 years, Tatge has served as the Director of the Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, overseeing robust programming and acclaimed artistic initiatives for dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts. At Jacob’s Pillow, Tatge will set the artistic vision and strategic goals for all aspects of the organization, including festival programming, education, preservation, audience engagement, residency programming and artist support, long-term planning, collaborative programming fundraising, marketing, and more.
Pamela Tatge, new Executive Director at Jacob’s Pillow. (Photo by Perceptions Photography)
Mark Leavitt, Jacob’s Pillow Board Chair, comments, “The Jacob’s Pillow Board of Directors is thrilled to announce that Pamela Tatge will lead the Pillow into its next chapter of success and innovation. Pamela is a proven leader who has worked with a wide range of dance artists for decades. She has created innovative and collaborative dance programs that bring audiences and artists together and she has deep experience in development, arts administration, and leadership. The Pillow is stronger than ever, and I know that Pamela will build on that success and take Jacob’s Pillow in exciting new directions while honoring our mission to present and support the very best in the world of dance.”
Pamela Tatge directly succeeds Ella Baff, who served as the leader of Jacob’s Pillow from 1998 to 2015.
Jacob’s Pillow, celebrating its 84th festival in 2016, is a National Historic Landmark, recipient of the National Medal of Arts, and home to America’s longest-running international dance festival. Each festival includes more than 50 national and international dance companies and 350 free and ticketed performances, talks, tours, classes, exhibits, and events. The School at Jacob’s Pillow, one of the most prestigious professional dance training centers in the U.S. For details on Jacob’s Pillow and its 2016 season: www.jacobspillow.org.
Claire Huangci is soloist with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.
Nordic Nights
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra, with Maestro Kevin Rhodes on the podium, performs three Scandinavian classics on February 6 at Springfield Symphony Hall. Pianist Claire Huangci, soprano Dana Lynne Varga and baritone John Salvi join the Orchestra for performances of Sibelius’ Finlandia, Grieg’s Piano Concerto Op. 16 in A Minor, and Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3. Findlandia may be familiar to film buffs, as it was featured in Renny Harlin’s 1990 film, Die Hard 2.
Grieg’s Piano Concerto, inspired many popular culture moments. It was featured in the 1939 Ingrid Bergman film Intermezzo and Frank Loesser incorporated parts of it in the song “Rosemary” in his Broadway hit How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Sondheim wove a portion of the introductory motif into his London revision of Follies. Greig is perhaps best known for his incidental music for Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, which features “In The Hall of The Mountain King”.
John Salvi is soloist with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.
Baritone soloist John Salvi will be familiar to Western New England audiences. A Massachusetts native and UMass Music graduate, he’s sung with Commonwealth Opera, Connecticut Opera, Arcadia Players, Mohawk Trail Concerts and other venues.
Maestro Rhodes has just returned from Europe, having conducted a triple bill of contemporary ballets at Germany’s Stuttgart Ballet.
For details: 413-733-2291 or www.springfieldsymphony.org.
Willie Hill, UMass Fine Arts Center chief
Of Note
Willie Hill, Director of the UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center, holds the distinct honor of having led the entertainment for the very first Super Bowl halftime show. As the Super Bowl celebrates its 50th anniversary, CBS Will host a two-hour special profiling the history of the history of Super Bowl entertainment on February 5. (Check local listings). In 1967, Dr. Hill was the Head Drum Major for Grambling College, now known as Grambling State University. For the very first Super Bowl and at a pivotal moment of the Civil Rights movement, Hill led the marching bands for Grambling College, a historically black school, and the University of Arizona, predominantly white, onto the field. The CBS special will feature Dr. Hill along with two University of Arizona marching band members who all participated in the halftime show. The behind-the scenes feature also looks at previous performances by Hill, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Paul McCartney, U2 and more.
Keep in Mind…
The 31st Annual High School Honor Band Concert at the UMass Fine Arts Center Concert Hall on February 6, showcases the talents of 200 high school musicians from New England, along with the UMass Wind Ensemble. Three musicians from Gateway Regional High School in Huntington are featured. Alexander Auclair, baritone saxophone; Brennan Foley, tenor saxophone, and Anna Pless, alto saxophone. The concert is free. For details: http://www.umass.edu/music/index.php
The Wanda Houston Band, The Berkshires own quartet performs ’40s, ’50s and ’60s R&B and jazz at Pittsfiueld’s Colonial Theatre on January 30, as part of the On The Stage Series. For details: 413-997-4444 or www.berkshiretheatregroup.org
Facing Our Truth, A Collection of One-Acts Inspired by the Trayvon Martin Case exploring race and privilege, will be performed, under the auspices of Multicultural BRIDGE, WAM Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Group and Yvette “Jamuna” Sirker at Pittsfield’s Colonial Theatre on February 6. A collection of six 10-minute plays by Winter Miller, Marcus Gardley, Dominique Morrisseau, Mona Mansour & Tala Manassah, Dan O’Brien with Quetzal Flores and A. Rey Pamatmat. reflect on race relations in the United States. A moderated panel and community discussion will follow the performance. For details: 413-997-4444 or www.berkshiretheatregroup.org.
The Chosen, adapted by Chaim Potok and Aaron Posner, plays West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park through February 14. Potok’s award-winning novel is the story of two boys, two fathers and two very different Jewish communities “five blocks and a world apart”in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the1940s. Dawn Loveland directs. For details: 860-523-5900 x10 or www.playhouseonpark.org
Mark G. Auerbach studied theatre at American University and the Yale School of Drama. He’s worked for arts organizations and reported on theatre for newspapers and radio.
