by Mark G. Auerbach
Sevenars Announces Summer Season
It started as a family affair in 1968. The musicians of the Schrade family escaped the summer heat of New York, and put on a series of informal chamber music concerts in Worthington, MA on Sunday afternoons. Once Time Magazine heralded their efforts to bring world renowned artists and newcomers together, Sevenars has emerged as a summer “must” for music lovers.
The Schrade and James Family musicians open the season on July 10, followed by a performance by the Greenwood Chamber Players on July 17. The July 24 program showcases classics from Leipzig to Paris, while performers from the Manchester Music Festival perform on July 31. Springfield MA pianist George Bowerman is featured in recital on August 7 on a program “Young Artist to Watch”. Jerry Noble and Friends perform on August 14.
Concerts are in South Worthington on Sunday afternoons at 4PM, which gives you plenty of time to explore the hilltowns or The Berkshires. For details: www.sevenars.org
North Hall Arts Festival Announces 2016 Season
The North Hall Arts Festival in Huntington, MA will present 11 events during its 2016 season, which runs from late May through September. The Festival opens on May 28-29, with its annual Opera Showcase. The Berkshire Mountain Boys return on une 12 with a bluegrass and country music program with autoharp, guitar, banjo and vocals. They are followed by the popular area piano-clarinet duo Jerry Noble and Bob Sparkman on June 26.
Playwright, musician and actor Randy Noojin presents Celebrate Pete Seeger on July 9-10.
Playwright, musician and actor Randy Noojin presents Celebrate Pete Seeger on July 9-10. Noojin portrays Seeger and his era with Seeger’s original music, words and testimony. Rounding out July, the group Wild Thyme makes its North Hall debut performing Celtic Folk music in the Irish, Scottish, and French tradition on July 24.
For its theater offering, the Festival stages a reading of D.L. Coburn’s 1978 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Gin Game on August 7. José González returns on August 13 to present a Caribbean Festival for Kids. The interactive performance features Latin Amerian and Caribbean songs along with traditional instruments.
Also new to the Festival is twice Grammy-nominated guitarist José Lezcano accompanied by cellist Rebecca Hartka. The internationally acclaimed artists will present Bach to Brazil on August 21 featuring Baroque, Spanish and Brazilian music. The Old Country Road Band ends the season with old-time vintage country and bluegrass on September 11.
All performances take place at Historic North Hall, 40 Searle Road (off Route 66), Huntington. For details : 413–667-5543. or www.northhallhuntington.org
Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s 2016-2017 Masterworks Series
The Hartford Symphony Orchestra has announced its classical Masterworks Series for next season at The Bushnell in Hartford. New subscriptions go onsale in June, and individual concert tickets go on sale in August.
Maestra Carolyn Kuan conducts the Season Opener (October 7-9) which features Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. An all-Brahms program follows (November 11-13). A mostly-Mozart with violinst Sirena Huang and electric guitarist Steven Mackey rings in the holiday season (December 9-11). The New Year showcases Ravel and Schubert (January 20-22); followed by a Valetine’s Symphonic Love Potions (February 10-12). Lizst’s Faust Symphony takes center stage (March 10-12), followed by Holst’s The Planets (April 7-9). An evening of Glazunov and Tchaikovsky is next (May 12-14), followed by a program, Choral Fantasy and Mystical Songs, conducted by new associate conductor Adam Kerry Boyles (une 9-11).
For details: 860-987-5900 or www.hartfordsymphony.org.
Plan Ahead
Christopher Tierney and Rachel Boone star in Dirty Dancing.
Dirty Dancing, the stage adaptation of the 1987 movie hit,, plays The Bushnell (May 24-29) on its current tour. it’s The Catskills. Summer of 1963. Frances “Baby” Houseman learns some swift moves, with music from the film and the era. Christopher Tierney, an alum of Hubbard Street Dance Company, and Rachel Boone star. Dirty Dancing was adapted for the stage in 2004 and has played Australia, London, and Canada. This tour has been playing North America since the summer of 2014, but has not, as yet, gone to Broadway. For details: 860-987-5900 or www.bushnell.org
Keep In Mind…
Photograph 51 by Anna Ziegler, gets a staged reading on May 15 as part of WAM Theatre’s acclaimed Fresh Takes series at the No. Six Depot Roastery and Café, 6 Depot Street in West Stockbridge, MA. Kelly Galvin directs, and the cast includes Shakespeare and Company’s Ryan Winkles. Seating is limited. For details: http://www.wamtheatre.com/photograph-51/
Encore! An Evening to Celebrate High School Musicals showcases excerpts from Berkshire County high school musicals, May 13, at The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. For the third year, Berkshire Theatre Group produces the event. Travis G. Daly directs. The high schools are: Hoosac Valley High School, Lee High School, Taconic High School, Mt. Greylock Regional High School, Pittsfield High School, Drury High School, Wahconah Regional High School and more.For details: 413-997-4444 or www.berkshiretheatregroup.org.
The Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, along with the Springfield Symphony Chorus, perform the Faure Requiem on May 14 at the UMass Fine Arts Center in Amherst. Paul Phillips conducts, and the program also includes music by von Weber and Mahler. For details: http://pvsoc.org/single-tickets.
The Call. Tanya Barfield’s 2013 Off-Broadway play about a well-intentioned couple who decide to adopt a baby from Africa. Jenn Thompson directs. TheaterWorks. For details: 860-527-7838 or www.theaterworkshartford.org.
The Secret Life of The American Musical. Jack Viertel, Artistic Director of New York City Center Encores! and Senior Vice President of Jujamcyn Theaters, does a reading fromn his new book about the business of Broadway, and chats with Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak on May 16 at Hartford Stage. The event is free. Reservations required. For details: 860-527-5151 or www.hartfordstage.org.
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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.
