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Film event New Marlboro — A special presentation of Buster Keaton’s “The General,” with live music accompaniment, will be presented on Saturday, Aug. 28, at 4:30 p.m. at the Meeting House. For the second straight year, Ben Model, resident silent-film accompanist for the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, will provide a live “soundtrack,” as well as introduce the film and briefly explain how he creates scores for movies. “The classic silent films were actually meant to be seen with piano music,” Model said in a news release. “When the films were originally shown, local piano players would provide a ‘soundtrack,’ using either scored music or improvisation.” Model has been a silent film pianist at MOMA for 20 years and has composed a number of original scores for silent films. Last March, Model performed his score for E.A. Dupont's "Picadilly" (1929) at the Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival and other New England venues. "The General" (1926), based on a real event from the Civil War, is considered Buster Keaton's masterpiece and was his own favorite film. It was voted one of the top 20 greatest films of all time in a poll by the British Institute of Film. As southerner Johnny Grey, Keaton has two loves in his life: his girl (played by Marion Mack) and his engine ("The General"). When his train is stolen by Northern spies — with his girl aboard — Keaton must chase them through enemy territory to get his train and his girl back. Full of sight gags, "The General" has one of the longest chases on film and continues to delight audiences of all ages wherever it is shown. Tickets are $15 for adults, children under 12 free. There will be a reception in the Art Gallery of the Meeting House after the program. The General” is part of Music & More, a series of performances and literary events sponsored by the New Marlboro Village Association. The historic Meeting House is on the Village Green, Route 57. Reservations and tickets: 229-3126 or e-mail bkelly239@aol.com. Information: www.newmarlborough.org. Benefit concert SHELBURNE FALLS — The Charles Neville Quartet will offer its blend of New Orleans-style Latin jazz and funk, joined by special guest Sonya Kitchell in a benefit bash for Ashfield resident Tom Leue at Memorial Hall Saturday, Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m. The concert will benefit biodiesel (organic fuel made from vegetable matter) activities in the Pioneer Valley. Early concertgoers may have dinner from 6 to 7 with the Sol Patrol, a biodiesel van bringing organic cuisine and salad grown by Seeds of Solidarity Farm. Tickets are $15 in advance, $17 at the door. Children under 18 are half price. Last fall, Leue's biodiesel pilot-project facility in Ashfield burnt to the ground. He was inside the structure when it exploded but escaped with minor burns. However, he lost all of his tools, equipment, supplies, a tractor, etc. Many people have come forward from biodiesel groups around the region to offer support to offset his loss. According to concert organizers, the event is designed to show community support for three united causes: to rally for a member of the community in the grand New England tradition, to acknowledge Leue’s environmental leadership and to make “a loud statement on behalf of sustainable initiatives.” Neville Brothers saxophonist Charles Neville has been making his living playing the saxophone ever since he began his professional career in New Orleans almost 50 years ago with a group called the Turquoise. According to critics, he has since assimilated the styles of jazz giants Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins into an approach to the saxophone originally inspired by Louis Jordan. In 1977, he joined siblings Art, Aaron and Cyril to form the Neville Brothers. Information and tickets: Hilltown Folk, 413-625-2580. Dowling performance LENOX — Actor, director and writer Vincent Dowling will perform an afternoon of poetry and readings from some of literature’s best writers on Wednesday, Sept. 1, at 4 p.m. at Ventfort Hall, “The Museum of the Gilded Age,” 104 Walker St. The event will be presented by DeVries Fine Art Inc. Andrew DeVries will have his sculptures on view in the Sculpture Garden at Ventfort Hall and also will demonstrate bronze casting” there Saturday, Aug. 28, and Saturday, Sept. 4, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Dowling is lifetime associate director and former artistic director of Ireland’s national theater, The Abbey Theatre, where he was a leading actor and director for 23 years. He is producing director of The Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland, president for life, founder and first artistic director and The Miniature Theatre of Chester. He has made countless appearances on film, TV and radio and appeared in solo performances on three state occasions at President Ronald Reagan’s White House. He won an Emmy for directing and producing “The Playboy of the Western World” on PBS. Dowling has been credited for discovering Tom Hanks and giving him his first professional acting work. He also brought to the American Stage Colm Meaney, David Kelly (“The Waking of Ned Devine”) and Roma Downey (“Touched by an Angel” Dowling is writing the second part of his recently published autobiography, “Astride The Moon,” and it is scheduled to be released this coming spring. Admission is $12 for members, $15 for non-members. A Victorian tea will be served afterward. Open Studio READSBORO, Vt. — Local artist Jane May Jones has announced an Open Studio event on Tuesday, Aug. 31, when her studio, gallery and garden will be open to the public. The Garden at North Hill will also be open. Ten per cent of any sales at the Jones’ gallery will be donated to the Brattleboro Aids Project. Works available include two watercolor series she has been working on in the past year, one called “The Seasons of New England,” the other featuring images from trips recently taken to Scotland, England and St. Marten. Jones gallery is also open by appointment, and visitors are welcome to wander through the garden. Information: 802-423-7535. ‘Monkey King’ GREAT BARRINGTON — Last year, Close Encounters With Music successfully premiered Part I of Matthew Guerrieri's “Monkey King.” The work is now complete and will be premiered in its entirety at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 29, at Monument Mountain High School (a date change from June 6 and venue change from the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, still under renovation). The performance is free to all. Boston composer Guerrieri has taken the epic Chinese adventure tale, featuring the brave, loyal, and very mischievious Monkey King, and created a score that Close Encounters describes as pure Maurice Sendak in music — zany, brilliant and whimsical. The libretto is by Jack Miller. The new work is scored for clarinet, celesta, marimba, piano, cello and narrator. Berkshire Theatre Festival's Kate Maguire will join Close Encounters, along with actor Jonathan Light, cellist Hayk Babayan, pianist Eliran Avni, clarinetist Sharon Koh and percussionist Mike Williams for the world premiere of Parts I and II. Guerrieri's new piece is a project of the Close Encounters Commissioning Program, which is committed to spawning new works of chamber music specifically for children. Guerrieri is a protege of Osvaldo Golijov, who serves as a member of the advisory board of the commissioning program. The T. Backer Fund and Music Performance Trust Fund have underwritten the performance. Tickets are free and available at the door. Information: 800-843-0778 or www.cewm.org. Theater Barn NEW LEBANON, N.Y. — The Theater Barn will open the Kander and Ebb classic “Cabaret” tonight [Thursday, Aug. 26], with performances Thursdays through Sundays through Sept. 5. The play debuted on Broadway in 1966, directed by Hal Prince and starring Lotte Lenya, The movie version in 1972 made pop icons out of Bob Fosse, Liza Minelli and Joel Grey. Theater Barn veteran Jarret Mallon plays host as the Emcee, with Fraulein Sally Bowles portrayed by new Theater Barn star Laura Binstock. The cast includes several Barn alumni and newcomers. John Simpkins, who directed last season’s hit “Chicago,” will direct. Performances at the fully air-conditioned theater will be Thursdays and Fridays at 8, Saturdays at 5 and 8:30 and Sundays at 2 and 7. Tickets are $19 for evening performances, $17 for Sunday matinees. Reservations: 518-794-8989. The theater is on Route 20 in New Lebanon, roughly 7 miles past the Massachusetts line. Artists sought WILLIAMSTOWN — The Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation, a nonprofit land conservation trust, invites artists to participate in its third annual En Plein Air Art Auction, to be held Nov. 6 at the Orchards Hotel. Donated artwork relating to preserved lands, farms and spectacular vistas in the area will be auctioned to benefit the WRLF in the third annual event. All pieces will be displayed at the Harrison Gallery on Spring Street in Williamstown for an opening reception and weeklong viewing. Sheep Hill, home to the foundation, is one of the many properties artists are invited to depict in paintings or photographs for this year’s theme, “Summer’s Glow and Fall’s Fire: Williamstown’s Vibrant Landscapes.” The foundation asks that each work depicts in some way one of the area’s preserved and agricultural open spaces, including Caretaker Farm, WRLF‚s Reynolds Property, Field Farm, Cricket Creek Farm, Pine Cobble and scenic Bee Hill Road. Views from these properties include Mount Greylock Reservation, the Hopper,and the Taconics. More information about these properties is available at the WRLF office. Call 458-2494. Registration is required, as a limited number of pieces will auctioned. Established in 1986, the WRLF is nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of the New England character of Williamstown and surrounding areas through appreciation of natural resources, education and research. Information: www.wrlf.org or stop by the office, 671 Cold Spring Road. Williamstown, Mass. Sandisfield concert SANDISFIELD — The New York Consort of Viols will perform at the Sandisfield Arts Center on Saturday, Aug. 28, at 8 p.m. The group will revisit the reigns of Elizabeth 1, James 1, Charles 1 and Louis XIV and Shakespeare’s works with the music he knew, played on instruments of his time. Ben Luxon will appear as special guest. Tickets are $15 per person with reservations recommended: 258-8166. Founded in 1972 under the direction of Judith Davidoff of Sandisfield and New York City, the New York Consort of Viols has brought to life a large repertoire of viol music. Acclaimed for its presentations of Renaissance and Baroque repertoires, the consort also explores the world of medieval music through the use of earlier instruments, such as rebecs, vielles and other medieval fiddles. As contemporary composers have discovered the resources of the viol, the consort has been commissioning new works for viol consort and performing them in juxtaposition with their earlier counterparts. Several new works have been recorded on a CD, “Illicita Cosa,” recently released by Musical Heritage. The Sandisfield Arts Center is on Hammertown Road off Route 57. It was once a Baptist Meeting House and orthodox synagogue, but has become known for its original architecture, great acoustics and small-town charm. Information: www.sandisfieldartscenter.org or 258-8166. 'Photo Landscapes' PITTSFIELD — "Photo Landscapes," an exhibit by photographer Brooke Hammerle, will be on display now through Sept. 28 in the Koussevitzky Art Gallery at Berkshire Community College. Hammerle, who believes that "images from the visual world float in a world of color and light between reality and illusion," photographs her pieces through mirrored surfaces or directly into light. The technique creates spatial ambiguity, plays with the camera's illusion of light and goes against the camera's conventional rendering of three-dimensional space, according to a news release. During the last three years, Hammerle has printed her work digitally, scanned the pictures with a high-resolution scanner and printed with archival inks on Somerset art paper. Her background as a painter and printmaker also plays a dominant role in the creation of her photographs. Hammerle is the photographer for the Brown University Art History and Visual Art. A slide lecture by Hammerle about her work will be presented Tuesday, Sept. 28, at noon in Room K-116, near the gallery in Koussevitzky Arts Center. Forum credit is available for BCC students. Both the lecture and exhibit are free and open to the public. Information: bchilla@berkshirecc.edu. Italian songs GRANVILLE, N.Y. — Singer and conductor Piero Bonamico will present a concert of his favorite Italian songs at the Slate Valley Museum on Sunday, Aug. 29, from 2 to 3 p.m. The museum will present his concert of classical and popular music, sung in both Italian and English, as a tribute to Italian stoneworkers. A graduate of Eastman School of Music in Rochester, Bonamico grew up in the Barre, Vt., granite region listening to his father imitate Dean Martin, Al Martino, Perry Como and Jerry Vale singing such songs as “That’s Amore,” “Volare,” and “Non Dimenticare.” Upon completion of his studies in piano, music education, and conducting, he returned to Vermont to teach piano at Vermont College and to conduct the Mad River Chorale. Bonamico is a soloist and member of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Counterpoint, an 11-voice professional chorus conducted by Robert De Comier. He has led the Mad River Chorale, centered in Waitsfield, from an unincorporated community chorus with 25 singers to a nonprofit organization with four ensembles, over 200 performers and an annual schedule of 50 concerts. He studied voice with well-known voice teacher and Broadway vocal coach William Reed. Tickets, available at the door the day of the concert, are $8 per person and $5 for museum members. Seating in the air-conditioned program room of the museum is limited, and doors will open at 1:30. The museum will remain open until 4 for visitors who wish to tour the exhibit, “The Dream and the Reality: Immigration and Assimilation in the Slate Valley of New York and Vermont, 1840-present.” The exhibit has been produced by the museum with funding from the New York Council for the Humanities. The Slate Valley Museum interprets the history of the slate industry in New York and Vermont. For a calendar of upcoming public programs: 518-642-1417 or www.slatevalleymuseum.org. The museum is open year-round, Tuesday through Friday, 1 to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Community theater VALATIE, N.Y. — The Two of Us Productions, in collaboration with the Public Arts Resource Center and the Valatie Community Theater, will present "Agnes Of God" at the Valatie Community Theater and at Berkshire Artisans in Pittsfield, Mass., later this month. The acclaimed Broadway hit by John Pielmeier will be presented at the community theater, Main Street, on Friday, Sept. 17, and Saturday, Sept. 18, at 8 p.m., with a matinee Sunday, Sept. 19, at 3. In Pittsfield, performances at Berkshire Artisans, 28 Renee St.. will be Friday, Sept. 24, and Saturday, Sept. 25, at 8 p.m. with a matinee Sunday, Sept. 26, at 3. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at the door. Information: 518-329-6293 or 413-499-2071. Manchester exhibits MANCHESTER, Vt. — The Elizabeth de C. Wilson Museum at the Southern Vermont Arts Center is presenting two new exhibits designed to juxtapose art of the past with at least one possible future of the world of art. “Working Vermont: Land and Life,” in the museum's Hunter Gallery, is drawn from the permanent collection of the arts center. It is a vast array of works that depict various aspects of work in Vermont and of Vermonters plying their daily trade. It ranges from small to large paintings in oil, watercolor and other media to folksy constructions of wood and other materials glued to boards and a few small, hand-carved wooden pieces as well. In the adjoining Lucioni Gallery, the exhibition “Fusion Prints: The Gotham Series,” by Jan Lourie and Joan Firestone (subtitled “Extraordinary Images of an Exceptional City”) is designed to tranport the viewer from rural Vermont to New York City, portrayed as one has never seen it before, except perhaps in one's mind's eye. The prints are computer generated composite images of architecture and architectural detail from around the city. In several instances, the artists provide the original, source photographs from which the composite images were constructed. The two exhibitions both opened with a reception on Aug. 14, and will run through 3 p.m. on Sept. 12. Plum Gallery WILLIAMSTOWN — The Plum Gallery, 112 Water St., will present “Abstractions,” recent work by Arista Alanis, today [Thursday, Aug. 26] through Sept. 26, with an opening reception Saturday, Aug. 28. Alanis, of the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, will show new abstract landscapes executed in oil on canvas. Gallery hours in August are daily from 11 to 5. Hours in September are Friday to Sunday, 11 to 5 or by appointment. Information: wwwplumgallery.com, e-mail, plumgallery@adelphia.net or call 458-3389. Jones exhibition PITTSFIELD — Storefront Artist Project's Cooper Center Gallery, 116 Fenn St., will host the opening reception for “Psychiatric Survival,” a solo exhibition by artist Colleen Surprise Jones, on Friday, Aug. 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibit, Jones said in a news release, “is an expression of my lifelong struggle in trying to get help within the mental health system. This system, which has failed me time and time again, also failed my brother, Nathan, who committed suicide on July 2, 2004. ‘Psychiatric Survival’ is dedicated to the life, memory and soaring spirit of Nathan David Jones.” The show features new abstract paintings as well as installations of artifacts and stories on the theme of psychiatric survival. A portion of all sales will go to two nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping people with psychiatric disabilities, Suicide Prevention Action Network USA and MindFreedom Support Coalition International. “Psychiatric Survival” will be on display at the gallery through Sept. 26, Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. Information: www.storefrontartist.org. A memorial service celebrating the life of Nathan David Jones will be held Sunday, Aug. 29, at 2 p.m. at the First Congregational Church in Lee (by the park off Main Street). Spencertown events SPENCERTOWN, N.Y. — Spencertown Academy will present a screening of Ousmane Sembene’s “Camp de Thiaroye” (1987) as part of its monthly movie series on war on Saturday, Sept. 4 at 8 p.m. The historical drama is based on 1944 events at the Thiaroye transit camp to which Senegalese solders were repatriated after their experiences as soldiers in World War II and POWs in German concentration camps. Ousmane Sembene is the great Senegalese filmmaker, sometimes called the "father of African film," whose first film short, “Borom Saret,” ushered African cinema into the world in 1963. He subsequently made a series of feature films, including “Black Girl” (1966), “Mandabi” (1968), “Emitai” (1969), “Xala” (1974), “Ceddo” (1976) “Guelwaar” (1993), “Faat Kine” (2000) and “Moolaade” (2003), in which he examines the modern and historical experience of west Africa in all its historical, psychological and human complexity. The film is in Wolof and French with English subtitles. Tickets are $5 or $4 for members. The film is not recommended for children. On Sunday, Sept. 12, at 2 p.m., The Actors‚ Ensemble will present a reading of “Between Worlds,” a play by French playwright Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. Readers will include Ted Pugh and Fern Sloan, and the director is Ragnar Freidank. Tickets are $10, or $8 for students. It will be the first in a series of play readings on the second Sunday of every month at the academy. Reservations: 518-392-3693. “Barns of the Valley” will be on view at Galleries I and II at the academy through Sunday, Sept. 26. The exhibit is a special collaboration on the part of four of the region’s noted landscape painters, James Coe, Jim Cramer, Harry McChesney and Leigh Ann Smith. Admission is free. Folk, blues and jazz jams each meet at the academy once a month offering area musicians a chance to play music together. Admission is free. This month’s jams dates are: Folk Jam, Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m.; Blues Jam, Sept. 8 at 8 p.m.; Jazz Jam Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. Spencertown Academy is on Route 203, between the Taconic State Parkway and New York Route 22. Information: 518-392-3693 or www.spencertown.org. Programs are underwritten by its members and, in part, by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. 'Photo Landscapes' PITTSFIELD — "Photo Landscapes," an exhibit by photographer Brooke Hammerle, will be on display now through Sept. 28 in the Koussevitzky Art Gallery at Berkshire Community College. Hammerle, who believes that "images from the visual world float in a world of color and light between reality and illusion," photographs her pieces through mirrored surfaces or directly into light. The technique creates spatial ambiguity, plays with the camera's illusion of light and goes against the camera's conventional rendering of three-dimensional space, according to a news release. During the last three years, Hammerle has printed her work digitally, scanned the pictures with a high-resolution scanner and printed with archival inks on Somerset art paper. Her background as a painter and printmaker also plays a dominant role in the creation of her photographs. Hammerle is the photographer for the Brown University Art History and Visual Art. A slide lecture by Hammerle about her work will be presented Tuesday, Sept. 28, at noon in Room K-116, near the gallery in Koussevitzky Arts Center. Forum credit is available for BCC students. Both the lecture and exhibit are free and open to the public. Information: bchilla@berkshirecc.edu. Hildene exhibit MANCHESTER, Vt. — The annual "Artists in the Garden" exhibit will open on Friday, Aug. 29, at Hildene with an evening reception and art sale from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Visitor Center Pavilion. The reception is free and open to the public, but reservations are welcomed. “Artists in the Garden” is a summer-long celebration of the gardens and grounds at historic Hildene. The formal garden was designed in the early 1900s by Jessie Lincoln Beckwith, Robert Todd Lincoln's daughter, to resemble a stained-glass cathedral window. Flowers represent the brightly colored glass, and privet hedges serve as the "leading" that separates each "windowpane." The garden changes weekly as roses, lilies and other flowers bloom and transform its colors. Artists are invited each year to capture its beauty. The $1,000 Irene Hunter prize for the winning professional artist’s entry was awarded on Aug. 20 to Robert Carsten, SVAC instructor and exhibitor, for his pastel painting “Summer’s Essence. The $500 Peggy Beckwith Award will be presented during the free public reception on the 29th. Nearly 90 artists from across southern Vermont are participating in the two juried competitions. After the reception, all paintings will remain on display daily through Sept. 30, from 9:30 to 3 in the newly renovated pavilion at the Visitor Center. Information on Hildene and its daily tours and special events: 802-362-1788, www.hildene.org or e-mail info@hildene.org. Children’s auditions SHEFFIELD — The Berkshire Children's Chorus has announced that auditions are being held for the 2004/2005 chorus season. The children of the Berkshire Children's Chorus are sixth through ninth graders from 17 communities in Massachusetts and New York who work together weekly on the most challenging children's chorus music available. They have held numerous local concerts within the community, traveled extensively and continue to appear in various locales in the area. The apprentice chorus (the Start Up Chorus) is composed of students in grades three to five. The high school chorus, Coda, is for students in grades 10 to 12 who wish to continue on with their chorus experience. Information and audition appointments: 229-2465. Dorset Theatre DORSET, Vt. — “The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspre (abridged)‚” opens tonight [Thursday, Aug. 26] at the Dorset Theatre Festival and will run through Sept. 5th. William Coons, director of the Conservatory Company Program, directs, and the production is sponsored in part by Sarah Horne Floral Design. The play has been described as Shakespeare as done by The Three Stooges, The Marx Brothers and Monty Python. It covers all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in fewer than two hours, with four actors playing all the roles. Portraying all the Shakespearian characters are DTF Conservatory Members Eliot Johnston, Nathan Peters, Michael McGuire and Frances Idlebrook. Johnston, Peters and McGuire starred in Dorset’s production of “The Real Inspector Hound.” Idlebrook played Sister Mary Hubert in “Nunsense” last month. The DTF Conservatory Company is a collection of young actors who spend the summer in Dorset studying the craft of acting. Over 3,000 students auditioned to be a part of the summer -ong program. Performances are at the Dorset Playhouse at 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday evenings and 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Matinees are Wednesday at 2, Saturday at 4 and Sunday at 3. There are no Monday performances. Information and ticket reservations: box office, 802-867-5777, Tuesday through Sunday. Tickets range from $25 to $44 and may be purchased online at www.dorsettheatrefestival.org. Opening night audience members are invited to a reception following the performance catered by the Spiral Press Café and The Perfect Wife. There will be a discussion forum on the play Friday, Aug. 27, from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Northshire Bookstore event space, co-hosted by Northshire Bookstore, Spiral Press Café and Dorset Theatre Festival. The panel will consist of Producing Director John Nassivera and members of the cast. The discussions are free and open to the public. The next Dorset Theater Festival production, “Swing Street‚” will play Sept. 9 through Sept. 19 and will close the season.
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Friends of Great Barrington Libraries Holiday Book Sale

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Friends of Great Barrington Libraries invite the community to shop their annual Holiday Good-as-New Book Sale, happening now through the end of the year at the Mason Library, 231 Main Street. 
 
With hundreds of curated gently used books to choose from—fiction, nonfiction, children's favorites, gift-quality selections, cookbooks, and more—it's the perfect local stop for holiday gifting.
 
This year's sale is an addition to the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce's Holiday Stroll on this Saturday, Dec. 13, 3–8 PM. Visitors can swing by the Mason Library for early parking, browse the sale until 3:00 PM, then meet Pete the Cat on the front lawn before heading downtown for the Stroll's shopping, music, and festive eats.
 
Can't make the Holiday Stroll? The book sale is open during regular Mason Library hours throughout December.
 
Proceeds support free library programming and events for all ages.
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