A Festival of Latin American Music

04:44PM / Friday, January 28, 2011Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Department of Music will present a festival dedicated to Latin cultures and to the late Steven Dennis Bodner, who had worked to make the festival possible.

The festival starts on Friday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m. with the Momenta Quartet at '62 Center and continues with a variety of music on Saturday, Feb. 12, at 6 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall, concluding with a concert at 8 p.m. in Chapin Hall on the same day. These free events are open to the public. This is a celebration of Latin American music–its contemporary expressions, heritage, and legacy as bridges between peoples.

The Momenta Quartet provides the first Puente Sonoro on Friday night in the '62 Center. All of the details of that concert and master classes are being released separately.

Those with an interest in chamber music also get their due. On Saturday evening Williams Chamber Players members Ronald Feldman, Doris Stevenson, and Joana Genova will present selected movements of the Piazzola trio, Four Seasons. Violist Noah Fields '11, and guests Martha Mooke and Duo Iberoamerica will also take the stage in the more intimate Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall to perform music by Modesta Bor, Alberto Ginastera, Aldemaro Romero, Tania León, Marcos Balter, Astor PIazzolla, and Williams faculty member Ileana Perez Velazquez.

The Saturday evening portion of the festival then moves to Chapin Hall. The larger student ensembles present more works of great contemporary Latin American composers. This not only provides an opportunity to experience modern music inspired by Latin America: this is a chance to hear the popular ensembles Zambezi Marimba Band and Williams Jazz, Percussion, and Brass Ensembles all in one venue. These ensembles present music by Armando Bayolo, Alberto Ginastera, Alexandre Lunsqui, Allem Carvajal, guest composer Tania León, and faculty member Andy Jaffe. Of special poignancy are the performances by the Symphonic Winds and Opus Zero Band, two groups central to the mission of presenting living music to a greater public. These ensembles embody the musical vision and are the flagship ensembles of the Bodner.

This idea of the festival came about when the immigration laws created such an uproar in Arizona. Faculty member Ileana Perez-Velazquez expressed her dismay to Bodner, and together they birthed the idea of a festival celebrating Latin Heritage. Bodner was a musician and colleague whose contribution was central to the presentation of many festivals such as this. His recent and untimely passing was and continues to be an unspeakable loss to the students, faculty, and staff at Williams. The service for Bodner is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 12, at 3 p.m. in Thompson Memorial Chapel.

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Williamstown Studying Major Overhaul for Main Street

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:14AM / Wednesday, July 29, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The town is working with a Worcester civil engineering firm to redesign Main Street with an eye toward a major project sometime in the next decade.

Community Development Director Andrew Groff was before the Select Board on Monday night to talk about Town Hall's use of a $500,000 state grant to do preliminary design on major improvements to that portion of Route 2 that runs from Water Street west to the Field Park rotary, through the middle of Williams College's campus.

Groff introduced the elected officials to Amanda Bazinet of Worcester's Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, who is helping the town to develop a plan for Main Street that would align with the commonwealth's Complete Streets Program.

"Our project goals, in addition to the increased pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, is just, in general, improving the sightlines and improving the intersection geometry," Bazinet said.

"Complete Streets … has a lot of different facets to it. As Andrew had mentioned, the goal is to improve the safety for all of the roadway users — not just the motorists. We're looking at improving it for pedestrians, bicyclists, anyone using a mobility device. We want to create streets that are safe for all ages and abilities to use. So, while bicyclists will still be allowed, legally, to use the roadway, we want to look at providing a separate bicycle accommodation along the corridor, whether it's a shared use path along both sides of the streets that is a little more accessible to young children or older people with disabilities to look at all transportation options."

One goal is to encourage "active transportation." The Massachusetts Department of Transportation, who the town hopes one day might fund the construction, has a "healthy transportation policy," Bazinet said.

That MassDOT funding would come through the Transportation Improvement Program, which is managed locally by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. The design work underway now is being done with an eye toward going after TIP funding years down the road.

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