Pittsfield Celebrates Housatonic

Print Story | Email Story
On Saturday, August 7th, in downtown Pittsfield, artists, musicians, actors, dancers, writers, and other performers will recognize and honor the Housatonic River in Pittsfield with a variety of performances. The celebration is co-sponsored by the Storefront Artist Project, the Berkshire Music School, and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in collaboration with the region-wide Housatonic River Summer 2004. The performances are free and open to the public. The first performance, a multimedia, multicultural celebration entitled RiverMASS, will be held at 2pm at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church on Park Square. RiverMASS celebrates the east and west branches of the Housatonic River uniting in Pittsfield with a vibrant ceremony/performance that includes pageantry, bang-on-a-can style music and audience participation. RiverMASS, which is created and directed by singer/songwriter JoAnne Spies, features a variety of performers including the dancers and drummers of Youth Alive; the River Festival Chorus, directed by Berkshire Music School director Tracy Wilson; jazz tap dancer Sherry Salerno; musicians from Manos Unidas' Latin American Music Project; and five to eight-year-old art students from the Becket Art Center, who will perform River Myths in costume. Other participating musicians include Hector on Stilts, who will be performing a song entitled "The River" by John Hyatt; harpist Lynne Davis; singer Shirley Edgerton, who will perform "Wade in the Water;" and Ed Stander, who will perform the Pachebel Canon on water glasses. In addition, dancer/choreographer Stefanie Weber will present a world premiere of Eschun Exuvia, a interactive sculpture/performance based on the Yoruban water goddess Eschun and the role that dragonflies play in both the ecology of the Housatonic River and the tracking of pollution in it. In addition to music and performances, Housatonic River Initiative founder Tim Gray will read "A Letter from the Hopi Elders;" Michael Johnson will lead "Calling in Our Ancestors;" artist Susan Hartung will read "Water I Had Not Known You;" Sufi leader Aftab will lead a water dance; Reverend Gay Rahn will perform a water blessing; and Janice Wahita Young will lead attendees in a Buddhist blessing and chant. Longtime Pittsfield artist Edwin Treitler will read a poem written for the occasion entitled, "A Prayer for our Rivers." Treitler organized a celebration/ceremony for the Housatonic River in Pittsfield in the early 1980s that led to the establishment of Pittsfield's Fred Garner Park along the Housatonic.
Share
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Stockbridge Grange Community Dinner

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — The Stockbridge Grange is holding a community dinner on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, featuring spaghetti and meatballs, salad, and bread with dessert choices of chocolate cream or lemon meringue pie.
 
Dinner is $17.00 per person, take out only with 12-1:30 pm pick up at the Stockbridge Grange Hall at 51 Church Street, Stockbridge.  Orders may be made by calling 413-243-1298 or 413-443-4352. 
 
Inclement weather postpones the meal for a week.
View Full Story

More Stories

Sports
image description

Canes Reign in Division 5 Boys Basketball

Sports
Sports
image description

Hoosac Valley Boys Upset Drury in State Quarter-Finals

Sports
Sports
image description

Drury Comes Back on Hoosac Valley to Advance to State Semi-Finals

Sports
Sports
image description

Pittsfield Girls Get Back to Final Four

Sports
Sports
image description

Throwback Friday: Tonight's Hoosac-Drury Game Has Echoes of 2013

Sports
Sports
image description

Lee Girls Go 1-2-3 at Individual State Championships

Sports
Latest Stories
Previous Next

What's Trending?