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Orchestra plays PITTSFIELD — As part of its summer event series, The Colonial Theatre will present a concert with Walden Chamber Players and the Pittsfield High School String Orchestra on Friday, June 4, at 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 55 Fenn St. The performance will be the culmination of a four-day residency the Walden Chamber Players have been conducting at the high school. Sponsors of the residency are General Electric, the Crowne Plaza hotel and the Pittsfield Cultural Council. The ensemble has worked with the Pittsfield String Orchestra under the direction of Alla Zernitskaya in both orchestra and chamber works, as well as conducting the award-winning educational program “Music and the Social Conscience” to history students. Tickets for the concert are $10 for adults; students are free. Tickets are available at the door or can be obtained at The Colonial Theatre, 448-8084 or www.thecolonialtheatre.org. A reception tat The Colonial Theater, 111 South St., to meet the artists will immediately follow the concert Reservations are required for the concert. Family Funfest PITTSFIELD — WGBY-TV, public television for western New England, will partner with the Berkshire Museum, 39 South St. (Route 7), for a day of family fun on Sunday, June 6, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Highlights will include a chance to meet several popular characters from WGBY Kids programs. Award-winning children’s entertainer David Grover will perform at 11:30 a.m. Mr. McFeely, the Speedy Delivery man, and his pal Purple Panda from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood will perform for two shows at 12:45 and 2:45. Maya, one of the cast members from WGBY’s pre-teen show “ZOOM,” will meet fans and talk about “ZOOM” throughout the day. Five-time Emmy-Award-winner Arthur the aardvark and Piggley Winks, the star of the new PBS Kids show “Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks,” will also be on hand. Berkshire Museum staff will read stories throughout the day in the galleries. Children’s book illustrator Robin Brickman will present a “wearable art” workshop featuring her creative collage technique. The event is free for museum members and WGBY Kids Club member families. General admission to the museum is $7.50 for adults, $6 for adults over age 65 and students with ID and $4.50 for children 3 to 18. Information: 443-7171, ext. 10. Artists’ reception LEE — The public is invited to a reception to meet the artists at Juice & Java Coffeehouse at 60 Main St., on Friday, June 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. Light complimentary refreshments will be served, and the food and beverage counter will be open for business. This is the third and final show of a series of spring exhibitions featuring artists studying with Gloria Malcolm Arnold. The June artists are Gloria Warren, Bunny Garofoli, Nancy Minkler, Mary Allard, Marie Buffoni, Eileen Riello, Jane Falcone, Nick Bobrovsky, Don Bilyeau, Aurie Walsh, Carole Ott and Helen Hinman. Oils and watercolors will be included. The exhibition will continue through June 30. Information concerning classes at 301 East Center St.: Arnold, 243-1169. CAC opening NORTH ADAMS — The Contemporary Artists Center has announced a trio of exhibitions, along with a public opening reception Saturday, June 5, from 7 to 10 p.m. The center will feature a solo exhibition of Brooklyn-based artist Eric Benson, a group exhibition, “Senior Element,” showcasing local artists and a solo exhibition of the late Eleanor “Siddy” Wilson. Benson is a painter whose techniques combine elements of the urban landscape and architecture. He begins by pouring acrylic paints onto sheets of glass. Once dried and solidified, he collages the sheets into larger compositions. His exhibit will on view through July 4. The “Senior Element” exhibit, held in honor of Wilson, will feature artistic talent found within an hour radius of the artists center. All medium were accepted, with one specific criteria: all artists must have qualified as a “senior” — a senior in high school, a senior in college or above the age of 65. It was sponsored by the Massachusetts Local Cultural Council and will be on view until July 11. The Project Space at the center will showcase the work of Wilson in “Natural Order,” a small retrospective of her work. Wilson was fascinated by quantum physics and the scientific theories pointing to patterns and order found in a seemingly chaotic natural world. Her work combines op-art, and formalist techniques to produce visually rhythmic and beautiful works. Her work will be on display until June 20. The local band, The Burdens, will perform in the galleries during the opening reception, beginning at 8:30 p.m. The CAC is at 189 Beaver St., in the historic Beaver Mill. Summer hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 11 to 5 and Sunday, noon to 5. Information: 663-9555 or info@thecac.org. Hilltown Folk SHELBURNE FALLS — Mark Erelli and his band will play a split bill with the California “newgrass” band, The Waybacks’ at Memorial Hall on Sunday, June 6, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance, $17 at the door. Children under 18 are half price. Information: Hilltown Folk, 413-625-2580. The Mark Erelli Band plays honky-tonk and western swing. The Waybacks’ quintet of fast-pickin’ guitar, mandolin, fiddle, double bass, brushy drums and zany humor has been described as wild, energetic and unpredictable. Frost series SOUTH SHAFTSBURY, Vt. — The Friends of Robert Frost will open its 2004 “Sunday Afternoons with Robert Frost” series at the Robert Frost Stone House Museum on Sunday, June 6, at 3 p.m. with guest speaker Joseph Parisi of Chicago. The free talk is entitled “Poetry Magazine and the Making of Modernism.” Parisi retired last summer after 20 years as the editor of the magazine, the longest-lived literary journal in the country, which celebrated its 85th anniversary in 2002. He joined the staff in 1976, and was appointed its 10th editor in 1983. He also served as executive director of the magazine’s parent organization, the Modern Poetry Association (now The Poetry Foundation). His 27-year tenure with the magazine marked the longest after that of its founder, Harriet Monroe. Frost and Monroe enjoyed a long personal friendship based on their mutual fondness and respect for each other, as well as a shared love of poetry. Throughout his writing career, Frost published poems first in Poetry Magazine, works that were later included in his collected works. Parisi will speak on the relationship between Frost and the magazine and will examine some of Frost’s poems in light of the development of modernism in American poetry. The talk will be held in the newly restored little red barn at museum on Route 7A in South Shaftsbury, where Frost lived with his family from 1920 to 1929. After the talk, refreshments will be served. Guests are invited to tour the museum at no charge and to view the newest exhibit, “The Flowers of Robert Frost,” which also will open June 6. The show traces Frost’s lifelong interest in botany. As a high-school student, he read Charles Darwin’s “Voyage of the Beagle,” which left a lasting impression on the poet’s perceptions of the natural world. Frost was famous for his “botanizing” walks through the broad New England landscape, but especially around his own farmland and woods. He created a host of poems incorporating his observations about flowers, trees, weather and the changing seasons. He once said, “I like flowers — and I like ’em wild.” Information Carole Thompson at the museum, 802-447-6200. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 to 5. Play reading STOCKBRIDGE — Berkshire Theatre Festival’s Unicorn Theatre will open its season with a reading of Maureen Hunter’s “Atlantis,” featuring Kate Maguire and Eric Hill, on Friday, June 4 at 8 p.m. The erotic play is about a passionate encounter between a broken-hearted Canadian and the woman who the villagers believe is the Madonna. BTF Executive Director Maguire, who is of Greek descent, said she was delighted when Hunter’s play “Atlantis” arrived on her desk last fall. Maguire, who is celebrating her 10th anniversary at the festival, produced Hunter’s “The Transit of Venus,” the first Canadian play ever staged by Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company, in 1998 with Marin Hinkle in the leading role. Composer Scott Killian, who wrote the music for “The Transit of Venus,” has also composed the score for “Atlantis,” and Dennis Garnhum directs. Garnhum has directed at Canada’s Stratford Festival for the past three seasons and at the Shaw Festival for six seasons. Killian is a well-known composer. At BTF, his work has been heard in “Moby Dick-Rehearsed,” “Crucifer of Blood,” “Peter Pan” and “Awake and Sing,” among other plays. Tickets are $50 each and include a reception with the playwright after the performance. Reservations: Kathleen Richards, 298-5536, ext. 12. Recital series PITTSFIELD — The Collegium Vocale will appear in the Third Spring Recital series at Sunday, June 6, at 7:30 p.m. in St. Mary’s Church, R.C., on Tyler St. The recital, hosted by the Rev. Paul A. Bombardier, pastor, will feature early music for voices and lute by John Dowland and others. Performing will be members of the Five College Early Music Collegium, Catherine Bell, soprano; Doris Goldman, alto; Karl Zimmerman, baritone; Bombardier, bass; and Ben Nicholson, lute. The public is invited. A free-will offering will be received at the door. The suggested donation of $5 will benefit the parish's pipe organ repair fund. Light refreshments will be served after the performance. The church has parking near the door and is accessible to the handicapped. Information: Thomas P. Frost, 443-1138. Summer poetry PITTSFIELD — Art In The Park will present an evening of poetry, "Summer Is Upon Us!" on Friday, June 4, at 7 p.m. at Springside House (the white house at Springside Park), 874 North St. The free event will feature readings of works, personal and well known. Poets may bring poems to read. Refreshments will be served. Information: hosts Elizabeth Kulas, 443-5348, or Bud Hoover, 443-1322. Art In The Park is a nonprofit organization which exists to further the enjoyment of the arts in Berkshire County, in cooperation with the city Parks Commission, Department of Community Services/Parks and Recreation and The Hebert Arboretum. River art GREAT BARRINGTON — The Geoffrey Young Gallery will feature local artists in “STREAM lines,” June 10 through June 24. In conjunction with other Great Barrington galleries, the opening reception will take place on Saturday, June 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 40 Railroad St., second floor. The public is welcome. The show will present many of the artists whose work is contained in the newly published book, “Art and the River.” The publication highlights the influence of the Housatonic River on local artists. There will be a book party for “Art & the River” at the closing of the show, on Thursday, June 24, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Gallery hours in June are Thursday through Sunday, 11 to 5. Information: 528-6210. Artists in the show will include Emily Buchanan, Joan Griswold, Gabrielle Senza, Ann Getsinger, Pat Hogan, Helen Nichols Jacobs, Erica Child Prud'homme, June Parker, Margot Trout, Morgan Bulkeley, Bart Elsbach, Frank Federico, Warner Friedman, Donald Jurney, David McCandless, Geoffrey Moss, Philip Knoll, Jim Schantz and James Welling. “Art and the River” contains essays by Nancy Goldberger, Maureen Hickey, Erik Bruun, Rachel Fletcher, George Wislocki, Morgan Bulkeley Sr., and Geoffrey Young. Shaker Village PITTSFIELD — Hancock Shaker Village has invited local residents to discover the Shakers' City of Peace by offering free admission June 7-13 to anyone who lives in Berkshire and Columbia counties. To receive free admission, visitors should bring proof of residency. Complimentary admission applies to the resident only and is not valid for schools or other groups. Visitors can explore the 1,200-acre original Shaker Village, 20 historic buildings housing the premier collection of Shaker artifacts. In original workshops, crafts artisans demonstrate traditional crafts and trade, such as oval box making, weaving, basket making and cheese and butter making. Activities for children abound throughout the village and farm. In the Discovery Room, children (and adults) can try on Shaker-style clothing, milk Maryjane, a life-size replica of a Holstein cow, or try spinning and weaving. The exhibition “Hands to Work and Hearts to God: Arts and Crafts of American Utopias,” explores the arts and crafts of American communal societies. Featured are rarely-seen artifacts from the villages of Old Economy, Pa.; Zoar, Ohio; New Harmony, Ind.; Bishop Hill, Ill.; Amana, Iowa; Oneida, N.Y.; Bethel, Mo.; Aurora, Ore. and Hancock Shaker Village. The village is on Route 20, just west of the junction of Routes 20 and 41. The village, Museum Store and Café are open daily from 9:30 to 5. Triple Play SANDISFIELD – The trio of Chris Brubeck, Joel Brown and Peter “Madcat” Ruth will return to the Sandisfield Arts Center in a performance to benefit the Bill Crofut Arts Fund for Children on Saturday, June 5 at 8 p.m. Known as Triple Play, the group plays folk, blues, jazz and classical music. The trio has toured and recorded together in various combinations since 1969, first as young rock musicians, then as jazz musicians with Dave Brubeck. More recently it has performed Chris Brubeck’s symphonic arrangements with orchestras across the United States. In 2001, his “Concerto for Bass Trombone” was played by the Boston Pops and nationally televised on the PBS series, “Evening at Pops.” Guitarist Brown is artist-in-residence at Skidmore College and appears as concerto soloist with orchestras such as the Hartford Symphony and the Martinu Chamber Orchestra. Ruth has established an international reputation for his expertise on the hamonica. Performance Magazine referred to him as “A Harmonica virtuoso who is rapidly approaching legend status.” Brubeck plays electric bass, bass trombone, and piano. All three musicians performed with the late Bill Crofut over the last several decades. In 1992, their recording “Red, White & Blues” won Album of the Year at the Berkshire Music Awards. Tickets are $20 at the door. The Sandisfield Arts Center is on Hammertown Road off Route 57. Known for its historic significance (it was once a Baptist Meeting House and orthodox synagogue) it is now appreciated for its original architecture, great acoustics and small-town charm. Information: 258-4994 or www.sandisfieldartscenter.org. Dance production CAMBRIDGE, N.Y. — The Hubbard Hall Dance Program will present “The Legend of the Selkie,” a dance and theater production inspired by the music and stories of the Celtic culture, on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, June 10, 11 and 12, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, June 13, at 3 p.m. at 25 East Main St. The production will feature students of the program and young actors from the community, under the dance direction of Laura Gates Carlson and theater direction of Mariah Sanford-White. It will feature choreography by Jacques Burgering, Laura Gates Carlson, Heidi Knecht-Seegers, Rosemary Campbell Miller and Mariah Sanford-White. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for members and $5 for students and children. Reservations: 518-677-2495. Information: www.hubbardhall.org. Gallery exhibits GREAT BARRINGTON — Haddad Lascano Gallery has announced its upcoming exhibits for June 10 through July 11. Exhibiting painters will include Warner Friedman, Edward Avedisian, and Robert Cronin. A reception for the artists will take place on Saturday June 12, from 6 to 8 p.m., and the public is welcome. The painting styles of Friedman, Avedisian and Cronin are quite different, but the three artists share one common attribute: plenty of experience. All have passed the 60-year mark and have countless exhibits under their belts. Friedman paints architectural landscapes, Cronin paints romantic narratives, and Avedisian paints a bit of both, documenting life in his small rural town. Also exhibiting will be New York photographer Jefferson Hayman, showing still lifes and surreal airships floating over New York City. Hayman works exclusively in black and white and frames all his work in antique frames. Haddad Lascano Gallery is at 297 Main St. It is open daily from 11 to 5, closed Tuesday. Information: 528-0471. Rockwell exhibit STOCKBRIDGE — Forty years ago, Norman Rockwell immortalized a young girl's courageous walk to school escorted by four, armed U.S. marshals following the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education landmark ruling in 1954 ordering the integration of public schools. The 6-year-old Ruby Bridges was the first African-American child to enter a formerly all-white school in the history of the American South. Inspired by her story, Norman Rockwell painted his now iconic illustration, "The Problem We All Live With," for Look magazine. On June 5, at the opening reception for a new exhibition at the Norman Rockwell Museum, Ruby Bridges will encounter the original Rockwell painting that was based on her experience. The exhibition "Hometown Hero, Citizen of the World: Rockwell in Stockbridge will be on view from June 5 to Oct. 31 at the museum. It will be the final exhibit in a critically acclaimed three-part series organized by the museum about Rockwell's life, art and the communities in which he lived. The exhibition, containing more than 60 original artworks, is divided into five parts: "Rockwell and The Post: 1953 to 1963," "Space, Race and Society," "Our Town," "Beyond the Studio," including travels sketches from trips Rockwell took to India and Russia, and "Anatomy of Murder In Mississippi." There are 16 paintings from private and public lenders, including the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Columbus Museum of Art, Berkshire Historical Society, the Collection of the Stockbridge Library Association and the collection of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Fitzpatrick. The exhibition contains rarely seen paintings such as "Mermaid" (1955), "The Oculist" (1956), "Red Sox Locker Room" (1957), "Easter Morning" (1959), "Window Washer" (1960) and "The Connoisseur" (1962). The exhibition has been sponsored by Berkshire Bank. The Norman Rockwell Museum is celebrating its 35th anniversary season. Bridges is a nationally known lecturer and educator. Following the presentation, she will sign copies of her books. Tickets are $50 ($35 for museum members). Hors d'oeuvres, desserts and beverages will be served. Reservations and information: 298-4100, ext. 221. Folk concert PITTSFIELD — Bernice Lewis will perform at Common Grounds Coffee House on Saturday, June 5, at 8 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 55 Fenn St. Lewis is a new-folk songwriter who draws her inspiration from traditional folk, blues, pop, country, jazz and world-beat influences. She studied vocal improvisation with Bobby McFerrin and guitar technique with Alex DeGrassi and Guy van Duser. She has been a featured performer on National Public Radio's "Mountain Stage" program and was a finalist in the 1987 New Folk Songwriting Contest at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas. Her new ballad, “Bridges That Hold,” was included in PBS-TV’s “Lifelines” documentary starring Peter, Paul and Mary. Lewis, a Boston native, lives in Williamstown, where she is an adjunct member of the faculty at Williams College. She is also on the faculty at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, N.Y., where she teaches songwriting, singing and yoga. Common Grounds Coffee House presents folk music on the first Saturday of each month and offers a selection of gourmet coffees, flavored teas, soft drinks and desserts. Proceeds support church programs, including Harvest Table, a weekly community dinner served on Tuesdays at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Advance tickets will be available at the church or the day of the performance beginning at 4 p.m. Information and tickets: Kim Kie, 499-0866, ext. 15 or kim.fumc@verizon.net. Little Cinema PITTSFIELD — The Berkshire Museum has announced a Little Cinema special event for families, “Madeleine L’Engle on Film” on Saturday, June 5, featuring two films made by award-winning filmmaker and Miss Hall’s School 1959 graduate Martha Wheelock. The afternoon will begin at 3 with a showing of “Ring of Endless Light,” a Disney Channel original movie based on the children’s book by L’Engle, for which Wheelock served as an executive producer. A viewing of a short documentary on L’Engle’s life by Wheelock, “Star*Gazer,” will follow at 5:15. Wheelock will answer questions after a reception break between the films. She will also be available after the documentary to talk more about her filmmaking process. A Berkshire County native who now lives in Studio City, Calif., Wheelock teaches at the Harvard-Westlake School and makes films through her production company, Ishtar Films. Tickets for the “Madeleine L’Engle on Film” are members: $4 adults, $2 children; non-members: $7 adults, $4 children. Information: 443-7171, ext. 10. Make soundtracks NORTH ADAMS — The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and Northern Berkshire Creative Arts will offer children an opportunity to create a movie soundtrack on Saturday, June 12, at 1 p.m. Eric Buddington, a string musician, and Sara Farrell, director of Northern Berkshire Creative Arts, will lead children in creating and decorating stringed instruments. Participants will then use their instruments to make new soundtracks for popular films. “Music and the Movies: Creating Film Soundtracks” will take place in Mass MoCA’s rehearsal hall and is open to children age 6 and up. The mission of Northern Berkshire Creative Arts (NBCA) is to provide a broad range of studio classes in the creative arts, both traditional and contemporary, to all members of the Northern Berkshires and surrounding communities. Starting June 28, NBCA will offer a full range of summer camps and classes in the creative arts running through Aug. 14. Information: 663-8338 or e-mail sfarrell@nbcreativearts.org. Saturday events for children at Mass MoCA are sponsored by Berkshire Bank. Admittance to the Music and the Movies workshop is free with museum admission, which is $10 for adults, $4 for children between 6 and 16 and free for children under 6. Admission is free for members. Space is limited, and advance reservations are required, even for members. Reservations: box office, off Marshall Street, 10 to 6 daily, 662-2111 during box office hours or online at www.massmoca.org. ‘Summer’ paintings CHATHAM, N.Y. — “Summer,” a solo exhibition of new paintings by James Meyer, opened at Weber Fine Art on May 27 and will run through June 30. There will be a cocktail reception with the artist on Saturday, June 12, from 5 to 7 p.m., and the public is invited. Meyer, of Lakeville, Conn., is well known for his expressive paintings of children engaged in imaginative games. The folly of tug-of-war or hide and seek suggest metaphors for the deeper meanings of life, which the artist explores in mythical and dreamlike narrative abstractions. Meyer paints in two spontaneous mediums, watercolor and encaustic, and sometimes spends up to a year thinking about any given image. He exhibits his work nationally and internationally and is represented in major museum collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery. His work is also represented in important private collections worldwide, such as Charles Sachhi of London, Anders Tornberg of Sweden, and Larry Gogasian of New York. Weber Fine Art is at 8 Park Row. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday from 10 to 5 and by appointment. Information: 518-392-5335. Adams exhibit BENNINGTON, Vt. — The Bennington Museum will celebrate the opening of a solo exhibition by local painter Pat Adams on Friday, June 4, beginning at 5:30 p.m. A reception for “Small Works” by Adams will follow a brief lecture and reading related to the arts in Bennington and will be part of the opening ceremonies for Bennington's June Arts Celebration. The lecture and reading is at 5:30, and the reception will begin shortly after 6. Adams, a resident of Old Bennington, taught at Bennington College from 1964 to 1993 and at the Yale School of Art from 1971 to 1995. Among her many honors are a Fulbright Scholarship and two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as awards from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and the National Academy of Design. In 1995, she received the Vermont Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, and in 1984, she was honored for the Distinguished Teaching of Art award by the College Art Association. Adams' work, a mix of abstraction and geometric form enlivened by subtle attention to texture and color, has won a following among critics and collectors. She exhibits widely and holds a regular biannual solo show in New York. The June Arts Celebration's first weekend will unfold with dance, music and other activities, the first of four consecutive weekends in the downtown devoted to the arts and their place in the community. Information: Better Bennington Corp., 802-442-5758. The Bennington Museum is at 75 Main St. (Route 9), 1 mile west of the intersection of Routes 7 and 9 downtown. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Oct. 31 and until 5 p.m. after Oct. 31. Information: www.benningtonmuseum.org or 802-447-1571. Opening lecture BENNINGTON, Vt.— Alex Aldrich, executive director of the Vermont Arts Council, will open this weekend’s “Arts Celebration” with a talk on “The Creative Economy” on Friday, June 4, at 5:30 p.m. The program is a coordinated initiative throughout the Northeast, encouraging the use of culture and the arts to revitalize communities. Following Aldrich will be writer and journalist Michael Kernan, who will read from his novel-in-progress that focuses on the Battle of Bennington. The scene he will read takes place in the shadow of today's Old First Church and museum. Kernan, a former newspaper editor and writer for The Washington Post, retired to the area recently with his wife, Margot, a photographer, filmmaker and teacher and a graduate of Bennington College. A reception will follow. Music performance BENNINGTON, Vt. - Students from the Bennington Music School will perform for the public on Saturday, June 5, at the Bennington Museum at 3 p.m. as part of the downtown June Arts Celebration. The mission of the nonprofit Bennington Music School is to provide quality, accessible music instruction to Bennington, Renssalaer and Northern Berkshire counties. Since it opened in September, the music school has grown to 150 students and has eight faculty members. The main campus of the school is on North Street in Bennington, with satellite locations in Williamstown and North Adams, Mass. In addition to fall and spring semesters, the Bennington Music School also offers a complete summer program, which includes private lessons, early childhood camps and classes, teen workshops and ensembles, and an adult guitar class. All ages and levels are encouraged. Financial aid and scholarships are available. Information: 802 447 4719 or www.benningtonmusicschool.org. Classical music BENNINGTON, Vt. — As part of the downtown Bennington “June Arts Celebration,” local artists will offer “An Evening of Classical Music” on Saturday, June 5, at 7:30 p.m. at the Second Congregational Church on Hillside Avenue. The three-part program will feature Lee Rutan and Raymond Willard performing duets for piano and clarinet, including works of Henri Rabaud, Carl Maria von Weber, Richard Wagner and more. A series of works for classical guitar will be performed by Eric Despard. The third part of the program will be a performance by the Oblong Wind Quintet, comprising Lisa Smolen-Jenkins, flute; Joanne Nelson, oboe; Raymond Willard, clarinet; John Howland, French horn; and Zafer Leo Ponter, bassoon. The Wind Quintet will perform works by J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart, Vincent Persichetti and Scott Joplin. The church is fully accessible to persons with disabilities. The concert is free and the public is welcome. Bell ringers PITTSFIELD — The Berkshire Bells, an ecumenical group of local hand-bell ringing aficionados from the Berkshire County area, is gathering for its second season and is seeking new members. The group will practice weekly at St. Mark's Church on West Street Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 beginning on June 10 and continuing throughout the summer. It will play a series of scheduled concerts in late summer and early fall. The group's director, Jeff Hunt, assistant organist at St. Mark's, organist at St. Mary's in Pittsfield, and organist and choirmaster at Trinity Parish in Lenox, has been ringing for over 30 years in various groups and has directed the Bell Choir at St. Mark's for over 10 years. The Berkshire Bells offers an opportunity for ringers of all abilities to participate in an intensive series of practices, leading to performance of an advanced level of bell repertoire. Beginners of all ages are welcome. Some music reading ability is required and training is ongoing. Substitute ringers are needed, allowing the group to always have at least 11 ringers. Observers and family members are welcome as well. Concert dates and locations will be announced as the summer progresses. Last year, the Berkshire Bells presented concerts in Stockbridge, Pittsfield, Adams and North Adams in August and September. Information: Hunt, 499-7320 or e-mail Jeffcomusic1@aol.com to reserve a place in the group. Wanted: Gremio CAMBRIDGE, N.Y. – The Theatre Company at Hubbard Hall is seeking a Gremio for its summer touring production of Shakespeare’s comic romp, “The Taming of the Shrew,” which will run July 15-25. The part, a suitor to the shrew’s sister, Bianca, calls for a mature character actor, age 50 to 60, Equity or non-Equity, and at home with blank verse. Rehearsals will commence June 21. Interested actors should send a resume to the attention of Kevin McGuire, Hubbard Hall, 25 E. Main St., Cambridge, NY 12816. The production team, headed by director Martin Platt, will contact those invited to audition. Information about the Gremio auditions and “Shrew” production: 518-677-2495. General information: www.hubbardhall.org.
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Dalton Announces New Supplier for Energy Program

DALTON, Mass. – The Town of Dalton has signed a thirty-four month contract with a new supplier, First Point Power.
 
Beginning with the January 2026 meter reads, the Dalton Community Choice Power Supply Program will have a new rate of $0.13042 per kWh. The Program will also continue to offer an optional 100 percent green product, which is derived from National Wind Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), at a rate of $0.13142 per kWh.
 
For Dalton residents and businesses who are enrolled in the Town's Program, the current rate of $0.13849 per kWh will expire with the January 2026 meter reads and the new rate of $0.13042 per kWh will take effect. This represents a decrease of $5 per month on the supply side of the bill given average usage of 600 kWh. Additionally, this new rate is 3 percent lower than Eversource's Residential Basic Service rate of $0.13493 per kWh. Residents can expect to see an
average savings of $3 per month for the month of January 2026. Eversource's Basic Service rates
will change on Feb. 1, 2026.
 
Dalton launched its electricity program in January 2015 in an effort to develop an energy program that would be stable and affordable. From inception through June 2025, the Program has saved residents and small businesses over $1.7 million in electricity costs as compared to Eversource Basic Service.
 
It is important to note that no action is required by current participants. This change will be seen on the February 2026 bills. All accounts currently enrolled in the Program will remain with their current product offering and see the new rate and First Point Power printed under the "Supplier Services" section of their monthly bill.
 
The Dalton Community Choice Power Supply Program has no fees or charges. However, anyone switching from a contract with a third-party supplier may be subject to penalties or early termination fees charged by that supplier. Ratepayers should verify terms before switching.
 
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