The Sandisfield Arts Center will be presenting Maggie Holtzberg

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Maggie Holtzberg
The Sandisfield Arts Center will be presenting Maggie Holtzberg on Fiddle with Mitch Nelin on bouzouki on Saturday, June 3 at 8:00pm. An evening of traditional dance tunes from Ireland, the Shetland Islands, and Scandinavia awaits those who hear this exciting duo. Ms. Holtzberg's masterful technique on the fiddle is accompanied by the wealth of sounds produced by the ringing strings of Mr. Nelin's long-neck bouzouki. Adventurous instrumentation and their experienced musicianship are sure to produce a rousing performance in the intimate Lower Level Café. Ms. Holtzberg started playing classical violin as a youngster, but by age 14 she was fiddling in a square dance band and competing in New England fiddle contests. Later, she set out to learn from master fiddler Tom Anderson in the Shetland Islands, as well as Irish fiddlers in New York City. Soon after, she joined the highly successful Irish group, How to Change a Flat Tire. The band performed throughout the U.S. and recorded two albums. During the 1980s, she performed and recorded four albums with the internationally-known Bill Crofut and Ben Luxon. In 1995, Ms. Holtzberg organized and toured throughout Northern Ireland with the Georgia Firecrackers, a group of southern Appalachian musicians and then went on to perform with The Flexible Flyers Stringband. She is also Manager of the Folk Arts & Heritage Program at the Massachusetts Cultural Council. As a folklorist, she works closely with traditional artists and communities through documentary field work, grant programs and technical assistance. Mitch Nelin has performed professionally since 1971, on multiple instruments including bass, bouzouki, and mandocello. He has appeared at such venues as Boston's Symphony Hall, Club Passim in Cambridge, The Bitter End in Greenwich Village, and many other clubs, festivals, and concert halls with bands in styles ranging from bluegrass, old-time and western swing to jazz, blues and rock. On display in the Gallery will be the paintings of Louis J. Mazzotta. The Sandisfield Arts Center is located on Hammertown Road off Route 57 in Sandisfield. Once a Baptist meeting house and orthodox synagogue, the historic 1839 building now serves as a non-profit community arts center known for its country charm and wonderful acoustics. Sandisfield is approximately 25 minutes east of Gt. Barrington, MA, north of Winsted, CT, and just south of Becket, MA. Tickets are $20 and free to children 12 and under. For more information or reservations call (413) 258-4100 or visit www.sandisfieldartscenter.org. Patrons are encouraged to bring non-perishable foods, and/or items of personal care (i.e. shampoo, soap, etc.) as donations to the People's Pantry food bank.
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Wahconah Students Join Statewide 'SOS' Call for Rural School Funding

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

DALTON, Mass. — Students at Wahconah Regional High School are urging the state to fully fund Rural School Aid that supports essential services that shape their future.
 
Rural districts across the state participated in Rural and Declining Enrollment Schools Week of Action to insist Beacon Hill fully fund rural aid at $60 million. 
 
Schools across Massachusetts sent their pleas for aid to lawmakers through letter-writing campaigns, sign-making, and coordinated gatherings where students and educators formed the letters "SOS."

Wahconah students did something different — they created an educational video detailing the need for increased funding for rural schools with the school's music teacher Brian Rabuse, who edited the video, Assistant Superintendent Aaron Robb said. 

The advocacy efforts move the issue from spreadsheets to show the human cost of a funding formula previously described as "remarkably wrong." 
 
During an interview with iBerkshires, students expressed how districts without rural aid would have to make reductions in world language programing, mental health support, extracurricular opportunities, and other areas they find essential. 
 
"Our students deserve the same quality of education as any child in Massachusetts, regardless of their ZIP code," Superintendent Mike Henault said in a press release.
 
"The week of action is an opportunity for our communities to come together and make it clear to Beacon Hill that the status quo is no longer acceptable." 
 
Rural schools attempt to create the same quality education as urban and suburban areas while balancing high fixed costs of transportation and operations of geographically large, low-population districts.
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