MusicWorks Farewell Concert

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On Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 6:30 p.m., MusicWorks be holding its "Farewell and Thank to the Berkshires" concert. This festive evening will feature performances by members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Hawthorne String Quartet, Berkshire band "Shake and Bake" and artist Jim Schantz. MusicWorks and their supporters will celebrate 23 years of outstanding chamber concerts and music education programs in the Berkshires.

In June 2007, Mark Ludwig, founding director of MusicWorks, notified the board of MusicWorks of his decision to step down as artistic director. At a board meeting, he shared his decision to make the 2007-08 MW season his final year as director. Over this past season, the MusicWorks board was given the opportunity to decide whether to select a successor or conclude their participation in the Berkshires cultural calendar.

Mr. Ludwig stated: "We all feel that MusicWorks has been an extraordinary experience with a special history and spirit. We treasure that and want to celebrate it. I am spending more time in Europe with my expanded professional commitments to the Prague Spring Festival, as well as musical projects with the Terezín Chamber Music Foundation and the Hawthorne String Quartet. As founding artistic director, I am grateful to our board, the performing artists and the Berkshires community for supporting our programs over the years.

Over the past 23 years we have covered a lot of musical territory by commissioning chamber music works, premiering and uncovering lost and obscure repertoire, experimenting with a variety of education programs and concert programming, like "At First Sight" and the P.E.A.C.E. programs - not to mention some unforgettable experiences with Ned Rorem, Lukas Foss, Christopher Hogwood, Simone Dinnerstein, Stefan Jacki, Bob Jaffe, Jim Schantz, André Watts and the 140 plus artists that performed on over 150 MusicWorks concert and education programs.

And special thanks to the Hawthorne String Quartet for all they have given over the years on the concert stage and to the Berkshire schools. Perhaps most of all, I am thankful for the relationships that have grown from this 23 year period. The board and I decided that this merited a celebration."

Admission to this event for adults is $30 per person, and pre-registration is required. The evening event will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Barn at Stonover Farm in Lenox, MA. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Berkshire Music School. For further information, contact the MusicWorks information line at 413-698-2002 or see www.musicworksberkshires.org.
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A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.

Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business. 

"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality." 

Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.

"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."

After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.

Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.

"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."

The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.

"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."

Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.

"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.

Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.

"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.

The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.

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