Sage City Symphony to present Fall Concert November 14

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BENNINGTON, VT. — After a hiatus of more than a year due to the pandemic, on Sunday, Nov. 14, at 4:00 p.m. 
 
Sage City Symphony will present a Fall Concert at Greenwall Auditorium in the VAPA Building at Bennington College. Admission is free and open to all.  
 
The program will feature "Symphony No. 6 in F Major" ("Pastoral Symphony, or Recollections of Country Life"), by Ludwig van Beethoven; "Serenade in C minor" ("Nachtmusik") for wind octet, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; and "Piece for Strings" (1970), by Alison Nowak.
 
Covid Protocols: All current and evolving guidelines issued by the CDC, the State of Vermont, and Bennington College will be followed. Face masks and social distancing will be required ("pod" seating will be permitted), and proof of vaccination and ID will be requested at the door. In the event of a resurgence of Covid infection rates, postponement or cancellation of this concert will be posted on the symphony's website at www.SageCitySymphony.org.  
 
Bennington College alumna Alison Nowak has been a successful composer of vocal, chamber, and orchestral music and a violinist and teacher for many years. She was just four months old when her father, pianist and composer Lionel Nowak, joined the music faculty at Bennington College, where he remained for 45 years. Her own musical training started early, as did her inclination toward teaching (as a teenager she was music director at Trumbull Hill Camp in South Shaftsbury). 
 
She earned a BA in music from Bennington College, where she studied composition with Sage City Symphony founding music director Louis Calabro, as well as Henry Brant and Vivian Fine, and studied violin with Eric Rosenblith, Sylvia Rosenberg, and Jacob Glick. During this time she played with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.  
 
She went on to graduate school at Columbia University, where the composer Charles Wuorinen became her principal teacher. While earning her master's and doctoral degrees at Columbia, she worked as assistant to Otto Luening, who had taught at Bennington College in the very early years, from 1934-1942, and again from 1974-1975. She also was a founding member of the Composers Ensemble, a group of young composers who performed their own works in concert series at Carnegie Recital Hall, colleges, and other venues. 
 
Establishing New York City as her home base, she taught at the 92nd Street Y, The New School, and Columbia University Teachers College. She also was a coach at the Bennington Chamber Music Conference; she continues to coach chamber music privately. As a professional violinist, she played with the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra for more than 25 years, and in 1986 the GSO premiered her full orchestra piece, "Blend." 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 

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Companion Corner: Lucy at Second Chance Animal Shelter

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

ARLINGTON, Vt. — There is an excited and energetic pup looking for her new family.

iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.

Lucy is nearly 2 years old. She is a heeler/terrier mix with energy to spare. She has been at the Second Chance Animal Shelter since the summer.

We highlighted Lucy in June, but she is still looking for her forever family.

Lead canine care technician Alaura Lasher introduced us to her.

"She is a very energetic girl. She loves to play, and as you can see, she came to us from animal control," she said. 

Lucy was not in a great situation before coming to the shelter and they are still trying to learn more about her.

"They had seized her from a pretty neglectful situation. She was actually technically abandoned. She just came to us this last month, so she's still showing us all of her energy she has," Lasher said.

Lucy is able to go home with a dog-savvy cat and older children as she can be a bit jumpy with her bounds of energy.

"The perfect home for her is one that is able to give her a ton of attention and a ton of time playing, she loves her time outside," said Lasher. "She can run forever and not get tired. She can possibly live with another dog who is used to more of a pushy play style. She can be a little pushy when she plays, just because she's so hyper."

Since she is young, she is still learning and training with the staff and might need more with someone who takes her home.

"To the best of our knowledge, she's just a healthy young girl, because she's only a year and a half old, she still got a little bit of learning and training that she could use."

But Lucy is always happy to see anyone and immediately wants to play and say hi. Her endless energy makes her a great companion to play outside with and then hang out after a long day of fun.

"She's just a super sweet girl again. She'll need some help with the training, but as long as you've got time to burn out her energy, she'll make a great family dog," she said.

If you think Lucy might be the girl for you, reach out to Second Chance Animal Shelter and learn more about her on their website.

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