BMS Announces Talent and Merit Scholarship Auditions

01:14PM / Friday, February 25, 2022Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Music School continues its enhanced scholarship program to support musicians of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience.

For the 2022-2023 academic year, BMS will offer increased need-based financial aid for private lessons, as well as competitive talent- and merit-based scholarships to attract the most talented and promising musicians in the region.

Students accepted into BMS Talent & Merit Scholarship Program will benefit from: financial assistance (up to 100 percent tuition); invitations to participate in masterclasses with guest artists; audition coaching and workshops; complimentary tickets to performances at BMS and other venues; and performance opportunities throughout the Berkshires including individual and group recitals.

In the 2021-2022 academic year, Berkshire Music School awarded more than $24,000 in need-based financial aid and merit-based scholarships to 24 students, including full-tuition scholarships to 9 students. BMS Trustee Cecylia Arzewski comments on the profundity of the program.

"As a former member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a jurist of the International Bach Competition," Arzewski says, "I am very excited about finding and supporting the most talented students in our region and providing them with a musically rich environment in which to develop their skills at the Berkshire Music School."

Auditions will be held by appointment on Saturday, April 9 beginning at 10am for a panel of professional musicians. Auditions are open to the entire community, and musicians do not have to be a current BMS student to be considered. BMS encourages people of all ages and diverse backgrounds to audition for these scholarships.

For the audition, instrumentalists (other than guitar) should be prepared to perform the following: major and minor scales in two or more octaves, as requested by the panel; etude of musician's choice; movement from a sonata or a movement from a concerto, or comparable piece.

Guitarists should be prepared to perform major and minor scales in two or more octaves, as requested by the panel, as well as two songs of your choice in contrasting styles showing your ability to play chord progressions, picking techniques, and soloing/improvisation.

Vocalists should be prepared to sing two songs in contrasting styles, one of which in a foreign language. Instrumentalists should be prepared to perform without accompaniment; vocalists may perform to pre-recorded accompaniment that they provide. BMS will not be providing an accompanist.

Each audition will last 5- 7 minutes. To make an appointment, musicians should submit their audition requests to Executive Director Natalie Johnsonius Neubert at nneubert@berkshiremusicschool.org and include their training and performance background as well as a letter of recommendation from someone familiar with their work as a musician.

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Pittsfield Housing Project Adds 37 Supportive Units and Collective Hope

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:01PM / Monday, December 29, 2025

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— A new chapter in local efforts to combat housing insecurity officially began as community leaders and residents gathered at The First on to celebrate a major expansion of supportive housing in the city.

The ribbon was cut on Thursday Dec. 19, on nearly 40 supportive permanent housing units; nine at The First, located within the Zion Lutheran Church, and 28 on West Housatonic Street. The Housing Resource Center, funded by Pittsfield's American Rescue Plan Act dollars, hosted a celebration for a project that is named for its rarity: The First.

"What got us here today is the power of community working in partnership and with a shared purpose," Hearthway CEO Eileen Peltier said.

In addition to the 28 studio units at 111 West Housatonic Street and nine units in the rear of the church building, the Housing Resource Center will be open seven days a week with two lounges, a classroom, a laundry room, a bathroom, and lockers.

Erin Forbush, ServiceNet's director of shelter and housing, challenged attendees to transform the space in the basement of Zion Lutheran Church into a community center. It is planned to operate from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. year-round.

"I get calls from folks that want to help out, and our shelters just aren't the right spaces to be able to do that. The First will be that space that we can all come together and work for the betterment of our community," Forbush said.

"…I am a true believer that things evolve, and things here will evolve with the people that are utilizing it."

Earlier that day, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus joined Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and her team in Housatonic to announce $33.5 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funding, $5.45 million to Berkshire County.

He said it was ambitious to take on these two projects at once, but it will move the needle. The EOHLC contributed more than $7.8 million in subsidies and $3.4 million in low-income housing tax credit equity for the West Housatonic Street build, and $1.6 million in ARPA funds for the First Street apartments.

"We're trying to get people out of shelter and off the streets, but we know there are a lot of people who are couch surfing, who are living in their cars, who are one paycheck away from being homeless themselves," Augustus said.

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