This is year 21 of the Berkshire Choral Festival. It was conceived and started in the early 1980s, a time bursting with new musical organizations around the Berkshires. Along with the Choral Festival, which has taken off in a big way, there is the Berkshire Opera, barely a few years younger, but not quite as fortunate, and also the Hawthorne Quartet, composed of Boston Symphony musicians and now part of Music Works.
Securely anchored at Sheffield’s Berkshire School, performances take place in the Rovensky Concert Shed — alias the sports arena — which is assuming more acoustical and visual parameters with the ongoing years.
The Festival is an outlet for enjoyment through song and appreciation of the great European and American choral literature. Annually over 1600 amateur choristers, many of them multiple repeaters, come together to study and perform outstanding choral literature under famous conductors and alongside outstanding vocal soloists. There are five working days, topped by the Saturday night performance.
Since Trudy Weaver Miller, long-time associate of the Festival and a professional singer herself, has assumed the managing directorship, a new facet known as PREP, (performance - related educational presentations) has been added. Each week a prominent musicologist gives enlightening talks on the performance of the evening. For the opening two weeks Steven Ledbetter, recent Boston Symphony programs annotator, explored the subject of “Fate and Fortune,†apropos Mozart’s idomeneo, Britten’s Peter Grimes and Orff’s Carmina Burana.
Other outstanding lecturers will be Scott Burnham of Princeton University, regarding “Haydn’s Golden Age;†Christopher Gibbs, University at Buffalo: speaking on “Verdi’s Final Miracle, the Four Sacred Pieces†and Daniel Beller-McKenna, University of New Hampshire, probing “To be Human, to be German†in connection with Brahms’ â€Ein Deutsches Requiem.â€
According to Trudy’s survey the addition is gaining in popularity. A backward look shows that in the early years all works performed were serious masterpieces by their composers, if not of religious nature. In time the Festival ran out of suitable material and had to decide between two options, either to repeat masses or to include more secular works, as a “Evening at the Opera,†the opening feature this season, and Carmina Burana, the highlight of week two. Scenes from Mozart and the Great Italian Operas followed the pattern of other opera evenings. A new idea of highlighting excerpts from Benjamin Britten’s great sea tragedy, “Peter Grimesâ€, was not quite as successful, because the chosen selections, taken out of context, were not as familiar as, take the “Anvil Chorusâ€, from Trovatore, for example, which needs no embroidery to stand and be appreciated on its own.
Choices are for a good part based on the amount of choral activity contained in a work, never on the measure of difficulty a chorister might encounter. To forestall any problems each singer is supplied with a study tape and expected to know his or her part prior to arrival for the week in Sheffield.
The final thrill for the performers comes with the addition of the Springfield Orchestra, faithful accompanying body of the Festival since day one, which arrives on Friday of each week.
The strength of an organization derives from continuous, perceptive leadership, which was supplied for the first decade by Executive Director, Mary H. Smith, a former administrator at Tanglewood and at the Juilliard School of Music. Together with the then Dean of Music, Charles Dodsley Walker, she built the annual performances to the point where a week in Canterbury, England, and a presentation at the venerable Cathedral became a reality. Having been there to witness the momentous occasion and to hear the Brahms Requiem there, it was not only glorious, it was the beginning of other foreign performances. The Berkshire Choral Festival now spends a week in Austria, along with a week in England and one in Santa Fe, N.M. Each year the Festival pays tribute to Mary’s work by dedicating a concert to her. She was so honored with this season’s first offering.
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Berkshire County Homes Celebrating Holiday Cheer
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
There's holiday cheer throughout the Berkshires this winter.
Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.
We asked the homeowners questions on their decorations and why they like to light up their houses.
In Great Barrington, Matt Pevzner has decorated his house with many lights and even has a Facebook page dedicated to making sure others can see the holiday joy.
Located at 93 Brush Hill Road, there's more than 61,000 lights strewn across the yard decorating trees and reindeer and even a polar bear.
The Pevzner family started decorating in September by testing their hundreds of boxes of lights. He builds all of his own decorations like the star 10-foot star that shines done from 80-feet up, 10 10-foot trees, nine 5-foot trees, and even the sleigh, and more that he also uses a lift to make sure are perfect each year.
"I always decorated but I went big during COVID. I felt that people needed something positive and to bring joy and happiness to everyone," he wrote. "I strive to bring as much joy and happiness as I can during the holidays. I love it when I get a message about how much people enjoy it. I've received cards thanking me how much they enjoyed it and made them smile. That means a lot."
Pevzner starts thinking about next year's display immediately after they take it down after New Year's. He gets his ideas by asking on his Facebook page for people's favorite decorations. The Pevzner family encourages you to take a drive and see their decorations, which are lighted every night from 5 to 10.
In North Adams, the Wilson family decorates their house with fun inflatables and even a big Santa waving to those who pass by.
The Wilsons start decorating before Thanksgiving and started decorating once their daughter was born and have grown their decorations each year as she has grown. They love to decorate as they used to drive around to look at decorations when they were younger and hope to spread the same joy.
"I have always loved driving around looking at Christmas lights and decorations. It's incredible what people can achieve these days with their displays," they wrote.
The Wilsons' invite you to come and look at their display at 432 Church St. that's lit from 4:30 to 10:30 every night, though if it's really windy, the inflatables might not be up as the weather will be too harsh.
In Pittsfield, Travis and Shannon Dozier decorated their house for the first time this Christmas as they recently purchased their home on Faucett Lane. The two started decorating in November, and hope to bring joy to the community.
"If we put a smile on one child's face driving by, then our mission was accomplished," they said.
Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.
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