North Adams Holiday Music Tour on Chase Hill
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Adams Holiday Music Tour on Sunday, Dec.10 includes a celebration of Hanukkah at The Floating Tower on Chase Hill.
The entire event is free.
Located at 1 Chase Hill, the property is a five-minute walk from downtown North Adams via Houghton Street
From 12 -1 PM, Chanan Ben Simone will lead the musical celebration. He is a composer and vocalist of Jewish Moroccan descent known in the mainstream pop music world as Ben Simone. This performance is made possible by the free artists' residencies offered to refugees and immigrants on site.
Floating Tower on Chase Hill features a giant, communal, oven called the "oyven," which will be used to prepare refreshments. Potato latkes and other Hanukkah fare will be served during the event. Mátti Kovler, artistic director for Floating Tower based in Brooklyn and, with his husband David Smythe, owner of Floating Tower on Chase Hill, recommends visitors come hungry as refreshments will be plentiful.
Since the summer of 2022, Floating Tower on Chase Hill has invited refugee and immigrant artists to residencies from a few days to a few weeks. Residencies are entirely free of charge to the artists and by invitation only. The residency program is partially funded through the rental of accommodations open to the public on the property.
The property is located in one of the oldest neighborhoods in North Adams and has a long and storied history. The mansion was built in 1870 for George Chase, superintendent of the Sampson Shoe Factory, the man who fired striking factory workers and brought in Chinese immigrants to replace them under a three-year contract. This is considered the birth of bringing in scab labor in response to striking workers. Later it was owned by other business leaders from companies such as Sprague Electric.
The immigrants, who in another time may have been workers in those factories, are now invited to create music and art while on retreat at the property.
