Clark Art Airs Live Production of 'Carmen'

08:00AM / Monday, January 22, 2024Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. The Metropolitan Opera's broadcast production of "Carmen" airs at the Clark Art Institute on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 12:55 pm in the latest installment of the 2023–24 season of The Met: Live in HD.

The award-winning series of live, high-definition cinema simulcasts features the full live performance along with backstage interviews and commentary. The Clark broadcasts the opera in its auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.

According to a press release:

Acclaimed English director Carrie Cracknell reinvigorates the classic story, revealing at the heart of the drama issues that could not be more relevant today: gendered violence, abusive labor structures, and the desire to break through societal boundaries. Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina leads a quartet of stars in the volatile title role, alongside tenor Piotr Becza?a as Carmen's troubled lover Don?José, soprano Angel Blue as the loyal Micaëla, and bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen as the swaggering Escamillo. Daniele Rustioni conducts Bizet's heart-pounding score.

In conjunction with the broadcast, the Clark's Manton Study Center for Works on Paper hosts a special pop-up exhibition. The sampling of prints, drawings, and photographs set the stage for the show's reimagined setting of an industrial American town, and reinvigorated themes of the femme fatale, lust, and the dark sides of love. The pop-up exhibition is free and on view from 11 am to 1 pm on Jan. 27.

Tickets $25 ($22 members, $18 students, $5 children 15 and under). Advance registration encouraged; capacity is limited. To purchase tickets, visit clarkart.edu/events or call the box office at 413 458 0524.

No refunds.

Tags: Clark Art,

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Williamstown Housing Trust Agrees to Continue Emergency Mortgage, Rental Programs

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
04:14AM / Tuesday, December 30, 2025

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The board of the town's Affordable Housing Trust at its December meeting voted to extend its mortgage and rental assistance programs and discussed bringing in some consultants early next year before embarking on any new programs.

Chair Daniel Gura informed the board that its agreements with Pittsfield's Hearthway Inc., to administer the Williamstown Emergency Rental Assistance Program and Williamstown Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program was expiring at the end of the year.

Gura sought and obtained a vote of the board to extend the programs, born during the COVID-19 pandemic, through the end of January 2026, at which time the board plans to sign a new long-term agreement.

"In 2024, we distributed $80,000," through the programs known as WERAP and WEMAP, Gura said. "This year, to date, we gave $16,000, and Ihere's $17,000 left. … It's a little interesting we saw a dropoff from 2024 to 2025, although I think there were obvious reasons for that in terms of where we are in the world."

Gura suggested that the board might want to increase the funding to the programs, which benefit income-qualified town residents.

"If you look at the broader economic picture in this country, there's a prospect of more people needing help, not fewer people," Thomas Sheldon said in agreeing with Gura. "I think the need will bump up again."

The board voted to add an additional $13,000 to the amount available to applicants screened by Hearthway with the possibility of raising that funding if a spike in demand is seen.

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