BAAMS Brass and Vocals Workshop

11:16AM / Wednesday, May 15, 2024Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Berkshires' Academy for Advanced Musical Studies (BAAMS) will hold trombone and brass, and vocals workshop featuring Steve Davis and Abena Koomson-Davis.

This opportunity will take place at the BAAMS academy in North Adams, MA, located at Building 6 in the Heritage State Park on Saturday, May 18, from 11 am to 1:30 pm.

Steve Davis is a highly esteemed trombonist known for his exceptional contributions to jazz music. With a background that includes graduating from The Hartt School's Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz in '89, Davis has made significant waves in the music scene. He has collaborated with jazz legends such as Art Blakey, Chick Corea, and Freddie Hubbard, among others. His extensive discography and performances at prestigious venues worldwide underscore his mastery of the trombone and his enduring influence in the jazz genre.

Abena Koomson-Davis, an accomplished vocalist, educator, and performer, will also be part of this workshop. Her versatile musical background encompasses jazz, afrobeat, and choral singing, showcased through performances with Stevie Wonder, Carly Simon, and Natalie Merchant, to name a few. Abena's role as the lead vocalist of Van Davis and her contributions to the Resistance Revival Chorus highlight her multifaceted musical journey and dedication to her craft.

The workshop, open to ages 10 and up, offers a chance for aspiring musicians to learn from these industry stalwarts. The tuition fee is $40, with BAAMS matriculated students eligible for free attendance. Participants are encouraged to bring their trombones or brass instruments.

Additionally, musicians Richard Boulger, Dario Boente, Tony Lewis, and Alex Blake will be part of the workshop.

The evening culminates in a performance by Steve and Abena, accompanied by the BAAMS Faculty Band at Studio 9.

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North Adams School Project Awards $51M Bid

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
05:10AM / Friday, February 13, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The School Building Committee has awarded the Greylock School project to Fontaine Bros. Inc. of Springfield.

Mayor Jennifer Macksey said she could "breathe a little better" with a bid contract that comes in nearly $2 million under budget.

The committee approved a bid of $50,498,544 on Thursday night that includes two alternates — the rebuild of the Appalachian Trail kiosk and the relocation and reconstruction of the baseball field.

"I will say, all in all, for us to have overall the number of bidders that we had interested in our project, and especially to receive the GC bids that we did, the team Colliers and TSKP certainly did a good job attracting people to us," she said. "But this project ... really shows the testament of the good work that Colliers and TSKP and all of you have been doing throughout this process."

Fontaine had the low bid between Brait Builders of Marshfield and J&J Contractors Inc. of North Billerica.

The project had been bid out at $52,250,000 with three alternates: moving the ballfield, the kiosk and vertical geothermal wells.

Committee members asked Timothy Alix of Collier's International, the owner's project manager, about his impressions of the bidders. He was most familiar with Fontaine, having worked with the company on a half-dozen school projects and noted it was the contractor on the Mountain View Elementary School in Easthampton that the Massachusetts School Building Authority has held up as an example school. He also had some of his colleagues call on projects that he had not personally worked on.

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