Clark Art Concert by Jacques Schwarz-Bart

Print Story | Email Story
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.—On Wednesday, July 3, the Clark Art Institute kicks off its July Outdoor Concert Series with a performance by Jacques Schwarz-Bart and Band. 
 
This year, the July Outdoor Concert Series celebrates the French Caribbean with some of best musicians from Guadeloupe and Haiti. The free concert takes place at 6 pm on the Clark's Reflecting Pool Lawn.
 
According to a press release: 
 
Born in Guadeloupe, Jacques Schwarz-Bart has voyaged across musical genres from neo-soul, where he worked with D'angelo and Erika Badu, back to his Carribean roots where he innovated hybrid jazz genres. Playing Gwo ka and Vodou jazz, Schwarz-Bart connects jazz music with its Afro-Caribbean and spiritual origins. His 2020 album, Soné Ka La, Odyssey, is a standout example. In 2023, Schwarz-Bart released The Harlem Suite, a collection of original tunes and arrangements celebrating his journey to the heart of modern Black music: Harlem, where he lived for eighteen years. Schwarz-Bart performs with his quintet.
 
Free. Bring a picnic and your own seating. Rain moves the performance to the Clark's auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center. For accessibility concerns, call 413 458 0524. 
 

Tags: Clark Art,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Lanesborough Officials Review Schools' Budgets

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff

Mount Greylock Superintendent Joseph Bergeron, left, addresses the Lanesborough Select Board and Finance Committee as School Committee member Curtis Elfenbein looks at the projection of a slide in the district's budget presentation.
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Town officials Monday appeared generally receptive to the fiscal year 2027 spending plans for the two public school districts that serve the town.
 
Superintendents from the Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School District (McCann Technical School) and Mount Greylock Regional School District presented their respective FY27 budgets to a joint meeting of the town's Finance Committee and Select Board.
 
Both districts are sending significantly higher assessments for approval at Lanesborough's annual town meeting in June.
 
McCann Tech, which constituted a $317,109 expenditure for the town in the current fiscal year, is seeking $463,978 for the fiscal year that begins on July 1 even though the school's operating budget is up just 3.2 percent year to year.
 
The 46 percent increase in Lanesborough's share of McCann Tech's budget is is due to two factors: a rise in enrollment of town residents at the vocational school from 20 in 2025 to 29 in this school year and a capital assessment for the first round of payments — for interest only — for a roof and window replacement project on the North Adams campus.
 
The Mount Greylock assessment, a much larger component of Lanesborough's property tax bill, is up 10.99 percent from FY26 to FY27, from $6.8 million to $7.6 million.
 
Mount Greylock Superintendent Joseph Bergeron gave a budget presentation similar to one he has delivered twice to the district's School Committee and again last month to the Williamstown Finance Committee, explaining that while the FY27 budget maintains level services to students with a net reduction of three positions, a series of factors are driving much larger assessments to Mount Greylock's two member towns.
 
View Full Story

More Williamstown Stories