Clark Art Kicks Off Music in the Manton Series

01:54PM / Tuesday, March 18, 2025Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Clark Art Institute presents the first of its three-part Music in the Manton concert series with Flore Laurentienne, Canadian Mathieu David Gagnon's incomparable musical project, on Friday, March 21 at 7 pm in the Manton Research Center auditorium.

According to a press release:

Flore Laurentienne comes from a happy marriage between electronic and classically influenced music. The project is committed to constantly pushing the boundaries between various genres, including ambient, experimental, and progressive rock. Flore Laurentienne has recently released a new album, 8 tableaus, available on Secret City Records. Composer, orchestrator, and musician Mathieu David Gagnon draws inspiration from the works of Canadian painter and sculptor Jean Paul Riopelle with this new offering.

This program is presented in collaboration with Belltower Records, North Adams, Massachusetts.

$10 ($8 members, $7 students, $5 children 15 and under). Advance registration encouraged. Capacity is limited. Accessible seats available. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events. Admission to the Clark is free January through March 2025.

The next Music on the Manton concert is Sunday, April 27 at 2 pm, featuring pianist Umi G

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Mount Greylock School Committee Hears Budget Requests, Pressures

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:32AM / Wednesday, February 18, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee Thursday heard the final rounds of fiscal year 2027 budget requests and heard why those — or any — discretionary increases in spending will be difficult in the year that begins July 1.

Williamstown Elementary Principal Benjamin Torres and middle-high school Principal Jake Schutz each presented the spending priorities formulated by their respective school councils. The requests followed a presentation by Lanesborough Elementary Principal Nolan Pratt at the January meeting.

Superintendent Joseph Bergeron then told the School Committee that state and federal aid to the district is going to be slightly lower than FY26 and reminded the panel that the district spent the last two years spending down its reserve accounts, as requested by the member towns, to the point where those reserves — School Choice, tuition and excess and deficiency — cannot be applied to the operating budget.

"Spending the exact same amount of money from this year to next year — that alone will mean a 4 percent increase [in appropriations] to each of our towns," Bergeron said. "That's the baseline on top of which everything else will happen.

"We know we're seeing an 8.75 percent increase in health insurance, but we also have an increasing number of employees who are taking our health insurance, so that health insurance line is increasing substantially. When it comes to out-of-district tuition as well as transportation, both of those are seeing marked increases as well."

District staff and the School Committee will further refine its FY27 budget over the next five weeks, with a budget workshop scheduled for Tuesday, March 3, and a public hearing and final budget vote on March 19.

The district's appropriations to Williamstown and Lanesborough, which each pay a proportional share of the prekindergarten-Grade 12 district's operating expenses, will face an up-or-down vote at each town's annual meeting, in May and June, respectively.

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