Pianist Umi Garrett Performs at Clark Art Institute

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Clark Art Institute will present pianist Umi Garrett in concert on Sunday, April 27, at 2 p.m. in the Manton Research Center auditorium, as part of its Music in the Manton series.

Garrett will perform works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sergei Prokofiev, J.S. Bach, Frédéric Chopin, Florence Price, Gabriel Kahane, and Stephen Dankner.

Garrett has released a chamber album of Ludwig van Beethoven’s "Five Sonatas for Piano and Cello" with Emily Mantone. She is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Juilliard School and is a Collaborative Piano Fellow at the Yale School of Music. She also serves as a staff collaborative pianist at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute.

Tickets are $10, with discounts for Clark members, students, and children. Advance registration is recommended.

The final concert in the spring Music in the Manton series will feature pianist Benjamin Hochman on Friday, May 2, at 6 p.m.

Mount Greylock Regional Class of 2026 'Embraced the Unexpected'

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
04:38PM / Saturday, June 06, 2026

Speaker William Apotsos says the class took the red pill, embracing the unexpected; classmate Madison Powell tells them they're still becoming the people they will be. 

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Mount Greylock Regional School sent 67 graduates off with diplomas and a cap toss on Saturday. 

 

The seniors queued up to enter the school gym with "Pomp and Circumstance" and scattered out the doors to "Choose Joy." 

 

It was the choices to be present that had gotten the Mounties to this day, said William Apotsos, whom the class had selected as their graduating speaker. "They didn't just decide to be present, they refused to be absent."

 

When one little girl had thanked him for being there to referee a youth soccer game, it drove "home the importance of not only being present but refusing to be absent," he said. 

 

Being present had been difficult in the transition between remote learning during the pandemic and returning to the school, when the class had to figure out how to be present together — physically, mentally and socially. 

 

"There is always the safe route. Stick to what you know, stick around people you know, and never really leave your metaphorical shell that you built up over your time at home. ... Then there was the more dangerous: put yourself out there, embrace your impact option,"  Apotsos said. 

 

"It's very much a red pill and blue pill situation, and what I am most proud of, that pretty much every single person on this stage took the red pill. They chose to embrace the unexpected and decide that they wouldn't let a couple years of isolation determine who they were going to be."