The space has private recording areas and room for group classes.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — BeatNest, an electronic music program, celebrated its grand opening at 163 North St. on Saturday.
This new space is about 10 times bigger than its former space, owner Geoffrey Carter said, and being on North Street provides more visibility.
"The street visibility has been great because people just walk by and they can see my sign," he said. "I've always been looking for an upgrade to teach bigger groups of classes where I can do group events and expand my offerings."
Carter says the number of classes and the number of students have grown, prompting the need to expand his space.
"We've just finished doing a group class of like 10 kids at once and it's great because it's more affordable for them and I get to teach more kids at once and it's good, and I have also gotten more private students," he said.
Carter says he loves to teach kids and show them how to work with electronic music, including beatmaking, how to DJ, and music production.
"I've been a musician my whole life and I love to work with kids and I like inspiring the youth to create music," he said. "I think it's important to do so with technology where it's become easier and easier for kids to just sit down and start making music that they are happy with and enjoy making from the first lesson they can make something great."
The new space was formerly rented by TheCollab, a collaborative recording studio of which BeatNest was a member and had been holding events and camps. The collaborative offered Carter the space to take over, even leaving a lot of the stuff behind for him to use.
Carter works with other programs, such as Berkshire Music School, and recently added Families Like Ours, a nonprofit supporting children with special needs, to have group classes.
"I would love to continue to work with other organizations in the Berkshires and expand my offerings for larger ranges of kids and increase my teen classes and adult classes," he said, adding he is starting adult events.
Eleanor Kidder, who has been taking weekly lessons with Carter for more than a year, said she is excited to see him move to the new location. Her mother, Kimberly Kidder, met Carter when they both took the Entrepreneurship for All small-business accelerator.
"To go from being a fellow co-hort member to seeing how he has grown from his little space down at the Greylock building to moving into the space so much bigger and just how much he's accomplished in the last two years that I've known him is really cool as well," Kimberly Kidder said.
Eleanor said her music talent has grown and that she loves the creativity aspect she gets to play with during her time.
"I feel like I have gone from a beginner to a pro. I'm always like 'no!' when it ends," she said.
The new space has a main room for performances and events, a private room for private sessions, a vocal booth, and a classroom for group classes.
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Dalton Board Signs Off on Land Sale Over Residents' Objections
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
Residents demanded the right to speak but the agenda did not include public comment. Amy Musante holds a sign saying the town now as '$20,000 less for a police station.'
DALTON, Mass. — The Select Board signed the sale on the last of what had been known as the Bardin property Monday even as a handful of residents demanded the right to speak against the action.
The quitclaim deed transfers the nine acres to Thomas and Esther Balardini, who purchased the two other parcels in Dalton. They were the third-highest bidders at $31,500. Despite this, the board awarded them the land in an effort to keep the property intact.
"It's going to be an ongoing battle but one I think that has to be fought [because of] the disregard for the taxpayers," said Dicken Crane, the high bidder at $51,510.
"If it was personal I would let it go, but this affects everyone and backing down is not in my nature."
Crane had appealed to the board to accept his bid during two previous meetings. He and others opposed to accepting the lower bid say it cost the town $20,000. After the meeting, Crane said he will be filing a lawsuit and has a citizen's petition for the next town meeting with over 100 signatures.
Three members of the board — Chair Robert Bishop Jr., John Boyle, and Marc Strout — attended the 10-minute meeting. Members Anthony Pagliarulo and Daniel Esko previously expressed their disapproval of the sale to the Balardinis.
Pagliarulo voted against the sale but did sign the purchase-and-sale agreement earlier this month. His reasoning was the explanation by the town attorney during an executive session that, unlike procurement, where the board is required to accept the lowest bid for services, it does have some discretion when it comes to accepting bids in this instance.
The Select Board signed the sale on the last of what had been known as the Bardin property Monday even as a handful of residents demanded the right to speak against the action. click for more
Police Chief Thomas Dawley will retire next month after 24 years with the Pittsfield Police Department, and the mayor will appoint his successor.
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Last weekend, LaBeau raced in the Mount Zion Snocross National race in Ironwood, Mich., the first of eight races in the national circuit series.
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Brown hopes to one day work in a lab, feeding their strong interest in scientific research and making a positive difference in the world.
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Prior to the ribbon-cutting, public officials and community resource personnel were able to tour the two new permanent supported housing projects — West Housatonic Apartments and The First Street Apartments and Housing Resource Center.
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