Berkshire Music School Announces Talent and Merit Scholarship Auditions

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Berkshire Music School announced their upcoming Talent and Merit Scholarship Auditions for aspiring musicians.

These auditions are scheduled for Wednesday, June 25, 2025, from 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM at the Berkshire Music School, located at 30 Wendell Ave, Pittsfield, MA 01201. 

Students are also welcome to participate virtually, by recording a video containing the audition requirements, filling out the registration form linked below, and sending their video to Sarah Prouty at sprouty@berkshiremusicschool.org before June 25. 

Open to talented instrumentalists and vocalists, the scholarship auditions provide an excellent opportunity for musicians to showcase their skills and potentially receive talent or merit-based financial assistance for their music education at BMS. 

Audition Details: 

• Instrumentalists are asked to prepare: 
• Major and minor scales in a key of their choice in one octave  
• Two songs of their choice in contrasting styles 
• Vocalists are asked to prepare: 
• Two songs of their choice in contrasting styles 

?BMS will not be providing an accompanist. Instrumentalists should be prepared to perform without accompaniment; vocalists may perform to pre-recorded accompaniment that they provide. 

Berkshire Music School offers these scholarships to aspiring musicians in the community thanks to the generosity of their donors. These auditions not only provide a platform for showcasing musical talent but also offer financial support for students committed to furthering their musical education. The Talent and Merit Scholarship Auditions are open to musicians of all skill levels and ages, and all interested participants are encouraged to come prepared to perform. 

To Register for the Auditions: 

Visit berkshiremusicschool.org/auditions to register. 

For additional information or questions, please contact Berkshire Music School at 413.442.1411 or email Luis Granda at lgranda@berkshiremusicschool.org. 

WWII Veteran Reflects on D-Day at VFW Post Induction

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:25PM / Saturday, June 06, 2026

The members in the picture are Bret Miller, Coast Guard, Desert Storm; Hank Morris, Army, Vietnam; Brad Havill, Navy, Global War on Terror; VFW Post 448 Vice Cmdr. Mark Pompi, Army, Global War on Terrorism, Afghanistan; Post Cmdr. Arnold Perras, Korea; Joe Difillipo, Army, Vietnam; Teri Billington, Navy, Desert Storm; and Carmen Ostrander, Air Force, Afghanistan.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Anthony Salatino Jr. says his memory is getting a little foggy about his time in the Army. 

But he remembers how terrible D-Day was, and feeling lucky he wasn't among those in the initial invasion force 82 years ago. 

 

"One of the most horrible things was in Normandy. We went shortly after D-Day. I got lucky, very lucky on D-Day. We went to a staging area the night before … and at the very end, somebody called, I was in headquarters, they called all the headquarters personnel at the center," the 103-year-old said. "We did not go. There's about 30 of us. The rest of the battalion was gone, and the reason for that was because there was another battalion coming from the States, and they had no headquarters. 

 

"We stayed back, but we did go to Normandy shortly after that, and when we went to Normandy, it was all over."

 

Salatino was attending an induction ceremony on Thursday at the Lt. John N. Truden VFW Post 448. Joseph Texidor, who served in the Army for 17 years with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was sworn in as the post's newest member. 

 

Salatino served in the Medical Corps and wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, a World War I veteran wounded at Verdun. Salatino was in the Army for about three years.

 

"The whole memory is what I just told you, very, very alive to me," he said. "That is, I can never forget, never forget that."

 

D-Day on June 6, 1944, was the start of Operation Overlord, and the largest invading force to cross the English Channel since 1066. Their goal: to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany.