Albany Berkshire Ballet
25 Monroe Street
Albany, NY 12210
(518) 426-0660
51 North Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
(413) 442-1307 or (413) 445-5382
http://www.berkshireballet.org/
webmaster@berkshireballet.org
The Albany Berkshire Ballet was founded in 1960 by Artistic Director Madeline Cantarella Culpo as an outgrowth of her school, the Cantarella School of Dance, located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Originally known as the Berkshire Ballet Guild and later as the Berkshire Civic Ballet, it was originally intended as a performance outlet for the school's advanced students. The aspirations and abilities of the students soon pushed the Company in a professional direction. Renamed the Berkshire Ballet in 1975, it emerged as a full-time professional Company servicing the Northeast and Canada. In 1989 the company expanded again by establishing an additional home in Albany, New York, thus joining the growing number of professional ballet companies who seek to broaden their base of support with partnerships in other arts centers. Once again, its name changed to reflect its new status.
Armstrong Chamber Concerts
413-637-4718 or 860-868-0522
http://members.aol.com/accnct
Armstrong Chamber Concerts, a non-profit organization, founded in 1982 by Artistic Director Helen Armstrong, presents music of the highest quality, featuring world-renowned artists. The aim of the organization is to broaden the public's interest in and knowledge of chamber music through performance and education. ACC conducts Music Enrichment Programs in schools throughout the state. These intensive programs are designed to enhance the present music curriculum and to create a deeper appreciation for music. Other settings include hospitals, prisons and senior centers.
Arrowhead
The Home of Herman Melville
780 Holmes Road
Pittsfield, MA 01201
413-442-1793
http://www.mobydick.org
Arrowhead was the home of Herman Melville from 1850-1862. It was at Arrowhead that Melville wrote his most famous work, Moby-Dick, along with three other novels, Pierre, The Confidence-Man, and Israel Potter, a collection of short stories entitled The Piazza Tales, all of his magazine stories, and some of his poetry. Arrowhead is now a house museum interpreting the life of the Melville family in the Berkshires. It is owned and operated by the Berkshire County Historical Society, a non-profit corporation.
Aston Magna Festival
St. James Church
Great Barrington
800-875-7156
http://www.astonmagna.org
The mission of the Aston Magna Foundation is to enrich the appreciation of music of the past and the understanding of the cultural, political, and social contexts in which it was composed and experienced.
Our goal is to reach a larger public through the use of historical instruments and practices in performances, recordings, and workshops and through innovative interdisciplinary educational programs, publications, and electronic media.
Barrington Stage Company
PO Box 946
Great Barrington
Performing at:
Consolati Performing Arts Center
Berkshire School Road
PO Box 946
Sheffield, MA 01257
http://www.barringtonstageco.org
Founded in 1995, Barrington Stage Company (BSC) is now in its seventh season, its most challenging and innovative season ever.
BSC's mission is two-fold: to produce and develop top-notch professional theatre and to develop a local audience by establishing a strong community relationship with residents of Berkshire County and the adjoining tri-state area. BSC believes that the foundation for developing new audiences is services. Barrington Stage has, since its inception, offered a state-licensed nursery for children 2 to 8 years, free tickets for students 13 and younger and half-priced tickets for students 14 and older.
Becket Arts Center of the Hilltowns
Rte 8 & Brooker Hill Road
Becket, MA 01223
413-623-6635
Mid June - Mid September
http://www.vermontartscenter.org
Berkshire Artisans
28 Renne Avenue
Pittsfield, MA 01201
413-499-9348
BERKART@taconic.net
http://www.berkshireweb.com/artisans/index.html
The Berkshire Artisans is a community arts center. But more fundamentally, it is an idea, a place, and a group of people who share an interest in and a love for art. The idea behind the Artisans is a belief that arts are vital to community life and important to individuals -- and that they should be accessible to all. The place which gives home to this idea is a historic building in the heart of Pittsfield, just a block from the main street of town. Our festive banner and a huge outdoor mural mark the spot. Inside, there's a gallery and performance area, workshops, and artist's studios.
Berkshire Bach Society
Great Barrington, MA 01230
413-528-9277
http://www.berkshirebach.org
Founded in 1990 as a sequel to a lecture series by Simon Wainrib on "The World of Bach Cantatas," the Society's goal is an exploration of Bach's vast legacy through study and performance. The result has been an ongoing succession of concerts and lectures, all enthusiastically received by critics and audiences.
Berkshire Botanical Garden
Mailing PO Box 826
Stockbridge, MA 01262
(413) 298-3926, Fax (413) 298-4897
http://www.berkshirebotanical.org
Beautiful country gardens featuring plants that thrive in the Berkshires. Quality education for adults and children - from beginning gardeners to horticultural certification. A gathering place for community events. A place for private functions - weddings, meetings etc. - indoors and out.
Berkshire Choral Festival
245 North Undermountain Road
Sheffield, Massachusetts 01257
(413) 229-8526
bcf@choralfest.org
http://www.chorus.org
Berkshire County Historical Society
780 Holmes Road
Pittsfield MA 01201
(413) 442-1793
info@berkshirehistory.org
http://www.berkshirehistory.org
The Berkshire County Historical Society, a non-profit corporation dedicated to collecting, preserving, and disseminating the history of Berkshire County in western Massachusetts. We are located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in the heart of the Berkshires, America's Premier Cultural Resort.
Berkshire Lyric Theatre
The premier professional-level community chorus in the Berkshires, performing major choral works for over thirty-five years
413-499-0258
alitster@berkshire.net
http://www.berkshirelyric.org
Berkshire Opera Company
40 Railroad Street
Great Barrington, MA 01230
(413) 644-9000
http://www.berkop.org
Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum
Willow Creek Road
P.O. Box 2195
Lenox, MA 01240
(413) 637-2210
http://www.regionnet.com/colberk/berkshirerailway.html
Berkshire Theatre Festival
413-298-5536
Main Street, Box 797
Stockbridge, MA 01262
http://www.berkshiretheatre.org
Berkshire Writers Room
Post Office Box 120
Lenox Dale, MA 01242
http://gemini.berkshire.net/~allie/
The Berkshire Writers Room holds monthly meetings for writers to share their works-in-progress in the areas of Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Scriptwriting, and Writing for Children. We regularly hold meetings on the commercial aspects of the craft of writing. We publish The Berkshire Review annually. We host frequent open readings throughout Berkshire County and present various other events.
Chesterwood
4 Williamsville Road (off Rte.183)
Stockbridge, MA 01262
(413) 298-3579.
http://www.chesterwood.org
Chesterwood, the 1920's summer home, studio and garden of sculptor Daniel Chester French (1850-1931) is just a few short minutes from the Red Lion Inn. Guests take a step back in time when visiting this 122 acre estate that inspired an artist who inspired a nation. At Chesterwood visitors view working models of the seated Lincoln for the Memorial in Washington D.C. and other noted public monuments, including the Minute Man.
Close Encounters With Music
PO Box 34
St. James Church
Great Barrington, MA 01230
800.843.0778
A tradition of bringing together sublime chamber music, distinguished performers and musical commentary, all in convivial surroundings.
Close Encounters With Music is at the intersection of music, art and the vast richness of Western culture. Entertaining, erudite, live commentary puts the composers and their times in perspective.
Colonel John Ashley House
Off Route 7A
Ashley Falls, MA
413-229-8600
http://www.berkshireweb.com/trustees/ashley.html
In 1735, young John Ashley designed and built a handsomely crafted house for himself and his new wife - a house that for years would be considered the finest in Sheffield. Exquisite mill-cut paneling, a gracefully curved staircase and the hand-carved sunburst atop a recessed cupboard attest to the craftsmanship of the time. One of the first houses in Berkshire County, the furnishings and household items date back from the 18th and 19th centuries and include special pottery and tool collections
Colonial Theater Restoration Project
113 South Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
http://www.thecolonialtheatre.org
Contemporary Artists Center
189 Beaver Street, (Rt. 8 North)
North Adams, MA
(413) 663-9555
http://www.cacart.org
Crane Museum
Housatonic Street
Dalton, MA 01226
(413) 684-2600
http://www.crane.com
Crane & Co. invites you to visit The Crane Museum of Papermaking, housed in Crane’s 1844 Old Stone Mill. The museum, first opened in the autumn of 1930, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The one-story building is pleasantly situated on the banks of the Housatonic River, which supplied the water to wash the rags and drive the machinery of the early Crane mills.
Hancock Shaker Village
Junction, Rts 20 and 41
P.O. Box 927
Pittsfield, MA 01202
(413) 443-0188
(800) 817-1137
http://www.hancockshakervillage.org
Hancock Shaker Village is an outdoor history museum of Shaker life on 1,200 acres in the scenic Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. Its twenty original buildings and historic working farm and gardens preserve and interpret the life of America's most successful communitarian society. The third of 19 Shaker communities established in New England, New York, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Hancock was home to members of the communal, religious society from 1783 to 1960. It became an outdoor history museum in 1960. Today its buildings, collections and programs interpret three centuries of Shaker life and work, with activities which appeal to visitors of all ages.
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival
PO Box 287
Lee, MA
413-637-1322
Box Office 413-243-0745
http://www.jacobspillow.org
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
87 Marshall Street
North Adams, MA 01247
(413) 664-4481
http://www.massmoca.org
Open to the public since May 1999, MASS MoCA is an extraordinary project to convert a 27-building historic mill complex in the Berkshire mountains of Western Massachusetts into a multi-disciplinary center for visual, performing and media arts. More than a static display hall, MASS MoCA provides space, tools, and time for artists, cultural institutions and businesses working in sculpture, theater, dance, film, digital media and music. New work is created in partnership with high technology and new media companies.
Merwin House
14 Main Street
Stockbridge, MA, 01262
(413) 298-4703
June - Mid October
Admission charge.
http://www.berkshireweb.com/merwinhouse
Located in one of the most picturesque spots in Massachusetts, the impressive brick Merwin House was built about 1825. It was purchased in 1875 by William and Elizabeth Doane. A prototypical summer home, bespeaking the mellow insouciance and the carefree existence of wealthy, well traveled New Yorkers, the couple furnished the house with a large collection of European and American furniture and decorative arts of the day. Around 1900, the Doanes added a shingle-style ell, thus doubling its size and the interior of the house was also remodeled. Vipont Merwin, the Doanes' daughter, augmented the collection with her own unusual collection of ephemera. Visitors will enjoy strolling through the gardens and down the lawn to the Housatonic River. The house is owned and maintained by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.
Miniature Theatre of Chester
Box 722
Chester, MA
413-354-7770 (business office)
413-354-7771 (box office)
http://www.miniaturetheatre.org/
The Miniature Theatre of Chester provides an intimate setting in which audiences may view highly acclaimed professional artists performing works that include both world premieres and plays by local talent. Founded in 1990 by actor, director, and former artistic director of Ireland's Abbey Theater, Vincent Dowling, the Miniature Theatre is described by Jeffrey Borak of the The Berkshire Eagle as "the little miracle".
Naumkeag
The Trustees of Reservations
Western Regional Office
P.O. Box 792, Sergeant Street
Stockbridge, MA 01262
(413) 298-3239
http://www.berkshireweb.com/trustees/naumkeag.html
An aura of grand times and gracious living still lingers at Naumkeag. This 26-room gabled mansion, designed by Stanford White in 1885, was the summer home of Joseph Hodges Choate (1832-1917), noted attorney and ambassador to England at the turn of the century.
The News in Revue
http://www.newsinrevue.com
The News in Revue began as Nancy Holson's dream as a 1991 workshop in Norwalk, Connecticut. Along with Steve Sasloe as Musical Director, she recruited a local cast and mounted the first production of "The News." The response was so enthusiastic that Phyllis, Mel and Nancy Holson decided to form ADF Productions, Inc. and take the show to New York. It ran Off Broadway for 120 performances during the 1992 election season. During that time, it was well-reviewed by the New York press.
Norfolk Chamber Music Festival
Ellen Battell Stoeckel Estate
Routes 44 & 272, PO Box 545
Norfolk, CT 06058
860-542-3000
http://www.yale.edu/norfolk/
The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival - Yale Summer School of Music celebrates its 60th year of great music in 2000. Each year the Festival features up to 30 or more performances by many of the worldís most renowned musical artists as well as sixty or more of the brightest of the new generation of musicians who are selected to participate as Fellows of the Festival. Over the years, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival has become renowned as a center for chamber music performance and professional study, unusual programming and innovative offerings.
NYS Theatre Institute
155 River Street
Troy, NY
(518) 274-3200
http://www.nysti.org
Beginning its 24th season of performing and teaching, the NYS Theatre Institute was created by state legislation in 1974, based on a concept of founding director Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder. The Institute's mission is to produce professional theatre of the highest artistic standards and to use its productions as a means of teaching within the school curriculum. Performers, technicians, staff, and guest artists use theatre to reach beyond the stage into the classroom, motivating students to find new interest in their daily subjects.
Oldcastle Theatre Company
P.O. Box 1555
Bennington, VT
(802) 447-0564
http://www.oldcastle.org
Pittsfield Cultural Council
Bruce Reid, Chairman
PO Box 1192
Pittsfield, MA 01202-1192
bruce@berkshireweb.com
http://www.pittsfieldweb.com/pittsculturalcouncil/index.html
Richmond Performance Series
Box 199
Richmond, 01254
413-698-2837
http://www.berkshireweb.com/rps
Santarella Tyringham's Gingerbread House
75 Main Road
Tyringham, MA 01264
413.243.3260
Open daily, May - October. Admission.
http://www.berkshireweb.com/santarella/index.html
Discover the 1930's sculptural landmark and studio of Sir Henry Hudson Kitson, sculptor of the Lexington 'Minuteman'. Located in historic Tyringham valley.
Shakespeare & Co
Administration: 413-637-1199
Box Office: 413-637-3353
The Mount
2 Plunkett Street
PO Box 865
Lenox, MA 01240
413.637.1199
http://www.shakespeare.org
Founded in 1978, Shakespeare & Company aspires to create a theatre of unprecedented excellence rooted in the classical ideals of inquiry, balance and harmony; a company that performs as the Elizabethans did -- in love with poetry, physical prowess and the mysteries of the universe. With a core of over 120 artists, the company performs Shakespeare, generating opportunities for collaboration between actors, directors and designers of all races, nationalities and backgrounds. Shakespeare & Company provides original, in-depth, classical training and performance methods. Shakespeare & Company also develops and produces new plays of social and political significance. Shakespeare & Company's educational programs inspire a new generation of students and scholars to discover the resonance of Shakespeare's truths in the everyday world, demonstrating the influence that classical theatre can have within a community.
StageWorks
133 Warren Street
Hudson, NY
518-822-9667
http://www.mhonline.net/~stagewrk
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute
225 South Street
Williamstown, MA 01267
(413) 458-9545
Admission is free.
http://www.clarkart.edu/
Tanglewood
West Street
Rte 183
Lenox, MA 01240
413-635-5165, (winter: 617-266-1492)
http://www.bso.org
The Bennington Museum
West Main Street
Bennington, VT 05201
802-447-1571
http://www.benningtonmuseum.com
The Bennington Museum is one of the finest regional history and art museums in New England. Located on West Main Street (Route 9), one mile west of the intersection of Routes 7 and 9 in downtown Bennington, Vermont, the museum houses the largest public collection of Grandma Moses paintings and memorabilia, along with the Grandma Moses Schoolhouse she attended as a child.
The Berkshire Museum
39 South Street
Route 7
Pittsfield, MA 01201
(413) 443-7171
http://www.berkshiremuseum.org
The Berkshire Museum, recognized as one of the finest small Museums in the nation, is one of the few Museums where art, history and the natural world are displayed in one place. "Wally" a 26-foot long, 10-foot high stegosaurus welcomes visitors to the Museum - located on the east side of Route 7 near Park Square in the heart of Pittsfield, MA.
The Bidwell House
Art School Road (off Tyringham Road)
Monterey, MA 01245
(413) 528-6888
http://www.bidwellhousemuseum.org/
The museum, set in the Berkshire hills, is an elegant Georgian saltbox originally built circa 1750 as a parsonage. Authentically restored, filled with antiques and surrounded by beautiful grounds and hiking trails, the museum is open daily between 11 am and 4 pm from Memorial Day to mid October.
The Mount/Edith Wharton Restoration
P.O. Box 974
2 Plunkett Street
Lenox, MA 01240
413-637-1899
http://www.berkshireweb.com/themount
Edith Wharton Restoration, Inc., was established in 1980 to preserve and restore The Mount, and to establish it as a cultural and educational center dedicated to the study and promotion of Edith Wharton and to recognize and celebrate women of achievement.
The Empire Center at The Egg
PO BOX 2065
ALBANY, NY 12220
Box Office: (518) 473-1845
Main Office: (518) 473-1061
http://www.theegg.org
In New York's Capital Region stands one of the most beguiling structures of them all. The Egg hovers dramatically at the Empire State Plaza against a downtown landscape rich in architectural marvels.
And in this stunning oval shape - a masterpiece of construction and design - occur some of the most inspiring performances in all the Northeast. In fact, the attractions that grace this performance center fill its spaces in a unique way.
In the eleven seasons since the renaissance of The Egg, this remarkable institution has helped re-establish downtown Albany as a place where the arts can thrive. In its twelfth anniversary season, it promises to prove - through its powerful line-up of artists and performances, its arts-in-education special events, its outreach residencies with area schools and colleges and its debuts of exciting artists rarely or never seen in the Northeast region - that the arts can indeed reach into a community and make it soar.
The Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge
Route 183
Stockbridge, MA, 01202
(413) 298-4100
http://www.nrm.org
Williamstown Theatre Festival
1000 Main Street
Box 517
Williamstown, MA 01267
413-597-3400
http://www.wtfestival.org
The heart of the Williamstown Theatre Festival is a summer-long celebration of theater which brings together a vast and impressive array of artists and offers the community varied cultural experiences.
For eleven weeks every summer, WTF presents eleven productions of classic and new plays on its Main and Nikos Stages, a production for family audiences, Cabarets, and countless readings, workshops, other special events including a program for disadvantaged youngsters in North Adams called the Greylock Theatre Project.
In addition, WTF offers nearly two hundred students who are aspiring theater artists an opportunity to study acting or serve as interns with professional designers, directors and managers.
