The Classical Beat: Tanglewood Concludes; Berkshire Opera, South Mountain Next

By Stephen DanknerSpecial to iBerkshires
08:00AM / Wednesday, August 23, 2023Print Story | Email Story

"BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons and Jean-Yves Thibaudet at Tanglewood

This week, Tanglewood concludes its magnificently curated, presented and performed 2023 classical music summer festival season with panache by showcasing two live film concert blockbusters: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" on Saturday evening, Aug. 26, and on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 27, John Williams' "Star Wars: The Story in Music" – both performed by the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra under the direction of conductor Keith Lockhart. Added to this will be the violin, cello and piano trio of stellar performers Kavakos, Ax and Ma performing Beethoven. Each of these performances will be in the Shed. Read below for the details, including end-of-season Popular Artists appearances in the Shed and in Ozawa Hall.

Friday, Aug. 25, 7 p.m.: Three powerhouse performers—pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist Leonidas Kavakos, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma—combine their talents in a special all-Beethoven program featuring Shai Wosner's transcription of the Fourth Symphony and the majestic Piano Trio in B-flat, ("Archduke.")
Saturday, Aug. 26, 8 p.m.: Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra present "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone™ in Concert," the first movie in the popular franchise, featuring a score by John Williams. Lockhart and the Boston Pops will perform the soundtrack live over a screening of the beloved film.
Saturday, Aug. 27, 2:30 p.m.: Keith Lockhart returns to lead "Star Wars: The Story in Music," bringing John Williams' music to the Shed for the final orchestral concert of the season. Over the span of two hours, the Boston Pops

Esplanade Orchestra will play music from all nine movies in the epic "Star Wars" saga, guided by a narrator.

Tanglewood events in Ozawa Hall

Friday, Aug. 25, 6 p.m.: A Prelude Concert featuring

Kids4Harmony with special guest pianist Emanuel Ax performing music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Astor Piazzolla, Price, Mozart, Vivaldi, and others.

Saturday, Aug. 26, and Sunday, August 27, 8 p.m.: TLI Presents: "American Moor," Keith Hamilton Cobb's two-person play that explores the American Black Male experience via Shakespeare's Othello and features the artists who originated the off-Broadway production (director Kim Weild, sound designer Christian Frederickson, lighting designer Alan Edwards, and actors Josh Tyson and Mr. Cobb).

End-of-Season Performances by Popular Artists

Thursday, Aug. 24, 7 p.m.: Grammy-winning group "Train" returns to Tanglewood, with very special guest Parmalee.
Thursday, Aug. 31, 7 p.m.: Perennial Tanglewood favorite Jackson Browne returns for his seventh show. Browne first performed in the Shed in 1973.
Saturday, Sept. 2, 7 p.m.: Tanglewood's Popular Artist Series presents "An Evening with Guster" in a return appearance. Formed originally at Tufts University, the band has also made two guest appearances with the Boston Pops (Ozawa Hall).
Sunday, Sept. 3, 7 p.m.: An Evening with John Legend features the multiplatinum singer/songwriter in the closing concert of the 2023 summer season.

For tickets for all Tanglewood/BSO concerts (lawn and Shed seating) and for special events call (617) 266-1200. TDD/TTY: (617) 638-9289. Online: tanglewood.org.

Berkshire Opera and South Mountain Concerts

These last two months of magnificent music making are but a prelude to the fall array of upcoming area classical offerings on the horizon at the Berkshire Opera Festival and at South Mountain Concerts - both in Pittsfield. Here are the particulars:

Berkshire Opera Festival presents Puccini's "La Bohéme"

"One chance meeting can change people's lives forever. When Rodolfo hears a knock at his door on Christmas Eve, opera's greatest love story is launched! Puccini's soaring, aching melodies perfectly capture the emotion of every moment, from the exhilaration of young love at first sight to the story's unforgettable and heartbreaking conclusion. The unbridled passion of this ageless tale has made it a favorite of audiences for over a century."

A free pre-performance talk will be given on Saturday, Aug. 26 by dramaturg Cori Ellison at noon (11:45am doors) for all ticket holders. Gain insight into Puccini's timeless tale of love and loss before curtain at 1pm.

There will be three performances: Saturday, 1: 00 p.m., Aug. 26; Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Aug. 29 and Friday, Sept. 1, 7:30 p.m., -all at the Colonial Theatre. 111 South Street, Pittsfield. Ticket prices are $20. and up. Call (413) 997-4444 or go online at berkshireoperafestival.org.

South Mountain Concerts presents five programs

Founded in 1918, the South Mountain Concert Series was established through the vision and generosity of the American patroness of music, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. South Mountain presents some of the world's leading chamber music ensembles and soloists exclusively during the fall in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. The Concert Hall, now on the National Register of Historic Buildings, was specifically designed for chamber music and built in a colonial style using timber from an old textile mill. The hall seats 440 and enjoys particularly fine acoustics.

The performing ensembles, composers and dates are:

Sunday, Sept. 3
Pacifica String Quartet - Dvorak, Prokofiev, Beethoven

Sunday, Sept. 10
Emerson String Quartet – Haydn, Mendelssohn, Snider, Ravel

Sunday, Oct. 1
Juilliard String Quartet – Beethoven, Davis, Schubert

Sunday, Oct. 8
Wu Han, piano; David Finckel, cello; Paul Huang, violin;
Paul Neubauer, viola – Beethoven, Saint-Saens, Brahms

Sunday, Oct. 15
Dover String Quartet - Haydn, Price, Schubert

All concerts are at 3:00 p.m. For reserved seating and tickets, call (413) 442-2106.

Tags: The Classical Beat,

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

Quick Cash

Get help fast when you need it the most! Greylock Federal Credit Union. Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

RIBCO Supply

Check out our great lineup of Boss Plows, and spreaders. 2 Locations Clarksburg & Pittsfield!

ribcosupply.com

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

BRTA Focuses on a New Run Schedule

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
01:26PM / Wednesday, April 29, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority is still working on maintaining its run schedules after dropping the route realignment proposal.

Last Thursday's meeting was Administrator Kathleen Lambert's first official meeting taking over the reins; retiring director Robert Malnati stayed during a transition period that ended last month.

Lambert is trying to create a schedule that will lessen cancellations. There was a two-hour meeting the week before with the drivers union to negotiate run bids and Lambert is working with the new operating company Keolis, which is taking over from Transdev.

The board spoke about anonymous emails from drivers, which Lambert said she has not seen. iBerkshires was not able to see those letters, but has received some.

"They were lengthy emails from someone describing themselves as concerning BRTA employee, and there was a signed letter from a whole group of employees basically stating their concerns. So, you know, to me, it was a set of whistleblowers, and that, what my understanding is that this really triggers a need for some type of process to review the merits of these whistleblowers, not going to call them accusations, but basically expressions of concern," said member Stephen Bannon.

A letter iBerkshires received spoke of unhappy drivers who were considering quitting because of decisions being made without "input from frontline staff," frustration and falling morale, and the removal of the former general manager shortly after Lambert came in.

Lambert said it's difficult to navigate a new change. She also noted many drivers don't want to do Saturday runs and it has been hard negotiating with drivers on the new runs.

"I would like you all to keep in mind that the process of change is super difficult. Transdev has been here for 20 years, and some of these drivers have never known any other operating company, the way some of the operations have been handled has been archaic," she said. "So getting folks up to speed on how a modern transit system works is going to be painful for them. So I don't want to say that I'm unsympathetic, because I am sympathetic, but I am trying to coax people along with a system that's going to seem very strange to them."

The board spoke about better communication between them and Lambert, citing cooperation will be best moving forward.

"There's just a lot of stuff in the air right now, and there are a lot of fires to put out to make this a coordinated effort. And if we don't keep our communications open and be straightforward, then you get blindsided about how you know the input that you could get from us about your position, and how you know what's going on in your direction, and we get blindsided. And I think that we have to make sure that this is a collaboration," said member Sherry Youngkin.

"Both sides have responsibilities, because in the long run, this advisory board is going to have to make decisions as to how we brought forward and if we've gone forward in a fair and helpful way. And I think that's hopefully what everybody is looking for also."

Transdev and Keolis held a three-day recruiting event interviewing almost 40 candidates and offering jobs to eight, but only three stayed on to start training. Lambert said it was disappointing but she will keep trying to retain more people.

In her first report to the board, she noted that ridership dipped a little over 10 percent, but still remains higher than last year, adding that was because of cancellations of services because of the lack of drivers.

Like the last meeting, some of the advisory board members were torn over the start of the Link413 service, worried that the start of the service took drivers away and the numbers of riders are low.

Lambert, however, said the ridership has doubled from last month.

"As I've spoken before, we have, generally, a six-month adoption for brand-new service before you can really go in and evaluate, are you being successful based on the grant that my predecessor wrote along with the team for PBTA and RTA, we are ahead of schedule, which is pretty good, so I'm hoping that will continue to improve," she said.

Member Renee Wood said the board never approved the service, adding the only thing she could find in the minutes was a vote to accept the equipment. She said it was supposed to be put on the agenda to discuss.

"The Link413 service has been three years in the making. It's been a grant that was accepted and has been working with our partners, PVTA and FRTA, to put into place. So I don't have the entire history of how that process worked, but it's been three years in the making, and did we not understand that once we accept that grant that we were going to put in new service?" Lambert said.

The board discussed if Title VI, the Civil Rights Act, was followed with an accurate review and accurate amount of time for public comment period on the service changes and if its attorney should review if the grant conditions were properly followed.

Lambert said changes had the 60-day comment period included in the proposed route realignment packet, giving the opportunity for the community to respond to that as well but will look into the legality of the situation with their attorney.

View Full Story