Berkshire Symphony Performance

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. The Williams College Department of Music presents the Berkshire Symphony with director Andrew J. Kim in a performance titled, Opera Without Words on March 6, at 7:30 pm.
 
This event is free and open to the public. There are no reservations or ticketing.
 
This concert presents instrumental music from operas across time and musical traditions, drawing from Johann Strauss Jr.'s Overture to Die Fledermaus, Britten's Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes; Richard Wagner's Vorspiel und Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde; and Joseph de Bologne's L'Amant Anonime.
 
According to a press release:
 
The Berkshire Symphony is a truly unique model for an orchestra. Consisting of Williams College faculty and other professional musicians sitting side-by-side with auditioned students, the ensemble presents high level performances for the College and the Berkshires community at large while fostering immersive learning experience for the students in a professional setting. The faculty and students are able to develop close mentorships through playing next to each other, and rehearsals become a fertile ground for growth in which students learn nuances of ensemble playing and collaborative music-making.
 
The orchestra presents four concerts a year, each through four rehearsals on preceding Tuesdays and Thursdays. It aims to share a diverse set of repertoire that represents wide-ranging cultural backgrounds as well as time periods, including music written by living composers. The orchestra also serves as a liaison between the College and its broader community as an important performing arts organization in the Berkshires, helping to connect everyone through music.
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Williamstown Town Meeting Facing Bylaw to Ban Agricultural Biosolids

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Town meeting may be asked to outlaw the application of fertilizer derived from human waste.
 
On Monday, Select Board Chair Stephanie Boyd asked the body to sponsor an article that would prohibit, "land application of sewage sludge, biosolids, or sewage sludge-derived materials," on all land in the town due to the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
 
Last year, concern over PFAS, which has been linked to cancer in humans, drove a large public outcry over a Hoosac Water Quality District's plan to increase its composting operation by taking in biosolids, or sludge, from other wastewater treatment plants and create a new revenue stream for the local facility.
 
Eventually, the HWQD abandoned its efforts to pursue such an arrangement. Today, the district still runs its composting operation — for locally produced sludge only — and needs to pay to have it hauled off site for non-agricultural uses.
 
On Monday, Boyd presented a draft warrant article put together by a group of residents in consultation with the Berkshire Environmental Action Team and Just Zero, a national anti-PFAS advocacy group based in Sturbridge.
 
"What this warrant article would do is not allow anybody who owns or manages land in Williamstown to use sludge or compost [derived from biosolids] as a fertilizer or soil amendment on that property," Boyd said.
 
Her colleagues raised concerns about the potential for uneven enforcement of the proposed bylaw and suggested it might be unfair to penalize residents who purchase a small bag of compost that contains biosolids at their local hardware store and unwittingly use it in a backyard garden.
 
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