Community Calendar

Be a part of improvisations that take you to on a journey... to a warm summer's night, drinking tea atop an ancient sandstone building, while local musicians get lost in a unique world of their very own. Iraqi violinist Ameen Mokdad will be joined by muscians of Cuatro Puntos Ensemble as they improvise on various modes of the maqam system, a system of scales used for centuries in areas of Arab and Persian influence. You may listen here to a live album recorded during a previous performance of this program, which been met with critical acclaim all around the world: https://www.arkadashrecords.com/sounds-of-the-silk.html

Following a successful run at the Minnesota Fringe Festival this summer, The Tragedy of Maila Kami is a solo performance blend of dance, singing, drumming, and storytelling - all as a vehicle to explore the challenges of caste-based discrimination in Nepal. As is typical of “hudkeli” performances, audiences will be invited to participate at moments in the piece, with call-and-response singing, rhythm-making, and responding to the performer’s questions. Written by Sahalesh, directed by Rose Schwietz and performed by Suraj Malla.

Performances:

Friday, September 20 @ 7pm

Saturday, September 21 @ 7pm

Sunday, September 22 @ 2pm

Tickets: $10 Student, $10 General Admission, $25 at door

Suraj Malla is an actor, director, and acting teacher. He completed his acting training from Actor's Studio Nepal and has been performing with them since 2012. He is a three-time participant in the BRM Festival with NSD Delhi. He was invited as a Nepali representative for International Prospero Workshop in Denmark, focusing on devised theatre for youth and children. Recently, he participated in an online theatre intensive with SITI Company. Having taught in schools for several years, he has produced a variety of student shows. He has also worked as a professional theatre trainer at various acting institutions around Nepal. He is excited to share his love of theatre around the world, as a way to share stories and to know ourselves.

This project is part of the Pay It Forward program, made possible by generous funding from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts -  ValleyCreates, Greenfield Savings Bank, Peak Performance Roofing, Delap Real Estate, Finck and Perras, Tandem Bagel Co and individual donors.

Celebrated for creating diverse, timely and relevant opera, activist performing arts company White Snake Projects (WSP) and its founder Cerise Lim Jacobs today announced the upcoming world premiere of Is This America? at Dorchester’s The Strand Theatre from Friday, September 20, to Sunday, September 22. This new 90-minute fully-staged opera celebrates the life and legacy of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. Is This America? features performances by the Massachusetts-based Victory Players chamber orchestra alongside a small ensemble of singers with the lead role of Ms. Hamer played by mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel (Met Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago). The composer, 85-year-old Mary D. Watkins, has blazed the trail for other Black women composers in the field of opera. Haitian American queer woman Pascale Florestal stage directs.

"The show begins with five candidates on stage. At the end of the show, only one will be victorious.

Through a series of guided prompts and questions, Ontroerend Goed’s Fight Night takes you— the audience—on a journey to choose the best candidate. As each round progresses, the audience learns more information about each candidate that will inform their vote. Random checks, voting signposts, coalitions, campaigns, debates, consultants, exit polls, spin doctors, opinion gauges, list pushers, and referendums will inform your vote. The host will do anything to derail the candidates’ best intentions.. Will the audience choose someone who represents their views? Or will they choose the opposite?

With a mix of humor and sharp political commentary, Fight Night is full of twists and turns that will have audiences rethinking how – and why – they vote. In the brand-new Fight Night, the world will remain outside: there are no actual political statements made inside this one-of-a-kind show, only a sharp analysis of how democracy works."

What do a cemetery tour guide, a king, and a samurai warrior have in common?

Peace! Or, perhaps, the lack of it.

With humor, warmth, and inspiration, Master Storytellers Linda "Schuyler" Ford and Tim Van Egmond will share folktales, personal stories and a dash of music to explore Peace in its many incarnations -- personal, community and world. Who knew exploring Peace could be so much fun! This is an adult/family-friendly event in recognition of the International Day of Peace.

The inaugural Speak Peace Storytelling Concert by members of Northeast Storytelling will be held at The Guthrie Center on Saturday, September 21, 2024, from 4:00-5:30 pm. Refreshments will be served after the performance, and conversation with the performers.

PAUL KAPLAN & SARAH PIRTLE
Saturday – September 21 – 7:00 pm
Mount Toby Concerts - 194 Long Plain Rd (Rt 63), Leverett, MA
PAUL KAPLAN has been an enthusiastic participant in the folk music world since the late 1960s when his early anti-Vietnam war songs were published in the legendary protest magazine Broadside. Paul has been honored by the inclusion of his songs in two monumental collections produced by Smithsonian Folkways. One of his first songs, Vietnam appears in the Grammy-nominated Best of Broadside. A second song, King of Hearts, is featured in Fast Folk – a Community of Singers & Songwriters.
His latest album – We Shall Stay Here – contains twelve songs that reflect the way he sees the world. Some may leave you in stitches; some may leave you in tears; some may leave you in your car in the driveway unable to stop listening. paulkaplanmusic.com
“I am a big fan of Paul Kaplan. I love his singing; I love his songs.” Pete Seeger

SARAH PIRTLE has received ten national awards for her nine recordings. When Two Hands Hold the Earth appeared in 1984 with songs that would become classics like My Roots Go Down, Billboard Magazine hailed it as the first ecology music for children. She is the author of An Outbreak of Peace, named outstanding book of the year on world peace. She is a member of Hands Across the Hills and the central founder of the Children’s Music Network.
Her long career spans adult concerts focused on world peace and unlearning racism with songs about exemplary people from her recording, Everyday Bravery. The message that interlaces her work: we can pass on timeless and universal values, share the wisdom of the past, and care for the next generations as we listen for our own personal connection to the fruitful life-force of the Universe. sarahpirtle.com
“If you want to hear some of the best songs out there today…listen to Sarah Pirtle.” – Pete Seeger
Suggested donation $15 to $25
Reserve seats at diacrowe@yahoo.com or call 413-835-1695

Get ready to kick up your heels for a rockin’ good time!
Inspired by some of the most influential music ever written, Rave On was formed to keep the music of the 50’s and 60’s alive for all to hear. Rave On will take you back in time to when Rock & Roll was just emerging, and the juke box and dance floor was all that was needed for a good time. Experience the thrill of listening to Buddy Holly’s classic hits as well as songs by Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Etta James, Richie Valens, Dion, and many more. Rave On will have you dancing in your seats and bopping down the aisles!

Celebrated for creating diverse, timely and relevant opera, activist performing arts company White Snake Projects (WSP) and its founder Cerise Lim Jacobs today announced the upcoming world premiere of Is This America? at Dorchester’s The Strand Theatre from Friday, September 20, to Sunday, September 22. This new 90-minute fully-staged opera celebrates the life and legacy of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. Is This America? features performances by the Massachusetts-based Victory Players chamber orchestra alongside a small ensemble of singers with the lead role of Ms. Hamer played by mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel (Met Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago). The composer, 85-year-old Mary D. Watkins, has blazed the trail for other Black women composers in the field of opera. Haitian American queer woman Pascale Florestal stage directs.

"The show begins with five candidates on stage. At the end of the show, only one will be victorious.

Through a series of guided prompts and questions, Ontroerend Goed’s Fight Night takes you— the audience—on a journey to choose the best candidate. As each round progresses, the audience learns more information about each candidate that will inform their vote. Random checks, voting signposts, coalitions, campaigns, debates, consultants, exit polls, spin doctors, opinion gauges, list pushers, and referendums will inform your vote. The host will do anything to derail the candidates’ best intentions.. Will the audience choose someone who represents their views? Or will they choose the opposite?

With a mix of humor and sharp political commentary, Fight Night is full of twists and turns that will have audiences rethinking how – and why – they vote. In the brand-new Fight Night, the world will remain outside: there are no actual political statements made inside this one-of-a-kind show, only a sharp analysis of how democracy works."

Free organ recital by Dr. Klaus Becker, UMASS professor and formerD ean of the local Guild of Organists.. He will be playing the mighty Skinner organ at United Church in Holyoke. The program consists of a musical tour of northern Europe. Composers include Bach, Jongens, Vierne and more!
While the program is free to attend, a freewill offering will be accepted to benefit Holyoke's food pantry.