Franklin County CiderDays 2024
Friday, Nov. 1 – Sunday, Nov. 3
CiderDays, the annual Franklin County celebration of all things apple in celebrates its 30th anniversary with tours of the region's premier cideries and orchards, cidermaking demos and tastings, workshops, exhibitions, and educational events at a county-wide selection of venues. Whether you are a cider aficionado (hard or sweet), make your own cider, are an orchardist, or just enjoy soaking up all the goodness of autumn in the 413, CiderDays is your event! I’ve got my eye on the Sunday morning apple cider pancake breakfast at Cameron’s Winery and Cidery in Northfield!
Valley Light Opera presents: The McAdo
Academy of Music, Northampton
Friday, Nov. 1 – Sunday, Nov. 10
Not a typo! The McAdo, Valley Light Opera’s newest work gives, us Gilbert & Sullivan as we’ve never seen it before! Set in the Highlands of Scotland, it tells the story of a wandering minstrel and the dainty maiden he loves, a tailor who became the Lord High Executioner and the McAdo who leads them all. VLO is bringing new life to this wonderful operetta with beautiful voices, lively dancing, sumptuous costumes, and lots and lots of humor.
Día de los Muertos
MASS MoCA, North Adams
Friday, Nov. 1 at 5 p.m.
Head to North Adams for MASS MoCA’s annual celebration of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the Mexican holiday of remembrance for those who have passed away. Bring your friends and family members to contribute to an altar with your own ofrenda including photos or tokens of past loved ones and participate in one of our art making activities. Enjoy Mexican specialty foods while you listen to the music of student performers throughout the night right in the MASS MoCA lobby.
Stars Over Springfield: Features of the Moon
Springfield Museums
Friday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m.
This beginner’s astronomy program features a short talk by a local expert, hands-on activities or demonstrations, a planetarium show with the historic Korkosz starball and brand-new Zeiss projector, and stargazing in the rooftop observatory. This month’s topic is our closest neighbor — the moon. The program will zoom in on features like seas, mountain ranges, and craters. Recommended for ages 8 and older, registration is required.
Nava Dance Theatre: Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies
Bowker Auditorium, UMass
Friday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m.
San Francisco-based Nava Dance Theatre is at UMass this week as part of the Fine Arts Center’s Reimagine Residencies program. The residency culminates in this public performance. Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies is a bharatanatyam, experimental movement, and live music production that explores the labor and lived experiences of South Asian immigrant women in the United States. It is inspired by the oral histories of Indian nurses who arrived as a result of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.
Drums Unlimited: A Tribute to Max Roach
Iron Horse, Northampton
Friday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.
Former UMass professor Max Roach revolutionized the role of drums in music, and his influence spans across jazz, hip-hop, and beyond. In honor of his centennial, three world-class drummers — Colin Jalbert, Dwayne Keith, and Jonathan Barber — will each take the stage for a 30-minute solo set, showcasing their unique styles and influences, from jazz and hip-hop to broken beat, soul, world, and house music. These solo sets are a direct nod to Roach's own groundbreaking series of solo concerts. Plus, DJ Rec will be spinning the finest jazz and hip-hop tracks, highlighting the deep connection between these genres and the legacy of Max Roach.
Pamela Means w/ Matthew Thorton
The Parlor Room, Northampton
Friday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Pamela Means is an Easthampton-based Out(spoken), Biracial, independent artist whose “kamikaze guitar style” and punchy provocative songs have worn a hole in two of her acoustic guitars. Armed with the razor wit of a stand-up comic, engaging presence, elegant poetry, and irresistible charm, Pamela Means’s “stark, defiant songs” (New York Times) set the status quo and the stage afire.
Eastworks Open Studios
116 Pleasant Street, Easthampton
Saturday, Nov. 2 and Sunday, Nov. 3 from 10 a.m – 5 p.m.
Eastworks kicked off the renaissance of the old mills in Easthampton back in 1997, and continues to be a launchpad for creativity and entrepreneurship. Open studios is a super popular annual event that features four floors of art, creativity and community where local artists, makers, performers, nonprofits and entrepreneurs open their doors to the public. The studios are showcasing an eclectic mix ofdrawing, painting, printmaking, photography, mixed media, pottery, stained glass, jewelry, textiles and more. Plus, there will be food trucks!
Valley Classical
Ciompi String Quartet with pianist Ieva Jokūbavičiūtė
Sweeney Concert Hall, Smith College
Saturday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Since its founding in 1965 by the renowned Italian violinist Giorgio Ciompi, the Ciompi Quartet of Duke University has delighted audiences and impressed critics around the world. All of its members are professors at Duke. They are known for playing with intelligence, musical sophistication and a warm sound that allows each player’s individual voice to emerge. They will be joined by Lithuanian pianist Ieva Jokūbavičiūtė to perform Mieczysław Weinberg’s Piano Quintet of 1944, a work of tremendous range and depth. Works by Mozart, William Grant Still, and Elizabethan composer John Dowland round out the evening.
Noirvember
Amherst Cinema
Starts Sunday, Nov. 3
Private eyes and femme fatales trading crackling repartee. Street lamps casting dramatic shadows through Venetian blinds. Cynical characters on the fringes of society, driven to consider the unthinkable. These are just a few calling cards of film noir, a cinematic style that sprung forth from Hollywood in the early 1940s. Each week through the month of November, Amherst Cinema showcases four standouts from the classic American noir cycle, and some of the most entertaining crime dramas ever put to film — The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, The Hitch-Hiker, and Odds Against Tomorrow.
First Sunday Free: Frame And Reframe
The Clarke, Williamstown
Sunday, Nov. 3 from 1 to 4 pm
Admission to the Clark is free on the first Sunday of the month from October to May. For this month’s “First Sunday Free” program, the museum will delve into something that is often overlooked frames! Take a viewfinder into the galleries and discover interesting compositions all around you. Decorate a frame to take home for your own photo or artwork. Take a tour with Hugh Glover, former conservator of furniture and frames at the Williamstown + Atlanta Art Conservation Center to learn about the materials and preservation of frames. It’s sure to "reframe" the way you see art.
Bravo: Adele Addison
Community Music School of Springfield
Sunday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m.
In the Spotlight is celebrating the remarkable life and career of Adele Addison, a legendary soprano who began her musical journey in Springfield. From her first concert at age 12 at Old First Church to gracing stages across the world, Adele's voice has captivated audiences in the U.S., Europe, on film, and in recordings. She is best remembered today as the singing voice for Bess in the 1959 movie, Porgy and Bess. The event will include performances by pianist Daniel Monte and soprano Radiance Flowers and participation from City Councilor Kateri Walsh. Regine Jackson is MC.
Bunka no Hi
A Culture Day Celebration with Mountain River Taiko & Friends
Bombyx, Florence
Sunday, Nov. 3 at 3 p.m.
Join Mountain River Taiko and friends in a free celebration of Japanese culture and performance arts. Bunka no Hi, or Culture Day, is a Japanese holiday celebrated that is dedicated to culture, the arts, and academic endeavors. Friends include Amherst Japanese Language School students, Ryukyukoku Matsuri Daiko Massachusetts, Anne Prescott, Mary Ellen Miller and others. Eien Hunter-Ishikawa and Junko Kumamoto will present the traditional celebratory lion dance of Tokyo.
413 Elite Season Opener
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Sunday, Nov 3 at 3 p.m.
The 413 ELITE is a Springfield-based member club of the American Basketball Association’s Northeast Division. Their goal is to provide quality, entertaining and affordable professional basketball in a friendly environment. They play alongside teams in Boston, Providence, New York, Long Island, New Jersey, and Canada. Founder Charles Evans is a native of Springfield native who grew up playing in every city league in western Massachusetts and went on to play professionally in Italy, Switzerland, Tahiti, and in the U.S.
Puccini & Beyond
Tuesday Morning Music Club
Trinity United Methodist Church, Springfield
Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 10:30 a.m.
PanOpera is a professional ensemble committed to the equitable development of high-quality, diverse, and innovative operatic performances meant to enrich the cultural tapestry of the Pioneer Valley. Vocalists Emily Baker, Rachel Abrams, and Kate Saik DeLugan, accompanied by Clifton J. Noble, will present a program of music by Puccini and his contemporaries. A set by Springfield Symphony Orchestra violinist Marcia Harbison opens the concert.