Jacob’s Pillow opening week
Wednesday, June 25 – Sunday, June 29
In the Ted Shawn Theater, Pillow fan favorites and close collaborators Michelle Dorrance and Ephrat Asherie kick off Festival 2025 with ”The Center Will Not Hold,” a lively celebration of street, club, and vernacular dances performed by an eclectic ensemble of 11 performers, each deeply rooted in regional music and movement — from tap dance and hip hop to breaking, house, Chicago footwork, Detroit jit, litefeet, Memphis jookin, and body percussion. Also this week, assorted performances on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage, morning classes at 9 a.m. in the Sommers Studio, workshops in the Perles Family Studio, and family drumming.
Common Wealth Murals: Paint The Town
White Lion Brewing Company, Springfield
Thursday, June 26 from 6 – 9 p.m.
Paint The Town is a one-of-a-kind evening filled with gourmet food, craft drinks, and live music, while guests help create a breathtaking mural under the guidance of professional artists. All proceeds from this event will help bring more murals to Springfield this summer. Tickets are free, RSVP required, donations encouraged.
Unreconciled
Majestic Theater
Thursday, June 26 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Friday, June 27 at 7:30 p.m.
I saw the world premiere production of this remarkable play last summer at Chester Theatre. Moving and devastating with moments of humor, this one-man show stunned the audience. It depicts the true story of an adolescent actor cast as Jesus in a play directed by a pedophile priest. The play chronicles a survivor’s journey as he confronts his past and discovers the courage to use his voice and redefine what reconciliation means. Jay Sefton’s virtuosic solo performance is an unflinching quest for justice, brimming with heart and compassion.
Related Workshop: From Personal Trauma to Public Stage
The Blues room at City Space, Easthampton
Sunday, June 29 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Jay Sefton leads a one-day workshop in mining personal experience to use as source material for monologues, storytelling, and solo shows. Jay will share his story, learn about yours, and show you how, like him, you might turn a long silence into a powerful voice. Jay will help you mine your experiences as source material for monologues, storytelling and solo shows.
New Directions Cello Festival
Bombyx, Northampton
Friday, June 27 – Sunday, June 29
Since 1995, the New Directions Cello Festival has provided an international forum for the exchange of music and ideas for creative and alternative cellists of all ages, levels and backgrounds. Participants come from all over the US and abroad for a weekend of workshops, concerts, panels and jam sessions with some of the most innovative cellists working today. The Friday and Saturday concerts will feature guest artists/workshop leaders. The Sunday concert will showcase guest artists and festival participants together.
Nas with the Boston Pops
Tanglewood, Lenox
Friday, June 27 at 7 p.m.
Legendary hip hop mogul, co-founder of Mass Appeal Records, actor, and executive producer, Nas’ extensive catalog speaks for itself. He delivered his first full-length album Illmatic in 1994 and went on to release 14 other albums, 8 of which are multi-platinum and platinum including: Nastradamus, Stillmatic, God’s Son, and Street’s Disciple. With 16 GRAMMY nominations, Nas released King’s Disease in 2020, giving Nas his first ever GRAMMY win for Best Rap Album.
Ground/work 2025
The Clark, Williamstown
New outdoor installations open Saturday, June 28
Curated by independent art historian Glenn Adamson, Ground/work 2025 features a dynamic range of outdoor presentations by international artists, Yō Akiyama, Laura Ellen Bacon, Aboubakar Fofana, Hugh Hayden, Milena Naef, and Javier Senosiain that respond to the Clark’s unique setting while expressing ideas core to each artist’s individual practice. Like the inaugural Ground/work, which opened in summer 2020, the installations will remain on view for over one year allowing visitors to encounter the works day or night and throughout the seasons, experiencing them anew as the landscape and weather conditions change. Ground/work 2025 closes in October 2026.
Literary Legacy: A Guided Tour of the William Cullen Bryant Homestead
207 Bryant Road, Cummington
Saturday, June 28 at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m.
The William Cullen Bryant Homestead, the country estate of 19th century poet, journalist, and conservationist, will reopen this summer for the first time since 2019 to offer tours. You are welcome to self-tour the first floor of the house for free between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the days the tour is offered. The ticketed guided tour will include the second and third floors of the house. You can also walk the trails on the property like the Rivulet Trail, which hugs a trickling stream immortalized by a poem Bryant wrote in 1823 and the Pine Loop, with pine trees that reach heights of 150 feet, among the tallest in the Northeast. These tours will also be happening on July 19, Aug. 16, and Sept. 28.
CLI Conservatory
Academy of Music, Northampton
Saturday, June 28 at 12 and 6 p.m.
Sunday, June 29 at 12 and 6 p.m.
If you go to the Big Y in Southampton at lunchtime, you often see groups of cheerful young people walking around with a distinctively poised gait. They’re students of the CLI Conservatory, a dance school that is housed in two nearby buildings. (One used to be the Peebles department store, the other was the Harley Davison dealership.) These young adults are training for careers as dancers under the tutelage of CLI founder and Southampton native Teddy Forance alongside some of the best choreographers in the world of dance. 236 students have trained intensely over the past 10 months, cultivating their unique, personal styles. Their multimedia year-end show promises to be spectacular.
The Adaskin String Trio with Jean Jeffries, horn
Charlemont Federated Church
Saturday June 28 at 5 p.m.
The Adaskin String Trio is now in its 31st year with founding members Emlyn Ngai, Steve Larson, and Mark Fraser. Currently based in New England, they are originally from Canada. They met in Montreal where they each studied chamber music with founding Orford Quartet cellist Marcel Saint-Cyr. They later completed two years as ensemble-in-residence at The Hartt School under the guidance of the Emerson Quartet. For this concert, the Adaskin teams up with horn player Jean Jeffries for a program of works by Beethoven, Kenji Bunch, and local composer Zeke Hecker.
Berkshire Choral International: Into the Light
Tillis Performance Hall, UMass
Saturday, June 28 at 7:30 p.m.
130 experienced choral singers from across the United States are in residence at UMass this week with Berkshire Choral International. On Saturday, they will perform at Tillis Hall under the baton of Grammy-winning choral conductor Robert Istad. The program includes Haydn’s stirring Lord Nelson Mass, Brahms’ transcendent Nänie, and a new work — Jake Runestad’s luminous Into the Light, set to texts by Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Helen Keller.
The Surfrajettes
The Drake, Amherst
Sunday, June 29 at 8 p.m.
The Surfrajettes are a four-piece instrumental combo from Toronto, ON, Canada. Since forming in late 2015, the band has charmed audiences with their clever mix of psychedelic rock and reverb-drenched surf music, sky-high beehives, go-go boots, and eyeliner as thick as their guitar strings. The Surfrajettes are guitarists Shermy Freeman and Nicole Damof, bassist Sarah Butler, and drummer Annie Lillis.
Out of Character
Unicorn Theater, Stockbridge
Monday, June 30 – Saturday, July 26
After a powerful developmental debut at Berkshire Theatre Group’s Festival of New Jewish Plays last summer, Out of Character returns for a fully realized production at The Unicorn Theatre. Written and performed by Tony Award winner Ari’el Stachel, this deeply personal and profoundly moving solo play takes audiences on an intimate journey through identity, mental health and self-acceptance. Directed by Tony Taccone, renowned for commissioning Angels in America.
New Summer Exhibits: Jeanne Weintraub-Mason and Tuyet Linh LaFleur
Salmon Falls Gallery, Shelburne Falls
Opens Tuesday, July 1
Here’s a wonderful note of distinction: In its 2025 Best of New England list, Yankee Magazine has named Salmon Falls Gallery as the Editor’s choice for Best Art Gallery in Massachusetts! For over 35 years, Salmon Falls Gallery, owned by world-renowned glass artist and Shelburne resident Josh Simpson, has showcased the beauty and craftsmanship of over 90 independent artists from around western Massachusetts and the surrounding area. Be sure to visit this summer to enjoy lovely new exhibits featuring the art of local artists Jeanne Weintraub-Mason and Tuyet Linh LaFleur.
Wednesday Folk Traditions: Rosemary Caine and the Wilde Irish Shenanigans
Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum, Hadley
Wednesday, July 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Irish harpist Rosemary Caine is a beloved local songwriter, composer, producer, and collaborator of six Irish-themed musicals, including Margaret Maher and The Celtification of Emily Dickinson, which toured Ireland in 2023. The group plays an eclectic Celtic mix of chestnuts from a diverse repertoire, always including songs of 'Wilde Irish Women" whose lives and times inspired Rosie to resurrect them from history, infamy, obscurity — or all 3.
Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music
Yiddish Book Center, Amherst
Thursday, July 10 – Sunday, July 13
This four-day festival will include musicians and performers at the forefront of the Yiddish music scene. In addition to seven concerts, the lineup also includes four workshops, nine talks, and two special tours, all in celebration of Yiddish music, language, and culture. The festival closes with The Great Yiddish-American Songbook, with Frank London’s Yinglish Orchestra & Singers. Better get your tickets soon!