Stephen Petronio Company
Ted Shawn Theatre, Jacob’s Pillow, Beckett
Wednesday, July 23 – Sunday, July 27
This week, Jacob’s Pillow welcomes acclaimed director and choreographer Stephen Petronio to present the final performances of the Stephen Petronio Company. Petronio will sunset an accomplished 40-year run with his company as he moves into his next creative endeavor. Bittersweet: this appearance comes exactly 40 years after the company’s Pillow debut in the first of three consecutive seasons when they were artists-in-residence.
Bands on Brewster: Lucia Dostal
Brewster Court, Northampton
Thursdays, July 24 from 6 – 8 p.m.
Perfect for post-work or post-dinner plans, this series features dynamic performances from local and regional talent at Brewster Court, the walkway between the E.J. Gare Parking Garage and the back entrance of the Northampton Brewery. Grooving her way through life, artist and songwriter Lucia Dostal channels a clever blend of pop, folk, and soul. She brings warmth, honesty, and camaraderie to her live shows.
Festival of Contemporary Music
Seiji Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, Lenox
Thursday, July 24 – Monday, July 28
The Festival of Contemporary Music is one of the world's premier showcases for works from the current musical landscape and landmark pieces from the new music vanguard of the 20th century. It gives Tanglewood Music Center Fellows the opportunity to explore unfamiliar repertoire and experience the value of direct collaboration with living composers. Most concerts are free. The Festival concludes on Monday with a ticketed concert featuring the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Wilkins.
Sounds of Summer Free Jazz Series: Gato 6 with vocalist Suzi Stern
The Mount, Lenox
Thursday July 24 at 5:30 p.m.
The Mount, built by Edith Wharton in 1902, is a historic house, museum, cultural center, and public park. Arrive early for a lovely walk through the gardens, bring a picnic or visit the food trucks parked outside the Forecourt. The Terrace Café Bar will be open, serving signature cocktails and other refreshments. Then settle in for a free concert by GATO 6 Austin’s premiere Latin Jazz band. For this performance, GATO 6 is joined by Lenox’s own Suzi Stern, renowned jazz vocalist, lyricist, composer, and educator.
The Mousetrap
Colonial Theater, Pittsfield
Thursday, July 24 – Sunday, Aug. 17
The ultimate whodunit and the longest-running play in theater history, The Mousetrap remains as captivating today as when it first premiered in London’s West End in 1952. When a group of strangers becomes snowbound in a remote countryside guesthouse, a chilling murder sets off a race against time to unmask the culprit. With each guest harboring secrets of their own, suspicion runs high, and everyone is a suspect.
Mirror, Mirror
A.P.E. Gallery, 126 Main St, Northampton
Friday, July 18 – Friday, Aug. 8
Opening reception Friday July 25 from 5 – 8 p.m.
Mirror, Mirror is a multidisciplinary art installation by Indë, a queer Black artivist born, raised, and currently residing in Northampton. The exhibit explores intersectional solidarity, with large figurative paintings, an original soundtrack, mirror/glass-based sculptures, and a new system of music notation. The music video for “COME ON HOME,” the first track on their upcoming album Role Model will premiere at the opening reception on July 25, where Indë will perform the entirety of their album live.
The Swell Season: 2025 North American Tour
The Pines Theater at Look Park, Florence
Friday, July 25 at 7 p.m.
Irglová and Hansard came to prominence together starring in the 2007 film Once and winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song with their composition “Falling Slowly” in 2008. The soundtrack garnered two Grammy nominations and the two christened their project, The Swell Season. They went on to release the critically acclaimed album Strict Joy and toured the world before branching out into solo careers. They now have a new album called ´Forward´ and are touring all over North America, with a stop at Look Park.
The Wedding Jester
CitySpace, Easthampton
Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 27 at 3 p.m.
The Wedding Jester is a one-man show about the making of the film Fiddler on the Roof and the story of a badkhn, an emcee at Jewish weddings in the old country. It is written and performed by John Feffer, whose shows have appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe, the One Man Standing and United Solo festivals in New York, and locally at CitySpace and the Yiddish Book Center. It is directed by Josh Perlstein.
Torch Song - The Revival
33 Hawley Street, Northampton
Friday, July 25 through Sunday, Aug. 3
Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song is a hilarious and moving play chronicling the life, loves, and dramas of a drag queen in New York City in the 70s and 80s. This poignant commentary on queer survival won a Tony Award for best play in 1982. In 2024 the Easthampton Theatre Company produced a sold out run of Torch Song that resonated deeply with audiences. A collective of artists involved with the 2024 production came together to produce a revival which refreshes certain elements for the current moment.
Hilltown 6 Pottery Tour
Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The Hilltown 6 Pottery Tour and Sale is an event that draws visitors from throughout the greater Northeast region. It offers a fantastic opportunity for folks to visit the studios of 8 potters, meet guest artists, and experience a diverse and textured range of ceramic artistry. There are scheduled educational demonstrations on both days, which show off the potters’ techniques and exhibit the tools and processes behind their work. Here’s the map.
Raquy and The Cavemen
Bombyx, Florence
Saturday, July 26, Workshop at 4 p.m. Concert at 7 p.m.
Raquy Danziger is an internationally acclaimed musician, artist, teacher and composer based in Jaffa. She’s considered to be one of the foremost experts and virtuosos on the oriental goblet drum known as the darbuka. She will teach an open-level darbuka workshop that will explore techniques, rhythms, and solo phrases. The performance that follows, Raquy and The Cavemen, will feature a medley of original compositions as well as traditional and classical music played on the darbuka and the 12-string king kemenche tarhu.
Walter Parks & The Unlawful Assembly
De la Luz Soundstage, Holyoke
Saturday, July 26, café opens at 6 p.m., Show starts at 7 p.m.
Soulful, swampy, and cinematic! Walter Parks & The Unlawful Assembly take the stage with their genre-bending fusion of historic spirituals, gospel, blues, and American roots traditions. With deep reverence and cutting-edge arrangements, the band brings new life to prison work chants, shape-note hymns, and swamp hollers, layering them with jazz, soul, and modern grooves.
Extension Cords II
Shea Theater, Turners Falls
Saturday, July 26 at 6 p.m.
Head to the Shea Theater for an eclectic evening of live electronic music performances featuring Daedelus, Dan Friel, Head of Head of Wantastiquet, Impure Luck, Barbie.ai and Astral Chill with video projections by Chris Hinkle.
Sandra Bernhard
Iron Horse, Northampton
Saturday, July 26 at 7 p.m.
Sandra Bernhard gained attention in the late ‘70s with her stand-up comedy and continues today with live stage performances throughout the U.S. and overseas. A pioneer of the one-woman show, Bernhard brings a completely unique and raucous mix of cabaret, stand-up, rock-n-roll, and social commentary. Later this year, she will be seen in the feature film, Marty Supreme, alongside Timothée Chalamet.
Guster and The Mountain Goats
MASS MoCA, North Adams
Saturday, July 26 at 7 p.m.
Guster is an American alternative rock band that came together in Somerville over three decades ago. They went on to land a series of hits on the Billboard charts, launch their own music festival, and amass an ardent fanbase. Their 2024 album, Ooh La La, reveals a band fully in touch with the creative energy that first inspired their formation. The Mountain Goats are a Durham, North Carolina-based indie rock band known for narrative songwriting and distinctive, often quirky, vocals, led by singer-songwriter John Darnielle.
30th Annual Bel Canto Opera Concert
The White Church of Blanford
Saturday, July 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Part-time Blandford resident Eve Queler, 94, is a renowned conductor and founder of the Opera Orchestra of New York. For three decades, she has organized the annual Bel Canto Opera Concert at Blandford's historic White Church, inviting talented young singers from New York. This year's concert will feature works by Mozart, Strauss, Puccini, Rossini, and Donizetti, performed by French soprano Soléne Le Van, Bolivian soprano Shelén Hughes, mezzo-soprano Madison Marie McIntosh, American coloratura soprano Catherine Wethington, and baritone Joseph Parrish.