NEPM Smart and Funny People
Hidden Brain: On Stage with Shankar Vedantam
Academy of Music, Northampton
Friday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m.
Are there parts of our minds that are hidden from us? This question launched the Hidden Brain podcast ten years ago. Since then, Hidden Brain has helped millions of listeners accomplish their goals, improve their relationships, and develop a deeper understanding of their emotions. Now, host and creator Shankar Vedantam brings seven key insights from the first decade of Hidden Brain to the stage. Whether you’re new to the show or a longtime listener, this evening of science and storytelling will change how you think about yourself.
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham: White Space at the Ted Shawn Theatre
Jacob’s Pillow, Becket
Wednesday, July 15 – Sunday, July 19
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham returns to Jacob’s Pillow with the U.S. premiere of White Space, a new full-length work for 12 dancers. It explores tensions between individual and communal belonging through Abraham’s distinctive blend of classical and contemporary dance, hip-hop influences, soulful lyricism and kinetic intensity. Two pianists share a single piano to perform a live score by composers Jason Moran and Nico Muhly. Also happening during Jacob’s Pillow Week 4: Faye Driscoll’s Weathering at the Doris Duke Theatre and Michela Marino Lerman’s Steppin’ with “The Kid” at the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage.
Unity House Players presents Robot Nature
Unitarian Universalist Society of Greater Springfield
Thursday July 16 – Sunday July 26
Unity House Players presents a new original musical comedy co-created by Tammy Mader and western Mass native Ian C Weber. In this East Coast premiere production, top scientists unveil the robots they've built to solve world peace in the pursuit of honest scientific research. Then, one robot goes rogue. The show explores themes about science, social justice, work-life balance, and ethics, through a hilarious script and high-energy musical numbers.
Music for Healing
Paper City Clothing Company Gallery, Holyoke
Open celebration Friday, July 17 from 6 – 9 p.m.
Music for Healing is an immersive sound and art exhibition exploring how noise, music and vibration affect the body, mind and emotional well-being. Artist and classically trained pianist Angelica Olstad combines music, movement, drawing and EEG technology to consider how sound can help move us from stress toward ease. Opening night includes a live performance by Olstad and a reception. Additional public programs include a Community Sound Bath Walk at Holyoke Heritage State Park on Saturday, July 18; and an embodied movement workshop with a closing reception on Thursday, Aug. 27.
An Evening with Trio Sefardi
The Richmond Sanctuary, Richmond
Friday, July 17 at 7:30 p.m.
New to me, the Richmond Sanctuary is a gathering space devoted to music, community and spirit. Trio Sefardi celebrates the musical heritage of the Sephardim, descendants of the Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. The ensemble performs songs in Ladino about love and loss, holidays and hope, drawing on traditions from the Balkans, Turkey and North Africa. Its music combines voice and guitar with instruments including bass viol, lute, Renaissance violin, rebec and Pontic lyra. The concert reflects the trio’s work with its mentor, the late Bosnian-born Sephardic singer and composer Flory Jagoda.
Marlboro Music Festival: 75th Anniversary Season
Marlboro, Vermont
Saturday, July 18 – Sunday, Aug. 16
Marlboro is in Vermont, and therefore not within the four western Mass. counties that we cover in Culture to Do. But any chamber music lover in the 413 will want to experience the fruits of this extraordinary program. Each summer, some 80 musicians from around the world gather on Marlboro's campus for seven weeks of intensive rehearsal, study, and discovery. As the summer unfolds, groups that feel they have gotten to the very heart of the music present the results of their work to audiences during five weekends of concerts and open rehearsals. Believe me, it’s extraordinary.
common
Amherst Town Common
Saturday, July 18 at 10:30, 11 and 11:30 a.m.
John Bechtold’s “common” is a live theatrical event on the Amherst Town Common to mark its place in history in the 250th year of the United States. Created as a 10-minute experience for headphones and phones, participants will scan a QR code prior to the start time to access the piece, then gather on the grassy south section of the Amherst Common as they wait for the experience to begin. Go to Amherst Historical Society’s Hands on History table at the Amherst Farmer’s Market to get set up.
American Craft Council Open Studios Weekend
The Mill at Shelburne Falls
Saturday, July 18 and Sunday, July 19 from 12 – 5 p.m.
This new nationwide celebration invites the public into the creative spaces of craft artists across the country offering guests a rare glimpse into the processes, tools and inspiration that shape how handmade works are made. National Craft Open Studios Weekend is presented by the American Craft Council and launches as part of Craft in America’s Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026. It’s a great opportunity to see what the artisans and artists at The Mill at Shelburne Falls are up to.
Aston Magna: The Genius of the French Baroque
Saint James Place, Great Barrington
Saturday, July 18 at 3 p.m.
Founded in 1972, Aston Magna is America’s oldest annual summer festival devoted to music performed on period instruments. Its mission is to deepen audiences’ understanding of early music through historically informed performance. Its 53rd season, A Grand Tour, travels through musical traditions from Europe and beyond. The opening concert features sonatas and cantatas by Jean-Philippe Rameau, Nicolas Clérambault and other masters of the French Baroque.
Mohawk Trail Concerts: Sahun Sam Hong, piano
Charlemont Federated Church, Charlemont
Saturday, July 18 at 5 p.m.
Mohawk Trail Concerts closes its summer season with pianist Sahun Sam Hong, an acclaimed soloist and chamber musician who has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center. His wide-ranging program moves from Beethoven’s profound Sonata in E major, Op. 109, and Schubert’s lyrical Four Impromptus, Op. 90, to the wit and imagination of Schumann’s Papillons. The concert concludes with Earl Wild’s etude on “Embraceable You,” based on the beloved Gershwin song.
Berkshires Jazz Summer Showcase
Westside Riverway Park, Pittsfield
Saturday, July 18 at 5:30 p.m.; prelude music starts at 4 p.m.
Berkshires Jazz Summer Showcase moves to the Westside Riverway Park this year, with a free outdoor concert celebrating local jazz talent: The Flatbed Jazz Band, Joe Finn with Jack Dinicola and Friends, and The Wanda Houston Band, with prelude music by Death Lizard Biscuit, a group formed by Pittsfield High School jazz students. Presented by Berkshires Jazz in collaboration with Westside Legends, the evening will also include food trucks and a beer garden. Bring blankets or chairs.
Hold These Truths: Lara Downes and Friends
MASS MoCA, North Adams
Saturday, July 18 at 7 p.m.
Pianist Lara Downes presents a nuanced exploration through the American musical landscape. From traditional songs that pre-date the nation’s founding to new works that define the sound of the American future, this music traces our roots, connects us at our crossroads, and centers us on common ground. This concert features work generated via Downes’ The Declaration Project, which has been in residence at MASS MoCA as part of a national year-long journey engaging with people of all ages in urban and rural communities to reflect on our collective vision and intention for the American future.
Do It Now Summer Concert
Peskeompskut Park, Turners Falls
Sunday, July 19 at 1 p.m.
This event starts at 1 p.m. with a book fair featuring local authors and independent publishers. The concert, performed by guitarist John Sheldon, percussionist Tony Vacca, and Beat Laureate Poet Paul Richmond, starts at 2 p.m. Do it Now is a powerful fusion of music, words and percussion in an enthralling show which is part hippy-trip, political commentary and sensory journey — and they’ve performed it at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Bring a lawn chair and a picnic.
Peaceful Forest – Japanese Taiko Experience
Bombyx, Florence
Tuesday, July 21 at 6 p.m.
Peaceful Forest delivers a powerful, high-energy Japanese taiko experience that goes beyond a typical concert. This family-based ensemble creates an immersive live performance filled with thunderous drumming, dynamic stage presence, and moments of audience participation that make the entire room come alive. Plus! They will be guests on Friday’s Fabulous 413.
Lovesong
Unicorn Theatre, Stockbridge
Wednesday, July 22 – Sunday, Aug. 29
Lovesong is a tender and quietly powerful play by Abi Morgan that traces a marriage across decades, revealing how love evolves over time. Moving fluidly between youth and later years, the play places two versions of a couple side by side, allowing past and present to unfold simultaneously on stage. The cast includes Karen Allen, a longtime BTG performer and Berkshire resident known internationally for Raiders of the Lost Ark and Starman.Some shows are already sold out, so nab your tickets now.
Linda Kaye-Moses: The Argentera and the Tales of the Six Arabesques
The Bookstore in Lenox
Wednesday, July 22 at 5 p.m.
Berkshire County author and studio jeweler Linda Kaye-Moses will talk about the release of her debut novel, The Argentera and the Tales of the Six Arabesques. The story begins with the discovery of a fictional 14th-century journal belonging to a Jewish goldsmith in Alsace and follows a contemporary goldsmith’s search to solve its mysteries. Spanning generations and culminating in the Berkshires, it’s a generation-spanning story about the possibility of transformation hidden in every object formed by a creative hand. Linda will also be at Art in the Berkshires Gallery in Great Barrington on Saturday, Aug. 8 at 5 p.m.
COMING SOON
Amchitka
Chester Town Hall Theatre, Chester
Friday, July 24 – Saturday, Aug. 8.
In a monitoring station at Amchitka, a volcanic island 170 miles off the coast of Alaska used for underground nuclear testing in the 1960s, three scientists find themselves cut off from the outside world as an event seems to be underway. But what? This new philosophical thriller will be playwright Mark St. Germain's 20th play premiere in the Berkshires.
Unreconciled
The Academy of Music
Saturday, July 25 at 7 p.m.
Galvanizing audiences nationally and internationally, Unreconciled is a solo tour de force of daring to stand up to an institution that wants nothing more than silence. Thirteen-year-old Jay Sefton dreamed of being an actor and was cast as Jesus in a school play directed by the parish priest — later defrocked and named in a grand jury report for sexual abuse of minors. Told with unflinching honesty and surprising humor, Sefton exposes the wider system that denies justice to survivors, taking audiences on a magic carpet ride through love and bewilderment in a whiskey-drenched, sports-crazed suburb of 1980s Philadelphia.
Bang on a Can: LOUD Weekend
MASS MoCA, North Adams
Thursday, July 30 – Saturday, Aug. 1
Bang on a Can’s LOUD Weekend brings more than 70 adventurous musicians to MASS MoCA for three packed days of experimental music in the museum’s galleries, stages, and outdoor spaces. This year’s lineup includes the Bang on a Can All-Stars performing a new arrangement of Philip Glass’s Glassworks, guitarist Yasmin Williams, pianist Conrad Tao, the percussion/synth duo NOMON, and tons more. LOUD Weekend is the grand finale of Bang on a Can’s three-week summer residency at MASS MoCA, when the whole campus starts to feel like a laboratory for new sound.
Strawberry Basket Workshop
Easthampton Clay
Saturday, Aug. 8 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Celebrate summer snacking with Easthampton Clay. Workshop participants will create berry baskets, ideal for rinsing your fruits or veggies. Learn to work with slabs and use a variety of other handbuilding techniques to make a basket that's uniquely yours. At the end of this workshop, you will select a glaze color of your choice. Easthampton Clay will take it from there and let you know when your basket is fully fired and ready for pickup.
21st Annual Harvest Supper
Court Square, Greenfield Town Common
Saturday, Aug. 22 from 4:30– 7:30 p.m.
Every August, the Franklin County community comes together to share the bountiful summer harvest. Farmers, local producers, and chefs all donate their time, talent, and products to create an amazing meal with 100% locally sourced ingredients. Enjoy a nourishing, chef-prepared meal made with ingredients donated by more than 50 local farms and producers from across the Pioneer Valley. This supper is made for neighbors, by neighbors! In addition to the farm-table feast, there’s face painting, art making and live music.
South Mountain Concerts 2026 Season
South Mountain Concert Hall, Pittsfield
Sundays, Sept. 6 – Oct. 11 at 3 p.m.
This series was founded in 1918 by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, an influential arts patron known as the fairy godmother of chamber music. She built an intimate 440-seat hall on a wooded Pittsfield hilltop using timbers from an old textile mill. Designed expressly for chamber music, the rustic hall has cushioned antique church pews and superb acoustics that allow every musical detail to reach the back of the room with wonderful clarity. For more than a century, South Mountain has welcomed musicians including Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Rudolph Serkin, and many of the world’s leading chamber ensembles. The 2026 season continues that tradition.