The poet Emily in the Paper City

HOLYOKE — MIFA Victory Theatre is combining forces with the Emily Dickinson Museum and a New York theater company for a fresh look at The Belle of Amherst and her poetic legacy.

“Because I Could Not Stop: An Encounter with Emily Dickinson,” which will be staged Jan. 12 at Holyoke Media, stars Angelica Page as the famous poet in a production that’s written by James Melo and which features the music of 19th-century composer Amy Beach.

“Because I Could Not Stop” is a co-production with Ensemble for the Romantic Century, a New York company that blends theater with music and varied visuals in a multidisciplinary approach designed to “recapture the past with a sense of immediacy that transports, illuminates, and captivates,” as the company puts it.

The Holyoke production, which begins at 7 p.m., includes soprano Kristina Bachrach and a small classical music ensemble. According to past reviews, it offers a portrait of a more combative Dickinson, one at odds with the shy, reclusive image of her that held sway for so many years.

As the New York Times wrote a few years ago about the play when it was staged in the city, a production that also featured Page and Bachrach, “Ms. Page here conjures an anguished Emily in captivity, whose brittle acerbity and magnificent moroseness are rather in the mode of Dorothy Parker, minus the cigarettes and martinis.”

General admission tickets for “Because I Could Not Stop” are $24 and can be purchased at mifafestival.org.

 

Last artistic rounds

AMHERST — The Burnett Gallery at the Jones Library will be closing for a spell at the end of January as work on the library’s expansion gets set to begin.

But before that happens, there will be time for one more exhibit.

“Portals and Passageways: Paintings and Process,” by Amherst artist Amy Crawley, runs through Jan. 30 and features textured paintings as well as Crawley’s drawings and studies that led to the finished pieces. An interactive component for visitors is also planned.

In an artist’s statement, Crawley noted that her last exhibit, in early 2020, focused on similar work and that this new show represents something of a continuation.

The exhibit’s theme is connected to how a family member was diagnosed with cognitive memory loss, Crawley explains, which prompted her to think about how people hold onto their memories or lose them — and whether she might face that loss herself one day.

A visit to New Mexico to see ancient Pueblo dwellings and their remnants, including doorways, also helped spark her paintings, which combine oil and cold wax medium “to create layer upon layer, developing a history through her painting process.”

An opening reception for the exhibit takes place Jan. 6 from 2 to 4 p.m.

 

Celtic folk veteran comes to town

SOUTH HADLEY — Joe Jencks, an award-winning songwriter and a 25-year veteran of the international folk circuit, will play at All Saints’ Episcopal Church on Jan. 14 at 4 p.m.

The Chicago-based Jencks, who has merged conservatory training with his Irish roots and a working-class upbringing, is also an in-demand vocalist and harmony arranger who’s worked with numerous artists on their records.

His most recent album, “The Coming of the Years,” released in August 2022, is based on songs he wrote during his tours of Ireland over a 12-year period, with the music reflecting modern Celtic traditions as well as Jencks’ own songwriting approach.

“Joe Jencks weaves a tapestry of love, immigration, history, and Irish pride,” writes Paul Hartman, the former publisher and editor of Dirty Linen magazine. “‘The Coming of the Years’ is an audio treat and a history lesson.”

Tickets for Jencks’ Jan. 14 concert at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, produced by Halcyon Arts New England, are $10-$30 in advance and increase by $5 on the day of the performance. For more information and to order tickets, visit www.hartsne.org or call 413-345-2917.

 

South Hadley Chorale resumes rehearsals

SOUTH HADLEY — In preparation for its March 24 concert at Abbey Memorial Chapel at Mount Holyoke College, the South Hadley Chorale has resumed its Wednesday evening rehearsals at All Saints’ Episcopal Church

Those rehearsals will continue weekly from 7 to 9 p.m. until the concert, which features the John Rutter edition of Gabriel Faure’s “Requiem,” Paul Basler’s “Missa Kenya,” and works composed by the Chorale’s interim conductor, Anita Anderson Cooper.

Cooper, a musician, conductor, teacher, and composer, directs the chorus of the Paul R. Baird Middle School in Ludlow and the Smith College Handbell Choir. She received her degrees from Westminster College, Boston University, and Delta State University.

The South Hadley Chorale is made up of 60 singers from 16 communities. New singers are welcome and there are no auditions, although most singers have had some choral experience.

For more information, please visit www.southhadleychorale.org or call 413-533-3833.

 

Art doesn’t have to be perfect

SOUTH HADLEY — Easthampton children’s book author and illustrator Jeff Mack has built a fine career creating his own books and illustrating work for other authors — making art on his terms.

And with his new book, “Time to Make Art,” Mack’s got a clear message for the young artists out there: Art comes in many forms, and there’s no definition of what’s perfect.

Mack will discuss that theme when he comes to the Odyssey Bookshop Jan. 20 at 11 a.m. to do a reading from his new book, answer questions, and do some drawing demonstrations.

“Time to Make Art” is centered on a young girl who poses questions to a diverse group of artists from the ages, from early cave painters to modern digital illustrators, and is designed to “rethink the familiar Western European timeline of art history,” as program notes put it.

“This book introduces readers to diverse works from every era and continent in a playful and inspiring way … empowering readers to get creative.”

More information is available at odysseybks.com.

 

 Oxbow welcomes new members in group show

EASTHAMPTON — The Oxbow Gallery has opened a group show that will showcase the work of eight new members of the cooperative arts organization.

The exhibit, which runs through Jan. 28, will host an artists’ reception Jan. 14 from 3-5 p.m. to introduce the new members and share their work, which includes textile art, mixed media sculptures, prints, paintings, and more.

The new members live and work all over the Valley.

— Compiled by Steve Pfarrer