Arts & Life
Bach is back, and live: UMass Bach Festival & Symposium returns in-person for first time since 2019
By STEVE PFARRER
April in Amherst in an odd-numbered year: It must be time for the Bach Festival & Symposium at the University of Massachusetts.The biennial event, begun in 2015, offers a wide range of J.S. Bach’s music, from solo performances to expansive pieces with...
Arts Briefs: Author talks in Northampton and South Hadley, a musical at UMass Amherst, and more
A slant on SondheimAMHERST — The 1987 musical “Into the Woods,” with music written by Stephen Sondheim and a plot based on selections from the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, won a number of awards and has had several successful revivals over the year.Now...
The Beat Goes On: Boston bluegrass in Amherst, a rap and hip-hop festival in Hadley, and more
By STEVE PFARRER
It’s a long way from Boston to the Appalachians, but you wouldn’t know it for the number of top bluegrass players and string bands that seem to come out of The Hub.Consider Molly Tuttle, for instance, the award-winning guitar picker who studied at...
A David and Goliath battle: Acclaimed documentary by Northampton filmmaker tells the story of Jewish partisans in WWII
By STEVE PFARRER
‘Labor of love” might be a cliche. But when it comes to her new film, “Four Winters: A Story of Jewish Partisan Resistance and Bravery During WWII,” Julia Mintz says the expression is very much appropriate.Mintz, a documentary filmmaker who splits her...
Book Bag: ‘America Challenged’ by Rosalie Pedalino Porter; ‘The Masters of Medicine’ by Dr. Andrew Lam
By STEVE PFARRER
America Challenged: The New Politics of Race, Education and CultureBy Rosalie Pedalino Porter; Hamilton Books Amherst resident Rosalie Porter, who earned a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and later taught and...
Art exhibits spring forth: What’s on view at selected local galleries
By STEVE PFARRER
Spring is here — or at least the calendar says it is. And as the weather (hopefully) warms, there’s more incentive to get outside and check out what’s on view at local art galleries. Here’s a look at some selected shows this month. PULP Gallery,...
A transformative experience: In his new graphic memoir, Jarrett Krosoczka looks back on the life lessons he learned as a camp counselor
By STEVE PFARRER
Five years ago, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, already an acclaimed children’s book author and illustrator, took his career to the next level with “Hey, Kiddo,” a graphic novel/memoir in which he shared poignant and often painful details from his childhood and...
Making the cut: After years of ups and downs, screenwriter Nathan Graham Davis find his way to Hollywood
By STEVE PFARRER
Years ago, when he signed up to take an online screenwriting class taught at Holyoke Community College, Nathan Graham Davis had no idea he might find himself eventually penning the script for a Hollywood thriller.And Davis, who lives in Easthampton,...
The Beat Goes On: Early Baroque music and instrumental guitar in Florence, an a cappella fundraiser in Amherst, and more
By STEVE PFARRER
Day-night doubleheaders have been the standard for Major League Baseball for some time now: the same two teams facing off in two games played before successive crowds.This weekend the Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity in Florence is offering its own...
Short stories from a long road: James McMurtry delivers a standout show at The Drake
By STEVE PFARRER
He’s been hailed as one of the best songwriters around, a troubadour of small-town America and the hardscrabble lives of its citizens.But James McMurtry has always taken a low-key approach to his music, and he did it again last week when he played a...
Book Bag: ‘High Bridge’ by Michael Miller; ‘Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine’ by Hannah Moushabeck
By STEVE PFARRER
High BridgeBy Michael Miller; Köehler Books Fayetteville, New York is not exactly a well-known locale. But in the mid-19th century, this village outside Syracuse was home to two people who would later make significant marks in U.S. history: President...
Crossing the border with performance art: Documentary by Amherst native Amber Bemak profiles the Mexican-Chicano artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña
By STEVE PFARRER
When she was an undergraduate at Antioch College, Amber Bemak studied film before moving on to get an MFA in film, video and new media from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.But Bemak, 45, who grew up in Amherst and now teaches film and media...
Arts & Culture: A theatrical fundraiser for Ukraine, a talk on local women’s basketball history, and more
Musician tackles his declining vision on new albumNORTHAMPTON — A few years ago, Mark Erelli got some bad news: The problems he’d developed with his vision — like not being able to see the neck of his guitar clearly during a gig — were caused by...
A burst of spring at the Fine Arts Center: Dance, music and acrobatics on tap at UMass in next two weeks
By STEVE PFARRER
The Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has continued to rebound from the pandemic with an expanded program this year featuring a range of shows in music, dance, theater and movement.As spring officially arrives, the schedule...
Waking up: One man’s journey from ad man to atman
By MELISSA KAREN SANCES
Before Tom Pedulla found the Eightfold Path, he had to admit that he was lost.It took the better part of a lifetime, because he didn’t look lost at all. As the eldest of four children born to Italian-American parents, he was expected to succeed, and...
Smith College Museum of Art hosts two public talks
By STEVE PFARRER
NORTHAMPTON — The Smith College Museum of Art (SCMA) is hosting two public talks that will examine some diverse subjects, from art and culture of North Africa to a look at how incarcerated people create art.On Wednesday, Abdessamad El Montassir, an...
Book Bag: ‘Writing the Land: Windbown I,’ edited by Lis McLouglin; coming book launches at Odyssey Bookshop
By STEVE PFARRER
Writing the Land: Windblown IEdited by Lis McLoughlin; NatureCulture LLC The beauty of nature has inspired countless writers and other artists for time immemorial. That beauty has also inspired any number of people to try to preserve the natural world...
Two roads converge: Academic and musician Florence Dore mines connections between her passions
By STEVE PFARRER
Who says you can’t merge a Ph.D. and rock and roll? As Florence Dore explains, she spent a long time traveling on seemingly disparate tracks. On one hand she was the professor who’d devoted years to studying American literature and teaching...
The Beat Goes On: Lots o’ Celtic music over St. Patrick’s Day weekend, blues and soul in Florence, and more
By STEVE PFARRER
Unless you’re planning to drink yourself into a stupor with a borg (blackout rage gallon) or some other kind of booze preparation, you can celebrate St. Patrick’s Day weekend by listening to any number of Celtic groups that will be playing in the...
Arts Briefs: Four Sundays program returns to Northampton, UMass alumna wins major opera competition, and more
Four Sundays (and a few Saturdaysand weekdays)NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Arts Council’s “Four Sundays” program, which has gone through a bit of an evolution in the last few years, is back again in yet another format.The original program, “Four...