Arts
Women take the stage: Easthampton and Northampton feature all-female theater productions this weekend
By STEVE PFARRER
If you’ve been thinking there aren’t enough good roles or opportunities for women in theater, this weekend offers a good antidote to that in Easthampton and Northampton, where several productions have been created entirely by women. Here’s what on...
Slam it: Academy of Music to host its first Youth Poetry Slam
By STEVE PFARRER
There are poetry readings, the workshop leader said, and then there are poetry slams — and it’s important to know the difference.“Slam poetry,” said Lyrical Faith, “is about winning. It’s a very competitive sport.”Faith should know. She began...
Come Together: New album by Valley musical ensemble TapRoots draws on a wide range of contributors
By STEVE PFARRER
Like millions of other Americans, Matthew King spent much of 2020-2021 in lockdown after COVID-19 arrived on the scene.But like other artists, King, of Amherst, also used that downtime to keep busy with his music, writing a number of new songs and...
Edo Mor looks to bring in international music based on the Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares model
By STEVE PFARRER
When he and his wife moved to the Valley in 2005, Edo Mor says he found much to his liking: good bread, good bicycling country, nature and more. But for some time, the kind of eclectic music he liked, from North African guitar sounds to Middle Eastern...
Ready for next artistic adventure: Amy Johnquest, longtime director of the Taber Art Gallery at Holyoke Community College, is stepping down
By STEVE PFARRER
Amy Johnquest has had a number of different gigs during her life, from designing posters for Downtown Sounds in Northampton, to painting signs and creating window displays for other businesses, to creating her own mixed media art.But later this...
Book Bag: ‘Sleeping as Fast as I Can’ by Richard Michelson; ‘Stay’ by Howard Faerstein
By STEVE PFARRER
Sleeping as Fast as I Canby Richard MichelsonSlant Books Richard Michelson has long made a name for himself as a children’s book author, winning a number of honors in the process, including a National Jewish Book Award for “The Language of Angels,” a...
Taking back the earth through the arts: Easthampton’s Earth & Fire Arts Fest tackles environmental issues
By STEVE PFARRER
The climate news seems relentlessly bleak: rising seas and melting glaciers; growing drought and firestorms; increasingly violent storms that destroy everything in their path and unleash terrible flooding.Oh, and let’s not forget more longstanding...
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...
