Pioneer Valley Ballet presents spring ballet Beauty and the Beast

WHAT: Pioneer Valley Ballet (PVB) Presents Beauty and the Beast
WHEN: Saturday, April 6 at 1:00 p.m and 4:30 p.m
WHERE: the Academy of Music, 274 Main St, Northampton MA

Pioneer Valley Ballet (PVB) brings its original production of the classic fairytale Beauty and the Beast to Northampton’s historic Academy of Music Theatre for two full-length performances on Saturday, April 6. In addition, a 45-minute Mini Beauty and the Beast sensory-safe performance will be presented the next day at Yankee Candle Village.

Under the direction of Co-Artistic Directors Maryanne Kodzis and Thomas Vacanti, Beauty and the Beast showcases dozens of  PVB dancers, hailing from towns throughout Western Massachusetts, alongside guest artists.

A moving ballet based on the French tale made famous by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, Beauty and the Beast is full of whimsy and magic, weaving the powerful story of a young woman who discovers the true meaning of love in an unexpected place. PVB’s ballet features choreography by Vacanti and Kodzis, set to the music of Czech composer Antonín Dvořák.

Beauty and the Beast performances will be held at the Academy of Music Theatre on Saturday, April 6 at 1:00 p.m and 4:30 p.m. Tickets, including children’s and senior rates, range from $22.50 to $43 plus service fees. Group rates are also available.

The following day, on Sunday, April 7 at 3:00 p.m., PVB will present an abridged, 45-minute version of the performance – its Mini Beauty and the Beast – at Yankee Candle Village in South Deerfield. This performance is for families with children of all ages and is designed to be sensory safe, with reduced sound and lighting to accommodate sensory sensitivities. Tickets are $13, with an $11 rate for children and seniors.

PVB is a non-profit, mission-based organization with studios at the Eastworks building in Easthampton. Its programming includes year-round training opportunities for dancers of all ages; two annual productions (including The Nutcracker) with student, community, and professional dancers; and extensive dance outreach to the community.

This year’s production of Beauty and the Beast at the Academy of Music is supported by a grant from the Northampton Arts Council. Tickets to those performances can be purchased directly from the Academy of Music Theatre Box Office, online at www.aomtheatre.com, in person at 274 Main Street in downtown Northampton, or by phone at 413-584-9032 ext. 105. The box office is open Tuesdays-Fridays from 3:00-6:00 p.m., and also opens one hour before each performance.

Tickets to Mini Beauty and the Beast at Yankee Candle Village are available at https://dancestudio-pro.com/tickets/pioneervalleyballet.

For further information about the Pioneer Valley Ballet, please visit www.pioneervalleyballet.org.

Yosl Kurland: Music and Social Justice

WHAT: MUSIC AND SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENT #2: YOSL KURLAND
A Jewish Perspective on Social Justice: Songs in Yiddish, Hebrew and English
WHEN: Wednesday, March 27, 7 PM
WHERE: Forbes Library, 20 West St, Northampton, MA

Yosl Kurland was inspired by Pete Seeger as a teenager back in the 1960s to dream of singing for peace and justice. In 1991, Pete invited him and the Wholesale Klezmer Band to do just that, in Yiddish, at the 100th anniversary of Carnegie Hall, and at subsequent concerts in our own region. Yosl, a founding member of the Wholesale Klezmer Band since 1982 sings and writes songs in Yiddish, English and Hebrew.

Many Yiddish poets wrote songs calling for social Justice, based on biblical commandments to care for the poor and the stranger because we ourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt, and the Yiddish song repertoire includes much in that vein. In tonight's program, Yosl will perform songs by these "sweatshop" poets as well as his own compositions that reflect the Jewish experience in calling for justice for both workers and refugees. Yiddish songs will have translations projected for the audience.

Painting by Brooke Schnabel

WHAT: Painting by Brooke Schnabel
WHEN: April 6 through April 28
Reception: April 12, 6:00-8:00pm.
WHERE: The Anchor House of Artists, 518 Pleasant St, Northampton, MA

Brooke Schnabel will exhibit a collection of vivid landscapes and figurative artworks, oils and watercolors, that have already delighted audiences in several venues in local scene and beyond.  The delight is in play of sun across scenes at quiet harbors and broad, populated beaches. The canvases are so alive, one can smell the salt coming off the surf where bathers are playing and the warm, perfumed moisture coming from the dark, wooded banks that line secluded harbors.

Schnabel states, “I keep painting because it is what I am most skilled at and because in my bones I believe what John Keats said, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”

We are very delighted to have him here to begin our spring line up.

Open hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday 1:00 pm-6:00 pm.

Northampton Neighbors and Senior Center presents “Up in the Air: Adventures in Urban Bird-Watching and Cluster Ballooning” with Greg Saulmon and Mark Karpel

WHAT:  Greg Saulmon and Mark Karpel will share their experiences and knowledge about two quite separate, but fascinating, objects that fly!
WHEN: Wednesday, March 20, 2019 5:30 - 7:30 PM
WHERE: Northampton Council On Aging, 67 Conz Street, Northampton, MA

Greg, an avid birder and Holyoke resident, will describe the amazing variety of birds that populate our urban areas, with striking photographs he has taken of birds in downtown Holyoke and Springfield. “Many people see Holyoke and Springfield as cities racked by poverty, crime and drugs,” Greg notes, “but their neighborhoods also offer some of the most unique birding opportunities you’ll find anywhere.” Can that help change the conversation about our urban centers? Come and find out.

Mark will take us on a hair-raising ride in a gas-filled cluster balloon. “Trying to get airborne…is reckless, irresponsible, and sometimes fatal, unless it’s done right.” We’ll follow sky-struck amateurs, glory-seekers, skilled balloonists and scientists through eighty years of audacious adventures.

Greg Saulmon is an accomplished photographer whose work has been shown in galleries and museums in Holyoke, Northampton and Brattleboro. He maintains a website: birdsdowntown.com.

Mark Karpel takes breaks from his psychology practice to write about people who think big and get carried away. He drove the chase van for the first cluster balloon flight across the English Channel.

Art Exhibit: Art Program at the Northampton Recovery Center

WHAT: Art Exhibit: Art Program at the Northampton Recovery Center
WHEN: Friday, April 12, 2019 (Arts Night Out), 5 – 7 p.m.
WHERE: 2 Gleason Plaza (entrance to Union Station)

Local Vocal Chord Bowl #11: an all local! a cappella concert

WHAT: Local Vocal Chord Bowl #11: an all local! a cappella concert
WHEN: April 6, 2019, 7:00 pm
WHERE: Northampton High School Auditorium, 380 Elm St, Northampton, MA 01060

Tickets:
Adults and Seniors: $12.00 in advance, $15.00 at door
Children and Students: $8.00 in advance, $10.00 at door
Tickets available in advance at:
Coopers Corner, Florence
State Street Fruit, Northampton
Atkin’s Farm, S. Amherst
A. J. Hastings, Amherst

The Green Street Brew, is proud to produce and host the eleventh “Local Vocal Chord Bowl” (LVCB), the all local a cappella concert spinoff of the extremely popular Silver Chord Bowl. This crowd pleasing community, fundraising concert will be donating all proceeds to the Northampton and Amherst school systems, earmarked for music and arts enrichment.

We have a multi-generational line-up of high school, college and adult groups, and all make their home in the Pioneer Valley.

This year’s line-up:
Green Street Brew
Wise Guys
Tonal Eclipse
UMASS Doo Wop Shop
UMASS Vocal Suspects
ARHS Chorale
ARHS Hurricane Singers
Northamptones
Northampton HS Chambe Choir

The Arabic Program at Amherst College invites you to A Concert of Traditional Arabic Instrumental and Vocal Music

WHAT: Concert of Traditional Arabic Instrumental and Vocal Music
WHEN: Thursday, March 21, 6-8pm
WHERE: The Power House, Amherst College, 10 East Drive, Amherst MA 01002