The Northampton Arts Council works to support and nurture the arts in the city of Northampton. The Council awards grants twice each year to artists and arts groups from both state and locally-raised funds, and seeks to improve public awareness of the arts. Its' goals include maintaining and preserving the rich and diverse cultural heritage of Northampton, programming such annual events of interest to the community as First Night Northampton and Transperformance.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Center for the Arts Hosts Archguitarist Peter Blanchette’s 8th Annual Bach Birthday Concert

On Friday, March 20 at 7:30 PM, Peter Blanchette and the Northampton Center for the Arts continue what has become a valley tradition: Blanchette’s annual concert celebrating Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday, this year at the Arts Trust Building at 33 Hawley Street, Northampton. Blanchette is joined by special guests Duo Orfeo, (Joe Ricker and Jamie Balmer, electric guitars). Duo Orfeo's new release, Guitar Nouveau, has already received critical praise. Ricker's arrangements of keyboard music of the late baroque composer Jaques Duphly, which will be presented at the concert, were featured on BBC's The Early Music Show. Blanchette and Duo Orfeo will combine to perform Blanchette's arrangement of Bach’s Trio Sonata BWV 528.

Peter Blanchette is the inventor of the 11-string archguitar. His repertoire of unusual and internationally acclaimed arrangements and compositions spans from medieval to contemporary to ethnic, played in solo recital or with selected instrumentalists to form the Virtual Consort. Named outstanding individual artist by New England Public Radio in 2011 and a recipient of the MCC Artist Grant in Music Composition, Blanchette is a veteran performer at high profile venues such as Spain's Festival de Guitárra de Cordoba, WGBH's Bach Around the Clock, Boston's Symphony Hall, NPR’s A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, and The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He is also the founder and Artistic Director of the critically-acclaimed Happy Valley Guitar Orchestra (www.hvgo.org)  


Tickets for the concert are $17.50, $22.50 (premium view) and $25.00 (limited front row) Advance purchase is recommended at www.nohoarts.org.  Remaining tickets will be sold for $20.00 cash or check at the door.


Monday, February 23, 2015

Drawing and Painting

Drawing and Painting
Sponsored by Connecticut River Valley Sanctuaries
Location:
Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, Easthampton

Instructor:
Jan Ruby-Crystal - Professor of Art and Design
Class dates and times:
Tue, Mar 03, 2015 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Tue, Mar 10, 2015 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Tue, Mar 17, 2015 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Tue, Mar 24, 2015 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Tue, Mar 31, 2015 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Tue, Apr 07, 2015 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Friday, February 6, 2015

Northampton Ice Art Festival is Feeling the Love

Thanks to an infusion of funds from the Northampton Radio Group—broadcasters of WRSI The River, WHMP and Hits 94.3—and the energetic support of Arts Night Out and the City of Northampton, there will indeed be a Northampton Ice Art Festival beginning on Friday, February 13.  For the fifth time, the public is invited to share in thrills and chills as icy masterpieces take shape at a dozen downtown locations. Work starts at 10 am on the day, and completed pieces highlight Northampton's "Arts Night Out,” 5pm-8pm. They remain on display throughout the Valentine’s Day weekend—longer, if the weather cooperates.
The future of the Ice Art Festival, previously produced by the Northampton BID, has been in question for several months. “We didn’t want to see this special event fade away,” says Radio Group General Manager David Musante. “It brings people to town to stroll, shop, and dine. It creates great memories and keeps people coming back to downtown Northampton.” Musante goes on to note that “the enthusiastic assistance and institutional knowledge of Penny Burke from the Center for the Arts and former Northampton BID Director Natasha Yakovlev were key in putting this together on short notice.”

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