Berkshire Magazine July 2025 | Page 8

Shout

This, that, and the other things

SUMMER SOUNDS IN THE BERKSHIRES:

A MUSIC LOVER’ S PARADISE

When it comes to live music, the Berkshires hits its high note in July and August. These two months are nothing short of a musical explosion, says Mark Greenlaw, Content Director for Music in the Berkshires, the region’ s go-to live music calendar published by Old Mill Road Media, parent company of Berkshire Magazine.“ Last summer, we saw several weeks with more than one hundred live performances county-wide,” he says.“ It’ s an incredible time to be here if you love music.”

The crown jewel of the season is, of course, Tanglewood. With over 120 performances packed into its summer schedule, it draws audiences from around the world to its storied stage in Lenox. But the region’ s music scene extends far beyond the famous shed. Venues like The Egremont Barn, The Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, and the legendary Dream Away Lodge in Becket offer more intimate listening experiences, while nearly a dozen outdoor concert series bring music into the heart of the community. Don ' t miss Berkshire Busk lighting up downtown Great Barrington every weekend and Music Mondays at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge. You’ ll also find family-friendly shows at Lenox Loves Music in Lilac Park, among many other locations.

Feeling overwhelmed? Don’ t be. Greenlaw has put all this music at your fingertips in the comprehensive calendar at musicintheberkshires. com, which features over 2,000 upcoming performances, making it easy to plan a night out, a weekend escape, or even an entire summer of music under the stars.

Out

B y A n a s t a s i a S t a n m e y e r

Jake Borden

RETIRING FROM THE ROCKWELL

A search committee made up of members of the Board of Trustees at Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge has started the process of looking for a new director. Those shoes will not be easy to fill. Laurie Norton Moffatt, whose career has grown and matured alongside the Norman Rockwell Museum, intends to retire in 2026 after her successor has been appointed. In her nearly four decades as director, Norton Moffatt has guided the transformation of a grassroots house museum into an internationally renowned home for American illustration art. Her professional trajectory paralleled the Rockwell’ s evolution. Norton Moffatt has shifted the landscape of appreciation and respect for the artist, advanced the scholarly study of illustration art into a recognized academic field, and served as a thoughtful and influential advocate for the role of museums in a diverse and evolving society. She began her run with the museum as a part-time summer docent while still in college in 1981. Five years later, she was named director— and she hasn’ t looked back since.“ Laurie Norton Moffatt’ s lifelong dedication to the art of Norman Rockwell has taken the museum on an amazing journey from a little wooden house in the middle of our village to its current incarnation as an internationally renowned and respected home for the artist’ s work and his beloved field of illustration art,” says artist and literary translator Daisy Rockwell, a Norman Rockwell Museum Trustee who is also Rockwell’ s granddaughter as well as the daughter of his son Jarvis.

WOMEN

TRAILBLAZERS

A bust of Elizabeth Freeman, the first enslaved woman to successfully sue for her freedom in the United States, will be commissioned and placed in the Massachusetts Senate Chamber. The Senate also will commission a bust of women’ s rights leader and presidential advisor Abigail Adams. Both will be the first permanent busts depicting women in the Massachusetts State House, and the first in the Senate Chamber’ s collection of sculptures.

“ The story and spirit of the Berkshire’ s own Elizabeth Freeman serves as a testament to the promise of equality and freedom that our Commonwealth was founded upon,” says Senator Paul Mark of Becket. Freeman was born into slavery and became the first African American woman to successfully sue for her freedom in Berkshire County. Inspired by the promise of liberty in the Massachusetts Constitution, her 1781 case, Brom and Bett v. Ashley, helped establish that slavery was incompatible with the state’ s founding principles. Freeman became a respected healer and midwife, later securing her place in history as a trailblazer for civil rights.

Adams and Freeman were the top two choices of the State Senate, where members selected them from four finalists chosen by the Senate Art Committee out of a pool of over 300 nominations submitted by Massachusetts residents. The Art Committee is in the process of selecting a sculptor.“ We raise up Abigail Adams and Elizabeth Freeman as trailblazers and leaders who should rightfully be honored in the Senate Chamber,” says Senate President Karen Spilka of Ashland.“ Their presence will help us send a clear message to every woman who walks our halls: You belong here.”

See page 100 for the long-awaited unveiling of the W. E. B. Du Bois monument in Great Barrington.

THEATER ON ICE

Ice theater in the summertime? Why not? After all, the Berkshires is known for its world premieres and innovative productions. The Ice Theatre of New York makes its debut at Jacob’ s Pillow on Thursday, August 7, on the Henry J. Leir Stage. The Ice Theatre is known to blend artistry and athleticism to elevate skating as a performing art. Dancers will perform on the outdoor stage in skates atop a special flooring. Williamstown Theatre Festival presents Untitled on Ice from Friday, July 18, to Saturday, August 2, at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Skating Rink in North Adams. Inspired by the work of Tennessee Williams, Director Will Davis is creating a wholly original, poetic, entertaining, and site-specific performance with U. S. ice dancing champions Maia and Alex Shibutani, to take place at the rink. jacobspillow. org; wtfestival. org

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