Berkshire Magazine Spring 2026 | Page 11

BACA: A New Era of Collective Advocacy in the Berkshires
THE BSO’ S CEO SPEAKS ON TANGLEWOOD, BOSTON, AND THE BERKSHIRES
feeling, because the last time I had really spent a summer there, I was a student— performing on the Ozawa stage, doing recitals, singing contemporary works. To come back and be running this institution with so much history, but with a real eye to the future— for me, it was homecoming, certainly, but also a powerful sense of possibility.
You mentioned that you were excited about coming to Boston“ at this time.” What was so exciting about this moment for Boston and Tanglewood, and how does it influence your goals for your tenure? This is a moment where major legacy arts institutions like the Boston
Symphony and Tanglewood have this opportunity to engage very different expectations. There’ s a desire within this community for our organization to serve deeply, but also serve differently: connect with the intellectual community, connect with the academic community, connect with other cultural institutions, and think about how institutions can do something that they can’ t do alone. That’ s what excites me: How does the BSO fit into this community of organizations and institutions?
Because this is Berkshire Magazine, can you compare your understanding of Tanglewood
as a student with your understanding of Tanglewood now, in this role? There’ s always been this phrase,“ It’ s summer camp for the BSO.” But for me, my ten weeks of running the Tanglewood Festival each year is the busiest ten weeks that I have in my calendar. It is extraordinary, because we are giving 30 to 40 concerts per week. Our campus is a total of 400 acres. We have tens of thousands of people who are coming onto our campus every weekend. Those are people that I am meeting as donors. Those are people I’ m meeting as artists. In my role as CEO, I spend a lot of time in artist development and artist
engagement, but I’ m also with boards and trustees.
Everybody in my industry loves coming to Tanglewood in the summer. Other arts leaders and philanthropists come to Tanglewood because it is such a special place.
So, my ten weeks are exhausting and awesome. But luckily, my partner and I have a house on the campus. I always joke it’ s a little bit like a parish house. The good news is I can roll out of bed and be at a meeting in ten minutes, driving my little golf cart. The bad news? I’ m always on.
But I love the summer in the Berkshires. And my partner and I always try to spend one

BACA: A New Era of Collective Advocacy in the Berkshires

In a region where arts and culture are not merely amenities but economic anchors, the Berkshire Arts and Culture Alliance( BACA) represents an intentional shift: a move toward shared strategy, shared voice, and shared advocacy. Formed by leaders of ten major Berkshire County institutions, BACA was created to address issues that no single organization— no matter how prominent— can solve alone.
Announced in May 2025, BACA’ s members include Barrington Stage Company, Berkshire Theatre Group, Boston Symphony Orchestra( BSO)/ Tanglewood, the Clark Art Institute, Jacob’ s Pillow, The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, MASS MoCA, Norman Rockwell Museum, Shakespeare & Company, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. The alliance aligned in autumn 2024 following an issuesbased session in which the directors of these institutions convened to identify shared concerns. While Berkshire cultural organizations have long collaborated informally— through co-promotions, shared calendars, and the natural cross-pollination of summer audiences— BACA formalizes that cooperative spirit into a framework for action.
BSO President and CEO Chad Smith has been among the initiative’ s most visible champions, describing a vision of regional partnership rooted in synergy rather than competition. Speaking about the kind of collaboration that becomes possible when institutions align their influence, Smith described the goal simply: creating conditions where“ one plus one equals 17.” In that model, the BSO and Tanglewood— already a major driver of Berkshire tourism— can use their reach and visibility not as a gravitational force that pulls attention inward, but as a lever that elevates the entire cultural ecosystem. The idea is symbiotic: greater regional visibility brings more visitors; more visitors strengthens attendance, philanthropy, and local spending across institutions; and that collective vitality reinforces the Berkshire’ s identity as a premier national destination for the arts.
BACA’ s stated objectives focus on infrastructure, workforce stability, and long-term resilience. Priorities include securing support for collective infrastructure needs; addressing affordable housing for seasonal and year-round employees; initiating joint marketing efforts to enhance tourism; increasing transportation options between Greater Boston and the Berkshires; exploring ways to fund intra-county transit between venues; identifying investments in climate resilience; and enhancing safety measures on cultural campuses.
For Smith, the value of the alliance is not simply collaboration for its own sake, but a more coordinated approach to telling the region’ s story— and advocating for the conditions that allow that story to keep unfolding. Perhaps he summarized it best with this:“ A collective message, a collective voice, a collective ask is going to be more powerful than an individual ask. We believe that increasing the presence of the Berkshires in the collective mind of our communities further afield is a good thing for all of us.”
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