GCC Community Chorus to perform encore ‘Spring Mix!’ performance
GCC Community Chorus will give an informal encore performance of their spring program “Spring Mix!” on Friday, April 24 at 12:15 p.m. at Stinchfield Lecture Hall, Room N335, in Greenfield Community College.
This program of highlights from the full performance will include African-American music and works by William Billings and several 20th and 21st century composers. Margery Heins will conduct, with soloists from the chorus and John Yannis, on the piano.
Just about to complete its third year, the GCC Community Chorus is a program of community engagement at Greenfield Community College. Open to students, alumni, faculty and community members, the group rehearses once a week and performs several times each semester.
For information, talk with Heins following the April 24 concert or visit engage.gcc.mass.edu.
LAVA Center to hold auditions
The LAVA Center in Greenfield is looking for actors to audition for its fourth annual On The Boards new play festival on Sunday, April 26, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Monday, April 27, from 6 to 9 p.m. Each audition slot will be one hour and will include up to six actors cold-reading provided sides. Previous acting experience is welcome but not necessary. No memorization is required.
The plays will be presented as staged readings on the evenings of June 4-6, 12-13, and 19-20. The plays being cast include “Phoenix,” by Jan Maher; “A Rare Sight,” by Jem O’Hara; “After the Whales Spoke,” by Molly Brennan; “Sidney Truant,” by Vanessa Query; “Come Slowly, Emily,” by Allison Reding; “The Hungry Ghosts in the WhiteWash(er) Machine … A (W)hole ReStor(e)ative Practice in ReHears(e)al … A Both/And/Or/With Paradox ReFrame,” by CL Dukes; and “Calling,” by Patricia Crosby.
All selected actors will receive honoraria for their time. To sign up for an audition slot, click the signup link near the top of The LAVA Center’s website, thelavacenter.org. If you have questions, visit email ash@thelavacenter.org.
Good Trouble Street Choir seeks singers
The Good Trouble Street Choir in Greenfield is accepting a few altos, sopranos and tenors who love to sing in harmony at vigils and protests. This is not a drop-in chorus, but a committed group that sings in three and four-part harmony (SATB). Sight singing is a plus but not a requirement. No audition required. Rehearsals are every 2nd and 4th Monday evenings at the Second Congregational Church by the Town Common from 6:30-8 p.m. Contact Joe Toritto to sign up at 413-774-5828 or joetoritto@yahoo.com.
Community square dance returns to Ashfield
A free, all-ages community square dance will be held Saturday, April 25, from 7-9:30 p.m. at Ashfield Town Hall, 412 Main St. Lila West will call the dances, accompanied by live music from the Fall Town String Band. The event is open to everyone, and no experience is necessary. Both seasoned dancers and complete beginners are encouraged to attend. Organizers request participants arrive at 7 p.m.; at the start of the evening, the caller will help dancers form squares and guide them through simple moves that build throughout the night.
The Fall Town String Band — Jason Burbank (keyboard and fiddle), Jack Nelson (bass), Tom Novelli (fiddle), and Marvin Shedd (guitar) — performs a mix of American roots, folk, jazz, country and blues. The band has been playing at square dances throughout the region since 1987, and also plays at clubs, fairs, festivals and private events. They have a monthly gig at the Rendezvous Restaurant & Bar in Turners Falls, every Wednesday at 8 p.m. Ashfield’s Town Hall was once a popular square dancing destination, hosting dances every weekend.
For more information or to volunteer, contact the organizers at 413-485-7285. This program is funded by grants from the Ashfield, Buckland, Goshen and Williamsburg Cultural Councils, local agencies supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Wendell Meetinghouse to host variety performing arts to celebrate courage, resilience
On Saturday, April 25 at 7 p.m., cabaret performers and artists at the Wendell Meetinghouse will celebrate courage and resilience through song, storytelling, dance and poetry.
Organizer Seal LaMadeleine has focused on welcoming diverse disciplines to this evening’s performance, with the idea of bringing new performers and artists — and their families and friends — to the Wendell Meetinghouse. Performers include Moonlight Davis & Morning Star, Carrie Ferguson, Wylder Ayres, Shell Hines, Cori Chandler, Taica Patience, Ezzell Floranina and Seal LaMadeleine. LaMadeleine has worked to coalesce local and regional artists around the event’s theme, the celebration of spring.
Cabaret acts will feature the Wendell Meetinghouse’s sound and lighting equipment installed in 2025. Tickets are available on a sliding scale of $8-$20. However, no one will be turned away. Proceeds from the event benefit performers and the Friends of the Wendell Meetinghouse.
For information on the Wendell Meetinghouse and its programming, visit wendellmeetinghouse.org.
Paddling Film Festival held on April 28
Zoar Outdoor is hosting Team JK athlete Mason Hargrove for two whitewater kayaking clinics followed by the 21st annual World Tour Paddling Film Festival at Hampshire College in Amherst on April 28. The event features afternoon pool sessions on paddling techniques and freestyle, capped with a film screening at 6:30 p.m. at Franklin Patterson Hall, located at 893 West St. Doors open at 6 p.m. with films rolling at 6:30 p.m. for approximately two hours.
Hargrove, a respected name in competitive and instructional kayaking, will lead two, 1.5-hour sessions at the pool:
- Strokes & Concepts, 1:30-3 p.m.: A focused clinic on paddling fundamentals and on-water mechanics, designed to sharpen technique for paddlers at any level.
- Freestyle Kayaking, 3-4:30 p.m.: An introduction to freestyle paddling, covering the moves and mindset behind one of the sport’s most dynamic disciplines.
Pool session registration is open through Zoar Outdoor. Film festival tickets are available separately through Berkshire East Mountain Resort. For more information, visit paddlingfilmfestival.com.
Northampton Center for the Arts to host a free ‘Drag Lab’ workshop
As part of the Fiscal Year 2027 Annual Recommendations Report, the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth is hosting listening sessions across the state to hear from the youth and their support systems in an effort to improve the commission’s recommendations to the state. On Sunday, April 26, the commission is partnering with the Northampton Center for the Arts to host a “Drag Lab.”
The free event, located at 33 Hawley St. in Northampton, will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and feature drag workshops, focused on dance, makeup and character building, as well as a space to share about your experiences in Massachusetts. Food will be provided. To register, visit nohoarts.org/drag-lab.
UMass Symphony Orchestra and Choirs to perform Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ on April 26
The UMass Symphony Orchestra and nearly 200 vocalists will perform Verdi’s “Requiem” at Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall on Sunday, April 26 at 4 p.m.
The show will include vocalists from the UMass Chamber Choir, the University Chorale, students from the choral program at Mount Holyoke College, the Illumine Vocal Arts Ensemble, and four professional operatic soloists: soprano Emily Birsan, mezzo-soprano Sarah Coit, tenor Lucas Levy, and bass Kofi Hayford.
Verdi’s “Requiem,” written after the death of his friend Alessandro Manzoni, is 90 minutes.
Tickets are $17 general admission or $7 for students, seniors, and UMass employees at the Fine Arts Center box office, by calling 413-545-2511, or at purchase.arts.umass.edu/events.