Performance: Music
music.williams.edu
Performance: Theater
Performance: Dance
Performance: Film

Jazz and tap can warm Williams College’s ‘62 Center on an early March night. Angelique Kidjo, flying in from Benin, can fill Mass MoCA’s auditorium in winter and bring the crowd to their feet. Live performances in the Berkshires span the globe and the year.

The summer season overflows, and thousands of visitors come for dance, theater and music, from Wilco’s bi-annual Solid Sound Festival to the Williamstown Theatre Festival, to FreshGrass each September.
The High Mud Comedy Fest brings in internationally known comedians to lighten up mid-March.
Jacob’s Pillow and Mass MoCA bring dance companies and choreographers from all parts of the world.
Images Cinema in Williamstown and Oldcastle Theatre in Bennington screen classics and new works, often with the film-makers on hand.

Theatre

Williamstown Theatre Festival

'62 Center for Theatre and Dance

From June through August, WTF brings Tony award winning actors and veterans of television and film to perform in a series of plays, comedies, dramas, musicals, classics and new work.

MASS MoCA

Downtown North Adams

Since its Building 6 opened in the summer of 2017, Mass MoCA has become one of the world’s largest contemporary art museums, with vast galleries and indoor and outdoor stages.

Williams College ’62 Center

Williams College

The ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance summer home of the Williamstown Theatre Festival hosts theater and dance performances year-round while the college is in session.

WordxWord

Spoken word poets run mentoring programs and writing workshops in Berkshire schools and hold events year-round, from National Poetry Month to an annual week-long summer festival in Pittsfield.

The Celestials

MASS MoCA

May 7, 2020 8:00 PM

Stage adaptation of local author Karen Shepard’s novel.

Oldcastle Theatre Company

Barrington Stage Company

Barrington Stage

Twenty miles south in Pittsfield, Barrington Stage Company fills two stages from June to August and with musicals, comedy and drama, including new works.

Berkshire Theatre Group

With stages in Pittsfield and Stockbridge, the Berkshires’ oldest theatre company is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2018.

Shakespeare & Company

Shakespeare & Co.

Founded in 1977, Lenox’s well-established troupe performs Shakespearean classics, contemporary works, adaptations of Edith Wharton’s short stories and more from May to September.

Music

The Clark Art Institute

Williamstown Cultural District

With a permanent collection of Impressionist art, 19th-century artists and decorative arts across more than five centuries, the Clark Art Institute has become respected across the world.

MASS MoCA

Downtown North Adams

Since its Building 6 opened in the summer of 2017, Mass MoCA has become one of the world’s largest contemporary art museums, with vast galleries and indoor and outdoor stages.

Solid Sound Festival

MASS MoCA

Wilco takes over Mass MoCA with this festival curated by the band and showcasing bandmembers new work, emerging bands, art and comedy.

Mass MoCA jam

Lickety Split at MASS MoCA

Enjoy coffee or breakfast while listening to some impromptu tunes at this weekly Saturday morning gathering.

Williams College music

Williams College

The college music department hosts a series of free concerts in the spring and fall semesters with faculty and visiting performers from across the country and across the world.

Tanglewood

Lenox

Symphony on the lawn, with crystal and silver picnics plus family-friendly events.

Mike Mains & The Branches

HiLo

April 10, 2020 8:00 PM

A pop-rock band with danceable songs and moving lyrics

Michael Daves & Friends

MASS MoCA

May 2, 2020 8:00 PM

Michael Daves comes fresh from the New York bluegrass scene.

Raga Maqam

MASS MoCA

May 9, 2020 8:00 PM

Raga Maqam experiments with classical Indian music.

Liz Phair

MASS MoCA

May 16, 2020 8:00 PM

Gold-selling indie rocker Liz Phair performs at MASS MoCA.

Bang on a Can LOUD Weekend

MASS MoCA

July 31 10:00 AM - August 2, 2020 6:00 PM

Bang on a Can’s one-of-kind music festival is not to be missed.

Car Seat Headrest

MASS MoCA

September 4, 2020 8:00 PM

On the heels of a blowout 2019 Hunter Center appearance, Car Seat Headrest returns to a favorite venue for a residency followed by a one-of-a-kind preview concert.

Party in the Park

North Adams

Annual summer concert series that is free and open the public.

BarN

Concert Venue

An intimate setting for acoustic music.

HiLo North Adams

HiLo North Adams is a music and comedy venue with a bar located in a revitalized building in downtown North Adams.

Dance

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

Since Ted Shawn established a revolutionary company for men on a mountaintop more than 85 years ago, Jacob’s Pillow has become a force in the international world of dance. …

Williams College ’62 Center

Williams College

The ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance summer home of the Williamstown Theatre Festival hosts theater and dance performances year-round while the college is in session.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

An ever-growing online collection of dance videos filmed at Jacob’s Pillow from the 1930s to today is available free to all.

Film

Images Cinema

Images Cinema is a year-round community film house, showing contemporary movies, documentaries, art and international films and more.

Family Programs

Rock On!

Pittsfield

Explore rock, blues, and jazz with a great faculty. All levels welcome from Beginners to Advanced players.

Starlight Stage Youth Theater

Williamstown

Since being founded in 1976, hundreds of young people from the Berkshire County, southern Vermont and eastern New York state area have participated in the programs.

Classes & Workshops

Assets for Artists

Assets for Artists, a project of Mass MoCA, helps artists in many disciplines to find and build financial and business resources and supports artists in moving to the area. Resources can include a matched savings grant program for individual artists, professional development workshops and one-on-one coaching, a residency program at Mass MoCA and more.

FreshGrass Festival

Mass MoCA

FreshGrass is rich in both traditional and cutting-edge bluegrass, presented in a wide array of venues tucked appropriately into a 19th-century factory turned 21st-century museum.

Rock On!

Pittsfield

Explore rock, blues, and jazz with a great faculty. All levels welcome from Beginners to Advanced players.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

Since Ted Shawn established a revolutionary company for men on a mountaintop more than 85 years ago, Jacob’s Pillow has become a force in the international world of dance. …

Starlight Stage Youth Theater

Williamstown

Since being founded in 1976, hundreds of young people from the Berkshire County, southern Vermont and eastern New York state area have participated in the programs.

Sonatina Piano Camps

Bennington, VT

Immersive piano camps for adults and children of all level. 10- and 5-day piano camps for adults and 4 week piano camps for children in the summer.

Berkshire Stringed Instruments: School of Lutherie

North Adams

Comprehensive, hands on courses in guitar, mandolin and ukulele construction.

Williamstown Theatre Festival internships