Saluting the Clarinet—Mozart, Beethoven, Bartók and Gershwin
2026-11-01 16:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230, United States
It can come on brash and it can come on sensuous. In the orchestra, it steps forward in “Peter and the Wolf” and “Rhapsody in Blue”; in opera it’s a near-protagonist in “The Magic Flute,” “La Traviata” and “The Barber of Seville” as composers delineate atmosphere and character motifs. It can sing and it can swing. We are referring of course to the clarinet, which stars in a program that features Bartók’s “Contrasts,” written for clarinet legend Benny Goodman and violinist Joseph Szigeti (with Bartók himself playing the piano at the world premiere!); Beethoven’s Trio in B-flat major, opus 11; Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, and some down-home Gershwin. The program abounds in Hungarian country fiddling and dance melodies, rich folk fare and jazz, as well as clarinet and violin pyrotechnics. The remarkable clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein will leave us all breathless! He is joined by pianist Michael Chertock, violinist Xiao-Dong Wang and cellist and artistic director Yehuda Hanani.
Alexander Fiterstein, clarinet; Michael Chertock, piano; Xiao-Dong Wang, Helena Baillie, violins; Daniel Panner, viola; Yehuda Hanani, cello
$35 Balcony / $60 Orchestra (plus processing fees)

Early Bird Subscription Deadline: September 7. Early Bird Subscribers will receive their e-tickets by September 14.

Individual ticket holders will receive their e-tickets on October 16.

Come to the Cabaret! Paris and Weimar Berlin
2026-12-13 16:00 - 18:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230, United States
With this extraordinary program, the internationally celebrated performer Yael Rasooly, known for her magnetic stage presence, powerful vocals, and virtuoso puppetry, makes her CEWM debut, masterfully weaving together the bold, satirical songs of the Weimar era and Edith Piaf’s Paris. In moving tributes to legendary artists Piaf and Marlene Dietrich, singer-actress-director Rasooly and pianist Daniel Rein evoke the richly decadent world of 1920s-30s Berlin and Paris through their distinctive, theatrical approach to a varied repertoire of Berlin cabaret songs (think Kurt Weill!) and poetic French chansons. The program intertwines music and visual storytelling as Rasooly channels these legendary women of song through mime, elaborate costumes, and specially created life-size puppets, transporting us to a bygone era while illuminating timeless themes. Her storytelling combines a unique perspective of song, humor and puppetry that audiences will not soon forget.
Yael Rasooly, singer, actress, director; Rafael Castillo-Halvorssen, horn; Daniel Rein, piano
$35 Balcony / $60 Orchestra (plus processing fees)

Early Bird Subscription Deadline: September 7. Early Bird Subscribers will receive their e-tickets by September 14.

Individual ticket holders will receive their e-tickets on October 16

Bach and Handel with Simone Dinnerstein, Yehuda Hanani Hannah Sohn
2027-02-21 16:00 - 18:00 | Saint James Place, 352 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230, United States
Called “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation” (New York Times), pianist Simone Dinnerstein joins Yehuda Hanani in a program that addresses cultural twins of the Baroque, born less than one month and 125 kilometers apart—Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. While Bach was the great master of the polyphonic form, a fugal genius, Handel was a melodist of enormous power and sensitivity. Distinctly different composers, both achieved universal acclaim. Bach’s 15 Sinfonias and the joyful Gamba Sonata No. 2 alongside Handel’s Violin Sonata in F Major on cello and the sonata for two cellos and keyboard will handily illustrate their unique cosmic voices. A century later, Beethoven spun a set of variations on Handel’s theme from the oratorio “Judas Maccabeus.” Dinnerstein and Hanani (“The sonatas came bounding to life in vital interpretations rich in imaginative detail and virile strength. Mr. Hanani was rightly rewarded with cheers from the audience.” — New York Times) are well matched to ascend the heights of these celestial works.
Simone Dinnerstein, piano; Yehuda Hanani, Hannah Sohn, cellos
$60 Orchestra/Mezzanine (plus processing fees)
Early Bird Subscription Deadline: September 7. Early Bird Subscribers will receive their e-tickets by September 14
Individual ticket holders will receive their e-tickets on October 16

Skylark Vocal Ensemble—Matthew Guard, Artistic Director
2027-03-14 16:00 - 18:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230, United States
Britten’s radiant Flower Songs and Benedict Sheehan’s mellifluous Songbird Antiphons anchor a program of music inspired by gardens, birdsong, and the living world. Recognized as one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles, four-time GRAMMY nominee Skylark blends some of America’s most virtuosic voices into an emotionally impactful and cohesive whole. Through innovative, imaginative, and interdisciplinary programming, Skylark aims to redefine the choral experience for artists and audiences alike. From its homebase in Boston to premier venues like the Met Cloisters, Spivey Hall, and the Morgan Library, Skylark is setting a global standard in the choral arts with unexpected themes, surprising connections, and imaginative collaborations. Performances have been called “exquisite…thrilling…stunning” by Gramophone Magazine and “gripping” by The Times of London.
$35 Balcony / $60 Orchestra (plus processing fees)

Early Bird Subscription Deadline: September 7. Early Bird Subscribers will receive their e-tickets by September 14.

Individual ticket holders will receive their e-tickets on October 16

Dvořák—In The New World and Old World
2027-04-18 16:00 - 18:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230, United States
From humble beginnings to stardom, Antonín Dvořák straddled two centuries, two continents, rural and urban sensibilities and folk styles inspired by Czech and Slavic traditional music as well as by an American sojourn. At home in different worlds, his sublime String Quartet No. 12 “the American” was composed in Spillville, Iowa during a blissful vacation, and legitimized utilizing folklore, spirituals, and vernacular art as material for the next generation of American classical composers. The Piano Quintet, a masterwork of Romantic-era chamber music, stands as one of the twin peaks of the repertoire written for piano and string quartet (Brahms’s Quintet being the other!). Brahmsian depth, Eastern European folk flavor and sheer melodic beauty characterize this joyful work. Also, a taste of Dvořák’s vocal output with selections from his Biblical Songs, the Gypsy Songs cycle and others reflecting his abiding affection for Czech and Bohemian culture.
Anna Polonsky, piano; Miranda Cuckson, Xiao-Dong Wang, violins; Helena Baillie, viola; Yehuda Hanani, cello; Enes Petkas, baritone
$35 Balcony / $60 Orchestra (plus processing fees)

Early Bird Subscription Deadline: September 7. Early Bird Subscribers will receive their e-tickets by September 14.

Individual ticket holders will receive their e-tickets on October 16

Vivace Orchestra—The Golden Chain of Classical Music
2027-05-16 16:00 - 18:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230, United States
Western music at its apex—Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven in full symphonic glory with large-scale repertoire never before performed in South County! Beginning with Papa Haydn, the lively “Surprise” Symphony is his most beloved and most popular, providing the model for how a symphony should be composed. Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante has a lyricism to be found nowhere else in all his oeuvre, with an inspired viola part he wrote for himself to play. Beethoven’s First Symphony completes the magic circle. A masterpiece—iron-fisted control of structure, with wit, humor and irresistible charisma, and as Roman Emperor Francis II, who attended the premiere, is reported to have said, “There is something revolutionary in this music!” Vivace Orchestra brings together 26 top-tier soloists and chamber musicians in an orchestral setting, under the direction of conductor Joshua Gerson.
Siwoo Kim, violin solo; Luke Fleming, viola solo
$35 Balcony / $60 Orchestra (plus processing fees)

Early Bird Subscription Deadline: September 7. Early Bird Subscribers will receive their e-tickets by September 14.

Individual ticket holders will receive their e-tickets on October 16

World Premiere—"Metamorphosis: Love"
2027-06-13 16:00 - 18:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230, United States
Jorge Martín, Tchaikovsky, Kenji Bunch, Grieg, Poulenc
Loss, remembrance, joyous recollection, metamorphosis and love. These are universal themes and a progression of states of emotion that animate the music and texture of the program. A work of shattering intensity, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio was written in response to the composer’s grief at losing his beloved teacher, Nikolai Rubinstein, and at the same time recollecting the happy moments spent in his company. It is elegiac and cathartic, as is the newest CEWM commission from Jorge Martín, Metamorphosis: Love, that gives the program its name. The Poet/protagonist role is sung by a tenor in dialogue with his Muse, sung by soprano, which in the end becomes Music itself. The accompanying ensemble is cello, piano, marimba and vibraphone. A companion piece (narrator, cello and percussion) is a 2015 CEWM commission from Kenji Bunch, written to a Shakespeare sonnet of desire and longing. Plus art songs from Schubert, Brahms, Fauré, Poulenc and Finzi. It’s all about transcendence and love.
Max Levinson, piano; Hye-Jin Kim, violin; Omar Najmi, tenor; Dana Varga, soprano; Samuel Solomon, Nancy Zeltsman, percussion; Yehuda Hanani, cello
$35 Balcony / $60 Orchestra (plus processing fees)

Early Bird Subscription Deadline: September 7. Early Bird Subscribers will receive their e-tickets by September 14.

Regular Season tickets go on sale September 28. Ticket holders will receive their e-tickets on October 16
