Do We Take The Arts For Granted In Western Massachusetts?

When it comes to the arts and entertainment, do we really realize how good we have it here in the Pioneer Valley?  I believe we tend to take for granted the opportunities we have here to enjoy art and to witness live talent and performance based entertainment.  Travel around this country and you’ll be hard pressed to find many small to medium sized cities with the quantity and quality of venues for art, science, live music, live theater and even sporting events.

Take the Springfield Symphony for example. Long has it been considered a high standard, elite orchestra, rivaling those of some of the much larger cities in the country. We forget that most cities of the size of Springfield do not have professional orchestras, nevermind ones of the quality the SSO consistently displays.

The Springfield Symphony has world renown Cellist Julian Schwarz coming in this Saturday night to perform Beethoven’s Symphony No 7 and Tchaikovsky’s popular cello concerto. It starts at 7:30 PM at Symphony Hall.

For you folk music lovers like me, the Symphony has a special treat. The Legendary Kingston Trio (Tom Dooley, Charlie on the MTA, etc.) will be at Symphony Hall on Saturday, February 11 at 7:30 PM. For either the Schwarz or Kingston Trio performances, contact the SSO box office at 413.733.2291.

Other major assets we have in Springfield are the museums. Much like the orchestra, museums of the stature of the ones in the Quadrangle in Springfield are virtually unmatched in similar sized cities. There are the George Walter Vincent Smith museum of art, the museum of local history and museum of science as well as the Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden.  Right now there is a Monet  exhibit at the art museum as well as an exhibit on colorful frogs which is currently happening through May at the science museum.  How often do you get to see Monet paintings in a small city like Springfield? Most cities twice the size do not have museums to rival those of the City of Homes.

A lot of people do not realize that Springfield has its own performing arts corporation, a non profit organization with a mission statement that reads “To consistently deliver high quality professional entertainment for all the citizens of Western Massachusetts thereby enhancing the quality of each life, increasing awareness and patronage of the performing arts, and actively contributing to the long-term economic growth and prosperity of our community.”

The Springfield Arts Development Corporation runs the theaters at CityStage & Symphony Hall.  Symphony Hall hosts the Springfield Orchestra as a tenant, however it also hosts a variety of musical productions from world renown artists and Broadway productions. Citystage, with its more intimate theater features comedy shows as well as off broadway plays and musical performances. CityStage has hit comedian Chris Tabb coming on Saturday night, January 28 at 8 PM and the comedy one man, one woman show  ”Parents Night Out” coming up February 2 through February 4.  At Symphony Hall, the percussion extravaganza of “Blast”, which has won Tony and Grammy awards comes on February 12 at 7 PM, followed by Riverdance former lead singer Michael Landra’s “Beyond Celtic” concert on February 17 at 8 PM. For tickets or information contact the Box Office at 413.788.7033.

If that doesn’t provide enough theater for you, there is the Majestic Theater on Elm Street in West Springfield. The Majestic has been named the best place to see live theater in the Pioneer Valley in the Valley Advocate Readers’ Poll. It hosts five productions per season. It is currently running a show entitled “The Island Lily”, a romantic comedy about fishing, which will be followed up by Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”, starting on February 23. For tickets to these shows, contact the box office at 413.747.7797.

Another emerging local gem is the Bing. A non profit group in the X section of Springfield has resurrected the old Bing movie theater into a community activity center focusing on the arts and education that includes a performance hall and art galleries. The Bing Arts Center continues to raise funds to transform the facility into a top notch entertainment venue. To find out more information, call the Bing at 413.731.9730.

We all know about the MassMutual Center and the UMASS Mullins Center, where a lot of the top performing artists come to play to large audiences and we are very lucky to have these two top tier facilities. We are in the enviable position to have professional sports teams locally as well. The Falcons of the AHL in hockey and the Armor of the NBA’s Development League both play at the MassMutual Center. The Western Mass Pioneers soccer team plays at Lucitano Stadium in Ludlow and the collegiate league baseball Holyoke Blue Sox play at MacKenzie Stadium in Holyoke. Many of the players from these teams end up competing in the top professional leagues in their sports.

We will also likely be getting a casino here locally, which will undoubtedly attract additional high profile acts to their stage.

But there are smaller local venues for entertainment that also need to be treasured. The Academy of Music in Northampton, owned by the city, focuses on entertainment and educational productions, including film, theater, lecture series and musical acts. They have a number of upcoming events, including a tribute to the music of Motown’s The Drifters and The Platters on February 4. For more information or tickets, call the box office at 413.584.9032, ext. 105.

The Calvin Theater, Iron Horse Music Hall and Mountain Park Stage are all owned by the Iron Horse Entertainment Group in Northampton.  The Calvin is a medium sized stadium style seating theater and it attracts performers from comedians like Lily Tomlin to musicians like Joan Baez  and a lot in between. The Iron Horse is a much smaller venue with limited seating and offers a much more intimate experience. Many singer songwriters and small bands are featured on stage at the Iron Horse. These two jewels on the Western Mass crown are my particular favorites. Among the acts coming to The Calvin in the coming months are They Might Be Giants on March 8, The Saw Doctors on March 11, Lily Tomlin on April 12 and Don McClean on April 14. This Saturday night, January 28, The Carolina Chocolate Drops play the Calvin, starting at 8 PM. The Iron Horse has some great performers on their upcoming schedule as well.  Singer Songwriter Susan Werner plays there Friday night, January 27 (I’ll be there). For tickets to any Iron Horse Entertainment Group performances, contact the Northampton Box Office at 413.586.8686.

Over the last couple years, the owner of IHEG, Eric Suher has turned the old stage area of Mountain Park in Holyoke into a fantastic outdoor music venue that has hosted some top notch musical acts, including, The Decemberists, The Flaming Lips, Counting Crows, Willie Nelson, MGMT and The Disco Biscuits. This is another wonderful addition to the Western Massachusetts entertainment portfolio.

I am sure I have missed some venues and arts opportunities in the region, but I believe my point has been made. We have an awful lot to be proud of here and a lot of amazing chances to enhance our lives with culture, art, music and entertainment. In this time of tight budgets and reduced discretionary spending, it is only natural to cut back on some of these activities. But we must not ever take for granted our access to them and remember that there are regions in this country that would do anything to have the kind of diverse and quality cultural options that we have here in Western Massachusetts. Let us truly enjoy and be thankful for what we have.

Jason Burkins

Online Learning Is Growing By Leaps and Bounds!

The Internet is a giant archive of useful and not so useful information, all there at the ready, a click away. I am taking a sociology course at American International College in Springfield. It is an online course, which I enjoy because it gives me the freedom to do the work late at night in my pajamas rather than have to show up at a scheduled class session. 20 years ago this type of learning would have seemed unimaginable. Today, it is used at just about any college or university you can find. There are limitations of course. There are still hands on and technical training courses that require physical presence in a lab or classroom and it is difficult to facilitate lectures (although the ease of video these days is making this less of an issue), class participation (Skype anyone?) and administer exams via online instruction, etc. However some subjects lend themselves to the approach well.

According to the education research firm Ambient Insight, in 2009, 15 million college students took all of their courses in a traditional classroom setting, while about 11 million took some online courses and only a little more than 1 million took all their coursework online. They project that by 2014, only about 5 million will be taking in classroom courses exclusively. They predict that over 18 million will be taking a blend of classroom and online courses and that about 4 million will take only online courses. So clearly the trend toward online learning is growing at a very fast rate.

I have taken about four online courses so far and really appreciate the flexibility it allows me. You still have to be disciplined and do the work and there is that tendency to wait until the last minute, just like with traditional classroom courses, but all in all, I would recommend online courses. Particularly for those of us who work during the day or can’t commit to 2 nights a week for 5 months at a time.

This example points up a wider discussion about the Internet, as it continues to change our daily lives in so many ways, sometimes dramatically, but most often subtly. There is certainly some wheat and a whole lot of chaff, but it is our responsibility to recognize the importance of keeping it free and unfettered.

Jason Burkins

Name and Format Change

I have decided to broaden the scope of this blog beyond green real estate content. I will still be highlighting green home ideas and covering green real estate stories and topics, however I will also be talking about Western Massachusetts in a broader sense with stories ranging from spotlighting local homes of interest to tips on how to sell a house in this market and some of the fun activities and events that are going on in the region. So please come back often and let me know how I am doing by leaving your feedback and/or suggestions in the comments section!

Best Wishes!

Jason