There’s still time to get tickets for some music performances this weekend!  On Friday, October 16th, there’s “I’m A Boomer Baby,” a musical tribute by Dan Riley, at the Colonial Theatre.  Also at the Colonial, on Sunday the 18th at 2:00, there will be a performance by the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra and the Williams Concert Choir, featuring works from movies and Mussorgky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.”  Also, this is the final weekend of the Pittsfield City Jazz Festival.  So there are choices for everyone’s musical taste, and it’s all within minutes of Brook Farm Inn, Lenox Massachusetts.

The Berkshire Bach Society has always been a favorite among guests of Brook Farm Inn.  A special treat will be the Berkshire Bach String Quintet, performing with Simone Dinnerstein, on Saturday, October 3rd at 8 PM.  It’s at Simon’s Rock College in Great Barrington, MA. (The auditorium is comfortable, and there are no bad seats.)  We still have some rooms available, so you can join the guests who have already purchased tickets.

  Bach in a 1748 portrait

Tuesday evening we had the distinct pleasure of attending a chamber concert at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA.  The Ying Quartet played Mendelssohn and Brahms flawlessly and beautifully.   Then we came home under the full moon and starlit Berkshires sky.  This is one of a series on Tuesdays in August, and we’re recommending it to guests of Brook Farm Inn.  You can even combine the concert with a dinner special.  Here are the details!

Make a night of a performance with a special, fixed-price dinner offered beforehand at 6 pm. On concert days, the galleries will remain open until 6 pm and the museum shop will remain open until 8 pm. Concert tickets are $21 each ($18 members and students). Dinner is $25 per person, and does not include beverage, tax, gratuity, or concert. Reservations are required; seating is limited. Call 413-458-0524 for reservations.

August 11: Trio Solisti has won an international reputation as one of the most brilliant piano trios concertizing today. They will perform the Haydn Trio in G Major “Gypsy Rondo”; Beethoven Trio in B-flat Major “Archduke”; and the Brahms Trio in C Major, Opus 87.

August 18: Ensemble-in-residence at Florida International University, the Amernet String Quartet is one of today’s exceptional string quartets. Returning to the Clark after a well-received 2008 appearance, the group will perform the Haydn String Quartet Opus 76, No. 4, “Sunrise”; Stephen Dankner’s String Quartet No. 10 (premiere performance based on Dove/O’Keeffe: Circles of Influence); and Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No. 1.

August 25: Annually appearing on the great stages of Europe and America, the American String Quartet is resident quartet at the Manhattan School of Music and at the summer Aspen Music Festival and School. The group will close the 2009 Sights and Sounds Series with a program including the Haydn String Quartet in D major, Opus 76, No. 5; the Bartok String Quartet No. 3; and the Brahms Quartet in A Minor, Opus 51, No. 2.

He may have left his heart in San Francisco, but the rest of him — incomparable singing style included — will make a rare Tanglewood appearance this Tuesday, July 21st.  Known as one of the world’s most beloved interpreters of the “Great American Songbook,” Bennett will share the Tanglewood stage with his band, starting at 8 PM.  See www.bso.org for more information.  At Brook Farm Inn in Lenox, there are still a couple of rooms available.

The Millay Colony for the Arts is usually a quiet haven for writers, artists and composers.  But this Saturday at 6 PM, you can attend the Summer Fete,  on the estate adjoining Steepletop, Millay’s home in the Berkshires.  The current artists-in-residence will have works on display, music will be performed, and the Colony’s new  journal, “Edna,” will be unveiled.  This is a little different from other years, because a ticket is required.  Information at www.millaycolony.org, 518-392-4144.  At Brook Farm Inn, we’re supporters of the Millay Society as well, which is a separate organization.

Glenora Richards  is a miniaturist who painted a sizzling miniature portrait of Edna St. Vincent Millay, which was adapted into a postage stamp.  At Steepletop (Millay’s home in the Berkshires), beginning June 16th you can view  an exhibit which explores the art of this amazing, 100- year old woman.  The exhibit will run through September, and will include some special materials from the Postal Service Archives in addition to the original painting, and recordings of Millay reading her own work.  At Brook Farm Inn in Lenox, we had the pleasure of hosting a reading of Millay’s work by Peter Bergman, Executive Director of the Millay Society.  We can’t wait to see the exhibit.

Peter Bergman reading Millay at Brook Farm Inn

At Brook Farm Inn, we’re always interested in literary links to the original Brook Farm, for which the inn was named.  Brook Farm was a utopian farm experiment — the original hippie commune, perhaps — that was founded by the Transcendentalists in the 1840’s.   Hawthorne, Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and other famous intellectuals of the era were involved.  Nathaniel Hawthorne immortalized the farm in The Blithedale Romance, a fictionalized account .  (You’ll find a copy in each of our guest rooms.) The photo shows how the site looks today, in what is now West Roxbury.

This summer, The Mount is presenting a series of literary lectures, Mondays at 4 PM.  They all sound fascinating.  The one that connects most to Brook Farm is the lecture  about Eden’s Outcasts, a dual biography of Louisa May Alcott and her father, Bronson Alcott.  Although not involved with Brook Farm, they were part of the Transcendentalist community, and their lives were fascinating.   We recommend the book, and the lecture!