BEETHOVEN AND SHOSTAKOVICH TRIOSADAM NEIMAN, piano 
STEFAN MILENKOVICH, violin

YEHUDA HANANI, cello

“Beethoven supports the ancient conception of art, providing catharsis, while Shostakovich challenges it, providing a mirror to a reign of terror,” says Hanani. “Beethoven aims for a triumph of the spirit, while Shostakovich bears witness to the destruction of the spirit. One piece ends with a tremendous affirmation, the other fades with a disturbing question mark and no resolution in sight. These are two utterly different visions of life, history, human existence.”

Close Encounters continues its tradition of commentary before the performance and of inviting the entire audience to a reception to meet the artists immediately following the performance at the “Afterglow.” 

Tickets at $35 and $10 for students are available at The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center box office, 413.528.0100, or at www.mahaiwe.org; and through Close Encounters With Music at 800-843-0778 or at www.cewm.org .

Tea and Talk, a program at Close Encounters With Music is one we don’t intend to miss.  It’s on Sunday, March 15 in Lenox, within walking distance of Brook Farm Inn.  Award-winning composer Judith Lang Zaimont, recipient of National Endowments and a Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, mixes piano performance with her skills as a raconteuse at the Lenox Athenaeum, Winthrop Estate, 101 Yokun Avenue, Lenox, Massachusetts.  $25 admission includes light refreshments.

This installment of Conversations With… is timed to celebrate International Womens Day and Festival of the Arts 2009, which we’ve mentioned in earlier blog posts. and will touch on the phenomenon of the Salon and how the women who ran them opened up the possibility of intellectual discourse during an otherwise repressive era in Prussia. It features demonstrations on the piano of Zaimont’s own works and those of Fanny Mendelssohn, composed in spite of the discouragement she received from her family and society.
For reservations, call 800/843-0778 or www.cewm.org

Stay at Brook Farm Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts this weekend, and you can enjoy  Close Encounters With Music on Saturday evening.  This Saturday, October 18th, at 6:00 PM Close Encounters will present “Crown Jewels:  A Musical Tour Through Europe’s Princely Courts.”  It will be a glittering evening of Baroque and Classical works for chamber orchestra and soloists.  Mention that you’re staying with us, and you’ll receive a discount on your ticket.

The season for Close Encounters With Music begins on October 18 at 6:00 PM.  This wonderful Berkshires music organization will present “Crown Jewels:  A  Musical Tour through Europe’s Princely Courts.” Featured artists are the Camerata San Marco string orchestra and Aya Hamada playing harpsichord. The performance is at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.  Brook Farm Inn is a member of Berkshire Elegant Country Inns.  Contact Close Encounters With Music for tickets, and when you mention Berkshire Elegant Country Inns, you’ll receive a discount.  800-843-0778

The Close Encounters With Music Company will be presenting “GYPSY!” on Saturday, May 24 at 6PM. The performance will be at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA. The works of Bizet, Haydn, Monti, Ravel and Brahms will be featured. Yehuda Hanani is artistic director. The theater is only a 20 minute drive from Brook Farm Inn in Lenox, MA, and promises to be a great evening of musical entertainment.