Thanks to Berkshire Productions, clips of the winning performances available at Berkshire Productions.

Students appearing in order on the video, their selections, and scholarship award:

Honorable Mention – Hallie Novak, age 13, piano. Amy Renak, BMS Faculty member.

Le Petit Ane Blanc by Jacques Ibert
Nocturne in C# minor (posthumous) by Frederic Chopin
Honorable Mention

Honorable Mention – Alfred Brewer, age 16, trombone. David Wampler, BMS Faculty member

Endure, Endure. Air from St. Mathew Passion by J.S. Bach
Fantasie by Yvonne Desports

Honorable Mention – Sophia Cohen, age 11, piano. Jean Stackhouse, BMS Faculty member

Abandoned Playhouse and Crystal Cage by Jacques Ibert
Invention by J.S. Bach

Third Place – Elaina Pullano, age 17, voice. Jack Brown, BMS Faculty member

Batti, Batti, o bel Masetto by W.A. Mozart
Ouvre ton Coeur by Georges Bizet

Second Place – Gabriella Makuc, age 15, piano. Jean Stackhouse, BMS Faculty member

Porcelain Doll from Prole do Bebe by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Toccata by Claude Debussy

First Place – Yeejin Yuk, age 12, piano. Jean Stackhouse, BMS Faculty member

Cat and Mouse by Aaron Copland
Sonata in C minor, first movement by Ludvig van Beethoven

The Berkshire Music School gives the gift of a lifetime every time you give! Donations to the annual fund, the capital “Tune-Up,” bequests and scholarships all perpetuate the joy of music. To discuss the many ways of giving on a personal note, please call Executive Director, Tracy Wilson: 413.442.1411, ext 12. Or click here to download donation form.

Annual Fund Categories:

$50-99 Friend

$100-249 Player

$250-499 Section Leader

$500-999 First Chair

$1,000-2,499 Principal

$2,500-9,999 Virtuoso

$10,000-24,999 Maestro’s Circle

$25,000 & above Founder’s Society

Annual and Endowed Scholarship Opportunities
Every year the Berkshire Music School provides financial assistance through need-based and merit scholarships. Please consider making a lasting legacy to enable a student to study music with a highly qualified instructor in a nurturing environment.

Annual Named Scholarship – $500 – $1,000
A one-time contribution for $500 up to $1,000 will provide partial financial assistance for a student to take a full year of private lessons. This scholarship can be named for departed loved one, a foundation, or group.

Half Endowed Named Scholarship – $20,000
A contribution of $20,000 will establish a scholarship, in perpetuity, for 50% of one full year of study. This scholarship can be named for departed loved one, a foundation, or group.

Fully Endowed Named Scholarship – $40,000
A contribution of $40,000 will establish a scholarship in perpetuity for one full year of private music lessons. This scholarship can be named for departed loved one, a foundation, or group.

Jacqueline Doucette earned praise from Berkshire Eagle critic Richard Houdek for “demonstrated supreme poise” in her vocal numbers with Berkshires Jazz Youth Ensemble. She sang “How High the Moon” and “Summertime.” A BMS voice student of Jack Brown, the Pittsfield High School Junior is the daughter of Michelle and Paul Doucette.

BMS alumni joining the Berkshires Jazz Youth Ensemble for the festival included: Alfred Brewer, trombone; Will Demick, tenor sax; and Andrew Smith, percussion.

Another highlight of the festival involved a guitar masterclass with the noted Frank Vignola at the Berkshire Music School October 15. Fourteen enthusiasts of advanced to intermediate levels participated, along with an audience of observers. Hailed as one of the most accomplished, multi-dimensional guitarists “walking the planet today,” composer and improviser Vignola plays proficiently in every genre, from jazz to bluegrass. He has worked with top musicians worldwide, recording with Donald Fagen, jamming with David Grisman, and acting as Les Paul’s right-hand man.

Friday & Saturday July 16 & 17, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm; repeats August 13 & 14.
Minimum Enrollment: 5
Fee: $250

Fall Cabaret Sessions Begin September 27
Students are coached on phrasing, style, technique, stage presence and performance. They learn how to choose appropriate music and keys. Both levels will present a cabaret the last week of class.

Level I/II
Made up of adults with varying degrees of experience and ability. Designed for new students.
Mondays 6:00 – 7:30 pm. Limit 10
Fee: $300
10 weeks

Level III
Prerequisites are the completion of Level I/II and the passing of a vocal audition. Performance opportunities available.
Mondays 7:45-9:30 pm. Limit 8:
Fee: $350
10 weeks

2nd term: starting February 28

Sherri James Buxton first appeared professional at the age of seventeen as The Girl in an off Broadway production of The Fantastiks. She has performed on Broadway and in summer stock at The Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and Kansas City Starlight. Sherri has appeared in numerous nightclubs and cabarets including Dangerfield’s and Playstreet in New York City.

As a jazz singer, Sherri took part in the International workshop, “Jazz in July”, where she performed with Sheila Jordan and Billy Taylor. She has also appeared at the Pittsfield Jazz Festival and her jazz group, the Sherri James Buxton Trio, was the main attraction in the Cranwell Resort “Music Room” supper club for several years

In the Berkshires, Sherri has performed at several local venues including The Colonial Theatre, Asters, Cranwell Resort and Castle Street Café. She is on the voice faculty at the Berkshire Music School where she teaches the very successful Adult Cabaret Workshops, and has performed with her Cabaret-To-Go group. She is also an on the Colonial Theatre Education Committee. Cabaret-To-Go consists of the advanced Adult Cabaret Workshop members. Cabaret-To-Go has provided entertainment at several local venues including The Colonial Theatre, Ventfort Hall, Arrowhead, The Norman Rockwell Museum, Pittsfield’s Third Thursdays and The Clark, as well as on WAMC radio. Cabaret-To-Go is approaching its eighth year.

Sherri is a music specialist for the Central Berkshire Regional School District and is on the Colonial Theatre Education Committee. Her article, “Look What These Kids Can Do: Teaching Music to Children with Autism” was published in the summer edition of “Massachusetts Music News”.

Bob Shepherd has had a lifetime of experience in solo, small jazz groups and big band formats and is a first-call vocal accompanist in western New England, specializing in the Great American Songbook. He has been pianist with the Adult Cabaret program since 2004. Bob owns a sound recording studio where he performs voiceovers and works closely with vocalists as he creates showcase CD’s backed by his full-band settings.

• Flute, guitar – $180
• Violin, viola, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, sax, French horn – $230
• Double bass, bassoon, cello – $260

Drum Camp: July 12-16, 9:30 am – noon
Grades 2 – 8
Led by Otha Day
Learn the history of drumming, make your own percussion instruments, create a drum circle, listen to
recordings, and more.
Minimum enrollment: 8. Fee: $150; $30 materials fee.

Cabaret Master Class: July 16 – 17; August 13 – 14, 10 am – 4 pm. (30 minute lunch break).
For adult experienced to advanced cabaret singers.
with Sherri James Buxton
Minimum enrollment: 5. Fee: $250.

Nature’s Music: July 19 – 23, 10 am – 11 am; repeat August 9 – 13
Ages 6 months – 5 years.
with Tari Wheeler Roosa
Parents and children are led on an exploration of the natural world through music, movement, storytelling and instruments. Designed for families with young children and siblings.
Minimum enrollment: 5. Fee: $60.

Opera Adventures: July 26 – 30, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Ages 7 – 12
with Carolina Carry
Explore the fantastic opera world of Ariadne Auf Naxos by Strauss, where the comic and the tragic collide. Learn about all the arts and artists that come together to create a production. Build a set, act out scenes, and learn melodies. Friday, meet singers and attend a closed rehearsal at Tanglewood Music Center and learn about the orchestra.
Minimum enrollment: 5. Fee: $150; $30 materials fee.

String Camp:
July 26 – 30, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm (Mon-Thur) 9:30 am to noon (Friday). Closing performance at 11:30 am
Ages 6 – 12
Coaches include Bing Liu, Ouisa Fohrhaltz, Beth Craig, Norman Thibodeau, and Jennifer Laurin.
Young students meet in groups to work on tone production, proper positions and postures, intonation and bowing, theory and sight singing. Small chamber groups will be formed. In the afternoon all players assemble to create chamber orchestra.
Minimum enrollment: 8. Fee: $275.

Music Through Art/Art Through Music: August 2 – 6, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Ages 6 – 12
with Carolina Carry and Pam Koehler
Have you ever wondered how a beautiful landscape sounds or thought of painting a symphony? What kind of collage could you make with the sounds of cellos, flutes, violins, and percussions? How can you compose a song with paints? How does a red sound or a yellow feel? In this class explore relationships between art and music and what happens when these two disciplines intersect.
Minimum enrollment: 5. Fee: $150; $30 materials fee.

Private lessons: Please call for available times and fees.

BMS Orchestra with Norman Thibodeau, coach/conductor – Community musicians are invited to join BMS students to perform expanded chamber repertoire. Members of the Stockbridge Sinfonia who participate for free serve as section mentors. Students are encouraged to consult their teachers to determine their readiness for this ensemble. Ages 10 – adult.

Tuesdays, 5:15 – 6:45 pm;
Fee: $60 BMS students; $100 Non BMS students/10 weeks.
1st term: starting October 5
2nd term: starting February 1

The orchestra is supported in part by the Gia Cox Caird Scholarship Fund

Jazz Ensemble with Bill Chapman – Learn the art of jazz! Sessions will include theory, ear training, solo improvisation, and ensemble playing.

Mondays, 4:30 – 5:45 pm
Fee: $200
1st term: starting September 27
10 weeks
2nd term: starting February 27

Berkshire Music School Ensembles – Professionally coached ensembles! Weekly sessions starting September 27
Fee: $180. Choice of fifteen 60-minute, or ten 90-minute sessions.

Flute Choir – For mid-level to advanced players of all ages on piccolo, c flute, alto & bass flute; with Sharon Powers.

String Ensemble – Both adult and student levels, from beginner to advanced; with Bing Liu.

Mixed Notes – Combination of unique instruments, for mid-level players of all ages; with various BMS faculty. Create your own combination, or form a family band.