Wahconah Falls State Park

Dalton, Mass.

Wahconah Falls is a must see when coming to Central Berkshire County. It is a world of its own that stands alone from other sites in the area, especially in the Fall. To many people, Fall is seen as the saddest season.

It is the season that warns us of the oncoming dreadful bone chilling winter. The season of death from the dying vegetation. But to me Fall is seen as the last moments of happiness before the oncoming storms. The kind mother lulling the vegetation to sleep with her lullaby and bright colors of orange and red as they mix with green. The beauty of the fall prepares us for the colorless winter season.

As I walked down the short trail to Wahconah Falls, the leaves crunched beneath my feet. The trees around me were bare till I stopped at the most magnificent site. I gazed at what seemed to me a portal into the middle of Falls lullaby. I stand there surrounded by the naked trees and watch as the naturally made orchestra performs.

The orange and red leaves dance with the green to the percussion of the rough running water crashing down the rocky uncaring terrain, the joyful chirps from birds act as the strings of the forest, and the roaring wind dancing with the trees acts as the Bass of the Forest orchestra.

I step into this song and the further I walk into this magnificent portal the percussion gets louder and the string and base soften. A short time passes and I am standing right in front of the waterfall and experiencing the percussion solo. A truly breathtaking site to last with me till the Spring when I get to experience it all over again.

The waterfall in Spring is just as beautiful as it is in the Fall. The water from the melted snow adds to the percussion. It is a wonderful way to start the warm season.

Finding Wahconah Falls during your drive there can be a bit challenging. Visitors take North Street in Dalton all the way down to Wahconah Falls Road. Take Wahconah Falls Road passing Mobile Terrance and Home Terrace on the left and Park Terrace on the right. Parking will be on the right.

After parking in the dirt lot, take the trail over a small bridge and take a right away from the road and continue straight for a short time. It won’t take long before you can hear the rushing water. The trail will open up to a picnic area that overlooks the waterfall.

Barrington Stage Company Production Center

Pittsfield, Mass.

Share in the range of emotions created by skillful actors by attending a production at Barrington Stage Company Production Center. The theater fills tears whether it be from laughter or crying. The air becomes stiff from the silence mimicking the tone of what is happening on stage. Audience members collectively share in the experience of the characters.

BSC attempts to create and engaging and exciting experience for their audience members by challenging them with impactful, thought provoking productions creating a platform for diverse voices and communities.

Their website described themselves as “a not-for-profit professional theater company in the Berkshires (MA) with a three-fold mission: to produce top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to engage our community with vibrant, inclusive educational outreach programs”

Barrington Stage has been home for several award-winning plays and musicals including Cabaret, West Side Story, and “The Diary of Anne Frank”.

The won the Elliot Norton/Boston Theatre Critics Award their first year with the production “The Diary of Anne Frank”

The Company website said, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; Follies; West Side Story; Freud’s Last Session; Sweeney Todd; Best of Enemies; Breaking the Code and On the Town have been named among the top 10 productions of the year in many area newspapers — leading The Boston Globe to laud BSC as “one of the jewels in the state’s crown.”

In 2016 BSC one 20 of the 25 Berkshire Theatre awards after producing the world premiere play American son which went on to win the Laurents/Hatcher Award for Best New Play and went on to perform on Broadway in November of 2018.

Their performance of “The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee” by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin went on to be a Broadway hit winning two Tony Awards. BSC gained national prominence from this performance in 2004.

In 2013, BSC produced Leonard Bernstein, Comden, and Green’s On the Town, directed by John Rando and choreographed by Joshua Bergasse where it received rave reviews from The New York Times and opened on Broadway in 2014 where it received 4 Tony nominations.

BSC performed from a rented space at the Consolati Performing Arts Center at Mount Everett High School in Sheffield, MA until they purchased a 1912 vaudeville theater in downtown Pittsfield in 2005. The renovated the space and partially opened in 2005 with only orchestra available for seating. They opened fully in what is now known as the Boyd-Quinson Stage and presented their first season in 2006 seating 520.

Tanglewood

Lenox, Mass.

Smell the freshly cut grass while having a picnic on the grass of Tanglewoods land. Drink wine and small sandwiches or grab something to eat from the vendors who sell food and drinks during the concerts. Dance with strangers to music produced by performers like Train, Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band, James Taylor, and Danish String Quartet to name a few.

Every year the Boston Symphony Orchestra brings world renowned performers to Berkshire County where audiences can buy tickets for their Koussevitzky Music Shed or lawn to listen to the performers and welcomes more than 350,000 visitors every summer.

According to their website Tanglewood’s mission is to “foster and maintain an organization dedicated to the making of music consonant with the highest aspirations of the musical art, creating performance and providing educational and training programs at the highest level of excellence.”

The Boston Symphony Orchestra held their first concert in Tanglewood in 1936 when it was led by Serge Koussevitzky and the players took up annual summer residence a year later. Koussevitzky went on to found the Berkshire Music Center in 1940 which is now called the Tanglewood Music Center.

In 1949 Koussevitzky was succeeded by Charles Munch who led BSO on its first international tour and was the First American orchestra to tour the Soviet Union.

BSO expanded their audience through their education outreach and digital concerts. They reached millions of listeners through the internet, radio, television, recordings, tours, and educational programs. BSO provided the residents ample opportunities to learn about music and made the craft accessible to everyone through their educational outreach

“In the 2020-2021 season the BSO vastly expanded its online streaming capabilities, offering 21 BSO and Boston Pops programs recorded in Symphony Hall and released online via the orchestra’s streaming platform, BSO NOW (bso.org/now). These programs have expanded the BSO’s reach to a worldwide audience” the site said, “The season also included Boston Pops and Youth Concerts programs. The BSO returned to performing for live audiences at Tanglewood in summer 2021. Many of the season's concerts and events were streamed on BSO NOW, bringing the BSO's summer home in the Berkshires into homes around the world.”

Through its work with Berkshire County, BSO has made music accessible to more people than ever before.

This year tourists and residents can attend concerts held by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and other prominent performers including James Taylor, The Mavericks and Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets, and Andris Nelsons and Seong-Jin Cho.