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• Hiking Classes - Summer 2025

  • Start
    Monday, June 02, 2025
  •  
    3:00 PM
  • End
    Friday, August 15, 2025
  • Location
    Various Locations in Berkshire County

  Join waitlist

  Summer Hiking!

  
  

  Hiking has become a very popular OLLI at BCC offering.

  Registration is sold out
  

  To enable more people to be able to participate, registration for hiking classes will be done separately, through this event page.
  

  • All OLLI at BCC members can sign up for one hiking class.
    
  • Each class costs $55 and is a separate charge from Summer 2025 course registrations.

  
  Hiking Course Listings:
  

  For full descriptions, click on the class title.

  Exploring Lenox on Foot
  Instructors: Len Gray and Nancy Seguin
  Time: 9:30 a.m.
  Five Sessions - 6/3, 6/10, 6/17, 6/24, 7/1
  Limit: 14

  Hiking Old Growth Forests and Venerable Trees in the Berkshires
  Instructors: Amy Whitworth with Larry Bennett and Katherine Kidd
  Time: 9:30 a.m.
  Five Sessions - 6/5, 6/12, 6/26, 7/3, 7/10
  Limit: 15
  

  Discovering Accessible Walking Trails in Berkshire County
  Instructor: Bess Dillman
  Time: 9:30 a.m.  
  Four Sessions - 7/10, 7/17, 7/24, 7/31
  Limit: 15

  Hiking Mt Greylock
  Instructors: Len Gray, John and Katherine Kidd, and Amy Whitworth
  Time: 9:30 a.m.
  Six Sessions - 7/11, 7/18, 7/25, 8/1, 8/8, 8/15
  Limit: 15
  

  Register online or call 413.236.2190 (M-F 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.) to register by phone with a credit card.  
  

  Show details
• Summer 2025 OLLI Term

  • Start
    Monday, June 09, 2025
  • End
    Thursday, August 28, 2025
  • Location
    Online and In-Person

  Register

  OLLI at Berkshire Community College
  

  Summer 2025 Term

  
  

  June 2 - Mid August

  Second half of Summer classes begin July 7!

  Please call the office at 413-236-2190 if you want to sign up for June courses.

  Our summer term runs June 2 - mid August, 2025, and includes a mix of in-person, online, and hybrid (online and in-person) courses. All classes take place in Eastern Time.

  Summer 2025 course descriptions can be found here.

  Hiking classes are using a separate registration form. Register for hiking classes here.
  

  Course cost:
  $55 for one class
  $100 for 2 classes
  $125 for 3 classes
  $150 for 4 classes or more

  To sign up for courses, you need to be an OLLI at BCC member. (Not a member yet? Join here.) Not sure which classes you want to take? Sign up for one or more Flexpasses, which allow you to attend six individual class sessions of your choice within a semester, as long as the class is not full. Click here to learn more about Flexpasses.

  Note that our online courses are recorded, unless otherwise noted. If you cannot attend live, or if you miss a session or two, you can access that course's Padlet for the recording link and watch it at your convenience.

  Watch this video to learn about summer programming at OLLI
  

  Questions? Contact us at olli@berkshirecc.edu or 413.236.2190. We look forward to hearing from you!

  Show details
• Behind-the-Scenes at Chesterwood

  • When
    Monday, June 16, 2025
  •  
    10:30 AM - 2:30 PM
  • Location
    Chesterwood 4 Williamsville Road Stockbridge, MA
  • Spaces left
    0

  Join waitlist

  The OLLI Special Events Committee presents 
  

  Behind-the-Scenes at Chesterwood

  Monday, June 16
  Tours begin at 10:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
  Lunch is included with the tour.

  New tour added Monday, June 23 at 12:30 p.m.!

  This is an in-person event at Chesterwood in Stockbridge, MA

  
  

  Chesterwood, a Site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation since 1969, is the former summer home, studio, and gardens of American Renaissance sculptor Daniel Chester French (1850-1931).  French created some of his most iconic work at Chesterwood, notably the seated Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (1922). Chesterwood is recognized as both a National Historic Landmark and a Massachusetts Historic Landmark and has recently completed a four-year major restoration and renovation, all by local companies.

  

  Enjoy a guided tour of the historic Studio, then venture down into the basement to see the sculptor’s system to bring his works outside to the natural light.  Take a look at Daniel Chester French’s family living spaces, then view rarely exhibited sculptures and paintings in Collections Storage with the Curator.
  

  Cost: $45 for OLLI members and guests
  Includes a guided tour at 10:45 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. and lunch at appx. 12:15 p.m.

  Register online or call 413.236.2190 (M-F 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.) to register by phone with a credit card.  

  Show details
• Small Group Tours of Tanglewood

  • Start
    Friday, June 20, 2025
  •  
  • End
    Friday, August 08, 2025
  •  
  • Schedule
    3 sessions
  • Location
    Tanglewood

  Register

  Private Small Group Tour of Tanglewood for OLLI Members

  
  

  Three options on Fridays (all tours are the same):

  June 20, July 11, or August 8

  10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
  at Tanglewood, Lenox MA

  In-person only.

  OLLI members will be offered a private tour of Tanglewood by Howard Arkans MD Chair of the Boston Symphony Association of Volunteers (BSAV).

  Howie has been a Tanglewood volunteer for over 20 years and a tour guide for over 10 years. The tour will take 1 1/2 hours and cover all of Tanglewood with history, stories and insights into the cultural gem of the Berkshires. The tour will be offered on three different Fridays at 10:00 a.m.

  Howard Arkans BA, MD Stanford has given many OLLI courses in the past 20 years. Presently he is Chair of the BSAV and a tour guide. He is a past president of OLLI.
  

  Cost: $10 for OLLI at BCC members
  

  Sign up today!
  

  Register online or call 413.236.2190 (M-F 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.) to register by phone with a credit card.  
  

  Show details
• OLLI New Member Chat

  • When
    Wednesday, June 25, 2025
  •  
    3:00 PM
  • Location
    Online

  Register

  
  

  New OLLI at BCC members are invited to
  our

  New Member Chat

  Wednesday, June 25, 2025
  Online at 3:00 p.m. Eastern
  

  Register to RSVP and receive the Zoom link.
  

  The OLLI Member Services Committee welcomes our newest members to a New Member Chat!

  -Meet other new OLLI at BCC members

  -Learn about everything OLLI offers
  

  -Ask questions
  

  -Explore volunteer opportunities
  

  Please register to receive the Zoom link.
  

  We look forward to seeing you!

  Gordon Josephson	Ellen Croibier	Colleen Rossi
  President, OLLI at BCC Board of Directors	Member Services Committee Co-Chair	Member Services Committee Co-Chair

  Show details
• Dr. Maud S. Mandel, President of Williams College and Dr. Tom Gerety

  • When
    Friday, June 27, 2025
  •  
    2:30 PM
  • Location
    Zion Lutheran Church, Pittsfield, MA
  • Spaces left
    8

  Register

  The Trump Administration Targets Higher Education: A Dialog between Dr. Maud S. Mandel, President of Williams College and Dr. Tom Gerety

    
  

  Friday, June 27 at 2:30 p.m.

  In-person only
  Zion Lutheran Church of Pittsfield, MA
  Free and open to the public, registration required.

  A conversation about the impacts of economic and political pressures on higher education and liberal arts colleges on topics such as speech, recruitment, and the economics of higher education.

  Maud S. Mandel, Williams’ 18th president, earned her B.A. from Oberlin College in 1989 and her master’s degree and Ph.D. in history from the University of Michigan in 1993 and 1998, respectively. She moved to Brown University as a visiting assistant professor, eventually becoming professor of history and Judaic studies and dean of the college—roles in which she served until joining Williams as president in July 2018.

  An accomplished historian, President Mandel’s scholarship examines how policies and practices of inclusion and exclusion in 20th-century France have affected ethnic and religious minorities: most notably Jews, Armenians and Muslim North Africans. She has explored these themes in publications including In the Aftermath of Genocide: Armenians and Jews in Twentieth-Century France (Duke University Press, 2003) and Muslims and Jews in France: History of a Conflict (Princeton University Press, 2014). She was also a co-editor of Colonialism and the Jews (Indiana University Press, 2017). In addition to her work as Williams’ president, Mandel holds the title of Professor of History and teaches as frequently as her schedule allows, including tutorials. 
  
  Tom Gerety taught constitutional law through most of his career. He retired as Collegiate Professor of Law and Humanities at NYU.  He led the Brennan Center for Justice and was president of both Trinity and Amherst Colleges. Tom earned law and philosophy degrees from Yale. 
  

  This event will not be recorded.

  Show details
• Highlights of Tanglewood 2025 with Jeremy Yudkin

  • When
    Saturday, June 28, 2025
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    Lenox Town Hall, 6 Walker St, Lenox MA

  Register

  The OLLI Distinguished Speakers Series presents
  

  Prof. Jeremy Yudkin
  

  Highlights of Tanglewood 2025
  

  Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. ET
  

  In-person at the Lenox Town Hall, Lenox, MA

  
  

  Jeremy Yudkin will discuss the highlights of the upcoming Tanglewood season, including the most important symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and solo recitals to look out for this summer.

  Dr. Jeremy Yudkin is Professor of Music at Boston University. He has served as Visiting Professor of Music at Oxford University and Harvard, and he is the author of ten books on music. This year marks the forty-second consecutive year of his much-loved Pre-Concert Tanglewood Talks, sponsored by the Lenox Library Association and given every Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. and Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. at the Lenox Town Hall Auditorium.

  This in-person lecture will not be recorded.
  

  _________

  Ticket information:
  

  Admission is $10 for OLLI at BCC members, and $15 for the general public.

  Admission is free for students, staff and faculty from Berkshire Community College, MCLA, and Williams; youth 17 and under, and those holding WIC, EBT/SNAP, or ConnectorCare cards.

  Show details
• Shakespeare & Co. World Premiere of "The Victim"

  • When
    Tuesday, July 01, 2025
  •  
    2:00 PM
  • Location
    Shakespeare & Company
  • Spaces left
    0

  Join waitlist

  OLLI Special Events Committee Presents

  

  Tuesday, July 1 at 2:00 P.M.

  Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre
  

  Shakespeare & Company, Lenox

  Shakespeare & Company's 48th season begins with the World Premiere of The Victim by Lawrence Goodman and featuring Annette Miller. A successful New York doctor whose racial diversity training has gone horribly wrong. A health aide grappling with racism during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Holocaust survivor facing her own horror and finding her way back to love and healing.

  Three women, three interconnected monologues. Who gets to call herself a victim? Who is the perpetrator? Staged at Shakespeare and Company in 2024 as a reading in the Plays in Process series, The Victim is about identity, our blindness to others, and the human capacity for cruelty and compassion.

  Talk Back Following the Play with Annette Miller

  OLLI Member $36

  Non-OLLI Member Guest $40

  Register online or call 413.236.2190 (M-F 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.) to register by phone with a credit card.  

  Show details
• Osher Online Summer 2025

  • Start
    Tuesday, July 08, 2025
  • End
    Friday, August 15, 2025
  • Location
    Online

  Register

  

  Osher Online is a program from the Osher National Resource Center (NRC) at Northwestern University.  These classes are delivered by the Osher NRC via Zoom, with participants from all over the country. All times listed are Eastern time.

  OLLI at BCC is excited to be a part of this program. Space is limited! Register early.

  Osher Online classes are $60 each, and available to OLLI at BCC members only.
  

  Each class has a limit of 13 students from each participating OLLI. Register by June 23.
  

  Osher Online classes are not recorded.

  After you register for Osher Online classes, you will receive a welcome email from the Osher NRC. This email will include an Osher Online username and password as well as a link to the Osher Online Website, through which you will access your classes.
  

  You will also have access to a pre-class orientation, where you'll get helpful information for accessing your class. There you'll find the class Zoom link, syllabus, discussion board and Customer Care contact information.

  Available Courses:
  

  History of Beer

  Tuesdays 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Eastern time

  July 8 - August 12

  Instructor: Karl Bworn

  
  

  Enjoying the Past and Present New York City: A History of Recreation in the Big Apple

  Wednesdays 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 pm Eastern time

  July 9 - August 13

  Instructor: Adam Kocurek

  
  

  Architectural Oddities: An Off-the-Beaten Path Look at Unconventional Architecture

  Thursdays 1:00 - 2:30 pm Eastern time

  July 10 - August 14

  Instructor: Eleanor Schreader

  
  

  100 Years of Magic: The Disney Legacy and Influence

  Thursdays 7:00 - 8:30 pm Eastern time
  July 10 - August 14
  Instructor: Maria Massad

  Class details and videos from instructors can be found here.

  Show details
• Transforming Williams College Museum of Art

  • When
    Thursday, July 10, 2025
  •  
    4:30 PM
  • Location
    In-person at BCC
  • Spaces left
    94

  Register

  Transforming Williams College Museum of Art 
  

  
  

  Thursday, July 10, 2025
  4:30 p.m. Eastern
  In-person at BCC
  Free and open to the public.

  Pamela Franks, Class of 1956 Director of the Williams College Museum of Art, will share the current plans for the new museum building, scheduled to open in 2027. Designed by SO-IL, the new WCMA will be purpose built to support transformative experiences with art that are integral to liberal arts education, lifelong learning, and human connection.
  

  Pamela Franks is the Class of 1956 Director of the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA). An art historian specializing in modern and contemporary art, she received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 2000. Prior to her appointment at Williams, Pam was the Seymour H. Knox Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and Senior Deputy Director of the Yale University Art Gallery, where she worked for over a decade, and Curator of Public and Scholarly Programs at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas. She has organized exhibitions and published on many artists and key topics of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. With every professional appointment she has been involved in major museum building projects. Pam's dual passion for the powerful educational potential of college and university museums and for the unique architectural possibilities of museum design defines her practice. Since arriving at Williams in 2018, she has galvanized a robust and collaborative process to build a new home for WCMA, the museum’s first purpose-built home. Designed by Brooklyn based architecture firm SO-IL, the new WCMA is scheduled to open in 2027.

  Show details
• Creative Composition - Developing Your Creative Vision

  • Start
    Friday, July 11, 2025
  •  
    9:30 AM
  • End
    Friday, July 25, 2025
  •  
    11:30 AM
  • Location
    In-person at various locations
  • Spaces left
    0

  Join waitlist

  Creative Composition - Developing Your Creative Vision

  with Thadeus Kubis
  

  Fridays, July 11, 18, and 25, 2025
  

  9:30 - 11:30 a.m. EST
  In-person at Various Locations

  

  This 3-session workshop will explore all the basic and some of the expanded templates used as well as start to develop your own personal visual style.

  Today you need more than your inner creative vision to create magical photographs, you need a balance of creative vision, camera modes and options as well as the ability to convey the meaning of your image.

  Using DSLR/Mirrorless, Smartphones, or film camera systems, we will enjoy creating dynamic images in three very different subjects. From the simple beauty of Canoe Meadows to the complexity of the eclectic landscape of Housatonic, an old mill town, to the rawness of the Berkshires largest city, Pittsfield. Join me for three sessions of observation expanding workshop.

  The group will meet at trails and outdoor locations so be prepared for uneven terrain, and to stand and for two hours.

  Thaddeus B. Kubis has a broad base of photographic related experience, working within various industries including travel and leisure, manufacturing, banking, financial services, marine and sailing. He is an active photographic instructor/lecturer and consultant and teaches smartphone/iCamera photography as well as DSLR, film, large format, composition, seeing and preparing to observe to groups or individuals. He is a certified Apple Teacher.

  Workshop Cost:
  OLLI at BCC Members: $30
  Non-members: $35

  Show details
• New! Audiophile Shared Interest Group - General Interest Meeting

  • When
    Friday, July 11, 2025
  •  
    2:00 PM
  • Location
    Online

  Register

  OLLI at BCC members are invited to join OLLI's

  Audiophile

  Shared Interest Group

  

  Friday, July 11, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. EDT

  Online via Zoom

  General Interest Meeting
  

  Free and open to all OLLI at BCC members

  This Shared Interest Group is a revival of a pre-Covid SIG called Absolute Sound. If you are interested in music and sharing that interest with other OLLI members, this is the group for you! Any genre of music is welcome, whether you like classical music, jazz, blues, folk, rock, etc. 

  Frank Finkelstein related, "Audiophiles like to listen to music on systems that are true to the original sound, with an emphasis on music as well as equipment. After an initial zoom intake meeting, we could meet at each other's homes monthly and talk equipment and listen to music. There might be cookies. Beginners welcome!"

  The first meeting will be on Zoom on Friday, July 11 at 2:00 p.m. EDT to establish how many people are interested and discuss the best way forward.

  Please click here to register for this free, online kick-off meeting.  

  Questions or comments?  Please contact Frank Finkelstein for additional information.

  Show details
• Member Meet-up at Tanglewood

  • When
    Sunday, July 13, 2025
  •  
    12:00 PM
  • Location
    Tanglewood

  Register

  
  

  OLLI at BCC Meet-up at Tanglewood
  (Ticket to Tanglewood not provided)
  

  Sunday, July 13 from 12:00 - start of concert.

  Gather with your OLLI friends and meet new friends on the lawn at Tanglewood. Guests are welcome!
  

  Look for the OLLI banner and balloons.  You can find us by going straight from the Main Gate past the Shed so that when you are standing and looking at the Shed, we will be to the right.
  

  Bring your own ticket, chair, snacks and drinks.
  (You can order Tanglewood Tickets through the BSO or purchase on site at the box office)
  

  Can't wait to see you there!

  Your friends on the OLLI Member Services Committee     

  Show details
• The U.S. View of the Egyptian Revolution: Misreadings and Missed Opportunities

  • When
    Wednesday, July 16, 2025
  •  
    1:30 PM
  • Location
    Online and In-person at Berkshire Community College

  Register

  The OLLI Distinguished Speakers Series presents
  The U.S. View of the Egyptian Revolution: Misreadings and Missed Opportunities

  with James Ketterer
  

  Wednesday, July 16, 2025 at 1:30 p.m. ET

  Hybrid - In-person at BCC and online

  James Ketterer moved to Egypt immediately after the Egyptian Revolution in early 2011 and was there through the regime change in 2013. He was director of an educational and cultural affairs NGO that strengthens ties between the U.S. and the Middle East and works closely with the U.S. embassy and the Egyptian government. This gave him an up-close view of the turbulent events, misread circumstances and missed opportunities that have strained U.S.-Egyptian relations. This presentation will explore what went right, what didn't and where things stand now (including discussions about a US senator being convicted of colluding with Egyptian intelligence services, the role of Egypt in regional conflicts and possible changes with the new US administration).

  James Ketterer is Senior Fellow at the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College in New York state. At Bard, he previously served as Dean of International Studies and Director of the Bard Globalization and International Studies program in New York City. Ketterer also served as Dean of the School of Continuing Education at the American University in Cairo and as Egypt Country Director for AMIDEAST, a large educational NGO represented across the Middle East and North Africa. While in Egypt he worked on several public diplomacy projects with the US Embassy, including cultural exchange programs and jazz diplomacy. He was at the State University of New York for several years, serving as Vice Chancellor for Policy and Planning, Deputy Provost, and Director of the Center for International Development, where he implemented large capacity building projects supported by the US Agency for International Development USAID). These projects worked with parliaments and other institutions in many countries across Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe. He has also worked in government, including at the National Security Council, the New York Senate, and the New York Commission on Higher Education.

  _________

  Ticket information:
  

  Admission:
  $10 for OLLI at BCC and
  $15 for the general public.
  

  Admission is free for students, staff and faculty from Berkshire Community College, MCLA, Simon's Rock, and Williams; youth 17 and under, and those holding WIC, EBT/SNAP, or ConnectorCare cards.

  Pre-registration is required. Register safely and securely online or call 413.236.2190 (M-F 9am-4pm) to register by phone with a credit card.

  
  

  Show details
• Jacob's Pillow with OLLI at BCC

  • When
    Friday, July 18, 2025
  •  
    11:45 AM
  • Location
    Jacob's Pillow, 358 George Carter Road Becket, Massachusetts 01223
  • Spaces left
    10

  Register

  The OLLI at BCC Special Events Committee presents an afternoon at
  

  Jacob's Pillow
  Friday, July 18, 2025

  Norton Owen, Preservation Director,
  will talk at Blake’s Barn at 11:45 a.m.

  Bring a Bag Lunch – OLLI chefs provide desserts and drinks
  

  The Sarasota Ballet
  

  

  Schedule:

  11:45 a.m. Talk with Norton Owen, Preservation Director, at Blake’s Barn

  12:30 p.m. Lunch (bring a bag lunch with you, our OLLI chefs will provide dessert and drinks) 

  1:00 p.m. Dessert

  2:00 p.m. Performance

  Beloved among ballet fans the world over, The Sarasota Ballet returns to Jacob’s Pillow for the first time in ten years. Pushed to new heights under the leadership of director Iain Webb, assistant director Margaret Barbieri (both formerly of The Royal Ballet), and Joseph Volpe executive director (formerly of the Metropolitan Opera), the company has garnered a reputation for its truly diverse repertoire of works.

  This summer, the company returns to the Ted Shawn Theatre with a mixed program including a piece by Sir Frederick Ashton and a world premiere work by American choreographer Jessica Lang, the Virginia B. Toulmin & Muriel O’Neil Artist in Residence at Sarasota Ballet, who has presented three previous world premieres at Jacob’s Pillow with her own company.

  The Sarasota Ballet is recognized for its unparalleled active repertoire of the choreography of Sir Frederick Ashton, and is known worldwide as the main exponent of his ballets outside of the United Kingdom.
  

  Tickets to the ballet are sold out.

  We are still selling the talk and dessert.

  Seating will be in order received. 

  Handicapped seating is available, be sure to note that when you register.

  Tickets for guests to open on May 15th if any seats left.

  Ticket Prices:
  

  • OLLI at BCC Members: $74
  • Guests: $80
  • Dessert only with your own Jacob's Pillow Subscription: $9

  No refunds unless space is filled from a waiting list!
  This program is in-person at Jacob's Pillow
  358 George Carter Rd., Becket, MA

  Thank you to OLLI at BCC's Special Events Committee for organizing this and so many other great OLLI events!

  Show details
• Bogus Astronomy

  • Start
    Tuesday, July 22, 2025
  •  
  • End
    Tuesday, July 29, 2025
  •  
  • Schedule
    2 sessions
  • Location
    Berkshire Community College
  • Spaces left
    0

  Join waitlist

  Bogus Astronomy

  with Kenneth Bechis

  
  

  Two sessions:
  July 22 and 29 from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
  at Berkshire Community College

  In-person only.

  Is it true that "In space no one can hear you scream"? Do Hollywood movies accurately portray spaceship battles, laser cannons, and explosions? Are space aliens invading Earth really ill-advised? How well do Earthbound media and the general population understand astronomical concepts -- e.g., why is it hotter in the summer than the winter? Does it matter that our Sun travels yearly through 14 constellations, not just the 12 familiar Zodiacal ones?

  Why does astronomy, unlike other sciences, have conspiracy theories -- e.g., did Stanley Kubrick help NASA fake the Moon landings? Or, did Martians construct a giant Face on their planet along with canals?

  Let's explore these and other topics in a two-part discussion-based workshop with lots of videos, celestial images, and fun!
  

  Kenneth P. Bechis retired from Northrop Grumman as Chief Scientist in the Space Operations/Environmental Solutions Division, and as a Distinguished Technical Fellow in the Intelligence Systems Sector. He holds a bachelor's in astronomy from Harvard College, a master's of science in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a doctorate in astrophysics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and is a former NASA Payload Specialist Astronaut.

  
  

  Cost: $30 for OLLI at BCC members,
             $35 for non-members

  Sign up today!
  

  Register online or call 413.236.2190 (M-F 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.) to register by phone with a credit card.  
  

  Show details
• A Chester Duet 2025 with OLLI at BCC

  • When
    Thursday, July 24, 2025
  •  
    11:30 AM
  • Location
    Chester Theatre
  • Spaces left
    2

  Register

  The OLLI at BCC Special Events Committee presents:
  

  A Chester Duet

  Thursday, July 24, 2025 at 11:30 a.m.

  A Delicious Lunch plus a Great Afternoon of Theater  
  

  This program is in-person at Chester Railway Museum and Chester Theatre Company in Chester, MA
  

  
  

  11:30 a.m. Chester Railway Museum

  A national historic landmark where OLLI chefs create lunch and Dave Pierce, Director, tells station history and tales.

  

  2:00 p.m. Chester Theatre Company
  A Case for the Existence of God
  By Samuel D. Hunter
  Directed by Daniel Elihu Kramer   
  

  Winner of the 2022 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play. With humor, honesty and time-bending theatricality, Hunter intertwines the lives of two ordinary men, both outsiders to the forces that govern their lives.

  Cost: $73 for OLLI at BCC members
             $83 for guests/non-members
             $20 Lunch only with your own Chester Theatre subscription

  Handicapped seating is available, be sure to note that when you register. Seating will be in order received.

  Only 40 tickets available! SIGN UP SOON! 

  Event Leader: Judy Keshner, Special Events Chair: Arline Breskin

  Register online or call 413.236.2190 (M-F 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.) to register by phone with a credit card.  

  Show details
• Composing Music: The Creative Process of Eric Nathan

  • Start
    Monday, July 28, 2025
  •  
  • End
    Tuesday, July 29, 2025
  •  
  • Schedule
    2 sessions
  • Location
    Berkshire Community College
  • Spaces left
    21

  Register

  Composing Music: The Creative Process of Eric Nathan

  
  

  Two sessions:
  July 28 and 29 from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
  at Berkshire Community College

  In-person only.

  Composer and Brown Associate Professor of Music Eric Nathan will discuss his creative process as a composer and will take the class through the fascinating process of how his works come to be – from their initial inspiration, to their composition, rehearsals and then premieres. Nathan will discuss his music over two sessions – one devoted to orchestral music and the other to chamber music. Come to learn and appreciate this wonderful music and talent.
  

  Eric Nathan’s (b. 1983) music has been called “as diverse as it is arresting” with a “constant vein of ingenuity and expressive depth” (San Francisco Chronicle), and “thoughtful and inventive” (The New Yorker). A 2013 Rome Prize Fellow and 2014 Guggenheim Fellow, Nathan has garnered acclaim internationally through performances by Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, Dawn Upshaw, Jennifer Koh, Stefan Jackiw, and Gloria Cheng. His music has been featured at the New York Philharmonic’s 2014 and 2016 Biennials, Carnegie Hall, and the Aldeburgh, Tanglewood, and Aspen festivals. Recent projects include three commissions from the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Opening (2021), cocommissioned by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation at the Library of Congress, was premiered by the MSO and broadcast nationally on PBS. He has received commissions from the New York Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Barlow Endowment, Fromm Music Foundation, Tanglewood Music Center, and Aspen Music Festival, and has been honored with a Goddard Lieberson Fellowship and Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Nathan has completed residencies at Yellow Barn, Copland House, and American Academy in Rome, and is a 2022 Civitella Ranieri Foundation fellow. Nathan’s most recent album, Some Favored Nook, was released in 2023 on New Focus Recordings. He serves as Associate Professor of Music at Brown University and is currently the Artistic Director of Collage New Music, a Boston’s oldest contemporary music ensemble, now in its 52nd season, as well as Composerin-Residence with the New England Philharmonic. He received his doctorate from Cornell.

  
  

  Cost: $30 for OLLI at BCC members,
             $35 for non-members

  Sign up today!
  

  Register online or call 413.236.2190 (M-F 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.) to register by phone with a credit card.  
  

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• Ukraine-Russia War in the Era of Trump 2.0 with James Brooke

  • When
    Wednesday, August 06, 2025
  •  
    7:00 PM
  • Location
    Online via Zoom

  Register

  Ukraine-Russia War in the
  Era of Trump 2.0
  

  with James Brooke

  An informative update and lively discussion on the Russia-Ukraine war with former New York Times foreign correspondent and former Ukraine reporter James Brooke

  Wednesday, August 6 at 7 p.m. ET

  Online via Zoom
  Free & open to all
  

  Veteran foreign correspondent James Brooke is back to give OLLI another in-depth analysis of the war in Ukraine. Jim draws on a total of 14 years living and working Kyiv and Moscow --  as bureau chief for Bloomberg and then Voice of America. Previously, he made numerous reporting trips to Russia The New York Times.
  

  This event will be recorded and posted to our YouTube channel: OLLI: The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College

  See past updates from James Brooke on Ukraine in a YouTube playlist.
  

  Show details
• The Art of Tableaux Vivants at Chesterwood

  • When
    Friday, August 08, 2025
  •  
    3:00 PM
  • Location
    Chesterwood 4 Williamsville Road Stockbridge, MA, 01262
  • Spaces left
    23

  Register

  The OLLI Special Events Committee presents 
  

  The Art of Tableaux Vivants at Chesterwood

  
  

  Friday, August 8, 2025

  3:00 p.m.

  In-person only

  Be swept up into the creation of “living pictures,” a Victorian form of entertainment often produced by sculptor Daniel Chester French and his friends while at Chesterwood. Chesterwood, a National Trust for Historic Preservation site since 1969, is the former summer home, studio, and gardens of French, an American Renaissance sculptor (1850-1931).

  At this event in French’s historic studio, actors creatively use costumes and props to re-create famous works of art while the audience tries to guess the painting they are portraying. 

  Costs:
  OLLI at BCC Member: $28
  Non-Member: $34

  Questions? Special Events Chair: Arline Breskin (413) 446 4102

  Register online or call 413.236.2190 (M-F 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.) to register by phone with a credit card.  

  Show details