Summer Season At MASS MoCA Begins Memorial Day Weekend

05:05AM / Thursday, May 10, 2007

Summer season at MASS MoCA gets underway Memorial Day weekend.

North Adams – Numerous offerings of the best new art from Holland form the core of MASS MoCA’s summer 2007 season, a season which also marks the sixth annual Bang on a Can Festival of Contemporary Music.

In addition to the Dutch and the best contemporary music of our time, concerts with Freedy Johnston, Ralph Stanley, a full roster of film with live music, alt cabarets, kids events, and even a Sing-A-Long Fiddler on the Roof will keep visitors coming back all summer long.

On June 15 MASS MoCA is the site of the opening party for the Berkshire county-wide event, NL: A Season of Dutch Arts in the Berkshires.

The opening party which starts at 8:30 p.m. will include music from Zapp String Quartet as well as famed Dutch DJ/VJ Micha Klein spinning tunes and creating a psychedelic vibe in MASS MoCA’s Courtyard C.

The Courtyard is also the new home of Pavilion, a new work by Dutch sculptor Dre Wapenaar’s. Complimentary desserts will be served under the Pavilion, a series of sail like partitions which create an exciting new social space smack dab in the middle of MASS MoCA’s campus.

NL continues at MASS MoCA all summer with a series of captivating Dutch shorts screening on June 20, a work-in-progress showing of puppeteer Ulrike Quade’s The Wall, a music/film event with Electra and Film on July 6, choreographer Nanine Lining’s Cry Love, the third in her series of dance pieces inspired by the work of Francis Bacon on August 11; and a stunning performance of mediEa by experimental theater group Dood Paard on August 25. Several exhibitions in the galleries round out the Dutch offerings, an exhibition of work by Eric Van Lieshout and a new installation by textile artist Fransje Killaars.

MASS MoCA’s indoor and outdoor stages are filled with music at several events.

The season opens on Sunday, May 27 with Freedy Johnston recreating his album Can You Fly? at a Bar/None Birthday bash sponsored by Blue Q which will also feature up-and-comers Brian Dewan and Vampire Weekend.

Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley performs on July 7, outdoors if the weather permits or in the Hunter Center if rain threatens.

Traditionally Labor Day Weekend features a band that packs the dance floor, and 2007 will be no exception with an African Dance Party with Dominic Kanza and the African Rhythm Machine. Jacob’s Pillow arranges instruction for the dance party.

The Sixth Annual Bang on a Can Contemporary Music Festival sponsored by ValleyAdvocate.com and 88.5 FM-WRCR fills the campus with sound from July 12 through July 28.

In addition to several recitals most every day, the festival two weekend concerts promise to be particularly memorable: Iva Bittova joins the Bang on a Can All-Stars on July 21 while legendary clarinetist Don Byron plays with the faculty and fellows for the Bang on a Can Marathon on July 28.

The very popular film with live music series sponsored by Time Warner Cable continues outdoors on Berkshire county’s largest screen when weather permits.

In addition to Electra and Film on July 6, MASS MoCA will screen the early French animated film Johnny the Giant Killer with live music by Gutbucket on July 14 and a series of Laurel and Hardy shorts with live original score by Steve Bernstein and the Millenial Territory Orchestra on August 10.

Viewers can make their own music for the classic film Fiddler on the Roof at a Sing-a-long screening on August 4.

MASS MoCA partners with Jacob’s Pillow again this year to bring outstanding dance to the Berkshires in October. This year Karole Armitage and her troupe take the stage on Saturday, October 6 in the evening and Sunday, October 7 in a matinee performance.

The Alt Cabaret series will include intimate evenings with Mark Mulcahy on June 23, Bryan Vargas & Y Esta on August 3, Taylor McFerrin on August 31, The Teenage Prayers on October 20, and Roy Nathanson on November 17.

Monthly kids events including Gustafer Yellowgold, Bang on a Can’s perennially popular Kids Can Too, and a gallery scavenger hunt promise to provide plenty of fun for families.

Food from Lickety Split (including Herrell’s ice cream made fresh on the premises every day) and drinks from the MASS MoCA bar are available at virtually all MASS MoCA events.

Café Latino, a full-service restaurant and bar on the MASS MoCA campus, is also open before most shows.

Tickets to all events are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located on Marshall Street in North Adams during gallery hours from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. (closed Tuesdays). Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413-662-2111 during Box Office hours or online at www.massmoca.org .

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located on Marshall Street in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.