Yo-Yo Ma And Emanuel Ax Surprise Essential Workers With Pop-Up Concerts

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — To thank essential frontline workers in the Berkshires for their work during the pandemic, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax performed nine surprise pop-up concerts in Lee and Pittsfield last week.
 
In a creative answer to performing live during the public health response to COVID-19, Ma and Ax traveled the county alongside a flatbed truck equipped with a stage, sound system, and strapped down piano from which they performed at each of their stops. 
 
With stops at Berkshire Medical Center, two Pittsfield elementary schools, a Pittsfield UPS delivery loading site, school bus transportation center, Pittsfield Fire Department and Health Department, Roots Rising food distribution volunteer site, Berkshire Theatre Group, and High Lawn Farm, Ma and Ax were eager to give a gift of music to those maintaining critical community functions since the outbreak of COVID-19. 
 
"The fact that you have been on the front lines, never stopping your work, we just want to thank you," Ma said during one of the performances. "We're grateful and we want to show gratitude in the way Manny and I know, which is to play music. Thank you, Pittsfield, for being the community you are – in our despair, your actions give us hope."
 
The series of pop-ups was made possible through a collaboration of the musicians' production team and several community groups including Mill Town, City of Pittsfield Department of Cultural Development, Blue Q, Falcetti Pianos, Quality Moving & Storage, GHP Powered, and several local artists. 
 
"We are beyond grateful that Yo-Yo Ma has a special place in his heart for Pittsfield and the Berkshires," stated Jen Glockner, director of Pittsfield's Department of Cultural Development.  "The musical collaboration with Manny Ax for this pop-up project brought so many smiles to those who needed it most during this unprecedented time."
 
The series was conducted under closely-held communication both to ensure the experience remained a surprise for the recipient essential workers and also as a way to avoid any crowds from gathering.
 
On Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020, as a pilot of the pop-up series, Ma and Ax first stopped at a dairy farm, High Lawn Farm, located in Lee to thank the farmworkers and store distribution team for their on-going work contributing to the food security of the Berkshires region. 
 
Upon arrival, the production team laid out a system of 40 hula hoops spaced six feet apart from one another and set-back 25 feet from the performance truck.  
 
As Ma and Ax began to play, employees of the farm and a few members of the public filtered into the performance area, each masked and standing in their own socially distanced hula hoop for the approximately 12-minute performance. 
 
A few approving "moos" from the nearby dairy cows contributed to the sounds of Ma's cello work and Ax's piano playing.  A compiled video of the performances is available to view on the Facebook pages of Mill Town and Cultural Pittsfield.
 
Ma and Ax are regular performers in the Berkshires, most notably at Tanglewood, the summer home of The Boston Symphony Orchestra.  Due to the on-going health concerns related to COVID-19, Tanglewood, and many of the other Berkshires-based live performance festivals were forced to put live, in-person performances on hold or shifted to a virtual model.  While many of the major multi-thousand person venues were shuttered, some smaller venues and community-based models were executed throughout the summer to keep live music alive in the Berkshires.
 
Carrie Holland, managing director of Mill Town and co-collaborator in the Yo-Yo Ma / Emanuel Ax pop-up series, noted that she and her organization were able to arrange some creative ways to allow live musical performances to happen safely in the Berkshires this summer. 
 
"We have become experts in laying down socially distanced chalk-outlined viewing circles, hula hoops, and taped performance areas for our musicians," she said
 

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Letter: What's Happening With Dalton's Finances?

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

What's the problem? We are approaching our tax levy limit. As a result of rapid increases in spending over the last four years, Dalton's buffer before we reach our tax levy limit has dropped from $1,200,000 to $772,000 in 2023, which is OK, and likely to be approximately $140,000 in 2026, which is very concerning. If it gets to $0, the town of Dalton will have to cut services and reduce spending in many ways.

What is the levy limit? Proposition 2.5, which is part of Massachusetts law, says that the maximum amount a town can tax its residents (the levy limit) is 2.5 percent of the total assessed overall value of the homes in Dalton plus new growth. New growth in this town has been small for several years. In 2024 the total assessed value of all property was $895,322,865 so the total amount the town could raise from taxes is approximately $22.4 million. In 2024 the total amount of revenue collected was $21.2 million, which means we had $864,000 buffer that we could collect before reaching the levy limit. Each year the assessed value of homes increases, which in turn increases the levy limit and helps Dalton meet its ever-increasing obligations. Over the last four years, the increase in our town's expenses has been outpacing these increases, cutting into our buffer.

Does a Proposition 2.5 override save us? A Prop 2.5 override is intended for large capital purchases. It's like a mortgage, but town governments call them bonds. We did overrides for the new school, repairs to Town Hall and Dalton Division Road, which were then covered by bonds. But overrides are not helpful for annual expenses like salaries, benefits, supplies or any other expense. An override may help us not hit our levy limit, but it is still money that must be raised through taxes to pay for the debt, so it still appears in your taxes.

Speaking of taxes, do you know that if this year's proposed budget passes Dalton's resulting rate of approximately $18.13, which combines the town and fire district tax rates, will likely be one of the highest rates in Berkshire County? Do you know that if a new building is built that costs $15 million this would require a Proposition 2.5 override that would result in an average annual increase in our taxes of approximately $250 per household? If this bothers you, when the time comes you should vote!

What can we do?

Attend the annual town meeting on May 5 at 7 p.m. at the Wahconah Regional High School and VOTE. It might be a long evening but your vote on each item is extremely important in controlling costs and increasing the tools our town government has for the future.

To prepare for the meeting every Dalton resident who is concerned about their taxes and their town should read the annual Town Report, which contains all the financial and policy items that you will be asked to vote on at the meeting. The report will be dropped off at your door by the Boy Scouts on Saturday, April 19. If the report is not clear or, like many others, you have questions, I hope you all will feel comfortable stopping by and talking with me about them. Getting ahold of me is easy. I will be at my campaign office in the old bank across from the Town Hall each weekday from 4:30-6:00. I can also be reached on Facebook at William Drosehn Candidate or instant message me.

Please vote yes on Article 27 for the Capital Planning Committee.

Thank you!

William Drosehn

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