Dr. Galina Mardilovich, who received her PhD from the University of Cambridge, has been appointed curator of Russian and European art at the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College and will assume her new title July 1.
Mardilovich, currently the Mead’s acting curator of such art, is developing a book project focused on printmaking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. According to press notes, her work has been supported by fellowships and grants from numerous institutions, and she won the Mary Zirin Prize for independent scholarship in 2014, awarded by the Association of Women in Slavic Studies.
In a statement, Mead Director David E. Little called Mardilovich “an outstanding scholar, teacher, and curator” who has put together a number of excellent exhibitions and “built strong relationships with the Mead staff, faculty, and the broader Amherst College community.”
The Aria Chamber Ensemble, a string quartet of violin, cello and viola, will perform a free concert at the Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke on Friday, May 24 at 7:00 p.m. The performance takes place in the Music Room and will include works by Beethoven and Leó Weiner.
The Aria Chamber Ensemble is made up of of Hillary Dumond and Sarah Hadley-Yakir on violin, Rylan Gajek-Leonard on cello and Becky Kalish on viola. According to press notes, Dumond is a well-known performer and educator in the region, having studied music at Mount Holyoke College and UMass Amherst and performed with numerous orchestras and chamber groups in New England.
This concert is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit www.Wistariahurst.org or call 413-322-5560.
Tom Reney, the veteran host of “Jazz à la Mode” on New England Public Radio, has received a Career Excellence in Broadcasting Award from the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA). He was to be honored at a May 22 dinner and gala in Holyoke for the winners of NEPR’s annual Arts & Humanities Awards.
Reney, whose career in radio began in Worcester in 1977, has been the producer and host of “Jazz à la Mode” at NEPR/88.5 FM since 1984. Aside from maintaining a blog and podcast at NEPR, Reeney has also written about jazz for numerous publications, including The Boston Globe Magazine, Jazz Times, Downbeat and the Gazette.
In a statement, Martin Miller, CEO and general manager of NEPR, called Reney’s award “richly deserved and a wonderful recognition of a career devoted to this truly great American art form.”
Reeney is the second person in the Valley to receive recognition this spring from the JJA. Glenn Siegel, the longtime producer of concerts such as the Magic Triangle Jazz Series at UMass, was named a 2019 “Jazz Hero” by the writers’ group last month.
The Immanuel Lutheran Church in Amherst hosts a benefit, “Café Harmony,” on Friday, May 24 at 7 p.m. for Cathedral in the Night, an outdoor Christian community and soup kitchen in downtown Northampton.
Three Berkshire musicians, including Mark Fisher, a classically trained singer, guitarist, and songwriter, will perform at the benefit, which is sponsored by Mi Tierra of Hadley; the restaurant is donating tacos to the event. No tickets are needed, but donations will be accepted at the performance, with all proceeds earmarked for Cathedral in the Night.
Immanuel Lutheran Church is located at 867 North Pleasant St. in Amherst; the church can be reached at (413) 687-5568.