Free jazz education at Forbes Library
Forbes Library in Northampton will offer a free Jazz 101 listening/history lecture series from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Mondays from Sept. 8 through Nov. 3.
“Are you curious, or even skeptical? Let’s face it: Jazz can be a little daunting, hard to grasp, or obscure. Jazz 101 won’t try to make you into a great Jazz musician, but into a great listener—comfortable to understand and appreciate what you’re hearing,” a press release said.
The course will include listening sessions and introductions to basic terms, key figures, and important concepts in jazz.
The instructor, Ben Young, is a radio host, archivist, writer, lecturer, researcher, and producer who calls himself a “jazz crusader at large.”
Jazz 101 is open to the public and does not require registration. (“There’s also no test, no homework, no entrance exam, no audition, no roll-call—no stress. Just great sounds and stories about them,” the press release said.) There will also be open listening time before the start of the Sept. 8 session to introduce participants to the course.
‘Dances in the Orchard’
Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton will host “Dances in the Orchard,” an evening of contemporary dance performances, live music, and projection, on Sunday, Sept. 7, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
The dance performance lineup includes “Remember. Return. Rise up” (“How can we remember our ancestral teachings? How can we return to right relationship? When will we heed the call to rise up?”); “Chickens Dancing: a fable about love, fun, egg laying and oppression” (“Chickens are clucking away in communal gossip when mysterious ‘agents’ appear to remove their eggs”); “The Three Dreamers, All Realists (“dedicated to realist-dreamers everywhere”); “Together Let Us Listen” (“an invitation to the audience to join the performers in listening to the landscape around them”); “Winter Memories” (“made in a moment of intense isolation in the woods of Maine, the first winter after COVID-19 swept the world”); and “Willows” (“a collaboration between a small grove of curly, corkscrew willow trees and two dancers”).
Participating dancers (all are local to the Pioneer Valley) include Alexis Major Jameson, Jayme Winell, Joie Gonzalez, Marcello Federico, Michelle Marroquin, Maeve Sterbenz, Nat Graves, Terre Parker, and Zazie Tobey.
The performance will move through the orchard. Some folding chairs will be available by request, but guests are encouraged to bring their own portable seating as well. Guests should also bring a flashlight, headlamp, or charged phone to navigate through the orchard after sunset.
If it rains, the performance will be held on Monday, Sept. 8, at 6 p.m.
Tickets start at $15 via Eventbrite (which also has more information about accessibility), but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Yiddish poster design exhibition
The Yiddish Book Center’s exhibition “The Art of 20th Century Yiddish Poster Design: Theater/Politics/Lectures” is slated to close soon, though a representative of the museum told the Gazette it would likely stay up a bit longer.
“If you were to take a walk through the crowded Jewish neighborhoods of New York, Warsaw, Buenos Aires, and other centers of Yiddish life in the early twentieth century, you would have come across streetscapes full of poster,” the exhibition description said. “Theatrical extravaganzas, political discussions, public health talks, literary celebrations—all were publicized in elaborate and striking displays of graphic art. These posters capture a Jewish world that was multilingual and multicultural, eager for escapist entertainment but keenly curious about new ideas and contemporary events. Ranged along these walls is the story of the yidishe gas—the slogans, sounds, and laughter of the Jewish street.”
The Yiddish Book Center’s museum is open Sunday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission to the museum is $12 (suggested donation) or free for members, students, and children. For more information, visit yiddishbookcenter.org.
Call for artists to show work virtually
The Burnett Gallery at the Jones Library in Amherst invites local artists to submit work for virtual monthly shows running on the library’s website from January 2026 to December 2026. (The library is currently closed for renovations and expansion, hence the virtual exhibits.)
Artists can submit work in any two-dimensional medium (including images of three-dimensional works) and can apply as individuals or groups.
The deadline is Friday, Oct. 31, at 5 p.m. Artists will be notified by Friday, Nov. 12. There is no fee to submit work.
To apply, visit joneslibrary.org/galleryapplication. If you have any questions, contact Elisa Campbell at burnettgallerycommittee@gmail.com.
Concert to benefit cancer survivors
Local musicians will perform “Waves of Inspiration,” a live concert to benefit Paradise City Dragon Boat, a team of cancer survivors and their supporters who take part in dragon boat racing, on Sunday, Sept. 7, from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence.
The lineup includes Justina Golden, a singer-songwriter who performs contemporary folk, Celtic, jazz, and classical music; the eight-member all-female Florence-based singing group The Trytones; a cappella group Green Street Brew; Cantabile Vocal Ensemble, who performs chamber music from the 15th through 17th centuries; and violist, violinist, and vocalist Charlotte Malin Collins.
In a statement to the Gazette, Golden said: “Having experienced the devastation of a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis, and the subsequent death of my wife two years ago, I was struck by what a nightmare it was to go through even with an amazing community around us. Many times my wife, an experienced medical/surgical nurse, and I spoke of how hard it was and how we could not imagine what it would be like to go through this alone. Driving home from CVS one day after having pain medication denied us for a third time, I had to pull over because I was crying so hard – not just for our situation, but in a realization of what this would be like if you were alone.
“In that moment, I made a promise to myself that when circumstances presented themselves to me, I would do everything I could to support organizations who supported people who were alone in this impossible situation. When I was approached by the Paradise Dragon Boat team to organize a benefit, my immediate response was a ‘hell, yes!'”
Tickets are a suggested donation of $10 to $30, sliding scale, at the door. To learn more about Paradise City Dragon Boat, visit paradisedragons.org.
RPM Fest returns
RPM Fest, a heavy music camping festival with more than 40 bands, will return this year at Millers Falls Rod and Gun Club from Friday, Aug. 29, through Sunday, Aug. 31.
The lineup will include Conan, Royal Thunder, Ghoul, Lich King, Through the Eyes of the Dead, Horrendous, and other bands representing a variety of “heavy” genres, including rock, punk, metal, hardcore, thrash metal, death metal, prog metal, psychedelic rock, and more.
The festival will also feature pro wrestling, drag bingo, a fashion show, burlesque, karaoke, games, activities, food trucks, vendors, video games, and more.
Tickets are $45.49 to $75.49 for a single day or $145.52 for the weekend. To buy tickets or for more information, including the full lineup, schedule, and information about camping, visit rpmfest.org.
