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STOCKBRIDGE, MA – June 2, 2026 – In its capacity as a center for creativity, Chesterwood – the summer home, studio and gardens of American Renaissance sculptor Daniel Chester French (1850-1931) – presents numerous programs of music, dance, theater, and the literary arts with its series ArtsAlive! Designed to be a resource to bring community together to experience the arts and feel connected in the intimate setting of the historic studio and formal gardens, ArtsAlive! continues the deep tradition of creative history at Chesterwood where Daniel Chester French often invited artists, dancers, musicians, and writers to share their work and draw inspiration.
Latin Jazz bookends this season’s activities with Latin pianist and composer Leo Blanco’s Sugar Road Project opening the series on June 11 with a concert fusing Afro-Caribbean rhythms with modern jazz; while the series closes September 6 with a salsa dance party hosted by Manolo Mairena and his Salsa Band and the Salsa y Control Dancers. Puerto Rican jazz guitarist Richard Peña’s Trio will also perform this season, as will pianist Anastasia Dedik with saxophonist George Michael.
Other musical programs this season will include Reson8 Vocal Octet, the Sherman Chamber Ensemble with mezzo-soprano Sandra Piques Eddy, and the GRAMMY® Award-winning period instrument ensemble Boston Baroque, which makes its debut at Chesterwood with music from the Spanish Baroque and arrangements by Spanish composer Olivia Pérez-Collemir, performed with tenor Karim Sulayman.
Dancer Ian Spencer Bell returns this season to perform with pianist Lauren Aiola, as Doria Bramante returns to present tableaux vivants in a return to an original Chesterwood tradition. Spoken word and literature will be represented in readings with the New England Poetry Club and a series of 10 minute plays presented by the Great Barrington Public Theater. Chesterwood will also host conversations with journalist and Pablo Casals’ scholar Pedro Reina-Pérez, Harold Holzer on Lincoln’s Favorite Music, and two iterations of American conductor Mark Shapiro’s popular program “Music and the Mind.”
An event Chesterwood Executive Director Miguel Rodriguez describes as “not-to-be-missed” is a panel discussion entitled “Patriotism in Practice: History, Media, and Civic Life,” taking place on July 8 at 5 pm. The conversation with Governor Deval Patrick, legendary Boston Globe and Washington Post editor and journalist Martin Baron, Tufts University historian Kendra Field, and Wesleyan University President Michael S. Roth will examine the theme of patriotism through the lens of history, journalism and civic engagement. The discussion will examine how patriotism has been defined, challenged and reimagined across generations.
“This summer we are turning up the volume on our ArtsAlive! series, expanding both the number and range of performances on offer,” says Chesterwood's Miguel Rodriguez. “For the first time, the season will feature Latin jazz – a genre never before presented at Chesterwood – and a high-energy salsa dance party as part of our musical programming. Our classical series welcomes outstanding new artists to Chesterwood, including GRAMMY® Award–winning ensemble Boston Baroque, pianist Anastasia Dedik, and the Pittsburgh-based vocal ensemble Reson8. Rounding out the season is a timely and thought-provoking panel discussion on patriotism, moderated by Governor Deval Patrick.”
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Calendar
All events will take place at 5:30 PM unless otherwise noted.
June 11: Latin pianist and composer Leo Blanco’s Sugar Road Project
Leo Blanco’s acclaimed Sugar Road Project explores how African diaspora impacted the musical culture of Latin America while his ensemble, Son Mass, fuses these Afro-Caribbean rhythms with modern jazz.
June 23: Music and the Mind with Mark Shapiro – Part 1
August 18: Music and the Mind with Mark Shapiro – Part 2
Last season the witty and “insightful” (The New York Times) American conductor Mark Shapiro took Chesterwood audiences on a tour of recent thinking about the musical mind, exploring how we perceive, process and respond to music. In two follow-up sessions this summer, Maestro Shapiro recapitulates this material and applies it to classic repertoire, with demonstrations from Beethoven’s groundbreaking Symphony No.1. Participants will enjoy and benefit from attending either or both sessions.
July 7 & 9: Dancer Ian Spencer Bell with Pianist Lauren Aiola
Aiola will play Schubert's complete Moments Musicaux, while Bell will dance Isadora Duncan's Third Moment, Maria-Theresa Duncan's Fifth Moment, and a movement of his own in the style of Duncan, along with a new work.
July 8 at 5:00 p.m.
Patriotism in Practice: History, Media, and Civic Life – A conversation with Governor Deval Patrick, journalist Martin Baron, historian Kendra Field, and more!
Throughout the season, Chesterwood will examine the theme of patriotism through the work of French and his contemporaries, alongside contemporary perspectives. As part of this exploration, Chesterwood hosts a panel discussion on patriotism to be moderated by Governor Deval Patrick that includes journalist and author Martin Baron and historian Kendra Field, Professor of History at Tufts University.
July 10: Reson8 Vocal Octet presents Hero Songs
A chamber music ensemble of Pittsburgh’s acclaimed Resonance Works, this group will present the song cycle Hero Songs by Peter Hilliard and Matt Boresi. Hero Songs is a meditation on heroism and service, contemplating the past, present, and future of fortitude, effort, and sacrifice.
July 15: We (too) the People: Voices from the New England Poetry Club
The New England Poetry Club is presenting poetry by two NEPC members. Patrick Donnelly, former poet laureate of Northampton and program director of The Frost Place, is the author of five books of poetry, most recently Willow Hammer (Four Way Books, 2025). Cammy Thomas’s most recent work is Odysseus’ Daughter, poems written in response to the Odyssey (Parkman Press chapbook, 2023). Four Way Books published three of her previous poetry collections.
July 22 & 23: Reviving Chesterwood’s Tableaux Vivants with Doria Bramante
A popular art form during the Victorian period, and a favorite by Daniel Chester French at Chesterwood, a tableau vivant (French for "living picture") is a static, silent scene featuring one or more actors in costume, meticulously posed to recreate artworks, historical scenes, or passages from literature. Bramante returns to Chesterwood with two evenings of her much-acclaimed interpretation of master works of art, using Daniel Chester French’s original picture frame.
July 26: Close Encounters with Music presents the Berkshire High Peaks Festival at 3:00 p.m.
A performance featuring young, international string players, pianists, vocalists, and faculty.
July 31: Latin Jazz with Richard Peña Trio
Puerto Rican guitarist Richard Peña intricately blends the traditional sounds of Afro-Caribbean music with the modern raw energy of jazz and bebop improvisation through his guitar’s warm and cutting sound. In addition to his latest 2025 album, The Latin Side Of Jazz Guitar, he has recorded five award-winning albums.
August 1: Boston Baroque’s The X-Tex performs Sounds from Spain
This subset of the GRAMMY® Award-winning period instrument ensemble Boston Baroque makes its debut at Chesterwood with music from the Spanish Baroque and arrangements by Spanish composer Olivia Pérez-Collemir, joined by tenor Karim Sulayman.
August 4: Artists’ Gardens in New England with author and garden Designer Jana Milbocker at 4:30 p.m.
Some of our most beloved painters, sculptors, and authors were inspired by the gardens they created. Their New England gardens were a dynamic form of artistic expression and we are fortunate to be able to visit them today. After a tour of the recently restored studio garden, enjoy an armchair tour of the private havens of Edith Wharton, Julian Alden Weir, Childe Hassam, Emily Dickinson, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Celia Thaxter and others in Daniel Chester French's Berkshires estate.
August 5: We (too) the People: Voices from the New England Poetry Club
The New England Poetry Club returns to Chesterwood for a second program of poetry by NEPC members. Tim Mayo’s poetry collections include Muscle Memories of Love and Disaster, published in March 2026 by Bainbridge Island Press. Pamela Wax is the author of Every Single Beast of My Heart (Sheila-Na-Gig, 2026) and previous collections including Walking the Labyrinth (Main Street Rag, 2022), and Starter Mothers (Finishing Line Press, 2023).
August 6: Pablo Casals, a cellist in exile – A conversation with historian and journalist Pedro Reina-Pérez
When Pablo Casals first set foot in Puerto Rico in 1955 – his mother’s native land – his life took a dramatic turn. One hundred years later, Pablo Casals scholar Pedro Reina-Pérez, takes us into a deep examination of the artistic journey after Casals’ exile.
August 7: Opera Night! – American Music from the Operatic Stage An evening featuring American opera repertory with soprano Emily Misch, baritone Evan Bravos, and pianist Christopher James Ray.
August 12: The Bel Canto Duo in Concert – The Making of a Master
The dynamic husband and wife duo of Darci Gamerl and David Downing returns to Chesterwood after a one-month music composition residency last season. This summer they will present The Making of a Master inspired by Daniel Chester French.
August 15: Sherman Chamber Ensemble with Mezzo-Soprano Sandra Piques Eddy and guest violinist Victoria Lewis
Artistic director, cellist, composer and teacher Eliot Bailen returns to Chesterwood this season in a program for string quartet that will include Samuel Barber’s Dover Beach and Ottorino Respighi’s Il Tramonto for mezzo-soprano. The ensemble will feature mezzo-soprano Sandra Piques-Eddy and violinist Victoria Lewis.
August 18: Music and the Mind with Mark Shapiro – Part 2
August 19: Harold Holzer on Lincoln’s Favorite Music
Harold Holzer is joined by a special guest singer to present Lincoln’s favorite music. Holzer is a scholar of Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the American Civil War era, and is the author of Monument Man: The Life and Art of Daniel Chester French.
August 20: Classic Meets Jazz with pianist Anastasia Dedik and saxophonist George Michael
This concert features classical repertoire performed by Anastasia Dedik, followed by a 30-minute jazz set with saxophonist George Michael.
August 27: Great Barrington Public Theater – Ten Minute Plays
In partnership with Great Barrington Public Theater, Chesterwood welcomes Artistic Director Jim Frangione for a series of ten-minute plays.
September 6 at 3 p.m.: Salsa Dance Party at Chesterwood with Manolo Mairena and his Salsa Band, featuring the Salsa y Control Dancers
Closing the season is a Salsa Dance Party featuring singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Costa Rican artist Manolo Mairena, whose captivating music and dynamic stage presence have garnered him an international following.
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About Chesterwood
Chesterwood, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation since 1969, is the 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). Located in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Chesterwood preserves a 122-acre landscape with mountain views, as well as formal gardens and woodland trails designed by the sculptor. Chesterwood displays a collection of French’s original sculpture, plaster maquettes, paintings and furnishings throughout the French family residence, the sculptor’s studio, and exhibition galleries. Public appreciation in sculpture is fostered through an annual contemporary sculpture exhibition, artist residencies and workshops. Chesterwood is recognized as both a National Historic Landmark and a Massachusetts Historic Landmark. More at the Chesterwood website.
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