This is the sixteenth year of the Saratoga Wine & Food Festival. Each year, more personalities and vendors jump on the bandwagon of this significant event in upstate New York. It's popularity attracts the northeast, with Manhattan only 2.5 hours away.

Since 2004, September 17 has been officially recognized as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, a day on which to learn about the Constitution. And there’s no better place to celebrate and learn than the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, established by Congress to “disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a non-partisan basis in order to increase the awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.”

Johan Botha died today in Vienna at 51. He had suffered from liver cancer, but was scheduled to sing at the Wiener Staatsoper this fall. The September 10th performance of Turandot will be dedicated to him. He once said, “The biggest milestone for me is to make people happy and smile.”

Shakespeare & Company announces that actor and director, Allyn Burrows, a long-time member of the Company, has been named its new Artistic Director.

Burma and Tibet as neighbors, Yunnan is a culturally, ethnically, and geographically diverse, fascinating region of China. Sixteen of China's fifty six ethnic populations live in Kunming, the capital city. Kunming is a vibrant modern city with urban attractions, yet retaining old-fashioned charm and folkloric color.

Hancock Shaker Village is world renowned for its useful simplicity. A visit to this wonderful community, located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts is a rewarding experience. On September 9th, a Shaker auction will take place, as well as the first of a series of Shaker Harvest Suppers.

“The Rothschilds” is based on a real-life European family whose members established a powerhouse banking operation and secured rights for their fellow Jews during a time of anti-Semitism in late 18th century Europe. Family members faced boulder-size odds throughout their efforts, making their dream seem impossible.

With a magnificent ocean view from the terrace Pigeon Cove Tavern at the Emerson Inn in Rockport coudn't have been better. There was a perfect mix of fine dining, ambiance and impreccabler service.

The 2016 Tanglewood season come to a close with a long time commitment from Conductor Andris Nelsons to lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2017.

This production is worth seeing less, I believe, for a seldom-seen, lesser Ibsen play, than for a sensitively directed, brilliant cast. The plot development may be drawn out and repetitious, but its dramatic effect onstage is mesmerizing.

For 24 years Carl Belz was the director of the Rose Art Museum where he was a champion of regional artists with an emphasis on women. There was an annual major exhibition sponsored by Lois Foster who was later instrumental in his ouster when she and her husband Henry were the primary donors of an addition in their name designed by Graham Gund. Belz passed away recently at the age of 78.

Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Nilo Cruz spins a lyrical drama centering on the long forgotten voyage of the St. Louis, which carried 939 German Jews seeking asylum. They were turned away and 234 ultimately died in concentration camps. "I can't believe this is happening again," Bernadette, the protagonist, says toward the end of Sotto Voce. The plight of these refugees seems reenacted in today's conflicts.

A number of quirky little subversive gems a made for a delightful summer. “The Lobster” had only a limited release in March and came into the theaters of middle America at the end of May, making it, by default, a summer movie for those of us not living in New York or LA. Then came “Swiss Army Man,” “Wiener-Dog,” “Captain Fantastic” and “Hunt for the Wilderpeople.”

Mark Morris is billed as a musician, and has, in fact, been music director of the Ojai Festival. He is clearly a musicians’ musician and knows as much about music as most professionals. His main gig is choreography. He insists on using live ‘bands,’ in this case, the Mostly Mozart Orchestra. Morris channels Mozart's notes in surprising and apt movements.

Two pianos. Four hands. One heart. A spiritual beauty lurks in the origins of Messiaen's music. Certainly duo pianists Michelle and Christina Naughton seem spiritually bound to one another, although there a sparks of difference. This does not suggest conflict, but rather an opportunity to work to achieve unity, as Messiaen must have worked to embrace his God in the face of the Nazi occupation of France.

Antoni Cimolino’s production is showy, full of brilliant moments, superbly cast, and elaborately staged. But what should be a souffle soon begins to feel like a heavy, overfilled, over-spiced stew.

Peter Sellars suggested that Julia Bullock interpret Josephine Baker. The young African American, who is more interested in creating musical moments than she is in taking on conventional opera roles, is riveting as Baker in a piece composed by Tyshawn Sorey.

Love is the theme connecting the five productions of the Santa Fe Opera 2016 Festival. Leading off one week of the season was Don Giovanni, where an attempted rape and then a murder jumpstart the opera. The Don is a questionable subject for the discussion of love, as the Don mows down woman after woman in his quest for the Guinness Book of Records first place position as the world’s best, or most effective, seducer. Yet love triumphs.

The production of A Chorus Line which opened the 85th season of Footlight Players in Charleston was so fresh and lively that it was hard to fathom that the musical premiered some four decades ago. The smallish stage was packed with 26 hopefuls auditioning for just eight roles.

Chef Lucas Bustos and Winemaker Pablo Cuneo of Ruca Malen Winery in Mendoza, Argentina have teamed up to make wine pairing easy. Their ever changing menu focuses on local cuisine is paired with wines that Pablo Cuneo makes. It's like a match made in heaven.

“Meteor Shower”, Steve Martin's latest play, is currently wowing audiences at the Old Globe with his far-out sense of humor that deals with the social mores of 1990s California. It has already been extended twice.

Are words or music more important? In opera there is no debate. Both reign. Richard Strauss, trapped in Nazi Germany because beloved members of his family were Jewish and he wanted to save them, set his last opera as a debate. Unquestionably, in 1942 he was also making a plea for civilization. Santa Fe produces a delightful take on Capriccio.

In this early play by Shakespeare, rarely produced, we find four main characters, two love triangles, two fathers hoping to help their children, two of Shakespeare's clowns and a dog (!) providing laughs for the whole family. The absurdist atmosphere created by the director, Jonathan Croy, allows the audience to see the wonders and obsessions of first love.

The production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni now running at the Santa Fe Opera is a perfect occasion for a celebration of the opera company’s sixtieth anniversary. Seating over 2200, it is a grand house in part because it is located on a mountain top with a view of the Jemez Mountains. Performances begin at 8pm as the sun sets and the backstage real sky is streaked orange, and red and burnt sienna.

Now in his mid seventies Richard Nonas switched from anthroplogy to sculpture in his thirties. His work is featured in Building Five of MASS MoCA the largest space for contemporary art in North America.