Sir Simon Rattle has taken out German citizenship to be closer to his children. It is also said he is exiting Britain and the cultural consequences of Brexit. Rattle will succeed Mariss Jansons as the chief conductor of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerische Rundfunks. Recently he conducted the orchestra in a world premiere of Ondrej Adámek's "Where Are You?"

Blue Heron Gallery Online, a virtual art gallery, will be presenting the art of North Adams artist Chalice Mitchell beginning at noon on Saturday, March 1, 2021.  The show, appearing on www.blueherongallery.online, will feature her paintings, and present the artist in photographs and her Artist Statement.

New Federal Theatre has always promoted the inclusion of women artists as part of its mission. It is no surprise that they are offering works by and with women for Women’s History Month. They appeal to everyone. Petronia Paley and Margaret Odette are featured in the two-hander, Hospice by Pearl Cleage. Billed as a reading, the performances are full characterizations by actors.

American art scholar Patricia Hills has researched and published the work of genre painter Eastman Johnson (1824-1906). She is seeking funds to launch a Catalogue Raisonné website working with the National Academy of Design.

New Normal Rep.'s inaugural production is the dramedy Jericho, by the company's artistic director, Jack Canfora. The new online theater company's debut production features strong acting, quality direction. Jericho is streaming through April 4 at NewNormalRep.org. The play is touching and funny, but not particularly original.

Robert Morgan was born and raised in Pittsfield but became a citizen of the world. Now retired from a career in international finance he has returned to his roots. That means full time in the studio creating enormous representational/ surreal works on paper. Widely exhibited the new work will be seen at Blue Heron Gallery Online, a virtual art gallery. Well known in the Berkshires the virtual exhibition exposes the work to a readily accessible internet audience.

Marking the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s triumphant return to its summer home, BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons—who leads eight orchestra programs this summer—opens the BSO’s Tanglewood season on Saturday, July 10, with an all-Beethoven program, featuring one of the festival’s most preeminent guest artists, Emanuel Ax, performing the Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor, on a program with one of Beethoven’s most iconic works, Symphony No. 5.

Juilliard announces the launch of Juilliard LIVE, a new streaming initiative offering performances from across its three divisions—music, dance, and drama—online to a global audience. The broad initiative, part of the school’s long-term strategic plan, was accelerated over the past year when indoor performances were halted due to the pandemic. With a mix of livestreamed and on-demand content, Juilliard LIVE expands student performance opportunities both now and in the future, and it will increase accessibility to the performing arts for audiences around the world.

Bang on a Can announces the hourly schedule for its next Bang on a Can Marathon – Live Online – on Sunday, April 18, 2021 from 1-5pm ET. All 15 pieces on the program will be world premiere performances of newly commissioned works, streamed from musicians' homes around the country and across the world. Over its first six live online Marathons in 2020-2021 (May 3, June 14, August 1, October 18, February 21, and March 21) Bang on a Can has presented more than 125 performances, including 47 world premieres of new commissions and over 150 composers and performers. Bang on a Can plans to continue these Marathons, streaming online at live.bangonacan.org,

With large format watercolor on paper Robert Morgan renders superbly crafted representational images. A recognizable object or landscape, however, is generally juxtaposed with another crisply rendered but puzzling element. They form visual equations but cleverly askew. In the work of this artist one plus one often does not add up to two. It's left to the viewer to do the math.

John Wilkens has adapted “The Waste Land” to the stage as a vehicle for a solo performer.  Oakland Theater Project has produced the staging, starring the multi-talented Lisa Ramirez and directed by Michael Socrates Moran.  This production is the first live performance with a live audience sanctioned by Actors Equity in the state of California since the start of the pandemic.  But to accomplish the approval, the performance is outdoors, and the audience remain in their cars. 

The Niceties is an explosive drama that asks us how we might be contributing to systemic racism. The Eleanor Burgess drama takes place on a prestigious university in the Northeast. Island City Stage in suburban Ft. Lauderdale is presenting the show in person and online. In-person performances continue through April 18. Streaming will be available from April 16-25.

Debuting on April 24, 2021 in the Lampos Gallery, Under New Management: The Commodification of the Permanent Collection features works from Fuller Craft’s permanent collection selected by guest curators and Boston-area artists Oliver Mak, Kenji Nakayama, and Pat Falco. Operating as a fictitious marketing company, MFN Integrated Solutions, the curatorial team aims to activate the collection.

The Clark Art Institute’s popular First Sundays Free program continues on Sunday, May 2. Admission to the galleries is free to all visitors for the entire day, but advance registration is necessary.    

It's spring at Hancock Shaker Village. That means time for one of its most popular events. For family fun come see all the newborn animals from lambs and piglets to chicks and goats.

Noah Haidle’s sweet and painful play, Smokefall, directed by Anne Kaufman, staged by Goodman Theatre in 2013-14, and now streaming as part of Goodman’s Encore series.

The Clark Art Institute celebrates Earth Day on Thursday, April 22, with two guided programs that invite visitors to connect with nature and art on the Clark’s campus. Clark educators lead ninety-minute outdoor experiences that inspire participants to write, draw, move, and more as they explore the unique natural settings of the Ground/work exhibition.

What a pleasure to see Bay Area opera companies offering alternatives to traditional live performance productions until we are able to return to the opera houses to experience their magnificence as intended.  Following its streaming production of “Three Decembers” by Jake Heggie, Opera San José now offers a curated trilogy of one-act operas.  Marital relationships, or more loosely, love constitutes the common bond among the trio.  With each requiring only two singing parts, they are highly conducive to the strictures of pandemic era productions.

Laozi says the great Way is easy. Once we find our place in the world, and learn to live in harmony with it, this may be true. Part of finding our place, though, is living without fear.

Newport Music Festival announces the complete seventeen-concert schedule for its 53rd season, from July 4-20, 2021. All concerts will be held outdoors at historic mansions and venues in Newport, Rhode Island including The Breakers, Bellevue House, Castle Hill Inn, The Chanler at Cliff Walk, King Park, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, Norman Bird Sanctuary, and Rough Point. The full schedule is included below and available at www.newportmusic.org. Tickets will go on sale to the public on April 19.  

Onsite events run June 30-August 29, with online streaming through September 23. Newly imagined—with the safety of artists, staff, and audiences at the forefront of all planning—the Festival will feature commissioned works and world premieres, present new site-specific performances created especially for the Pillow’s 220-acre campus, and engage hundreds of artists who have had incredibly limited performance opportunities for the last year.

Mezze is a destination for fine dining in Williamstown. Last week, Chef Nick broke down his first whole East Mountain Farm heritage pig since before the pandemic. This brings us hope. Hope to continue supporting our farmers, hope to continue to serve you from nose to tail, and hope that we'll continue expanding how we gather together, together. hich hails from Italy; it is a zero ABV spirit that replaces gin though possesses a similar flavor profile.

The performing arts series Works & Process announces the addition of 6pm performances at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as a part of New York state’s “Safely Bringing Back the Arts” pilot program. Since March 19, under the guidance of the Department of Health, two concurrent series of performances produced by Works & Process are taking place in the Guggenheim’s iconic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed rotunda. These reduced-capacity events are among the first indoor performances the state has permitted since it closed venues due to the pandemic a year ago, reaching a milestone in the recovery of the city’s cultural sector.

A Bronx Tale is a crowd-pleasing, familiar tale. A production of the stage musical is docked at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre. The production, which runs through May 22, features strong acting.

Tippet Rise is a striking arrival on the music scene.  Just when interest in conventional venues offering conventional programs is waning, along comes a venture located amidst grazing cattle on 12,000 acres in Fishtail, Montana. The venue traveled east for its spring festival. You begin to get a sense of how they fill their mission wherever they alight. The splendid array of talent seems present wherever they are. Topping the list in New York are veterans Richard Goode and Claire Chase.