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Tanglewood in Lenox, MA Adds Etheridge, Warren Haynes, Boston Pops, Jerry Garcia Music

innkeeper — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:32:15 +0000

The Tanglewood Lenox, MA Pre-Season concerts are going to be hot! hot! hot!
The Boston Symphony has announced that rock singer-songwriter, Grammy and Oscar award-winning Melissa Etheridge will be performing at Tanglewood, Lenox, MA on Friday, June 21.
The following night, Saturday, June 22, Keith Lockhart conducts the Boston Pops. The BSO announced that this concert is a “ground-breaking orchestral adventure” and it showcases new settings of Jerry Garcia’s original music and more.

This event features vocalist-guitarist Warren Haynes (Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers Band), adding what the BSO calls his “soul-soaked, introspective blend of rock, blues, R&B, and jazz” to Garcia’s music.
Friday, June 21, 7 pm and Saturday, June 22, 8:30 pm in Tanglewood’s Shed.

Tickets ($23.50-$79) are available starting at 10 am on January 27 through www.tanglewood.org or 888.266.1200.

Get your tickets, reserve a room at Birchwood Inn, and plan a picnic. It will be a hot time in the old town of Lenox and the Berkshires in June!

Our Inn in Lenox, MA offers 12 accommodations enjoy Berkshires, Bed & Breakfast,Inn in Lenox MA featuring private baths, cozy fireplaces and more. You can read the original blog post here Tanglewood in Lenox, MA Adds Etheridge, Warren Haynes, Boston Pops, Jerry Garcia Music.

A Most Wonderful Hug from Yo-Yo Ma in Lenox MA

innkeeper — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 21:02:32 +0000

I was at Bistro Zinc in Lenox MA for lunch today when cellist extraordinaire Yo-Yo Ma came in with Boston Symphony Orchestra Director Mark Volpe. I never ever approach someone famous, respecting their privacy, BUT this time I just had to.

I proceeded to tell Yo-Yo Ma my story. When I started to lose my hearing, it was only natural that I no longer could hear music. For more than 10 years I didn’t hear music, but I went to Tanglewood concerts anyway, hoping to feel the music.

And then I got my first cochlear implant in 2000 and went to Tanglewood to give it a try with music. The very first musician I heard in more than 10 years was Yo-Yo Ma. He has had a special place in my heart ever since.

As I told him the story, he had tears in his eyes. And when I finished, he gave me a big hug. He is a very special person to me… and to millions of others.

We’ve Got Snow and The Arts

innkeeper — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:19:50 +0000

In Winter, Berkshires Culture Moves Indoors

Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times

Top: Ventfort Hall in Lenox, Mass., where Anne Undeland performs “Open Marriage” in the library, right. Above: A work by Adrian Paci, left, at Mass MoCA in North Adams.

Original Article By Mark Vanhoenacker

There’s far more to the Berkshire Mountains than Tanglewood, and the arts and culture do continue after Labor Day all around our Lenox Bed and Breakfast. As Mark Vanhoenacker says in The NYT, “even in January, cultural life here thrives, at museums, theaters and music halls. And when it’s time for a little après-edification, you’ll find acres of elbow-room on area slopes.”

Why not start your cultural tour in North Adams, at Mass MoCA, one of the largest museums of contemporary art in the world? There are currently some exciting exhibits. And Mass MoCA’s performance stages are busy as well, such as jazz vocalist Catherine Russell on Feb. 18.

“The grande dame of Berkshire museums, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, just down the roadin Williamstown. The Rembrandt and Degas exhibition runs until February 5. “Clark Remix” opens Feb. 12. Pittsfield, which celebrated its 250th birthday in 2011, Pittsfield host 10×10 on North, the county’s first-ever winter contemporary arts festival, Feb. 16 to 26, featuring “exactly 10 of a number of things, including short pieces by two theatrical groups, Barrington Stage and New Stage; performances by poets, tango dancers and singer-songwriters; and short films.”At the Colonial Theater, a treasure from the Gilded Age, offers a busy winter calendar, including the Turtle Island Quartet (Feb. 17) and the Cajun masters BeauSoleil Avec Michael Ducet (Feb. 24).

In Lenox, Shakespeare & Co., as Vanhoenacker notes, “never lets the floorboards cool.” This season’s winter programming includes Molière’s comedy “The Learned Ladies,” which opens Feb. 3.

We hope you have the opportunity to enjoy some of these fantastic cultural events during your stay at our Berkshires Inn!

Shakespeare & Co. Celebrates 35th Anniversary

innkeeper — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:07:33 +0000

There are anniversaries galore in Lenox this year — Tanglewood, Jacob’s Pillow and now Shakespeare & Co, all near our Lenox Bed and Breakfast.

Shakespeare & Co’s 35th season is one of rebellion and revolution, and features one of Lenox’s favorite visitors, Academy Award-winning Olympia Dukakis (she loves Cafe Lucia!), in “The Tempest” and OBIE Award-winning actor John Douglas Thompson in “Satchmo at the Waldorf.”

“The season is designed to look at who we were, who we are, and where we’re going,” said artistic director Tony Simotes. “Revolution and rebellion, that the energy of the theater. That’s what we do.”

The summer portion of the company’s 35th anniversary season runs from May 25 through Labor Day.

Highlights include “The Tempest,” mid-July-mid-August; “Satchmo at the Waldorf,” mid-August-Labor Day; and “King Lear,” mid-June-mid-August.

The season also features “Endurance,” the story of the unlikely survival of Sir Ernest Shackleton and crew in Antarctica; and “Red,” a play based on painter Mark Rothko.

“Cassandra Speaks,” a play about controversial journalist Dorothy Thompson; “Parasite Drag,” a dark comedy of two estranged brothers; and “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife”; a comedy about a depressed, unfulfilled Upper West Side wife, round out the season.

A star-studded season for a star-studded anniversary! We hope you have the chance to enjoy this exciting season during your stay at our Bed and Breakfast in Lenox!

It Was the Best of Times

innkeeper — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:19:14 +0000

Says Quinn: Despite Irene’s unwelcome end-of-summer visit, this was one of the best of my 12 summers at Birchwood Inn.

Ellen and I have created a Top Ten Best of Summer 2011 list:

# 10 -Best play we missed: “Sylvia” — about a dog of course — at the Berkshire Theatre Festival

# 9 -Best Tanglewood Concert we missed: “Porgy and Bess”

# 8 -Best book read this summer: “The Greater Journey”

# 7 -Best exhibit: Pissarro at The Clark Art Institute (until Oct. 6)

# 6 -Best new Lenox food experience: Berkshire Gelato next door to Prime

# 5 -Best new breakfast recipe: Peach Croissant French Toast Panini

# 4 -Best breakfast fruit course: Honeydew “Gazpacho” and Bircher Muesli

# 3 -Best food blog: Eight Broads in the Kitchen at Bed and Breakfast Foodies

8 Broads... and a Dog

# 2 -Best park for hiking or walking a dog: Kennedy Park

# 1 -Best summer weekend: James Taylor and the annual 4th of July Party Time at our Lenox MA Bed and Breakfast!

Dog Days? I’m Insulted

innkeeper — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 07:53:11 +0000

As a most fine and upstanding canine, I am not at all happy that these miserably hot days in the Northeast, with unheard of temperatures in the 90s and humidity that even curls my hair, are called Dog Days. Dogs are cool!

Here in Lenox, in the heart of the Berkshire Hills in Western Massachusetts, there are gentle breezes in the garden and on the front porch at Birchwood Inn.

The leafy hiking trails in Kennedy Park across the street are very pleasant. There is plenty of shade under the ancient oaks at Tanglewood, and fortunately the air-conditioning is working mighty fine at Shakespeare & Co., Jacob’s Pillow, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Barrington Stage Co., The Colonial, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. I also love taking a cool respite at The Norman Rockwell Museum, The Clark Art Institute, and MASS MoCA.

And there’s nothing more refreshing than a swim in one of the many nearby mountain lakes.

Nothing doggy about it. Why not the Cat Days of Summer?

And that’s the way I see it. Quinn

Jolly Good Time

innkeeper — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 21:39:42 +0000

We have been announcing: The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming! Well, they came, we saw, they conquered!

The first annual (we hope!) British Motor Car Festival at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA, has been a smashing success this week. The very London-like drizzle stopped just in time for the block party on Friday night. Residents and guests strolled the village streets, enjoying the classic cars from Minis to Rolls lined up at the curbs while a band played Rolling Stones hits to set the English tone for the weekend.

Happily, more than 2,000 people were in awe of the 310 cars participating. And everyone was in a festive mood. Very civilized.

Sunny Saturday, the cars showed off at Tanglewood and competed in their categories. A number of our guests brought and showed their cars in the competition, and we are very proud to have hosted a very grand winner, Pat and Joe Marchione, from NJ. Their 1959 Lotus Elite 1096 Series took first place in their division, Concours Post WW II sports car. We were honored to have this beauty in the parking lot at Birchwood Inn!

1959 Lotus Elite

Sunny Sunday the Rolls and Bentleys competed for the best picnics.

Among the numerous classics was this awesome Austin Healy. This gem belonged to owner Nancy’s father. After he died, the car was garaged for 30 years until Nancy had the car restored in all of its glory.

Beautifully restored Austin Healy.

What a wonderful Berkshires weekend!

The Dog Days of Summer

innkeeper — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:12:48 +0000

Posted by Quinn: Sorry that I haven’t posted in a while but I am so busy in the summer entertaining the guests, both human and canine; going to concerts and plays; and lunching on the patio at Church Street Cafe. Of the concerts at Tanglewood, Carole King won paws down! And I never miss the Boston Symphony’s final summer concert, Beethoven’s Ninth. I love sitting on the grass, under a shady pine, salivating at all of the picnics. (I am proud to say that I realize Tanglewood is sacred ground and over 10 summers of concerts, I have never mistaken Tanglewood lawns for bathrooms!) Concluding with Ode to Joy is a celebration of the summer. Sorry if you missed it!

Photo: Dog Day Afternoon. Beloved guest dog Phoebe joins Quinn (center) and Piper (right) on the porch for afternoon tea. Please click to enlarge.

Quinn, Piper, and guest dog Phoebe (left) enjoy afternoon tea on the porch.