Romantic Rhapsody: Masterworks for Cello and Piano
2026-06-28 16:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York)
Photo: Wendy Sutter, cellist; Anita Castiglione and Paul Posnak, pianists
Online sales end at 2 PM, but we can accommodate walk-ins.
A special evening of musical virtuosity with internationally renowned cellist Wendy Sutter and acclaimed resident artists Paul Posnak and Anita Castiglione performing timeless sonata masterpieces by Johannes Brahms and Claude Debussy and two passionate Spanish works, Siete Canciones Populares of Manuel De Falla and the brilliant, humorous Requiebros of Gaspar Cassado..
About Wendy Sutter: Heralded as “one of the great leading cellists of the classical stage” by the Wall Street Journal, Wendy Sutter has proven herself as one of the foremost and diverse soloists of her generation. Having performed widely on five continents, she has been acclaimed by critics in all major publications including The New York Times, Strad Magazine, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and The San Francisco Chronicle.
Sandisfield Arts Center audiences are familiar with pianist Paul Posnak and Anita Castiglione from their thrilling four-hand piano concert here last year.
Paul Posnak’s international career as a concert pianist, recording artist, transcriber and sought-after teacher began as a child prodigy with a full scholarship to the Juilliard Preparatory School of Music at the age of eight. Recipient of Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees at Juilliard, and of the Loeb Prize (Juilliard’s highest award), he won First Prizes in the International J.S. Bach Competition and the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York. He has performed at the White House, The Supreme Court, and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., at Carnegie Recital and Tully Halls in New York, and throughout Europe, South America, and Asia to critical acclaim.
Anita Castiglione’s career as a soloist, collaborative pianist, and music educator began with piano studies in Massachusetts at the age of six. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Miami and a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School, both in piano performance. She was the recipient of the prestigious Juilliard Alumni Award. She earned her Doctorate in Collaborative Piano from the University of Miami. She is an active pianist in the Miami and West Palm Beach areas and is adjunct faculty and choral pianist for the Frost Chorale, Bella Voce, and Chamber Singers at the University of Miami Frost School of Music.
Program preview:
Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor, L. 135 by Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
Suite populaire espagnole by Manuel de Falla (1876–1946). Transcribed for cello and piano by Maurice Maréchal
Sonata No. 1 for Cello and Piano in E Minor, Op. 38 by Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Requiebros by Gaspar Cassadó (1897–1966)
About Community tickets: We make available a limited number of Community tickets @ $10. (on a first come, first served basis) to make our events affordable for more members of the community. Honor system, no proof required.
To buy tickets, press the + for the number you want – then Get Tickets will work (as long as tickets are available). Make sure the correct number are selected before you press the Get Tickets button. If you make a mistake, you can go to your cart and change the quantity.

Chris Brubeck's Triple Play
2026-07-25 19:00 - 21:00
Chris Brubeck’s Triple Play featuring Joel Brown on Guitar, Peter Madcat Ruth on harmonica is (to quote the Los Angeles Times ) ”rollicking fun, led by bassist, trombonist and pianist Chris Brubeck the vocal trio stole the show with their flair and virtuosity!” The group met decades ago when they all recorded and performed with the unique banjo player and singer Bill Crofut. The Seattle Times wrote “Triple Play is what jazz always was and always should be about, good times, unbridled joy and the sweet release of the blues.”

Get your tickets early for this season highlight!

A limited number of community tickets are available at a reduced price.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Sandisfield Cultural Council and the Otis Cultural Council, local agencies which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

To buy tickets, press the + for the number you want – then Get Tickets will work (as long as tickets are available).
Please note: Seating is unassigned, first come, first served. Doors open at 6:30.

Stardust: The Perseids Are Here! Free
2026-08-12 20:30 - 22:30
Join us on the hill behind the Sandisfield Orchard on New Hartford Road beginning at 8:30 pm to see the Perseids meteor shower. Bring bug repellent, blanket and binoculars if you have them.
Be sure to come to the previous Saturday’s talk by asronomer Carol Ives, The Perseids Are Coming!
The Perseid meteor shower is an annual, prolific celestial event, usually peaking around August 12-13 with up to 100 bright, swift meteors per hour. Known for producing fireballs, they are best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere after midnight. They originate from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle and appear to radiate from the Perseus constellation

Daniel Manacher Prize for Young Artists 2025 and 2026 Prize Winners - Opening Reception - Free
2026-08-16 16:00 - 18:00
Image: Swoopy Loops by Daniel Manacher
Opening reception 4 – 6 PM.
We are very excited to showcase the winners of the 2025 and 2026 Daniel Manacher Prize for Young Artists in this biennial show.
The 2026 contest was judged by Virginia Overton. Overton is a distinguished American artist known for her site-specific and sculpture works that often incorporate found or readymade objects. In 2018 she was the first female artist to have a solo exhibition at the Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, Queens, New York. She has work in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Show closes August 30.
2026 winners
Mari Maeve Brennan
Irreplaceable Opulence, 2025, Acrylic paint on canvas, sharpie, trash, plastic, resin
Tamar Byl
Jorah in Spring, Gouache on paper, 2025
Moira Ford
moiraford.com
Gas Station, 2026, Oil on Canvas
Katie Maier
https://katiemaierart.weebly.com/
“The Lost Silo,” 2024, Linocut print on paper
2025 winners
The 2025 contest was judged by Josephine Halvorson, an accomplished artist and the Chair of the MFA Program in Painting at Boston University’s College of Fine Art. She has a studio here in Sandisfield.
Elizabeth Cheng.
Elizabeth Cheng is a Studio Art major at Williams College. Her interests lie in publication and filmmaking, modes she finds similar in their ability to combine media and temporal sensitivity in constructing narratives. She works primarily in printmaking and video.
Blues
Enaya A. Ogletree
Website: https://ejahnaestudios.univer.se/blank
Enaya’ Ajahnae is a contemporary multimedia artist whose work explores identity through the interplay between femininity and nature. The East Coast native, born into a multiethnic matriarchal culture, uses the influences of her upbringing to inspire her artistry, which curiously investigates nuances of the natural world, gender, culture, and self-expression across painting, photography, and sculpture.
By the Swing, Inspired by Yinka Shonibare’s The Swing (AFter Fragonard)
Annie Scott
Website: annniescottt.com
Annie Scott graduated from Williams College with a degree in Studio Art and History. They are a visual artist whose work explores the visceral and uncomfortable, often confronting deeply personal and universal struggles. They are driven by a desire to experiment, constantly pushing the boundaries of their work both conceptually and materially. Their practice is rooted in a hands-on approach, where process, material, and instinct guide the direction of the work.
touch is vulnerable
Evelyn Vollmer
Evelyn Vollmer recently graduated from Mount Everett Regional High School and plans to pursue visual art in college. She is often inspired by existential issues such as climate change and explores our relationship to Mother Nature
Dreamscape

More about the prize and past recipients.

The Big Myth: How Free Market Thinking Has Blocked Climate Action (and other things we need.)
2026-08-22 10:00 - 12:00
Book talk with celebrated historian and Harvard University professor Naomi Oreskes examining the enduring myth advanced by business elites and media allies to promote hostility to “big government” and faith in unfettered markets.
Naomi Oreskes
Naomi Oreskes is Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science, Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard. A world-renowned earth scientist, historian and public speaker, she is the author of the best-selling book, Merchants of Doubt (2010) and a leading voice on the role of science in society, the reality of anthropogenic climate change, and the role of disinformation in blocking climate action.
She’ll be speaking on her latest book, with Erik Conway, The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loath Government and Love the Free Market.
“[A] scorching indictment of free market fundamentalism . . . and how we can change, before it’s too late.”-Esquire
“The bestselling authors of Merchants of Doubt offer a profound, startling history of one of America’s most tenacious-and destructive-false ideas: the myth of the “free market.”
Oreskes is author or co-author of 7 other books, and over 150 articles, essays and opinion pieces, including Merchants of Doubt (Bloomsbury, 2010), The Collapse of Western Civilization (Columbia University Press, 2014), Discerning Experts (University Chicago Press, 2019), Why Trust Science? (Princeton University Press, 2019), and Science on a Mission: American Oceanography from the Cold War to Climate Change, (University of Chicago Press, 2021). Merchants of Doubt, co-authored with Erik Conway, was the subject of a documentary film of the same name produced by participant Media and distributed by SONY Pictures Classics, and has been translated into nine languages. A new edition of Merchants of Doubt, with an introduction by Al Gore, was published in 2020.

The American Story in Song - A Program by Jon and Li Waterman - Free
2026-08-29 19:00 - 21:00
The Sandisfield Arts Center is pleased to host this Sandisfield Cultural Council-sponsored event.
Donations welcome.

A Sparkling Evening Gala
2026-09-26 18:00 - 21:00
Celebrate life and all that the new Sandisfield Arts Center has to offer.
Enjoy a delicious meal prepared by chef Adam Manacher in our new kitchen.
Wine and dessert included, entertainment guaranteed to sparkle.

Nazi Town, USA. A Chilling Documentary Film by Peter Yost
2026-10-03 19:00 - 21:00
This film traces the rise and fall of the German American Bund, exposing the fascist threat in 1930s America. Nominated for an Emmy and a Columbia-Dupont Award.
We are thrilled to have Director/Producer Peter Yost here to lead a discussion afterward.
More about the film:
In February 1939, more than 20,000 Americans filled Madison Square Garden for an event billed as a “Pro-American Rally.” Images of George Washington hung next to swastikas and speakers railed against the “Jewish controlled media” and called for a return to a racially “pure” America. The keynote speaker was Fritz Kuhn, head of the German American Bund. Nazi Town, USA tells the largely unknown story of the Bund, which had scores of chapters in suburbs and big cities across the country and represented what many believe was a real threat of fascist subversion in the United States. The Bund held joint rallies with the Ku Klux Klan and ran dozens of summer camps for children centered around Nazi ideology and imagery. Its melding of patriotic values with virulent anti-Semitism raised thorny issues that we continue to wrestle with today.
A limited number of reduced price community tickets are available.

An Evening of New England Contra Dance
2026-11-14 19:00 - 21:00
Our inaugurtal Contra dance event! Calling the dances, the popular Jon Greene with fiddle music by Eric Martin.
No experience needed–just come for a new adventure with friends guided by friends with feet-on knolwedge of such things.

Sandisfield Players Present "A Christmas Carol" A Radio Drama
2026-12-05 19:00 - 2027-12-05 21:00
Join us for this holiday classic as you’ve never seen it before!
Performed as a semi-staged radio play with sound effects, you’ll be transported to Dickens’ England to experience the ruthlessness, repentance, and redemption of the human spirit.
Performed by the Sandisfield Players.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Sandisfield Cultural Council and the Otis Cultural Council, local agencies which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
