By Cori Urban
on March 18, 2013 at 5:00 AM, updated March 18, 2013 at 5:09 AM

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Songs of freedom will resound as Mak’hela: the Jewish Chorus of Western Massachusetts and vocalist Evelyn Harris herald the arrival of Passover and spring with a concert, “Let My People Go: Songs of Freedom.” The concert, which will feature traditional and contemporary arrangements from the classical, folk, pop and gospel songbooks, will take place at the Academy of Music on Sunday.

Mak’hela and Harris will present musical selections from the Jewish and African-American traditions, using secular as well as liturgical expressions of yearning for freedom and redemption.

The concert also will feature the world premiere of “That’s the Truth,” a piece by Pioneer Valley composer Clifton J. Noble Jr., to be performed by Harris with Mak’hela, the name of which means “chorus” in Hebrew.

Kayla B. Werlin, music director of Mak’hela: The Jewish Chorus of Western Massachusetts, commissioned this piece for the choir with Harris, vocal soloist.

Harris is known for her 18-year tenure in the a capella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock.

“I have never collaborated with Mak’hela before, but I have heard them and felt glorious about their sound ever since,” said Harris, of Easthampton. “I especially appreciate the chorus is mixed and celebrates the multicultural aspect of the members.”

Noble, staff accompanist at Smith College in Northampton and a music critc at The Republican, has worked both with Mak’hela and with Harris many times, and he said the combination of these two “potent artistic entities will prove to be a thrilling experience” for the musicians and the audience.

His work is for mixed chorus, vocal solo and piano. The words express the notion that good, decent people live their lives striving to find the truth, then inhabiting and expressing that truth as they see and believe it and treating others the way they would like to be treated.

Some of the words are Harris.’ “One morning she posted on Facebook something to the effect that ‘just when I think I’ve taken about as much as I can stand, I remember the Creator’s got a master plan…’ and I took that—with her permission—straight into my lyrics,” said Noble, a frequently commissioned composer/arranger.

“Knowing Evelyn’s experience with Sweet Honey in the Rock and her familiarity with a vast range of style and substance in jazz, gospel and rock music, I made ‘That’s the Truth’ into a gospel-rock number, and I remember Evelyn’s eyes lighting up at our first rehearsal together as she said, ‘No one has ever written me a rock song,’” said Noble, who has written least two commissioned works each year for about 20 years, and sometimes more.

“I am honored to join Mak’hela in this special concert, especially given the shared experience of slavery and redemption among African-Americans and the Jewish people,” said Harris, a Grammy-nominated stylist of jazz, pop, rock ’n’ roll, gospel and blues.
“There is no particular time of year that freedom and redemption are more important; it is an every-day struggle for us people of color and those at the margins of society,” she said. “We don’t have the luxury of waiting for a particular time of year to do that work. However, we do take this time to reflect with our allies and friends, colleagues and peers, to get rejuvenated and build our strength to keep on keepin’ on.”

Singing in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, Italian and English, Mak’hela will perform works by such composers as opera master Giuseppe Verdi, contemporary Israeli composer Michael Wolpe and the Iberian legend Flory Jagoda.

“Many of the selections, including the aria ‘Va, Pensiero’ from Verdi’s Nabucco, are variations on the theme, ‘By the Waters of Babylon,’ the text from Psalm 137 that describes the longing for home and freedom of an enslaved people,” Werlin explained. “While the Passover-themed pieces by Michael Wolpe will be new to American listeners, other selections will be more familiar, including Noble’s rousing arrangement of the spiritual, ‘Go Down, Moses.’”

Mak’hela commissioned the arrangement of the African-American spiritual from him several years ago and has performed it here and in Israel.

“The Jewish tradition of remembering the Exodus every spring with the celebration of Passover brings to mind the themes of slavery and freedom,” Werlin said. “When we revisit those themes, we transcend time and place. We are grateful to our Jewish ancestors, who left the safe predictability of enslavement to wander in the desert in search of a new life. And we remember that our own country was built on the backs of slaves, and we still live in the shadow of slavery. Elsewhere in the world we see that slavery still exists, and we recommit ourselves to ’Tikkun Olam,’ healing the world.”

Now in its 10th season, the 50-voice chorus performs throughout New England and includes members from the Pioneer Valley and beyond.

“We are thrilled to be making our Academy of Music debut,” Werlin said. “It is rewarding to know that the music of the Jewish culture in the Pioneer Valley is valued and supported with such passion and enthusiasm.”

She wants members of the community to know that “there are songs your Jewish grandmother would be singing along with us, but we also have new music that would knock her socks off!”

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Thursday, October 18, 2012
By Gary Carra

Given the combined actual ages of the current 34 members on the “active roster,” the Young@Heart Chorus would need close to 3,000 candles to celebrate its collective birthday in the traditional way. But the group of seasoned citizen singers is marking its 30th anniversary as a vocal troupe this weekend. Considering that the area elders have toured the globe several times over and been the focus of a major motion picture in those years, it’s an accomplishment that apparently takes at least three evenings to celebrate.

“I know it sounds like a cliche, but it’s been a long strange trip with never a dull moment,” group director Bob Cilman notes of the experience as the group readies for a three-night “anniversary party” at the Academy of Music Theatre this weekend, Oct. 19-21.

Friday night’s show will see Young@Heart with special guests Trailer Park, followed by collaborations with area singer/songwriter Heather Maloney on Saturday and scene staples the Lonesome Brothers on Sunday.

Coinciding with the event is a special month-long exhibit at the Hosmer Gallery in Northampton’s Forbes Library. The exhibition is curated by none other than Cilman’s daughter Stella, and features never-before-seen video, rare photos, theatre costumes, banners and more.

As if they needed another excuse to party, the Young@Heart-sters have also just released Now—a new 17-tune offering that includes chestnuts like Dandy Livingstone’s “A Message To You, Rudy” and Stills-Young’s “Long May You Run,” with a couple of cool bonus live tracks tacked on for good measure. Tickets for all three shows are available at youngatheartchorus.com and range from $20 to $100 depending on the package selected. Options range from a simple seat to a ticket, CD and aftershow meet-and-greet reception.

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Similarly celebrating new studio product is local songwriter/world-renowned Americana balladeer Tim Eriksen (timerikesenmusic.com). The disc is titled Josh Billings Voyage and is slated to drop Oct. 23. In hearing the Amherst native discuss some stories behind the project, however, it could have just as easily been dubbed Of Mice and Men.

“I found a mouse nest in my stereo speaker,” he recalls. “Some time later I was dubbing a tape, forgot about it and eventually noticed a barely audible, high-pitched singing in the next room. Every hair stood on end, because I believed that the mice were singing. I was shocked at what I was capable of believing, even for three seconds. The song (‘The Mice’) speaks to those things… to the presences and beliefs and our attempts to understand what’s going on.”

Other tunes conjure images of deep West Africa (“Gabriel’s Trumpet”) and South India (“How Come The Blood”), all blending together to support the overarching narrative: Josh Billings Voyage is actually a look into the fictitious, Eriksen-created New England village of Pumpkintown. It’s an audio excursion aimed at uniting the foothills of Western Massachusets with the shores of Madras and Zanzibar.

“It struck me early on that ‘Yankee’ culture has always been deeply multicultural,” Eriksen points out. “It’s the kind of multiculturalism that’s invisible if you don’t recognize the distinctions or sources of influence.”

US-Dept-of-State-Letter from Sec. Clinton

By Fred Contrada, The Republican

NORTHAMPTON — The city has received a $98,000 grant from the state to make energy improvements at Memorial Hall and the Academy of Music.

Northampton was one of 17 cities and towns that got the first-time competitive grants though the Commonwealth’s Green Communities Program. The money is aimed at helping municipalities significantly reduce energy costs.

The city was eligible for the grant because it was named one of Massachusetts’ first “Green” communities in 2010. It has previously received state money to install a photovoltaic system at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School.

The new grant will be used to insulate the roof and ceiling areas in Memorial Hall and at the Academy, both of which were built in the 19th century. The Academy is owned by the city but managed by a board of trustees. The city has already insulated part of the building and replaced light fixtures in the ceiling above the seating area with high-efficiency LED lamps.

Now it will use some of the state money to insulate the ceiling in conjunction with a project to replace the roof above the stage. Deborah J’Anthony, the Academy’s executive director, said that project is currently out to bid and is expected to cost less than $100,000. It is being financed, in part, with Community Preservation money from the city.

Chris Mason, the city’s Energy and Sustainability Officer, said the insulation at Memorial Hall is also in poor shape — trampled, broken up and poorly installed in places. The city will remove the degraded insulation in that building, seal air leaks in the ceiling and floor and install high-value insulation.

The goal, Mason said, is to reduce gas consumption by 20 percent at the Academy of Music and by 13 percent at Memorial Hall.

On a larger scale, the city is engaged in a performance contract with Con Edison Solutions to upgrade energy efficiency in all its buildings. Earlier this summer the single-pane windows at City Hall were replaced by efficient double-paned windows. The improvements are financed by projected energy savings over a 15-year period.

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Thursday, February 16, 2012
By Chris Rohmann

Editorial: Northampton Academy of Music singing, dancing again

Published: Monday, January 16, 2012, 6:00 PM     Updated: Monday, January 16, 2012, 6:06 PMBy The Republican Editorials masslive.com

Negotiations addressed labor requirements for all productions that take place at the community-based theatre, the cost of which is covered by the groups that present at the 800-seat performance venue.

“The length of the negotiations is an indication of the careful consideration that both parties gave to proposals in this difficult economic climate,” said Andrew Crystal, president of the Academy of Music Board of Trustees. “The Academy is pleased to sign a contract that reflects the willingness of both parties to work together for the common good of the Academy and the community.”

The previous agreement ended in October 2010.

“I.A.T.S.E. Local 232 is very pleased we could come to agreement on a new contract with the Board of Trustees.  As the Academy of Music Theatre evolves and grows, we look forward to being an integral part of their success,” said Brenda Shepard, president of Local 232.

The Academy has established on-going relationships with a stable of area art organizations that have a history presenting at the theater, including Commonwealth Opera, the Pioneer Valley Ballet, Old Deerfield Productions, Out! For Reel, Greene Room Productions, and Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra.

The mission of the Academy of Music is to enrich greater Northampton’s quality of life by offering first-class performing arts and film presentations in an historic theatre of national significance, and encouraging the use of the venue for social, educational and professional events.

For Immediate Release ~ Artbeat Presents:

Sold-Out on Broadway!

Academy of Music Theatre  Northampton, Mass

Sunday, March 13 at 2 pm

Astonishing athletes defy gravity and execute breathtaking feats as they stretch the limits of human ability in this spellbinding show.  Fearless performers with boundless energy bring you more than two thousand years of Chinese circus traditions.  If it’s humanly possible-and even if it’s not! – Shanghai’s acrobats, jugglers and contortionists do it with spectacular flair.

The New Shanghai Circus, “Cirque de Chine” is coming to Northampton’s Academy of Music, Sunday, March 13^th for a 2 pm matinee performance, presented by Artbeat, Inc. The theater is located downtown at 274 Main Street. Tickets are available in person at Academy of Music Box Office ; Tuesday through Friday, 3 to 6 pm
and via telephone at: 413-584-9032 x105. Tickets range from $29 for adults and just $12.50 for youth 18 and under. Generous group discounts are available.

New Shanghai Circus has a company in residence and its own theater in Branson, Missouri. With a hundred theaters, Shanghai Circus is among the five most popular in town. They are also the only Chinese acrobatic troupe to play Broadway (see laudatory New York Times review)

CHINESE ACROBATS TUMBLING THROUGH HISTORY

The Chinese acrobatic tradition dates back to 700 B.C.; that’s over 2,000 years of tumbling, balancing and juggling. Ancient stone carvings, earthen pottery and early written work trace the ancestry of today’s spectacular acts. Relics tell the tales of famous acrobats like Confucius’ father, who is believed to have lifted a pair of 1,000-pound city gates to let an army storm through.

The art of Chinese acrobatics developed out of the Lunar New Year harvest celebrations, where the village’s peasants and craftsmen would hold a kind of Chinese Thanksgiving. Acrobats would use household tools and common items found around the farm and workshop as part of their exciting feats. Performers passed their skills down from generation to generation and great acrobatic families of China entertained everyone from city rulers to village people, performing at ceremonial carnivals and public theaters across the country.

Over the years, as China plunged into economic and social upheaval, many fine arts were lost and acrobats found themselves on the verge of extinction. Since the Revolution in 1949, the government has made great efforts to foster and develop traditional arts and culture in China, and acrobatics has enjoyed a new life.

Today only a few descendants of the old and famous acrobatics families remain. These individuals have organized China’s traditional entertainers into professional acrobatic troupes with formal academies for training young, promising entertainers and internationally renowned companies. Modern-day Chinese acrobatics reflect the industry, resourcefulness and courage of the Chinese people. At present, there are over 120 professional acrobatic troupes across China, and more than 12,000 performers.

Founded in 1951 as the Shanghai Acrobatic Theatre, The New Shanghai Circus has won more Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals in domestic and international circus competitions to date than any other Chinese acrobatic company. Breathtaking and polished to perfection, the singular skills performed by The New Shanghai Circus have their roots in everyday lives of the village peasants, farmers and craftsman of the Han Dynasty.

The following is a description of some of the acts and their origins:

Contortionism: Using strength and balance, contortionists gracefully bend themselves into beautiful and bewildering positions.

Foot Juggling: Performers use their feet to juggle rugs, jars, umbrellas and even a table.

Kung Fu: Acrobats tumble, flip, jump, kick and create intricate poses reminiscent of Chinese martial arts.

Slack Wire: A performer bounces on an elastic tight rope, while executing flips and turns in the air.

Spinning Plates: Acrobats dance and climb all the while balancing plates atop long sticks.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Straight from the Cannes Film Festival, brothers Jeff and Michael Zimbalist return to their hometown to debut their acclaimed film The Two Escobars at the Academy of Music.

The pair will introduce their latest documentary at 7:30 p.m. June 20, and answer audience questions following its showing at the historic downtown theatre. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online or on site at the theatre box office. Advance purchase is recommended.

Mobilizing an encyclopedic arsenal of archival footage and intimate interviews with members of Colombia’s political and criminal establishments, Jeff and Michael’s Zimbalist’s The Two Escobars paints a portrait of a culture so invested in and defined by its sports team that one high-stakes mistake on the field could shatter its national identity, and ultimately cost a man his life.

The 100-minute film tells the story of two men who shared a fanatical love of soccer, Andrés Escobar and Pablo Escobar. Andrés grew up to become one of Colombia’s most beloved players, while Pablo rose through the ranks of the criminal underground to become not only the most notorious drug baron of all time, but also the secret weapon behind Colombian soccer’s unprecedented rise to glory. As Pablo’s criminal success accelerated, his personal interest in – and financial support of – soccer gave rise to the phenomenon known in the underworld as “Narco-soccer”, as well as a broader cultural fervor among the Colombian population. In a time when rival drug cartels warred in the streets and the country’s murder rate climbed to highest in the world, the Colombian National Soccer Team’s success was blazing a new image for their country, but ultimately came to a head when Andrés’ shocking mistake in the 1994 World Cup lost his team the title, and lost his nation the chance to redeem its international image.

Widely praised for its “daring storytelling,” “eclectic score” and “seamless editing,” the Associated Press called the film nothing less than “a triumph.” Few movies have better documented both the good and bad of sports, according to the review.

Jeff and Michael’s production company, All Rise Films, is a Ford Foundation grantee and has produced award-winning documentaries on third world development issues for clients such as HBO, the Sundance Channel, PBS, BET, the BBC, the United Nations, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the John Templeton Foundation. The brothers   are currently developing a feature documentary on the working poor being produced by Stan Lathaan and Russell Simmons, THE SCRIBE OF URABÁ, a narrative feature Jeff and Michael wrote and will direct about the true story of the first Colombian Peace Community, starring Academy Award nominee Viola Davis (Doubt) and Goya Award winner Ivana Baquero (Pan’s Labyrinth), and a feature film adaptation of THE TWO ESCOBARS, produced by ESPN Films.

When Jeff brought his first film, “Favela Rising,” back to Northampton, a hometown audience packed the Academy of Music for two sold-out screenings.  The film went on to win over 35 international awards, including Best Director at Tribeca Film Festival, Film of the Year by the International Documentary Association, it was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary and was nominated for an Emmy award.

“Our films tend to focus on disenfranchised communities in the process of rising up and transforming their political and economic circumstances,” the brothers write of their work together. “We choose these stories due to the scale of their historic importance—this is where societies are shaped.”

As Lauren Wissot noted in her review in Slant magazine, “what’s most thrilling about Two Escobars is the filmmakers’ nonjudgmental approach, which avoids anti-drug moralizing or the easy slamming of our own wasteful, Reagan-era war on drugs. At the same time the Zimbalists don’t shy away from the bloody reality that even as the national team climbed to greatness, Colombia had the highest murder rate in the world.”

Jeff and Michael credit their father, a Smith College academic expert on Latin America and sports, with instilling in them a passion for the region and the game, and their mother, a successful Northampton artist, with the creative genes.

“My mom is an artist and my dad is a Latinamericanist, so if you put the two together, it makes sense you get two sons who are filmmakers focused on Latin American themes,” Jeff once told the non-profit organization AMIGOS.

Both Jeff and Michael graduated from Northampton High School. Jeff went on to earn a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Brown University with honors in Art Semiotics and Modern Culture and Media, and a concentration in Latin American Studies, while Michael graduated with honors from Wesleyan University and trained as an actor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

The mission of the Academy of Music is to enrich greater Northampton’s quality of life by offering first class performing arts and film presentations in a historic theater of national significance, and encouraging the use of the venue for social, educational, and professional events; the Academy of music seeks a broad and diverse audience through its programming and outreach efforts.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Two prominent local theaters and WGBY Public Television for Western New England invite the public to witness the historic inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama on the big screen surrounded by friends, family and neighbors.

On Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2009, beginning at 11 a.m., the Academy of Music in Northampton and Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington will broadcast the live PBS coverage of inauguration free to the public. Together, the venues accommodate 1,500 audience members.

“In keeping with our mission, the Academy wants to provide the opportunity for people to view this historic event as a community,” said Andrew Crystal, president of the Academy of Music Board of Trustees. “This is a moment to be shared.”

Northampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins will offer remarks prior to the broadcast at the Academy of Music, the nation’s oldest municipally owned theater.

“This year’s election marked an historic moment for our country,” noted Mayor Higgins. “We know that an unprecedented number of Americans will be making their way to Washington D.C. to try to be a part of this milestone. We also know that making such a trip is not an option for many of our neighbors and friends, but the desire to be in community to witness this historic moment is still strong.”

While the Academy of Music enriches greater Northampton’s quality of life by offering first-class performing arts and films, the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center is the year-round presenter of performing arts and film for the Southern Berkshires. The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center seats nearly 700; the Academy of Music, 800.

Although admission is free, tickets will be required. Tickets to the Academy of Music screening will be available weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. beginning Monday, Jan. 5, at the Northampton Chamber of Commerce office on Pleasant Street and the Mayor’s Office in City Hall. A limited number of tickets will also be available on the day of the inauguration at the Academy of Music box office, 274 Main Street.

Tickets for the Mahaiwe broadcast will be available at the theater’s box office.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – The Academy of Music’s second annual gala will offer a taste of performances slated to grace the theatre’s stage in the coming months accompanied by the fine cuisine of the grand Hotel Northampton.

The signature event, the “Season Premier Gala” Thursday, Sept. 4, links two of the city’s great historic landmarks for an evening of entertainment and fine dining to benefit the storied theatre.

The evening will begin at 6 o’clock with hors d’ouvres and cocktails in the hotel lobby, followed by seating at 7 for a sumptuous dinner in the Grand Ballroom presented by the chefs of the Hotel Northampton.

Throughout the evening, guests will be treated to performances by the community-based theatrical, musical and dance groups that are resident companies of the theatre. Those include the Commonwealth Opera, the Pioneer Valley Ballet, Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton, Old Deerfield Productions, Pioneer Valley Symphony and Jane Hanson Productions.

A short film produced by WGBY-Springfield will cap the event by highlighting original live performances presented last season at the Academy of Music.

The nation’s oldest municipally owned theater, the Academy of Music enriches the quality of life in greater Northampton by offering first-class performing arts and film presentations.

Individual seating is available for $120 per ticket and can be purchased at the Hotel Northampton, 36 King St. Tables of 10 are $1,000. To reserve a table, contact Debra J’Anthony, executive director at the Academy of Music Theatre, at djanthony@academyofmusictheatre.com Funds raised will support operations and ongoing improvements to the 19th century building.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – The Academy of Music was recently awarded a $34,800 state grant toward the design, construction and installation of an illuminated marquee to replace the one that was removed several years ago during building restoration work.

The grant, awarded by MassDevelopment and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, is among 22 Cultural Facilities Fund grants totaling $2.1 million given to organizations throughout the state for building projects that increase tourism and expand arts and cultural activities.

“The marquee was an iconographic symbol of Northampton’s rich cultural heritage,” said Andrew Crystal, president, Academy of Music Board of Trustees. “I look forward to the day when the red neon script will again illuminate the night to promote upcoming performances.”

Eight years ago, the marquee above the front entrance to the downtown historic theatre was removed to allow for necessary maintenance and restoration of the building. After it was taken down, neither the Academy nor the City of Northampton had enough funding to replace it.

Until that time, the marquee had provided the primary source of promotion for the films and live events at the Academy, according to Crystal. And, since then, two independent planning reports – Dulcie Gilmore Associates Business Plan Transition and Janice Barlow & Associates Report on Business Planning Process – recommended its replacement.

The Cultural Facilities Fund grant will cover nearly half of the cost of the marquee replacement project. The remainder is expected to come from other fundraising efforts.

The signage will help promote events, attract tourists into the City of Northampton and further brand the city as a cultural destination, said Crystal.

Within the past year, dozens of arts organizations have performed upon the magnificent Academy of Music stage, including Pioneer Valley Ballet, Commonwealth Opera, Pioneer Valley Performing Arts High School, Pioneer Art Center of Easthampton (PACE Theater), Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra, Northampton Arts Council, Young @ Heart Chorus, Springfield Symphony and WGBY.

In addition to spotlighting coming performers, the marquee is expected to illuminate the front entry stairs and the ornate carvings and details on the façade of the stone building.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – A year after the Academy of Music Theatre announced the need to reevaluate its business plan, the historic performing arts venue is operating under a new model that promises to make its longstanding financial struggles a thing of the past.

The turnaround began with the January 2007 announcement by the Academy’s Board of Trustees that diminishing nightly movie attendance, mounting debt and lower-then-expected donations had forced the board to end nightly movies as well as lay off its staff.

“Although the decision was extremely difficult, it was undeniably the right decision,” said Andrew Crystal, president of the board of trustees for the 117-year-old theatre. “The trustees did not want the Academy’s history of debt troubles to become its legacy.”

In the months following the announcement, the board of trustees solicited community feedback about the city-owned venue. Based on those discussions, the board adopted a two-year vision statement that did away with much of the financial risk inherent to the previous business model, according to Crystal.

Instead of assuming the risk of presenting shows, for example, the Academy of Music shifted to rentals. And, instead of leaving the critical task of fundraising with the volunteer members of the board of trustees, that task was shifted to professional fundraisers.

Under the new business model, Crystal noted, the theatre saw an increase in the number of rentals for concerts, films and live performances; an increase in fundraising; and a reduction in operational costs for the 800-seat venue.

At the same time, the board of trustees whittled its accounts payable and short-term debt from the $103,000 owed to local banks, vendors and film distribution companies, to less than $29,000, an amount owed entirely to film distribution companies.  All local businesses have either been paid or generously forgave the debt, and vendors are now being paid on time.  The short-term bank debt was replaced by a longer-term $50,000 loan from the WGBY, the public television affiliate with which the Academy formed a strategic alliance early this year.

“The Academy of Music is truly an investment in the local community,” said Crystal. “But, as an investment, it needs continued and sustained support from the community to ensure that future generations will be able to reap its rewards.”

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Something new is underfoot at the Academy of Music Theatre, and those who attend the WGBY screening of a documentary about American soldiers at 7 p.m. on April 13, will experience it.

New carpeting was recently installed throughout the Academy of Music with a grant from the International Music & Art Foundation, an agency that awards funds to preserve and restore individual works of art and architecture.

The theatre at 274 Main St., listed on the National Register of Historic Places, received the initial commitment for $26,112 to purchase new carpeting and padding about two years ago. The funding arrived late last year and paid for both the product and its installation, which took place during the first week in April. New carpeting is now located in the theatre aisles, lobby, salon, stairways and balcony.

With guidance from nationally recognized interior designer and academic Arnold Friedman, a deep red carpeting with a regal pattern was selected for the theatre, in keeping with the era in which the building was constructed.

The Board of Trustees sought guidance from Friedman, a professor emeritus of art at the University of Massachusetts and the author of four books, including the definitive text and professional handbook on the subject of interior design, titled “An Introduction to Architectural Interiors.”

“Professor Friedman is a true pioneer of the interior design profession,” said Andrew Crystal, board president. “He is an author, visionary and friend whose accomplishments include forty years as an interior design educator in Massachusetts and New York.”

Another local resident, Nicholas Thaw of Amherst, provided the connection to the International Music & Art Foundation, which is based in the European nation of Liechtenstein. Thaw is a trustee of the foundation, established in 1988 with the belief that our greatest legacy to future generations is art.

The public is invited to see the new carpeting at the next event, 7 p.m. on April 13, the free screening of  “Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience,” a documentary that explores the firsthand accounts of American soldiers through their own words. For more information, go to www.academyofmusictheatre.com

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – The Academy of Music has a new visual image to reflect its vision for the future.

Created by Laura Radwell, principal and creative director for Radwell Design + Communications of Northampton, the new “Academy of Music” logo is dynamic, inviting and imbued with sense of personality appropriate to a performing arts venue.

The Academy of Music recently undertook an ambitious plan to expand its slate of live programming and capitalize on the flexibility afforded by its 800-seat theater. In adopting the new signature, the Academy’s Board of Trustees noted its dynamic quality is compatible with the mission of the opera house as a comprehensive performance space.

The logo will begin to be incorporated into the signage and marquis for the Academy, at 274 Main St., and communications such as brochures, flyers, letters, cards and envelopes.

Radwell, a former member of the Academy’s Board of Trustees, performed the work on a pro bono basis. She is now the primary designer on all projects for the award-winning firm Radwell Design + Communications, founded 20 years ago as a full-service advertising agency.

Radwell Design + Communications has received numerous awards for its work with clients of varying sizes in many industries, including not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. In recent years, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) honored the firm with a gold award for the Picker Engineering Program Report for Smith College, a silver award for Smith College Planned Giving newsletters, and a bronze award for capital campaign materials for the Williston Northampton School.

After earning her bachelor’s degree at Simmons College in Boston, Radwell performed graduate work at St. John’s University and Western New England College. She also attended the Sorbonne in Paris and the Universite de Nice in France.

Lower-than-expected donations and diminishing numbers of moviegoers compel the Board of Trustees for the city-owned venue to reevaluate its plan for the future.

NORTHAMPTON – Faced with lower-than-expected revenues from movies and giving during 2006, The Board of Trustees of the Academy of Music Theater has unanimously decided to discontinue showing films as of Thursday, Jan. 4, and to review its program of live performances. Scheduled live events, including the family-oriented Four Sundays in February, will not be affected.

Over the next several months, the Board of Trustees will research how community members would like to use the historic city-owned building at 274 Main St., and draft a plan that responds to the feedback.

The past year served as an opportunity to test a full slate of varied programming under the leadership of a new and experienced executive director Elissa O. Getto. However, diminishing numbers of moviegoers and a low rate of giving necessitate an evaluation of the future use of the 116-year-old opera house.

“We hosted an ambitious season of movies and live events that included such renowned performers as Dave Brubeck. But there was not enough charitable support to sustain that schedule,” said Andrew Crystal, president of the Board of Trustees. “The Academy now needs to reflect on that experience and to hear from the community.”

Performing arts venues typically rely on a high rate of giving – about 30 percent – to support operations, a goal that the Academy of Music was unable to meet despite the bolstered slate of live performances, said Crystal.

During the Board of Trustees’ planning process, budgetary constraints necessitate that the Academy no longer maintain a staff of two full-time and two part-time employees, including Getto and longtime managing director Duane Robinson.

Robinson’s more than 30 years of service to the Academy of Music are reflected in the building. During his tenure, the Academy underwent a $2 million renovation that ensured the continued use of the 19th century theater’s balcony, orchestra pit and period furnishings.

“Words can not express our gratitude to Duane and the others who have cared for the Academy over the years, and who supported last year’s efforts to maintain this historic treasure in a changing arts environment,” said Crystal. “This was a tremendously difficult decision for the Trustees, and one that everyone hopes will mark a turning point for the Academy.”

Over the next several months, the Board of Trustees will consider two facets of the theater’s operation. Trustees will evaluate the viability of an 800-seat movie theater in a region with numerous movie theaters and the viability of presenting live performances.

Getto has offered to remain in her position in a volunteer capacity, an offer the Board of Trustees is considering. However, the Board of Trustees would never request nor expect employees to donate time.