Berkshire Lyric

06/09/2026

At over three hours in duration, "Saint Matthew Passion" moves swiftly and is packed with as much (or more) food for thought as the 14-plus hours of Wagner’s “Ring,” and it expresses a unique and…

06/04/2026

Thank you to all who attended our MasterWorks concert, Saint Matthew Passion by J.S. Bach, on Sunday May 31, 2026! We hope you were as moved as we were. Many thanks to our AMAZING featured soloists. Bravi tutti to all performers!
Thank you to all volunteers and everyone who makes this performance happen.

06/02/2026

05/29/2026

Check out this awesome interview with Classical WMHT about our Sunday concert!!

WMHT Public Media

Jack Brown on Bach's St Matthew Passion

05/11/2026

Check out this beautiful article from Berkshire Magazine on page 80-81 about our upcoming Berkshire Lyric Bach St. Matthew performance. The author really captured the heart of this piece and what is special about Berkshire Lyric and this particular performance.

Joomag digital interactive publication

04/27/2026

Berkshire Lyric presents J.S. Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion on May 31 at 3:00, at Seiji Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood. Lyric’s long time Artistic Director Jack Brown conducts this annual Masterwork's Concert with the 90 voice Berkshire Lyric Chorus, the Lyric Children’s Chorus a double orchestra and six international level vocal soloists. Making their debut with Lyric are soprano Nola Richardson and baritone Jesse Blumberg. Returning from recent engagements with Berkshire Lyric are soloists Dann Coakwell, Adriana Zabala, Sam Krausz and Douglas Williams.
This monumental work has been described as the greatest single work of music in the western canon. It combines all of Bach’s dramatic and poetic power to tell the Passion Week story of betrayal, judgment, sacrifice and death. Above all, it is the story of the ultimate power of love. It was not conceived as a concert work or as an opera, but as a transformative ritual that continues to reach across time and space.
Berkshire Lyric is one of the oldest, largest and well-loved music organizations in Berkshire County. Recent concerts at Ozawa Hall have included large works by Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn and Brahms. They have been invited by the Boston Symphony to sing Faure with the orchestra this August at the Shed at Tanglewood.
Tickets for the May 31 Bach St. Matthew Passion concert are $40; children 6-18 admitted free. (Children under 6 are not admitted. ) Advance ticket sales available through Berkshire Lyric’s website, www.BerkshireLyric.org, from chorus members or at the Ozawa Hall gate before the concert. Direct link: https://lyric.ludus.com/index.php

04/05/2026

Save the date for our Masterworks concert on May 31 at Tanglewood Ozawa Hall, featuring Johann Sebastian Bach's "The Saint Matthew Passion."

There will be a series of lectures in advance of the performance:

Lectures on the Bach St. Matthew Passion:
Sunday April 26 at 4:00
Roeliff-Janson Community Library
Rt. 22 Hillsdale NY
Artistic Director Jack Brown unpacks this monumental work, and what makes it great.

Wednesday May 6 at 7:00 to 8:15
Kimball Farms Lenox MA
Artistic Director Jack Brown explores the music and preparation for the concert from the inside.

Wednesday May 13 at 9:30 am
Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield MA
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute lecture by Artistic Director Jack Brown unpacks this monumental work, and what makes it great.

The 2026 Masterworks Concert: Engaging With Bach, The St. Matthew Passion Berkshire Lyric presents J.S. Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion on May 31, 2026. This represents perhaps the biggest challenge in our six decades of going big, and is the latest in a long line of encountering larger works at our ...

03/18/2026

Berkshire Lyric and the Eagles Band Eagles Band, Pittsfield, MA team up for a free concert in honor of the 250th birthday of the United States on April 18 at 3:00 in Pittsfield. The program is entitled "From Sea to Shining Sea: A Concert for America at 250." The 80 voice Berkshire Lyric Chorus will join with the 80 member Eagles Band in spectacular arrangements of America the Beautiful, God Bless America and The Battle Hymn of the Republic. It will take place at the First United Methodist Church of Pittsfield, located downtown on Fenn Street.
Each ensemble will also perform a set on their own that will include everything from Sousa marches to settings of American folk songs and spirituals. The two groups are the longest running and largest local performing groups in the Berkshires. The Eagles Band, led by David Diggs, was established in 1936, and Berkshire Lyric, directed by Jack Brown, began singing in 1963.
The Eagles Community Band has several concerts and performing groups that appear year round throughout the Berkshires, and this is their main spring concert. Berkshire Lyric's next concert will be at Tanglewoods Seiji Ozawa Hall on May 31, performing the monumental Bach St. Matthew Passion. This summer they have been invited to perform at the Shed at Tanglewood, singing Faure with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The April 18 concert has free admission for all in the community thanks to the support of the Feigenbaum Foundation.

02/23/2026

Berkshire Lyric presents our annual “Kick The Winter Blues” pop concerts on Saturday and Sunday March 14 and 15 at 3:00 at the Lenox Town Hall Auditorium. This year’s program is titled "Celebrating America's Musical Roots at 250.” The two identical concerts will feature music from the American folk and sacred choral traditions. The Berkshire Lyric Chorus, the Lyric Children’s Chorus and Melodious Accord will be led by Berkshire Lyric’s Jack Brown and accompanist Joe Rose. Soloists for the concerts are Leah James, Julia Ostellino, Steve Hassmer and John Demler. Recent KTWB concerts have been standing room only. Tickets $25 with children free. More info at www.BerkshireLyric.org or get tickets here: https://lyric.ludus.com/index.php

02/12/2026

📢📢Berkshire Lyric invites singers to join our new Lyric Peoples Chorus as part of our performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion on May 31 at Seiji Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood. This non-auditioned ensemble will be singing the several chorale movements along with the Lyric Chorus and Orchestra as an important part of this dramatic and epic masterpiece. Rehearsals will start in late February and continue through the spring, taking place on Saturday afternoons, both in Pittsfield and Stockbridge. The auditioned 90 voice Lyric Chorus is already at work on the entire piece, and we welcome your participation in the hymn-like chorale movements that appear throughout the three hour work. There will be eight Saturday rehearsals on just the 12 chorale movements. Singers are expected to attend at least 6 of 8 rehearsals in additoon to the dress rehearsals at Ozawa Hall with orchestra and soloists on May 27 and 29. Basic music skills are helpful, ages 12 and up. There is a $40 registraion fee that includes the sheet music. NO fee for singers under 25.
This is an unusual and exciting opportunity to be on the inside of a great masterpiece. The St. Matthew Passion has been called not just one of the great works of western music, but "a transformative ritual reaching axcross time and space" with "themes of betrayal, anguish, sacrifice and above all love." Music for our times and all times.
More information at the Berkshire Lyric website or call artistic director Jack Brown at 413 298 5365.