Performing Arts Inspiration Board
Posted on December 10, 2015Written by Lindsey Schmid
Updated on February 07, 2022

The performing arts in the Berkshires are truly world class. We are the summer home of the BSO at Tanglewood and our theater and dance venues make us one of the cultural meccas of the United States. Any itinerary in the Berkshires must include a visit to one of our outstanding performing art venues, so whether you are here for ½ a day, a day, a week or longer be sure to order your tickets today.
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, lauded worldwide as a “hub and mecca of dancing” (TIME Magazine) and “one of America’s most precious cultural assets” (Mikhail Baryshnikov), is treasured National Historic Landmark and home to America’s longest-running international dance festival. Each year thousands of people from across the U.S. and around the globe visit to experience the Festival with more than 50 dance companies and 200 free performances, talks, and events; train at The School at Jacob’s Pillow, one of the most prestigious professional dance training centers in the U.S.; explore the Pillow’s rare and extensive dance Archives; and take part in numerous Community Programs designed to educate and engage dance audiences of all ages.
Get more info about Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival >>
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the host of summer music education centers. Located on the expansive campus are The Serge Koussevitzky Music Shed, the Boston Symphony Orchestra performance venue designed by local Stockbridge engineer Joseph Franz in 1938, and Seiji Ozawa Hall, built in 1994. Today Tanglewood annually draws over 350,000 visitors. Each season offers not only a vast quantity of music but also a vast range of musical forms and styles, all of it presented with a regard for artistic excellence that makes the festival unique.
Get more info about Tanglewood >>
The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
The mission of The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center is to be the leading year-round presenter of performing arts, film, and educational programs for the Southern Berkshires and neighboring communities. Through programs of the highest quality in dance, music, theatre and opera, they ensure a diversity of talent on the stage of our newly restored historic theater, at ticket prices affordable to the community. Their goal is to present available programs that appeal to all ages and interests. The theater seats almost 700 audience members. They have brought hundreds of live events as well as classic films, and the Metropolitan Opera “Live in HD” broadcasts to the theater’s stage and screen as well as hosted dozens of performances presented by others. The Mahaiwe strives to welcome the broadest possible community into our theater on an ongoing basis.
Get more info about The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center >>
Berkshire Theatre Group
Berkshire Theatre Group is the premier performing arts organization in Western Massachusetts. BTG encompasses 5 theaters in 3 towns throughout Berkshire County including the 780 seat Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, the 408 seat Fitzpatrick Main Stage in Stockbridge and the 122 seat Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge.
Get more info about Berkshire Theatre Group >>
Barrington Stage Company
Barrington Stage Company has become the fastest growing arts venue in Berkshire County, attracting some 48,000 patrons each year, and gaining national recognition for its superior quality productions and comprehensive educational programming. Together with other cultural institutions, BSC has become an integral part of downtown Pittsfield’s economic revitalization. In 2009, the Massachusetts Cultural Council presented a “Creative Community” Commonwealth Award to the City of Pittsfield in recognition of its efforts to boost the creative economy in Massachusetts.
Get more info about Barrington Stage Company >>
Williamstown Theatre Festival
Williamstown Theatre Festival located on the campus of Williams College has maintained the same goal it started within 1955 and this is: to attract top talent, cultivate young artists, produce reinterpreted versions of classics and new plays from gifted playwrights and to continue to attract audiences with the quality and ambition of our work. This Festival offers tony award-winning theatre each summer featuring the finest American actors.
Get more info about Williamstown Theatre Festival >>
Shakespeare & Company
Shakespeare & Company in Lenox aspires to create a theatre of unprecedented excellence rooted in the classical ideals of inquiry, balance, and harmony; a company that performs as the Elizabethans did — in love with poetry, physical prowess, and the mysteries of the universe. With a core of over 150 artists, the company performs Shakespeare and also develops and produces new plays of social and political significance. Shakespeare & Company’s educational programs inspire a new generation of students and scholars to discover the resonance of Shakespeare’s truths in the everyday world, demonstrating the influence that classical theatre can have within a community.
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