Webutuck choral group gets top rating at state music festival

WEBUTUCK — After working hard throughout the school year, the Webutuck High School chorus performed in front of two judges at the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Majors Festival and received a gold rating, the highest rating available.This was the choral group’s third consecutive year competing at NYSSMA.After receiving a bronze rating during last year’s festival, the group, led by Choral Director Lee Stowe, practiced and drilled diligently, paying close attention to the remarks they received on their previous year’s performance.According to Stowe, the students who had been in the chorus for the two other NYSSMA Festivals were particularly eager to perform again and achieve the previously elusive gold rating.When the students found out that they had received the gold rating, “They were ecstatic!” said Stowe.During the judging, the group performed three pieces: two from the NYSSMA manual and one it selected on its own.“The students don’t just go in and let it fly,” said Stowe. “There are a lot of details they have to get down.”During their performance, they were judged on not only their talent and abilities, but on a wide range of criteria, including the appropriateness of the songs for the dynamics of the group all the way down to their breathing, posture and clothing.Students can be rated on solo musical instrument or vocal performances or on a group performance.Solo performances are rated on a numbered scale while group performances will receive either (from highest to lowest) gold, silver, bronze or certificates of participation.

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Father Joseph Kurnath

LAKEVILLE — Father Joseph G. M. Kurnath, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, passed away peacefully, at the age of 71, on Sunday, June 29, 2025.

Father Joe was born on May 21, 1954, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He attended kindergarten through high school in Bristol.

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Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

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Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

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After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

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