July 31st, 2017
10:30-2:30
at Kripalu, 57 Interlaken Rd, Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Your event ticket provides access to a program of thought provoking talks by our featured speakers below, some TED videos, a delicious lunch, and an optional mid-day class in Kripalu yoga or meditation.
Videos of the 2017 speakers are linked to the images and titles below.
Thank you for your interest in TEDxBerkshires 2017!
Andrew J. Gerber is medical director and CEO of the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, associate clinical professor at the Child Study Center at Yale University, adjunct associate professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences in the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and associate clinical professor in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. He is the former co-director of the Sackler Parent-Infant Program at Columbia University, former director of the MRI Research Program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and former director of research at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research.
Tzivia Gover is the author of The Mindful Way to a Good Night’s Sleep and Joy in Every Moment, and others. She is a writer, educator, and certified dream therapist and the director of the Institute of Dream Studies. Gover has led numerous workshops and panels about dreams, mindfulness, and writing, and she holds an MFA in writing from Columbia University. She is an active member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams and the founder of 350 Dreamers, an international network of people who dream together for global healing. She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, and can be found online at tziviagover.com.
Soloist, chamber musician, master teacher, essayist, and ambassador for the arts, Yehuda Hanani illuminates and enlightens audiences on the essence of music.
Yehuda Hanani’s charismatic playing and profound interpretations bring him acclaim and reengagements across the globe. An extraordinary recitalist, he is equally renowned for performances with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Berlin Radio Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, and many more. He has been a guest at Aspen, Bowdoin, Chautauqua, Marlboro, Yale at Norfolk, among others, and has collaborated in performances with preeminent fellow musicians, including Leon Fleisher, Aaron Copland, Christoph Eschenbach, David Robertson, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Itzhak Perlman, and others. In New York City, Yehuda Hanani has appeared as soloist at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, Alice Tully, and the Metropolitan Museum’s Grace Rainey Rodgers Auditorium.
His pioneering recording of the monumental Alkan Cello Sonata received a Grand Prix du Disque nomination, and his other discs have won wide recognition. Professor of Cello at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, he presents masterclasses internationally at numerous top conservatories and orchestras. His engaging chamber music with commentary series, Close Encounters With Music, has captivated audiences from Miami to Kansas City, Omaha, Calgary, Scottsdale, the Berkshires, and at the Frick Collection in New York City. His weekly program on NPR affiliate station WAMC Northeast Radio, “Classical Music According to Yehuda,” has gained thousands of fans. A recent addition to his concert activities and educational mission is the founding of the High Peaks Festival, a teaching and chamber music festival in Hunter, New York.
“The sonatas came bounding to life in vital interpretations rich in imaginative detail and virile strength. Mr. Hanani was rightly rewarded with cheers from the audience.”-- The New York Times
Low literacy directly or indirectly affects every American and costs the US at least $225 billion dollars in non-productivity in the workforce, crime, and loss of tax revenue each year due to unemployment. In this talk, author and literacy advocate Ty Allan Jackson will breakdown the importance of creating a movement to shine a light on this problem and what we can do to fight against it.
Ty Allan Jackson is a children’s book author, publisher, community leader, literacy advocate and motivational speaker. Ty travels across the country empowering children of all ages about the joy and power of reading. His books have been used by companies such as Google, The YMCA, The Boys and Girls Club, The United Way as well as numerous financial institutions and countless schools across the country inspiring children to dream big. He is also the co-founder of the Read Or Else movement, created to shine a light on the problem of illiteracy and to provide books to children in homeless shelters across America.
Ty has three amazing children who are the source of his inspiration. Ty was born and raised in the Bronx, NY but now proudly calls Pittsfield, Massachusetts home. You can learn more about Ty and his mission to promote literacy at BigHeadBooks.com and ReadOrElse.com
State Representative Wm. Smitty Pignatelli is a lifelong resident of Lenox, Massachusetts and a graduate of the Lenox Public Schools. Smitty, as he prefers to be called, was named after his father’s best friend, William Smith, who was killed during World War II. After graduating from Lenox Memorial High School in 1977, Smitty became a licensed Master Electrician and worked in his family’s electrical contracting business for twenty years. Smitty took over the full operation of the business at the time of his father’s retirement in 1991. Smitty left the family business to his brother Scott, in 1998, when he was offered a position as the Business Development Manager for Lee Bank. While at the bank, he attended Babson College School for Financial Studies, graduating in 2001. Longing to serve the people of his beloved Berkshire District, he decided to leave the bank to pursue his dream of public service and run for higher office. Smitty won the seat of State Representative for the 4th Berkshire District and is currently serving his eighth term in the House of Representatives.
Smitty was first elected to the Lenox Planning Board in 1987 and served on that board for five years. In 1992, he was elected to the Board of Selectmen, and was elected Chairman on four different occasions, serving until May of 2003. Smitty also served from 1995-1999 as a Berkshire County Commissioner including two years as Chairman of the board.
With over 30 years of public service experience, Smitty has also been involved in many local associations. He is a member of the Berkshire County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, a past board member of the Berkshire Association of Retarded Citizens, the Board of Directors of the Berkshire Visitors Bureau, the Berkshire County Red Cross and is a former President of the Lenox Historical Society.
Speakers are listed in alphabetical order.