August 6, 2025: An Etching of Blueberries

Wow there’s a lot of music going on in western Mass, and we can’t get enough so we’ll tell you about another festival happening this weekend in FlorenceEtchings is the project of the area’s own ECCE Ensemble, who were also eager to get their ears on new work by composers of all walks. And we’ll talk with Cassandra Holden of Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity, and festival and ensemble founder John Aylward about the things you’ll hear over  the next 3 days,  and the winding road the festival took to land in Western Mass. We’ll also dig into one of nature’s most portable snacks, smack dab in the middle of the four counties. Blue Heaven Blueberries has been growing their bounty over 3 generations and a little over 60 years, and we’ll meet Donna and Joe Pease who’ve currently tend the acres of bushes in MiddlefieldPlus word nerd Emily Brewster, Senior Editor at Merriam-Webster takes a pause from her drudge to explore the fun of collective nouns and the ways we have cataloged them through the centuries.