The Sandisfield Arts Center closed its thirtieth year with three terrific events.

On November 15, the annual fund-raising gala was a festive evening, with an outstanding meal prepared by chef and board member Adam Manacher, followed by a live demonstration of the sound effects used in the Arts Center's "Headless Horseman" radio show production. This wasn't just a sit-in-your-chair-and-listen experience.

Four brave - and possibly future - thespians joined producer/director Jean Atwater-Williams and sound-effects maestro Niko Friedmutter on stage for a new play written by Friedmutter, a theater student at Berkshire Community College. The audience had a role to play, as well. A full barnyard of animal sounds was required, and from the comfort of our seats different people claimed different creatures. I was a rooster. Everyone else was asked to become buzzing insects. Friedmutter directed his new play with cues; the only unscripted part was all the laughter.

On the day after Thanksgiving, November 28, Josh Luxon-Robinson, a brilliant young pianist and grandson of Ben Luxon - who has performed at the Arts Center many times in recent years - delighted the audience with a program of Liszt's Vallee d'Obermann, Medtner's Sonata Reminiscenza, and Beethoven's Sonata in A-flat Major, Op. 110. Josh introduced each piece with engaging details about its composition and history.

The season finale was an enchanting conversation with Simon Winchester about his new book, The Breath of the Gods. The narrative begins on a still autumn day on Mount Washington, famous for its terrible wind and weather, and moves through a fascinating litany of music, remarkable people, and finally terrifying winds - both natural and human-made. Simon then answered a wide range of questions from the audience, as basic as the causes of wind to what little is known about the reclusive behavior of the jet stream.