Our Story

Lich Gate Concerts presents Classical chamber music concerts each year in the rural New England town of Sheffield, Massachusetts (pop. 3,300), in the heart of the Berkshires. The concert series was born during the COVID-19 pandemic, in September 2020, when Christ Trinity Church produced a pair of concerts under the Pavilion in the Sheffield Town Park, to raise funds for "Feeding Sheffield," a local pandemic food program.

We raised $8,000 for the food program, and were able to give four New York-based musicians (one who also has a home in Sheffield) the first paid work they had since March 2020. Additionally, our audiences were able to attend the first in-person concerts available in the Berkshires in six months. The concerts were possible because we used the wooden Pavilion in the Sheffield Town Park and observed all COVID-19 restrictions at the time, including masking, social distancing, and the audience providing their own chairs.

One of the results was the discovery that the wooden Pavilion has excellent acoustics, and the Sheffield Town Park provides a bucolic environment, almost like a mini-Tanglewood. Other outcomes included building relationships with the Town, and with the local high school music department, which loaned us staging platforms and an acoustic shell for the concerts. These relationships continue to grow today.

In 2022, we added a third, winter concert, in the First Congregational Church of Sheffield, “Old Parish Church,” with its beautiful interior and exquisite acoustics. The winter concerts feature chamber music that includes piano, and other complements of musicians, and brings Classical music to Sheffield during the winter months.

Now in our 4th season, Lich Gate Concerts is grateful to be under the Fiscal Sponsorship of Christ Trinity Church, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Contributions are deductible to the full extent of the law. 100% of your donation goes to Lich Gate Concerts.

As part of our arrangement with Christ Trinity, we are provided rehearsal and office space, and enjoy the wonderful support of the congregation as volunteer ushers, parking attendants, and stage laborers.

Our very first concert was on September 4, 2020, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pavilion in the Sheffield Town Park.