JOIN US THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 18th from 6-8P
An intimate evening of FREE live music with
Peggy Stern on piano + Michael Junkins on guitar
Drop in to hear their sounds while enjoying our cafe

Pianist/composer Peggy Stern has never stopped pushing into new stylistic territory. Classically trained (Eastman & New England Conservatory), she has adapted to her surroundings by playing everything from modern jazz to salsa to western swing—a signature sound of Austin, Texas, where she lives in the winter months. For the past two years, Peggy has put down summer roots in Pittsfield.

In each case, she has left her personal imprint on the music. Combining her take on jazz, with the more local styles, like western swing, Peggy can be found gigging around town - from restaurants and festivals, to the local jazz clubs, most recently at The Red Lion Inn and Bousquet Jazz Festival. Stern has recorded 12 albums in her long career.

“I like that my music doesn’t really fit into any genre,” says Stern, who has never let generic expectations color her approach to the music or the way she plays the piano: “I skipped the roots of jazz. I was not into Charlie Parker, I wasn’t good at bebop. I came to jazz as a foil for classical music, so my one clear aim in improvisation has been to sing my own song, to tell my own truth.” 

With 4 of her tunes published in The Real Book, Stern has had much success as a composer, and as a pianist. She has never let pre-existing conditions dictate to her, as witness the Wall Street Jazz Festival, an annual event (2004-2015) in Kingston, New York that exclusively featured women-led jazz bands. Since moving to Austin, the festival - renamed LuluFest- continues (2017-2025) to present women-led bands. 

Michael Junkins is a jazz guitarist actively performing throughout the Berkshires. Over the past two decades, he has had the opportunity to perform with many well-known and talented musicians throughout the Northeast and in Philadelphia. Before relocating to the Berkshires, Michael lived and worked for a decade in Philadelphia and attributes his time there to the development of his unique and very personal musical style. He is the curator of the Jazz music series in the Lion’s Den of the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, and is the Curator of the  “Sounds of Summer” series at the Mount in Lenox. In addition to being a busy performer, he is a strong advocate for music and the arts within the Berkshire community and is dedicated to the pursuit of celebrating and sustaining Jazz as an art form.

Event is FREE