The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire and Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
Mar 7-16, 2023
With so much going on culturally speaking in our greater Berkshires/Hudson Valley region, this is my highly selective, curated snapshot of some of the most promising upcoming events …
JERRY HARRISON and ADRIAN BELEW BRING REMAIN IN LIGHT to ALBANY
Talking Heads multi-instrumentalist Jerry Harrison and touring guitarist Adrian Belew bring their Remain in Light tour, celebrating the music of the pathbreaking album of the same name, to Upstate Concert Hall in Albany, N.Y., on Wednesday, March 8, at 8pm. (Wed, Mar 8)
QUINTET CELEBRATES WOMEN in JAZZ at MAHAIWE
The Metta Quintet will perform its program, She Said / She Says: Women in Jazz at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Thursday, March 9, at 7pm. The concert celebrates the lives and music of some of the many courageous, creative women who have dedicated their lives to the serious study and practice of jazz music from its birth in the early twentieth century until today. (Thu, Mar 9)
JAMIE BAUM SEPTET CELEBRATES WOMEN in POETRY in KINGSTON
The Jamie Baum Septet, featuring an all-star cast of jazz musicians, celebrates texts by women poets in concert as part of the Jazzstock series at Jazz at Senate Garage in Kingston, N.Y., on Friday, March 10, at 7:30pm. Among the musicians performing with flutist Jamie Baum are Sam Sadigursky on reeds, Brad Shepik on guitar, Ricky Rodriguezon bass, and Sara Serpa on vocals. (Fri, Mar 10)
THULANI CHAUKE BRINGS LONG-DURATIONAL DANCE to MASS MoCA
In conjunction with William Kentridge Studios, Thulani Chauke, a principal dancer in Kentridge’s The Head and the Load — which was developed and previewed at MASS MoCA in 2018 — will be in residence at MASS MoCA from Thursday, March 9, through Saturday, March 11, developing a new, site-specific long durational dance work called Eight Elements in Eight Hours. Set in a gallery space, the program is created in collaboration with Chauke’s fellow South African dancer, Albert Fana Tshabalala, and features improvised live music. (Read more about the program in the Berkshire Eagle.) (Thu-Sat, March 9-11)
DELFEAYO MARSALIS SITS in with UMASS JAZZ ENSEMBLE in LENOX
Trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis will appear as guest soloist with the UMass Jazz Ensemble 1 at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass, on Saturday, March 11, at 7pm. The UMass big band will perform one set of their own material and one set with Marsalis, a scion of New Orleans’ fabled music family. (Sat, Mar 11)
DUO BRINGS ECLECTIC BLACK ROOTS MUSIC to SPENCERTOWN ACADEMY
Dennis Lichtman and Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton bring their blend of African-American folk and blues to Spencertown Academy on Saturday, March 11, 8pm. The duo plays an entertaining program of acoustic blues, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley pop songs, 1920s jazz, twin fiddle hoe-downs, and original songs and compositions. (Sat, Mar 11)
BARD ORCHESTRA PERFORMS SCHUMANN, STRAUSS, VAUGHAN WILLIAMS at FISHER CENTER
The Bard Conservatory Orchestra under the direction of Leon Botstein presents a concert celebrating works by Robert Schumann, Richard Strauss, and Ralph Vaughan Williams at the Bard Fisher Center on Saturday, March 11, at 8pm. The program will feature Schumann’s Konzertstück for Four Horns and Orchestra, Op. 86, with special guest horn players Erik Ralske, Javier Gándara, Hugo Valverde, and Barbara Jostlein Curry, most of whom are members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. The program also includes Strauss’s Death and Transfiguration and Vaughan Williams’s “A London Symphony.” (Sat, Mar 11)
JUPITER ENSEMBLE PLAYS VIVALDI at UNION COLLEGE
The Jupiter Ensemble brings its early music all-Vivaldi program featuring French mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre to Union College’s Memorial Chapel on Sunday, March 12 at 3pm. Lea Desandre was female singer of the year by the prestigious Opus Klassik last year. (Sun, Mar 12)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BRINGS ROCK CLASSICS to ALBANY
Good luck finding tickets at this late date, but it should not go unremarked that the Boss – that would be Bruce Springsteen to you -- brings his E Street Band and his tremendous catalog of rock ‘n’ roll classics dating back to the early 1970s, including songs like “Rosalita,” “Kitty’s Back” and “The E Street Shuffle,” to the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., on Tuesday, March 14, at 7:30pm. Springsteen's concerts on this tour have typically been three hours long and include fan favorites from throughout his 50-year career. (Tue, Mar 14)
POSTMODERN JUKEBOX BOOKENDS REGION with VINTAGE-MODERN FUSION
Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox brings its Life in the Past Lane Tour to Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, N.Y., on Wednesday, March 15, at 7:30pm, and again at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Friday, March 17, at 8pm. The concert is described as a celebration of the greatest 20th century musical genres, fused with the recognizable hits of our own modern era, for the perfect fusion of vintage and modern. (Wed, Mar 15; Fri, Mar 17)
Roll Call: Founding Members
Anne Fredericks
Anonymous
Anonymous
Erik Bruun
Benno Friedman
Richard Koplin
Steve and Helice Picheny
Rhonda Rosenheck
Elisa Spungen and Rob Bildner/Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook