The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire and Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
May 20-25, 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 …
CHAMBER GROUP PLAYS DVORAK, KODALY in HUDSON
Dvořák’s Piano Quintet, plus works by Seth Grosshandler and Zoltan Kodály, are on the program when musicians from the Orchestra of St. Luke and friends perform at Tydeman Farm near Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday, May 20, at 4pm, as part of Jazz and Classics for Change, led by pianist Gili Melamed-Lev. (Sat, May 20)
RAGA QUARTET BRINGS INDIAN COLORS to HUDSON
Bansuri player Eric Fraser and his Indian classical quartet perform Colors of Raga: A Deep Listening Experience, at the First Presbyterian Church in Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday, May 20, at 3pm, in a concert to benefit the Hudson Festival Orchestra. The ensemble, featuring members of the Brooklyn Raga Massive, will base its performance on raga, the melodic framework for improvisation in Indian music. (Sat, May 20)
KAKI KING BRINGS GUITAR VIRTUOSITY to STISSING CENTER
When Kaki King plays guitar, it gives you a whole new idea about the instrument’s potential as a solo symphonic voice. The Brooklyn-based composer and guitarist brings her virtuosity and her unique musical approach, combining classical, Americana, and avant-garde, to the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., on Saturday, May 20, at 7pm. (Sat, May 20)
FOLK-ROCK LEGEND RICHARD THOMPSON PLAYS THE EGG
Iconic British folk-rock legend Richard Thompson, one of the world’s most critically acclaimed singer-songwriters and admired guitarists as well as one of the greatest entertainers in modern popular music, performs an intimate solo acoustic concert, at the Egg in Albany, N.Y., on Saturday, May 20, at 8pm. (Sat, May 20)
HVP BRINGS HOLST’s ‘PLANETS’ to BARDAVON
The Hudson Valley Philharmonic tackles Gustav Holst’s The Planets under the baton of Andre Raphel at the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on Saturday, May 20, at 8pm. The concert will also feature Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, op 33. (Sat, May 20)
PATRICIA GUERRERO KICKS OFF PS21 SEASON with NUEVO FLAMENCO DANCE
Nuevo Flamenco luminary Patricia Guerrero kicks off the 2023 season at PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., on Sunday, May 21, at 6pm. Guerrero, who embodies the changing face of flamenco and is spearheading a new generation of flamenco artists redefining this traditional music and dance art form for the 21st century, will perform UNIQUE, an original solo flamenco work created specifically for PS21, with live music by guitarist Guillermo Guillén and cantaor Ismael Fernández. (Sun, May 21)
ESCHER QUARTET BRINGS ITALIAN ACCENT to MAHAIWE
The Escher Quartet performs works by Tchaikovsky, Ravel, and Ruth Crawford Seeger at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Sunday, May 21, at 4pm. The program, part of the Close Encounters With Music chamber series, emphasizes the Italian influence on the composers. (Sun, May 21)
CANTILENA CHOIR SINGS BACH in LENOX
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Magnificat in D is on the program when the Cantilena Chamber Choir performs with orchestra, soloists, and chorus at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lenox, Mass., on Sunday, May 21, at 3pm. Also included on the program are monumental works for chorus and organ by Howells and Bainton. Organist Aaron Likness is the featured soloist. (Sun, May 21)
ASTON MAGNA PLAYS SCHUBERT at St. JAMES PLACE
Aston Magna celebrates Daniel Stepner’s 30-year tenure as artistic director with a concert featuring the music of Franz Schubert at St. James Place in Great Barrington, Mass., on Sunday, May 21, at 3pm.(Sun, May 21)
SAGE CITY SYMPHONY CELEBRATES 50 YEARS
Sage City Symphony, under the musical direction of Michael Finckel, will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary with a free concert at Bennington (Vt.) College on Sunday, May 21, at 4pm, featuring works by Haydn, Brahms, Sibelius, Joan Devoe, and Louis Calabro. Devoe’s 2020 work, Insidiodyssey, is a three-movement composition that takes the listener through the insane and insidious experience of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Sun, May 21)
ANDREA KLEINE DEBUTS COMIC LOCKDOWN FILM
In December 2020, forced to cancel her theater project due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Hudson Valley writer/director Andrea Kleine (along with musician/composer Bobby Previte) moved into The Chocolate Factory Theater and lived in the shuttered New York City performance venue for two weeks. Every night they performed on stage for no one. Completely unscripted, the result is The End Is Not What I Thought It Would Be, a gentle, intimate, comedic and compelling film about what it means to be a performer without an audience. The film is being screened at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck, N.Y., on Sunday, May 21, at 7pm. (Sun, May 21)
LONG & AWAY PLAYS VIOLS in STOCKBRIDGE
Long & Away, a professional consort of viols founded in Boston in 2005, performs Songs of Time: 700 Years of Delights for the Muses, an eclectic program featuring music from the 15th-century through today, including traditional folk tunes from the British Isles and Celtic-inspired contemporary compositions by Larry Wallach and William Ayton, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Stockbridge, Mass., on Thursday, May 25, at 7:30pm. The viol, or viola da gamba, is a bowed string instrument that was played in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. It is related to the guitar and has frets and 6 or 7 strings. (Thurs, May 25)
Roll Call: Founding Members
Anne Fredericks
Anonymous (6)
Erik Bruun
Benno Friedman
Richard Koplin
Steve and Helice Picheny
Rhonda Rosenheck
Elisa Spungen and Rob Bildner/Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook
Mary Herr Tally