The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire & Hudson Valley Cultural Preview

Dec 31, 2024-Jan 5, 2025

Dec 31, 2024

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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 …

VIOLINIST TODD REYNOLDS BRINGS INNOVATIVE SOUNDS to NORTH ADAMS

Innovative violinist and composer Todd Reynolds brings his genre-defying sounds to Heart’s Pace in North Adams, Mass., on Friday, January 3, at 7pm. As a frequent performer at Carnegie Hall and in concert halls around the world, Todd’s compositional and performance style is a hybrid of old and new technology, multi-disciplinary aesthetic, and pan-genre composition and improvisation. Reynolds thrives on a stage, whether virtual or physical, encircled by many speakers and a mission control with which to record himself and compose in real time. His musical weapon of choice is made up of hybrid technology from the 1800s to the 2100s - a classical violin wired into cutting-edge digital technology. (Fri, Jan 3)

JAPANESE CHOREOGRAPHER MAKES U.S. DEBUT at PS21

Japanese dancer-choreographer Ruri Mito makes her US debut with a double bill of U.S. premieres at PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., on Saturday, January 4, and Sunday, January 5, at 3pm. Matou is a solo performance exploring the body as a mysterious, haunted vessel, impressively contorted across multiple forms, impossible to comprehend or observe in its entirety -- what one critic called “an extreme sport...a mesmerizing spectacle, ghastly and grueling, but also gorgeous.” In Where We Were Born, Mito continues to scrutinize and explore the body as the defining element of human existence. Performed by the seven dancers of her Co. Ruri Mito, the piece weaves and unravels the delicately and intricately connected dancers, creating one kaleidoscopic body. (Sat-Sun, Jan 4-5)

BERKSHIRE BACH BRINGS BRANDENBURGs to REGION

The Berkshire Bach Society continues its annual tradition of performing the Six ‘Brandenburg’ Concertos in concert across the region. Under the baton of artistic director Eugene Drucker, the Berkshire Bach Ensemble performs at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., onTuesday, December 31, at 6pm; and at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, N.Y., on Wednesday, January 1, at 3pm.(Tue, Dec 31; Wed, Jan 1)

SIMI STONE BRINGS AMERICANA-SOUL SOUNDS to THE COLONY

Singer-songwriter and violinist Simi Stone performs at the Colony in Woodstock, N.Y., on Friday, January 3, at 7pm. Appearing as Simi Stone & The Shaker, featuring poet Nick Flynn, Simi will bring her self-styled "Mountain Motown" sounds, blending American roots music and original folk-rock with a heavy undercurrent of classic soul. (Fri, Jan 3)

SETH ROGOVOY TALKS BACK AFTER SCREENING of NEW BOB DYLAN BIOPIC ‘A COMPLETE UNKNOWN’ at THE TRIPLEX in GREAT BARRINGTON

Seth Rogovoy, author of Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet, will be on hand to share his thoughts and moderate a Q&A after a screening of the new Bob Dylan “biopic” A Complete Unknown at The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington, Mass., on Sunday, January 5, at 3:45pm, immediately following the 1:30pm screening of the film. (Sun, Jan 5)

HOT CLUB BRINGS ‘HOT SWING’ to PITTSFIELD

The Hot Club of New England brings its Django Reinhardt-inspired French swing to the Proprietor’s Lodge in Pittsfield, Mass., on Sunday, January 5, at 4:30pm, in a presentation of Berkshires Jazz. Founding vocalist Atla DeChamplain and pianist Matt DeChamplain teamed up with violinist Jason Anick, guitarist Max O’Rourke, and bassist Greg Loughman on a mission to bring the elegant and classic style of the swing era and the Roaring Twenties to a modern audience. Their music contains echoes of Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, and other legends of the so-called Great American Songbook, tinged with the French Manouche style of the great Django Reinhardt and the Quintette du Hot Club de France. (Sun, Jan 5)

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