The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire & Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
Aug 19-25, 2024
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 …
ANNUAL ‘HOUSE BLEND’ SERIES BRINGS OLD & NEW CHAMBER MUSIC to PS21
House Blend, PS21’s annual series of classical and contemporary chamber music, continues today through Wednesday, August 21, in Chatham, N.Y. The series includes composer/multi-instrumentalist Patrick Higgins (guitar, drums, electronics) (Monday, Aug 19, 8pm); Miranda Cuckson (violin) & Conor Hanick (piano) playing Xenakis, Bach, Ives, and Copland (Tuesday, Aug 20, 8pm); and a double-bill featuring Bonnie Whiting performing Wang Lu’s Stages for solo speaking/singing percussionist and Frederic Rzewski’s To the Earth for speaking percussionist and four flower pots, plus a recital by bass-baritone Davóne Tines (Wednesday, August 21). (Mon-Wed, Aug 19-21)
COOPERSTOWN MUSIC FEST ENDS SEASON WITH BACH
The curtain comes down on the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival’s season with Bach Again, an evening dedicated to the timeless works of Johann Sebastian Bach, on Tuesday, August 20, at 7pm, at Christ Episcopal Church in Cooperstown, N.Y. Violinist Rachell Ellen Wong, a rising star in Baroque music and winner of a prestigious Avery Fisher Grant, will join cellist Wolfram Koessel, harpsichordist Bradley Brookshire, and flutist Linda Chesis, festival founder and artistic director, to sample a cross-section of the composer’s varied instrumental sonatas, including the monumental Chaconne in d minor and the Trio Sonata from The Musical Offering. (Tue, Aug 20)
BERKSHIRE OPERA BRINGS ‘FAUST’ to MAHAIWE
The Berkshire Opera Festival brings a fully-staged, reimagined version of the classic French opera, Faust, by Gounod, to the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday, August 24, at 1pm; Tuesday, August 27, at 7:30pm; and Friday, August 30, at 7:30pm. Faust has remained one of the world’s most popular operas ever since its premiere and is considered Gounod’s masterpiece. Based on Goethe’s play, the story introduces the original “Faustian bargain,” in which old Dr. Faust sells his soul to the devil to be young again, only to suffer devastating consequences. (Sat, Aug 24; Tue, Aug 27; Fri, Aug 30)
ROOMFUL of TEETH CELEBRATES LONGSTANDING LINKS to MASS MoCA in CONCERT
Two-time Grammy Award-winners Roomful of Teeth have returned to MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass., for a week-long residency to workshop new music with some of today’s most visionary composers, including Allison Loggins-Hull, Christopher Cerrone, and Mingjia Chen. In the residency’s capstone performance on Saturday, August 24, at 8pm, the vocal band will present a retrospective performance of the iconic new works that have been born out of 14 years of consecutive summer residencies at MASS MoCA. (Sat, Aug 24)
TOMMY STINSON BRINGS NEW BAND to PARK THEATRE in HUDSON
Tommy Stinson brings his latest band, Cowboys in the Campfire, to the Park Theatre in Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday, August 24, at 7pm. Chip Roberts and Michael “Chops” LaConte round out the trio. Tommy Stinson is a highly influential musician, best known as a founding and lifetime member of the Replacements, the greatest American band of the 1980s. Stinson also lent his talents to Guns N’ Roses and served a seven-year tenure with Soul Asylum. He also led two essential bands of his own — the aptly named Bash & Pop and Perfect — before convening Cowboys. (Sat, Aug 24)
KARINA CANELLAKIS LEADS BSO in BEETHOVEN, BRAHMS, RAVEL
Karina Canellakis conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra playing works by Beethoven, Brahms, Chausson, and Ravel at Tanglewood on Saturday, August 24, at 8pm. Canellakis has become one of the most in-demand conductors of her generation. She is the chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. (Sat, Aug 24)
BILLY WYLDER’s GLOBAL JAM-ROCK BOOKENDS REGION
Billy Wylder brings its Saharan-influenced art-rock to Avalon Lounge in Catskill, N.Y., on Thursday, August 22, at 8pm, and to the Foundry in West Stockbridge, Mass., on Friday, August 23, at 7:30pm. The group, fronted by Avi Salloway, whips up a singular groove- and jam-based style of world-rock that variously recalls Graceland-era Paul Simon, Talking Heads, Vampire Weekend, Beck, and Radiohead. (Thu, Aug 22; Fri, Aug 23)
Also of note:
West Coast Americana singer-songwriter Forest Sun brings his country-influenced folk-rock to Tourists in North Adams, Mass., on Friday, August 23, at 8pm.
Ashokan’s Summer Hoot music festival brings Tuba Skinny from New Orleans, Lake Street Dive’s Bridget Kearney, the Mammals, Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, and a host of other entertainers to the Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, N.Y., on Friday, August 23 through Sunday, August 25.
Wild Minds, a festival of experimental films, takes place this weekend at the Second Ward Foundation in Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday and Sunday, August 24-25, at 7:30pm both nights. Filmmakers include Carolee Schneemann, MM Serra, Erica Schreiner, James Autery, and Ben Kukawski. The event is part of the Hudson Eye Festival.
Pianist and toy piano virtuoso Margaret Leng Tan brings her And No Birds Sing: A Requiem for the Earth program to Maverick Concerts in Woodstock, N.Y., on Saturday, August 24, at 8pm.
Saxophonist Kris Jensen brings New Orleans-influenced jazz to Roeliff Jansen Community Library in Copake N.Y., on Sunday, August 25, at 3pm.
The world premiere of The Islanders by Carey Crim runs at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass., now through Sunday, August 25.
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Roll Call: Founding Members
Anne Fredericks
Anonymous (8)
Susan Bang
Erik Bruun
Nadine Habousha Cohen
Fred Collins
Fluffforager
Benno Friedman
Amy and Howard Friedner
Jackie and Larry Horn
Richard Koplin
Paul Paradiso
Steve and Helice Picheny
David Rubman
Spencertown Academy Arts Center
Elisa Spungen and Rob Bildner/Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook
Julie Abraham Stone
Mary Herr Tally