The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire and Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
July 6-13, 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 …
DUTCH NATIONAL BALLET DEBUTS at JACOB’S PILLOW
The internationally renowned Dutch National Ballet will make its debut in the Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, Mass., on Wednesday, July 5, through Sunday, July 9, in an international program of works by the likes of Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, and Victor Gsovsky. The performance will feature the company’s newest member, former Bolshoi Ballet star Olga Smirnova, who joined Dutch National Ballet after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Wed, Jul 5-Sun, Jul 9)
BAROQUE ENSEMBLE BRINGS EARLY MUSIC to ADAMS THEATER
Early music group Ruckus, known for its slightly offbeat, edgy presentation, explores the rustic pastoral traditions of 18th-century New England and London at the Adams Theater in Adams, Mass., on Thursday, July 6, at 7:30pm. The concert, featuring flutist Emi Ferguson and violinist Rachell Ellen Wong, will include trio sonatas by Handel and Thomas Arne, country dances from Ignacio Sancho, instrumental hymns from William Billings and Daniel Read, and a new work from Celeste Oram. (Thu, Jul 6)
JACOB JOLLIFF BRINGS BLUEGRASS to BARD SPIEGELTENT
Jacob Jolliff, a former member of Yonder Mountain String Band and one of the country’s premiere contemporary mandolinists, brings his bluegrass quartet to the Spiegeltent at Bard’s Fisher Center on Thursday, July 6, at 8pm, as part of the five-concert Bluegrass on Hudson series celebrating the contemporary bluegrass and roots music of America. (Thu, Jul 6)
SELWYN BIRCHWOOD BRINGS BLUES to DALTON, MASS.
Blues guitarist and vocalist Selwyn Birchwood celebrates the release of his new album, Exorcist, at the Stationery Factory in Dalton, Mass., on Friday, July 7, at 7:30pm. Birchwood’s sound is a mix of deep blues; blistering, psychedelic-tinged rock; infectious funk; and sweet Southern soul. (Fri, Jul 7)
ROOMFUL OF BLUES BRINGS HORN-HEAVY SWING to THE LINDA
Roomful of Blues, the world-renowned, horn-powered, house-rocking blues band, will perform live at The Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio, in Albany, N.Y., on Friday, July 7, at 8pm. The Rhode Island-based group, now led by guitarist Chris Vachon, has earned five Grammy Award nominations and a slew of other accolades, including seven Blues Music Awards. (Fri, Jul 7)
EMILY DUFF BRINGS NYC-BRED SOUTHERN ROCK to SPENCERTOWN
Queens, N.Y., native Emily Duff boasts a sound that combines the hard-edged punk-rock sounds of the New York City streets blended with Southern rock and soul, which is probably why she has recorded two of her five albums at the famed recording studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Duff brings her band and her rootsy blend to the Spencertown Academy in Spencertown, N.Y., on Saturday, July 8, at 8pm, as part of the academy’s Roots & Shoots concert series. (Sat, Jul 8)
TANNERY POND PAYS MUSICAL TRIBUTE to PROUST & HAHN
Grammy Award-winning tenor Karim Sulayman, pianist Timothy Long, and reciter Wheelock Whitney star in Proust & Hahn: A Love Affair, a program featuring songs by Fauré, Chausson, Poulenc, and Hahn, highlighting the love affair between poet Marcel Proust and composer Reynaldo Hahn, as part of Capital Region Classical’s next Tannery Pondconcert at the Darrow School in New Lebanon, N.Y., on Saturday, July 8, at 7:30pm. Karim Sulayman’s debut solo album, Songs of Orpheus, won the 2019 Best Classical Solo Vocal Album at the Grammy Awards. (Sat, Jul 8)
BSO OPENS TANGLEWOOD with MUSIC of RUSSIA, ‘RAGTIME,’ NEW COMMISSIONS
The Boston Symphony Orchestra officially opens its summer season at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., on Friday, July 7, at 8pm, when music director Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in a concert featuring music by Wynton Marsalis and Tchaikovsky. In addition, the internationally acclaimed pianist Daniil Trifonov is guest soloist for Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Then on Saturday, July 8, at 8pm, Keith Lockhart leads the Boston Pops Orchestra in Ragtime: The Symphonic Concert, a semi-staged production directed by Jason Danieley, featuring a cast of Broadway talents. On Sunday, July 9, at 2:30pm, the BSO presents the world premiere of Zhiân, a BSO commission by Iranian-Canadian composer Iman Habibi, and Freedom Sings, a BSO co-commission by Jessie Montgomery, with classical singer Julia Bullock in her Tanglewood debut. Hilary Hahn joins as guest soloist for Brahms’s Violin Concerto. (Fri, Jul 7-Sun, Jul 9)
YIDSTOCK BOASTS TOP INTERNATIONAL TALENTS of KLEZMER
Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music kicks off next Thursday, July 13, with a concert by the Grammy Award-winning modern klezmer outfit The Klezmatics, and packs in a dozen concerts, workshops, talks, and films through the following Sunday, July 14, at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Mass. Among the many highlights of the 11thannual Yidstock festival are a concert by clarinetist/composer Sam Sadigursky, performing The Solomon Diaries, his song cycle inspired by Marisa Scheinfeld’s photographs of the crumbling, abandoned Catskills resorts, on Friday, July 14, at 2pm, as well as a Saturday night blowout by David Krakauer’s Mazel Tov Cocktail Party, a kind of global mashup featuring funk, hip-hop, Celtic and dance rhythms from around the world. Other performers include klezmer hip-hop pioneer Socalled, Yiddish vocalist Eleanor Reissa, and world-renowned klezmer clarinetist Merlin Shepherd. (Thu, Jul 13-Sun, Jul 16)
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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
Julie Abraham Stone
Mary Herr Tally