The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire and Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
Apr 25-May 2, 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 …
RAVYN LENAE BRINGS NEO-SOUL to MASS MoCA
Neo-soul artist Ravyn Lenae brings her smooth, dreamy, atmospheric sounds and her delicate, sensual vocals to the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA in North Adams on Friday, April 28, at 8pm. Lenae brings to mind classic modern R&B artists such as Sade, Anita Baker, and Stevie Wonder, with beats courtesy of hip-hop producer Steve Lacy. (Fri, Apr 28)
CARSIE BLANTON BRINGS PLAYFUL SONGBOOK to THE LINDA
Singer-songwriter Carsie Blanton brings her mischievous, playful songbook to the Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio, in Albany, N.Y., on Friday, April 28, at 8pm, as part of the Women’s Voices series. Blanton’s key influences include Nina Simone, John Prine, and Randy Newman, and her songs encompass a wide range of genres, from sultry, jazzy pop to punk-tinged Americana. (Fri, Apr 28)
NEW JOHN MYERS WORK GETS WORLD PREMIERE by CRESCENDO
In Search of the Bridges, featuring North and South American twentieth-century and contemporary choral works, including a world premiere by the Berkshires’ own John Myers, will be performed at Trinity Church in Lakeville, Conn., on Friday, April 28, at 7:30pm, and at St. James Place in Great Barrington, Mass., on Sunday, April 30, at 4:30pm, presented by Crescendo. In addition to Myers’s piece, the program will include works by Nathaniel R. Dett and Florence Price among others. Among the soloists are soprano Nadia Aguilar. (Fri, Apr 28; Sun, Apr 30)
AMANDA PALMER KICKS OFF NEW TOUR at BARDAVON
Singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer, back home in the Hudson Valley after a two-year lockdown in New Zealand, takes the stage for a rare solo performance at the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on Friday, April 28, at 8pm. Palmer will perform a blend of old favorites and new songs in her singular, brash, dramatic cabaret-rock style. (Fri, Apr 28)
TYLER BLANTON BRINGS JAZZ VIBES to STISSING CENTER
The Tyler Blanton Group ft. Helio Alves brings its vibraphone- and piano-based jazz sounds with a Brazilian flair to the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., on Friday, April 28, at 7pm. (Fri, Apr 28)
TERRI LYNNE CARRINGTON SHOWCASES FEMALE JAZZ COMPOSERS at WILLIAMS
Three-time Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer, composer and producer Terri Lynne Carrington headlines the Williams College Jazz Festival at the Williams ‘62 Center in Williamstown, Mass., on Saturday, April 29, at 7pm. Carrington has performed on more than 100 recordings over her 40-year career and has toured and recorded with artists including Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz, and Esperanza Spalding. Carrington and her quartet will perform compositions by the late Wayne Shorter as well as works by female composers including Brandee Younger, Anat Cohen, Abbey Lincoln, and Carla Bley, showcased in her New Standards project. (Sat, Apr 29)
ALAN WALKER BRINGS LITERATE POP-ROCK to EASTHAMPTON
Singer-songwriter Alan Walker will perform songs from his terrific new album of original, pop-rock compositions, Something Up My Sleeve, at Luthier’s Co-op in Easthampton, Mass., on Saturday, April 29, at 6pm. Walker’s literate songs, familiar to longtime fans of his band the Brilliant Mistakes, are catchy and inventive and bring to mind the work of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Steely Dan, Elvis Costello, and Ben Folds. (Sat, Apr 29)
ROBERT BURKE WARREN PAYS TRIBUTE to LEONARD COHEN at COLONY CAFÉ
Hudson Valley musician-author Robert Burke Warren brings his I’m Your Man: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen program to the Colony Cafe in Woodstock, N.Y., on Saturday, April 29, at 8pm. The program, featuring a bevy of Hudson Valley musical talents, spans Cohen’s entire career, from 1960s classics like “Bird on the Wire” and “Suzanne” to latter-day epics like “Everybody Knows,” “Hallelujah,” and “You Want It Darker.” (Sat, Apr 29)
THE ORCHESTRA NOW PERFORMS RARE WORKS by EASTERN EUROPEAN COMPOSERS at BARD
The Orchestra Now performs Before and After Soviet Communism, a program of seldom-heard works of Eastern European music by Szymanowski, Tishchenko, and Kurtág, at Bard Fisher Center on Saturday, April 29, at 7pm, and Sunday, April 30, at 2pm, under the baton of conductor Leon Botstein. Featured soloists include mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce, violinists Luosha Fang and Hiromi Kikuchi, and violists Ken Hakii and Rosemary Nelis. (Sat-Sun, Apr 29-30)
EMMET COHEN HEADLINES PITTSFIELD CITYJAZZ FEST
Pianist Emmet Cohen will team up with legendary hard-bop saxophonist Houston Person to bring the curtain down on the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival at the Colonial Theatre on Sunday, April 30, at 4pm. (Sun, Apr 30)
BROAD STREET CHORALE to PERFORM HANDEL ORATORIO in KINDERHOOK
Burmese-American soprano Robin Steitz will be featured in The Cheerful, the Thoughtful, and the Moderate Man, featuring a rare performance of Handel’s oratorio-ode of the same name, L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, at Kinderhook [N.Y.] Reformed Church, on Sunday, April 30, at 2:30pm. Soloists also include Tenor Maximillian Jansen and baritone Noah Kleinberg, performing with the Broad Street Chorale, the Broad Street Orchestra, in a presentation of Concerts in the Village. (Sun, Apr 30)
LISA O’NEILL BRINGS NEW IRISH SOUNDS to THE FOUNDRY
Irish folksinger Lisa O’Neill - profiled just last month in the New York Times as one of a new wave of artists reimagining the island’s music -- brings her stark, rootsy originals and interpretations and her haunting vocals to the Foundry in West Stockbridge, Mass., on Tuesday, May 2, at 7pm. (Tues, May 2)
Roll Call: Founding Members
Anne Fredericks
Anonymous (5)
Erik Bruun
Benno Friedman
Richard Koplin
Steve and Helice Picheny
Rhonda Rosenheck
Elisa Spungen and Rob Bildner/Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook