The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire & Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
Aug 23-31, 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 …
COMPAGNIE KÄFIG BRINGS DOWN CURTAIN at JACOB’S PILLOW
Lyon-based Compagnie Käfig will bring down the curtain on the summer season at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, Mass., with Pixel, a blend of dance and technology, running Wednesday, August 23 through Sunday, August 27. According to the Pillow, Pixel “aims to strike a subtle balance between the real and the virtual world, and between energy and poetry, resulting in a performance infused with a multitude of art forms.” (Wed, Aug 23-Sun, Aug 27)
ROOTS-ROCK SUPERDUO DAVE ALVIN and JIMMIE DALE GILMORE at THE EGG
American roots-rockers Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore join forces with their band, the Guilty Ones, at the Egg in Albany, N.Y., on Thursday, August 24, at 7:30pm. Alvin, of the rocking rhythm and roots band the Blasters, and Gilmore, of the Americana supergroup the Flatlanders, will be swapping songs, telling stories, and sharing their life experiences from the stage. The duo will also perform at the Academy of Music in Northampton, Mass., on Sunday, August 27, at 8pm. (Thu, Aug 24)
DAVID McINTYRE’s ABSTRACT NATURE PORTRAITS ON VIEW at HUDSON HALL
Walking, a new solo exhibition by Scottish-born, Hudson-based photographer, filmmaker, and artist David McIntyre, inspired by the writings of Henry David Thoreau, opens at Hudson Hall in Hudson, N.Y., on Thursday, August 24, with an artist’s reception at 5pm. McIntyre brings the intricate patterns of nature to the forefront through a series of captivating, abstract, and digitally manipulated photographs taken on walks along trails in the Hudson Valley. The exhibit will remain on view through Sunday, October 8, 2023. (Thu, Aug 24-Sun, Oct 8)
HUB NEW MUSIC BRINGS DOWN CURTAIN at PS21
Contemporary chamber trailblazers Hub New Music– celebrating its 10th anniversary this year -- concludes PS21’s House Blend Concert series in Chatham, N.Y., on Friday, August 25, at 7pm, in a concert featuring works by Messiaen, Lou Harrison, Johanna Beyer, Anne Lockwood, and others. (Fri, Aug 25)
MAIA SHARP PREVIEWS NEW SONGS at PHILIPSTOWN DEPOT
Rootsy singer-songwriter Maia Sharp will unveil songs from her terrific new album, Reckless Thoughts, at Philipstown Depot Theatre in Garrison, N.Y., on Friday, August 25, at 8:30pm. The Los Angeles-by-way-of Nashville artist -- who has written songs for Bonnie Raitt, Trisha Yearwood, Cher, The Chicks, and Art Garfunkel -- boasts an intriguingly androgynous voice and rare medley of influences, from The Band to Emmylou Harris to Jackson Browne. (Fri, Aug 25)
ROB STONER BRINGS IT ALL BACK HOME to DREAM AWAY LODGE
Former Bob Dylan sideman Rob Stoner, who played bass for the Nobel Laureate on 1975-76’s Rolling Thunder Revue and for part of his 1978 World Tour, returns to the Dream Away Lodge in Becket, Mass. -- where Dylan and the Rolling Thunder crew spent a day filming in fall 1975 -- on Saturday, August 26, at 8pm. Stoner also famously played on Don McLean’s landmark single, “American Pie,” and performed with the likes of Link Wray, Robert Gordon, Chuck Berry, and Joni Mitchell. (Sat, Aug 26)
BERKSHIRE OPERA TACKLES PUCCINI’s LA BOHÈME
Soprano Whitney Morrison and tenor Yongzhao Yu star in the Berkshire Opera Festival’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Mass., on Saturday, August 26, at 1pm; Tuesday, August 29, at 7:30pm; and Friday, September 1, at 7:30pm. The opera will be sung in Italian with projected English translations. The opera festival promises “an exciting, new adaptation of Giacomo Puccini’s timeless love story from 1896.” (Sat, Aug 26; Tue, Aug 29; Fri, Sept 1)
ALISON LARKIN OFFERS SNEAK PREVIEW of NEW ONE-WOMAN SHOW
Comedian and bestselling novelist Alison Larkin offers a sneak preview of excerpts from her new solo show, Grief… a Comedy, at the New Marlborough Meeting House in New Marlborough, Mass., on Saturday, August 26, at 4:30pm. Larkin will be accompanied by Emmy Award-winning composer Gary Schreiner. (Sat, Aug 26)
JODI MELNICK PAYS TRIBUTE to CLARICE LISPECTOR in DANCE at HUDSON HALL
Dancer/choreographer Jodi Melnick teams with Maya Lee-Parritz for Água Viva, a duet performance that pays homage to Ukrainian-born Brazilian-Jewish writer Clarice Lispector’s extraordinary feminist novel of that name, at Hudson Hall in Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday, August 26, at 7pm, and Sunday, August 27, at 4pm. Água Viva“expands upon Lispector’s notions of virtuosity, sexuality, and the spectacular, probing the limits of spontaneity through intricate movement.”(Sat-Sun, Aug 26-27)
PIANIST SIMONE DINNERSTEIN HEADLINES ANNUAL MAVERICK CHAMBER ORCHESTRA CONCERT
Pianist Simone Dinnerstein will perform J.S. Bach’s Piano Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052, the first of the Baroque master’s sequence of 14 keyboard concerti written originally for harpsichord, at Maverick Concerts in Woodstock, N.Y., on Saturday, August 26, at 6pm. The Caroga Arts Ensemble will also perform works by Mozart, Mahler, and Schoenberg. (Sat, Aug 26)
JAY & MOLLY, THE MAMMALS HEADLINE ASHOKAN’s 3-DAY SUMMER HOOT
Husband-and-wife folk duo Jay Ungar & Molly Mason and trad-rad folk group the Mammals (featuring Ruth Ungar Merenda and Mike Merenda) headline the three-day Summer Hoot at the Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, N.Y., Friday, August 25-Sunday, August 27. Other performers include The Shaker, featuring Simi Stone, the Whiskey Treaty Roadshow, Olivia K & the Parkers, Lara Hope’s Gold Hope Duo, Dearkeeper, and Arm of the Sea Theater. (Fri, Aug 25-Sun, Aug 27)
PARKER QUARTET to PLAY BEETHOVEN in PLAINFIELD, Mass.
The Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet will perform three quartets by Beethoven in the free Concerts at 7 chamber music series based at the Plainfield Congregational Church in Plainfield, Mass., on Monday, August 28, at 7pm. This season the quartet marks their 20th anniversary with The Beethoven Project, a multi-faceted initiative which includes performances of the complete cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets. (Mon, Aug 28)
HEART LEAD SINGER ANN WILSON at THE EGG
Ann Wilson, founder and lead singer-songwriter of the female-led rock group Heart, whose Wilson-penned hits included “Barracuda,” “Crazy On You,” and “Magic Man,” brings her singular powerful vocals and her catalog of hits to the Egg in Albany, N.Y., on Tuesday, August 29, at 8pm. (Tue, Aug 29)
JACKSON BROWNE RETURNS to TANGLEWOOD
The BSO has skipped town but the music continues at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., for a few more weeks. Folk-rock singer-songwriter Jackson Browne brings his hit-filled catalog to the Shed on Thursday, August 31, at 7pm. Browne’s best-known songs include such era-defining numbers as “Doctor My Eyes,” “Here Come Those Tears Again,” “Running on Empty,” and “The Pretender.” (Thu, Aug 31)
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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