The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire and Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
Dec 27, 2022-Jan 3, 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 …
WEST STOCKBRIDGE CHAMBER PLAYERS TACKLE DEBUSSY, MOZART, SCHUMANN and AMY BEACH
The West Stockbridge Chamber Players will perform a benefit concert featuring works by Debussy, Mozart, Schumann, and Amy Beach at the Congregational Church in West Stockbridge, Mass., on Wednesday, December 28, at 5pm. Three of the Chamber Players long-time members – artistic director Catherine Hudgins on clarinet, Sheila Fiekowsky on violin, and Daniel Getz on viola – will be joined by Brett Hodgdon on piano. The concert will feature Claude Debussy’s Première rhapsodie; Amy Beach’s Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 34; W. A. Mozart’s String Duo No. 1 in G major for violin and viola, K. 423; and Robert Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen, Op. 132 (Fairy Tales). (Wed, Dec 28)
GRAIN THIEF BRINGS ACOUSTIC ROOTS to EGREMONT BARN
Acoustic roots-music outfit Grain Thief brings its old-time fiddle tunes to the Egremont Barn in South Egremont, Mass., on Thursday, December 29, at 7:30pm. The Western Mass.-based quintet combines traditional Americana with original compositions and multiple harmonies that nod to old-time string-band styles with an extra bounce in the rhythms. They even find room in their musical aesthetic for a bluegrass-infused version of Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue.” (Thurs, Dec 29)
BERKSHIRE BACH OFFERS BAROQUE NEW YEAR’S CONCERT
The Berkshire Bach Society returns with its annual Bach at New Year’s concert, this year with nine-time Grammy Award winning violinist Eugene Drucker leading the Berkshire Bach Ensemble in three holiday concerts of Baroque masterworks: at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday, December 31 at 6pm; at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, N.Y., on Sunday, January 1 at 3pm; and at the Academy of Music in Northampton, Mass., on Monday, January 2 at 3pm. The program includes music by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and Telemann, four giants of the Baroque era. Works include Bach‘s Concerto for Two Violins, with Drucker and Emily Daggett Smith as soloists; the Concerto for Violin and Oboe, the Harpsichord Concerto in F minor, a triple concerto from Telemann’s Tafelmusik, and Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2, showcasing the beautiful tones of Berkshire Bach’s longtime flutist, Judith Mendenhall. (Sat-Mon, Dec 31-Jan 2)
THE BIG TAKEOVER CELEBRATES NEW YEAR WITH SOUNDS of JAMAICA
Upstate New York reggae and ska sensations the Big Takeover provide music for ushering in the New Year at the Falcon in Marlboro, N.Y., on Saturday, Dec 31, at 8pm. Fronted by the charismatic Jamaican-born singer and songwriter Nee Nee Rushie, the seven-piece, horn-heavy Hudson Valley band plays original music that is rooted in and reverent toward the genres and rhythms of Jamaican pop: reggae, rocksteady, ska, with touches of soul and Motown. (Sat, Dec 31)
AMY HELM and CINDY CASHDOLLAR RING IN THE NEW at LEVON’S STUDIO
Over at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, N.Y., the late drummer’s daughter Amy Helm will front the Midnight Ramble Band for a special New Year’s Eve concert of music associated with Helm’s group, The Band. Also on hand will be legendary roots-music artist Cindy Cashdollar with her band, the Syncopators, on Saturday, December 31, at 9pm. (Sat, Dec 31)
TERI ROIGER QUARTET USHER in NEW YEAR with JAZZ
The Teri Roiger Quartet, featuring bassist John Menegon, vibraphonist Bill Ware, and drummer Matt Garrity, rings out the old and rings in the new at Lydia’s Cafe in Stone Ridge, N.Y., on Saturday, Dec 31, from 7 to 10pm. (Sat, Dec 31)
CRESCENDO FEATURES RENAISSANCE MUSIC from LATIN AMERICA
The Crescendo music series presents A Story of Hope in the Voice of the New World, vocal and instrumental Renaissance music from colonial-era Latin America, featuring four soloists from Latin America, Europe, and the U.S., and an ensemble of period and folk instrument players. Concerts are at Trinity Church in Lakeville, Conn, on Saturday, January 7, at 5:30pm, and at Saint James Place, in Great Barrington, Mass., on Sunday, January 8, at 4pm. The music is a mixture of native folk music and Western European-style compositions, likely by indigenous composers. Performers are sopranos Rebecca Palmer (Vienna, Austria), and Jayne Segedy (Barcelona, Spain), tenor José Ignacio Lagos (Barcelona, Spain), and baritone José Sacín (Washington DC, Peru), with period violinist and percussionist Job Salazar (Boston, Mexico), charango, ronroco and viola player Carlos Boltes (Hartford, Chile), period harpist Christa Patton (New York), directed by Crescendo’s founding artistic director Christine Gevert on historic keyboards. (Sat-Sun, Jan 7-8)