The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire & Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
Sep 28-Oct 1, 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 …
GRACE KELLY BRINGS POP-JAZZ to DALTON
Saxophonist Grace Kelly first garnered attention as a jazz saxophonist as a young teenager. At age 14 she played with the Boston Pops, and at age 16 she performed at Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration. A few years ago, Kelly, now 31, reinvented herself as a pop-jazz singer-songwriter, with slick music videos and occasional rapping on her funk- and fusion-filled dance numbers. Kelly brings her new sound and style to the Stationery Factory in Dalton, Mass., on Friday, September 29, at 8pm. (Fri, Sep 29)
RONALD K BROWN / EVIDENCE at WILLIAMS
Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE returns to the ‘62 Center at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., on Friday, September 29, at 8pm, to perform works including The Equality of Night and Day (TEND) with a commissioned score by Jason Moran, spoken word by Angela Davis, and photo curation by Deb Willis; Open Door, a hot Afro-Cuban offering, set to a score by Arturo O’Farrill and his Afro-Latin jazz ensemble; and Upside Down, an excerpt from the evening-length work Destiny. (Fri, Sep 29)
ELEVATOR REPAIR SERVICE BRINGS JOYCE’s ‘ULYSSES’ to BARD
James Joyce’s Ulysses has fascinated, perplexed, scandalized, and/or defeated readers for over a century. Building on a rich history of staging modernist works — Gatz, The Sound and the Fury, The Select (The Sun Also Rises) — Elevator Repair Service takes on this Mount Everest of twentieth-century literature in their Fisher Center debut. Seven performers sit down for a sober reading but soon find themselves guzzling pints, getting in brawls, and committing debaucheries as they careen on a fast-forward tour through Joyce’s funhouse of styles. Elevator Repair Service completes its run of Ulysses at the Bard Fisher Center this weekend, Thursday through Saturday, September 28-30, at 8pm; and Sunday, October 1, at 3pm. (Thu-Sun, Sep 28-Oct 1)
KAATSBAAN PRESENTS TAN DUN’s ‘GHOST OPERA’
Wu Man and the Attacca Quartet team up to perform Tan Dun’s Ghost Opera, a pioneering work that dramatically combines elements of both Chinese and Western cultures, as part of the fall festival at Kaatsbaan in Tivoli, N.Y., on Saturday, September 30, at 7pm, and Sunday, October 1, at 1pm. Pipa master Wu Man, has been associated with the piece since its composition thirty years ago. Ghost Opera evokes the spirits of Bach and Shakespeare – in the manner of ancient folk traditions and traditional shamanistic Chinese music, complete with elements of paper, water, stone, metal, and vocals. (Sat-Sun, Sept 30-Oct 1)
SMAÏL KANOUTÉ’S ‘NEVER TWENTY ONE’ at PS21
SmaÏl Kanouté & Compagnie Vivons! (Mali/France) bring their program Never Twenty One to PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., on Saturday, September 30, at 5pm. The program infuses a variety of styles, from krump to wave, to convey the stories of victims of gun violence from New York to the favelas of Rio and the townships of Soweto. (Sat, Sep 30)
PIANIST ROGER PELTZMAN BRINGS HOLOCAUST-THEMED PROGRAM to HUNTER, N.Y.
New York pianist Roger Peltzman’s one-person show, Dedication, recounts his family’s tragic history fleeing the Nazis in war-torn Europe using drama, humor, powerful images, and musical performances of everything from blues to Chopin. Dedication is also about coming to terms with second-generation survivor trauma and the role of music in helping to manage wounds that will never heal. Peltzman brings Dedication to the Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter, N.Y., for three performances on Thursday, September 28, Friday, September 29, and Saturday, September 30, at 7pm. (Thu-Sat, Sep 28-30)
VIENNA TENG BRINGS CHAMBER-POP to CAFFE LENA
Singer-songwriter and pianist Vienna Teng is in residence this weekend at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with performances on Friday and Saturday, September 29 and 30, at 8pm, and Sunday, October 1, at 7pm. Teng calls her music “chamber folk” or “indie pop,” and she is also an environmental activist. (Fri-Sun, Sep 29-Oct 1)
MACY GRAY and BEN FOLDS at TROY MUSIC HALL
Grammy Award-winning soul singer Macy Gray, known for her distinctive raspy vocals, and piano-playing singer-songwriter Ben Folds perform back-to-back concerts at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, N.Y., on Friday, September 29, and Saturday, September 30, respectively. Gray was an overnight success in 1999 with her huge hit, “I Try.” Ben Folds is known for his innovative melodicism, his sense of humor, and his work with jazz players, symphony orchestras, and klezmer bands. (Fri, Sep 29; Sat, Sep 30)
SARAH PERROTTA BRINGS LILITH-FAIR POP to PARK THEATER in HUDSON
Hudson Valley singer-songwriter and pianist Sarah Perrotta brings her alluring voice and thoughtful, keyboard-driven songs that navigate the depths of jazz complexity dressed in pop sensibility to Park Theater in Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday, September 30, at 8pm. In Perrotta’s imagination, strange worlds converge, doors open to rooms that are not there, people come and go in circles and waves. Perrotta’s overriding subject is the liminal space between nature and passion, reason and mysticism, in songs that hark back to the Lilith Fair aesthetic. Recommended if you like Sarah McLachlan, the Roches, Tori Amos or Paula Cole. (Sat, Sep 30)
JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET at SOUTH MOUNTAIN in PITTSFIELD
The Juilliard String Quartet will perform works by Beethoven, Schubert, and Tyson Davis at South Mountain Concerts in Pittsfield, Mass., on Sunday, October 1, at 3pm. The Juilliard has been quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School since 1946, feeding vacancies with emerging young musicians from the conservatory. (Sun, Oct 1)
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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