The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire and Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
Mar 31-Apr 4, 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 …
GLORI WILDER BRINGS SOULFUL POP to EGREMONT BARN
Singer-songwriter Glori Wilder brings her moody, soulful brand of pop-soul, likely to appeal to fans of Grace Potter, Regina Spektor, and Amy Winehouse, to the Egremont Barn in South Egremont, Mass., on Friday, March 31, at 7:30pm. (Fri, Mar 31)
AMY SPEACE BRINGS ROOTSY FOLK to THE LINDA
New-folk singer-songwriter Amy Speace brings her intimate, rootsy song-portraits to The Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio, in Albany, N.Y., on Friday, March 31, at 8pm, as part of the Linda’s Women’s Voices Concert Series, hosted by Hudson River Sampler’s Wanda Fischer. Singer-songwriter Caity Gallagher, who reminds a listener of Brandi Carlile (as does Amy Speace, for that matter), will warm up the crowd for Speace. (Fri, Mar 31)
BRENTANO QUARTET PLAYS HAYDN, BEETHOVEN at STISSING CENTER
The Brentano String Quartet will play works by Haydn, MacMillan, and Beethoven in a concert at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., in a Clarion Concerts presentation on Saturday, April 1, at 7pm. Since its inception in 1992, the Brentano has appeared throughout the world to popular and critical acclaim. (Sat, Apr 1)
BEETHOVEN’S MISSA SOLEMNIS GETS AIRING at BARD FISHER CENTER
The Orchestra Now performs Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis at Bard’s Fisher Center on Saturday, April 1, at 7pm, and again on Sunday, April 2, at 3pm, featuring vocal soloists from the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, including mezzo-soprano Cierra Byrd and soprano Patricia Westley, and the Bard Festival Chorale. (Sat-Sun, Apr 1-2)
ELIZABETH LLEWELLYN SINGS WORKS of COLERIDGE-TAYLOR at UNION COLLEGE
Met Opera star Elizabeth Llewellyn will perform a program called The World of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, featuring songs of Coleridge-Taylor, Brahms, Puccini, Strauss and Verdi, at Union College’s Memorial Chapel in Schenectady, N.Y., on Sunday, April 2, at 3pm. The London-born soprano will be accompanied on piano by Simon Lepper in this presentation by Capital Region Classical. (Sun, Apr 2)
TINSLEY ELLIS and MARCIA BALL PLAY BLUES at CAFFE LENA
A double-bill of blues talent featuring Tinsley Ellis and Marcia Ball comes to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., when the two road warriors bring their Acoustic Songs and Stories Tour to Caffe Lena on Sunday, April 2, at 7pm. Each artist will play a solo set, and to close the evening they will join forces and share some songs and stories together. Ellis plans to perform many of his most popular songs, plus Delta blues covers and classics by artists like Gregg Allman, Bob Dylan, and Leo Kottke, on his 1937 National Steel and 1969 Martin D-35 guitars. Ball will play piano and sing her often raucous and sometimes touching original songs full of the characters and places that shaped her. (Sun, Apr 2)
THE MAVERICKS BRING ECLECTIC ROOTS-ROCK to KINGSTON
The Mavericks bring their eclectic blend of rock, Tex-Mex, and country to UPAC in Kingston, N.Y., on Sunday, April 2, at 7pm. The group recently released an all-Spanish album called En Español, featuring a variety of musical styles, including boleros, mariachi, and Afro-Cuban. (Sun, Apr 2)
FIDDLER ALICIA SVIGALS PLAYS LIVE SCORE to GERMAN SILENTS in GREENFIELD and SAUGERTIES
World-renowned klezmer fiddler Alicia Svigals and accompanist Donald Sosin will perform their original score to the 1923 German silent film The Ancient Law at the Orpheum Theater in Saugerties, N.Y., on Sunday, April 2, at 2:30pm. The duo will perform their score to the 1924 German film The City Without Jews at Greenfield Garden Cinemas in Greenfield, Mass., on Monday, April 3, at 6:30pm. (Sun, Apr 2; Mon, Apr 3)
MIKEL JOLLETT of AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT SPEAKS on TRAUMA and CREATIVITY at WILLIAMS COLLEGE
Mikel Jollett, frontman for the world-renowned indie rock group, The Airborne Toxic Event, will give a talk at Williams College entitled Trauma and Creativity: How Your Experience Becomes Your Purpose, on Tuesday, April 4, at 7:30pm, at the ‘62 Center on the Williams campus in Williamstown, Mass. Jollett is the author of the memoir Hollywood Park, in which he recounts his experience growing up in a cult, eventually escaping with his mother only to face a life steeped in poverty, abuse, violence, alcoholism, drug addiction, before finding an outlet in writing and music. (Tue, Apr 4)
Roll Call: Founding Members
Anne Fredericks
Anonymous (3)
Erik Bruun
Benno Friedman
Richard Koplin
Steve and Helice Picheny
Rhonda Rosenheck
Elisa Spungen and Rob Bildner/Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook