The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire & Hudson Valley Cultural Preview

May 17-23, 2024

May 15, 2024

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 …

Broadway actor and vocalist Alysha Deslorieux (photo Bethany Villero)

BROADWAY’s ALYSHA DESLORIEUX BRINGS IT ALL BACK HOME to STAR in STRAVINSKY’S ‘THE SOLDIER’S TALE’ for BIRCH FESTIVAL

Broadway actor, vocalist, and Pittsfield native Alysha Deslorieux -- best known for her performance as Eliza in the hit Broadway musical Hamilton -- plays the narrator for the Birch Festival’s two scheduled performances of Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale, at Lenox Memorial High School in Lenox, Mass., on Sunday, May 19, at 4pm, and at Zion Lutheran Church in Pittsfield, Mass., on Monday, May 20, at 6pm. Sunday’s concert program will also include a performance of Luciano Berio’s Sequenza V for solo trombone and Handel/Halvorsen’s Passacaglia for violin and double bass. Monday’s concert program will also include Otto Ketting’s Intrada for solo trumpet and Igor Stravinky’s Three Pieces for Clarinet. (Sun-Mon, May 19-20)

CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE DANCE KICKS OFF SEASON at PS21

A double-bill of dance kicks off the 2024 season at PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., on Friday, May 17, at 6pm. The program, Beyond Ballet, Beyond Hip-Hop, is choreographed and performed by several cutting-edge dance artists from Japan. In The Dying Swan and Its Cause of Death, celebrated Japanese ballerina Hana Sakai dances the timeless Fokine classic, then plunges into visionary playwright/director Toshiki Okada’s comic unraveling of the motif, plodding, wobbling, and musing aloud about why she, the swan, has to die and what it’s like to dance the part. Moto Takahashi’s all-woman dance group, MWMW, performs Encounter, challenging gender norms with their stunning hip-hop technique and ensemble movements. (Fri, May 17)

ZARABANDA VARIATIONS BRINGS SOUNDS INSPIRED BY ‘NEW SPAIN’ to THE CLARK

Visionary classical group Zarabanda Variations will perform works by a group of composers, improvisers, and performers inspired by the musical histories of 16th- and 17th-century New Spain (i.e. present-day Mexico and the United States) at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., on Sunday, May 19, at 4pm. Led by violinist Keir GoGwilt and featuring members of the American Modern Opera Company, the performance sounds the archival gaps of early American music, creating a vibrant synthesis of European and Latin Baroque, folk, and contemporary musical traditions. (Sun, May 19)

Contralto Emily Marvosh (photo Tatiana Daubek/courtesy artist)

A CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH VIENNESE MUSIC at THE MAHAIWE

Viennese music is on the menu at Café Vienna at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Sunday, May 19, at 4pm, as part of the Close Encounters With Music chamber series. The program features a cross-section of Viennese musical modes, from operetta to waltz, from Beethoven’s Piano Trio to Schubert’s “An die Musik,” and the quintessential café music of Fritz Kreisler, “Caprice Viennois.” The concert features contralto Emily Marvosh. (Sun, May 19)

Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials (photo Paul Natkin/courtesy Alligator)

LIL’ ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS BOOKEND REGION with CHICAGO BLUES

Electrifying Chicago blues masters Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials -- newly inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame - will perform live at The Stationery Factory in Dalton, Mass., on Friday, May 17, at 7:30pm, and at Caffé Lena in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Saturday, May 18, at 8pm. Mixing smoking slide guitar and raw-boned shuffles with the deepest soul burners, Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials are a living encyclopedia of Chicago blues. (Fri-Sat, May 17-18)

AMOS LEE BRINGS SOULFUL INDIE-ROCK to THE EGG

Soulful singer-songwriter Amos Lee brings his haunting indie-rock to the Egg in Albany, N.Y., on Monday, May 20, at 7:30pm. His music ranges from acoustic guitar strumming to full-fledged electronic treatments of his soaring melodies. Lee has toured and performed with the likes of Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, Elvis Costello, Adele, Dave Matthews Band, Norah Jones, Bob Dylan, and Indigo Girls. (Mon, May 20)

Also of note:

Michael Tarbox bookends our region with his gritty, haunting blend of original, rootsy blues and folk with solo concerts at Avalon in Catskill, N.Y., on Friday, May 17, at 8pm, and at the Parlor Room in Northampton, Mass., on Saturday, May 18, at 7:30pm.

Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, in a new adaptation by Irish playwright Conor McPherson, continues its two-week run at Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, N.Y., from Thursday through Saturday, May 16-18, at 7:30pm and a closing performance on Sunday, May 19, at 2pm.

Basilica Hudson’s annual 24-Hour Drone Festival runs from Saturday, May 18, at noon, through Sunday, May 19, at noon, featuring dozens of performers experimenting within the spectrum of drone to create 24 hours of unbroken, uninterrupted sound.

Cantilena Chamber Choir celebrates its 20th anniversary with a gala concert at Trinity Church in Lenox, Mass., on Sunday, May 19, at 3pm. The concert will include works by Brahms, Pizzetti, Ives, and a medley from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, among others.

Sage City Symphony will perform works by Brahms, Debussy, Jack Clay, and Allen Shawn at Bennington College in Bennington, Vt., on Sunday, May 19, at 4pm.

British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor performs works by Chopin and Liszt at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., on Thursday, May 23, at 7:30pm, as part of the Capital Region Classical series.

Hey, did you like this edition of The Rogovoy Report? If so, please consider clicking on the “LIKE” button at the very end of this message. It matters to the gods of Substack.

The Rogovoy Report