Aviva Chernick (AMHERST, Mass.) – The YIDSTOCK 2019 festival — taking place at the Yiddish Book Center from Thursday, July…
The Pretenders (NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Legendary rock group The Pretenders – led by founder-singer-guitarist and animal-rights activist Chrissie Hynde,…
Richard Thompson (LENOX, Mass.) – English folk-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Richard Thompson, feminist folk-rock hero Melissa Etheridge, and 1980s pop-rocker…
by Seth Rogovoy At the bathroom sink the other day, I reached my right hand across the faucet to give…
In January 2013, I instituted a voluntary PayPal “donation box” for the Rogovoy Report (immediately to the right of this note), so that those who regularly enjoyed my efforts to cover the region’s cultural scene on my website and in my various e-newsletters could help support my efforts. The response was overwhelming and quite encouraging…
(AMHERST, Mass.) – The YIDSTOCK 2019 festival — taking place at the Yiddish Book Center from Thursday, July 11, through Sunday, July 14, 2019 — will once again feature a global cast of the greatest talents of Yiddish and klezmer music, with performances by Berlin’s Yiddish folk-rockers Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird, Israeli vocalist…
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Legendary rock group The Pretenders – led by founder-singer-guitarist and animal-rights activist Chrissie Hynde, who writes the band’s songs – will perform at MASS MoCA on Friday, July 26, 2019, at 8pm, in an outdoor concert at Joe’s Field. This concert marks the band’s only North American appearance during summer 2019.…
(LENOX, Mass.) – English folk-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Richard Thompson, feminist folk-rock hero Melissa Etheridge, and 1980s pop-rocker Pat Benatar have been added to Tanglewood’s ever-growing Popular Artist Lineup for the summer 2019 season. Mexican acoustic rock guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela will also appear at Tanglewood this summer, joining an already packed lineup including…
by Seth Rogovoy At the bathroom sink the other day, I reached my right hand across the faucet to give myself a squirt from the soap-pump dispenser, which somehow wound up on the left side of the sink (stage right for those of you who are theatrically inclined). It was an unnatural movement; it didn’t…
Seth Rogovoy is offering live multimedia previews of the Summer 2019 Berkshire cultural scene, encompassing the region’s abundance of theater, classical and popular music, dance, and visual arts. Every summer, Berkshire cultural venues expand their programming, making it nearly impossible for any one individual to navigate the exciting maze of what is happening around the…
MYSTERY TRAIN: Given what they are proposing, you have to wonder if any of those pushing the so-called Berkshire Flyer train connection between Pittsfield and New York City have ever made the trip itself – or if they even live in the Berkshires. The proposal, which will cost $614,000 and is supposedly nearing reality, is…
(WEST STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – Anna Peretz Rogovoy will perform The rubble and the clang, a durational installation dance performance, during the opening reception of 30under30:3 , at No. 6 Depot Gallery on Sunday, March 3, from 4 to 5:30pm. The group exhibition, featuring the multimedia work of 30 young artists living in and around the…
(NEW YORK CITY) – Author and Yiddish music expert Seth Rogovoy is producing an evening of Yiddish music and culture for Carnegie Hall featuring top artists from the classical, Broadway, and Yiddish music worlds, including pianist Evgeny Kissin, violinist Gil Shaham, Tony Award-winning musical actress Katrina Lenk (“The Band’s Visit,” “Indecent”), and clarinetist David Krakauer.…
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Jeff Rodgers has been named executive director of the Berkshire Museum effective April 1, 2019. Rodgers succeeds Van Shields — who left the museum amidst the turbulence surrounding the deaccession of the institution’s valuable art collection in favor of a now-defunct “new vision” — in the top post. Rodgers, who has never…
By Seth Rogovoy (Saturday, January 12, 2019) NEW YORK CITY – I go under the knife on Monday morning. More specifically, my right foot will be cut open and bone spurs (the real kind, not the fake kind with which “patriotic” “nationalist” presidents evade the call-up) that are impinging on my first metatarsal joint will…
by Seth Rogovoy Here’s a list of books I hope to read in the year 2019. Add to this list new books that attract my attention via reviews and personal recommendations; books I will need to read for journalism assignments; plus many dozens of books about George Harrison and the Beatles I will read for…
By Seth Rogovoy I am both blessed and cursed in that my work determines to a large extent what I read. Since my work for the most part coincides with my interests, most of my “obligatory” reading or reading for research overlaps with what I might choose to read. On the other hand, my reading…
by Seth Rogovoy Caravan Administrative state Homeland* Base (as in “Trump’s base”) Deep state Where did these words and phrases come from? How did they so quickly and successfully enter common parlance without adequate vetting? How did the mainstream news media fall into a pattern of parroting right-wing political euphemisms as if they…
(TROY, N.Y.) – Matisyahu, the unique singer-songwriter who blends rapping and beatboxing with reggae rhythms, alternative rock, and folk-rock, brings his Jewish-themed and often personal songs to the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on Thursday, November 1, at 7:30pm. Matisyahu – a dynamic performer skilled at connecting with his audience with or without a band…
(WEST STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – The WAM Theatre Fresh Takes Play Reading Series concludes its 2018 season with “Escaped Alone” by Caryl Churchill, at the Old Town Hall on Sunday, September 16, at 3:30 pm. The reading, directed by WAM artistic director Kristen van Ginhoven, marks the first time the play, which premiered two years ago…
(WEST STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – New York City dancer-choreographer Gina Bashour returns home to the Berkshires this summer to premiere Unraveled, a site-specific dance work, at TurnPark Art Space on August 25 and 26, at noon and 3pm. With a strong ensemble of performers, the work weaves together themes and imagery from the fable of Rumpelstiltskin with…
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) — Jon Hamm of “Mad Men” fame makes his North Adams debut in a work-in-progress performance at MASS MoCA on Saturday, December 8, in collaboration with Wilco’s Glenn Kotche and choreographer Danielle Agami. The piece, tentatively titled “Fishing,” is described as “a ravishing piece of multidisciplinary performance that explores the beautiful, simple…
(TIVOLI, N.Y.) – Author and music journalist Seth Rogovoy will join fellow Hudson Valley/Catskills rockers/authors Tony Fletcher, Holly George-Warren, and Robert Burke Warren in “Writers Who Rock: A Panel Discussion,” moderated by rocking writer Peter Aaron, at the Tivoli Free Library on Friday, August 3, at 6pm. A Q&A session will follow the talk. Peter Aaron is the…
