WORLD-POP GROUP BANDA MAGDA to PLAY at MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Banda Magda, led by Athens-born accordionist, vocalist and musical polymath Magda Giannikou, brings its multicultural world-pop sounds incorporating more than a half-dozen languages and winding its way through Brazilian baião, Gypsy jazz, Greek dance rhythms, samba beats and French chansons to Club B-10 at MASS MoCA on on Saturday, April 12, at 8pm. The group’s most recent recording, “Amour, T’es Là?”, was named one of NPR’s “10 Favorite World Music Albums of 2013.
Borremeo String Quartet (photo Liz Linder)
BORROMEO STRING QUARTET to PLAY BARTOK at WILLIAMS
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – The Borromeo String Quartet will perform works by Bela Bartok in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall on the Williams College campus on Friday, April 11, at 8p.m. The ensemble will play three of the Hungarian composer’s string quartets: No. 2, 4, and 6. The concert is free and open to the public.
BUDOS BAND to BRING ‘70S RETRO-FUNK to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Staten Island-based retro-funk outfit the Budos Band lays down its classic, horn-inflected grooves at Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, April 11, at 9pm. The group’s self-styled “Staten Island instrumental Afro-soul” reminds listeners of the classic 1970s funk of Isaac Hayes and Average White Band, with forays into Henry Mancini, Black Sabbath and hip-hop territory.
AMERICAN SYMPHONY to PERFORM WORKS by STRAUSS, CONUS, and BRAHMS at BARD
(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) — The American Symphony Orchestra (ASO) under the direction of Leon Botstein, music director, will perform works by Johann Strauss Jr., Julius Conus, and Johannes Brahms at the Fisher Center at Bard College on Friday, April 11, 2014, and Saturday, April 12, at 8 p.m. The program includes Johann Strauss Jr.’s Emperor Waltz, Accelerations, and On the Beautiful Blue Danube; Julius Conus’s Violin Concerto, featuring Zhi Ma ’15, violin; and Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 2.
ARMEN DONELIAN, SAXOPHONIST KRIS ALLEN HEADLINE JAZZ EVENTS in APRIL
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Pianist Armen Donelian and saxophonist Kris Allen will perform in concerts being presented around the region as part of the celebration of national Jazz Appreciation Month presented by Berkshires Jazz. The April programming spans Berkshire County, and includes performances of student musicians in both Lee and Pittsfield and a Jazz Crawl in downtown Pittsfield. The April jazz events kick off on Saturday, April 12 at 1pm, when the Williams College Jazz Quintet, featuring alto saxophonist Kris Allen, performs at the First Congregational Church on Park Square in Lee. The program also includes Nico Wohl and Friends, featuring the 13-year-old guitar prodigy who has been wowing audiences all over the Berkshires.