A highly selective preview of cultural events taking place this weekend in the greater Berkshires region, including a new music-theater production at MASS MoCA by an avant-garde all-star team; Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Marc Cohn at the Colonial in Pittsfield; acclaimed contemporary violist Nadia Sirota at Williams; the final weekend of Barrington Stage’s 10X10 New Play Festival in Pittsfield; and Sarah Borges in an album-release concert at Club Helsinki Hudson.
NEW MUSIC-THEATER PRODUCTION at MASS MoCA CONTEMPLATES MAGIC of ORDINARY LIFE
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – “Aging Magician,” a multimedia music-theater collaboration among theater-maker Rinde Eckert, composer Paola Prestini, director Julian Crouch, and instrument-maker Mark Stewart, gets a work-in-progress showing in the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA on Sunday, February 28, at 2pm. “Aging Magician” is a haunting, genre-defying adventure that combines theater, music, puppetry, one-of-a-kind instruments, scenic design, and film mediums. The creative team of Prestini, Eckert, Crouch, Stewart, and Morrison constitute an all-star team of avant-garde theater today.
Nadia Sirota (photo Samantha West)
VIOLIST NADIA SIROTA to PERFORM CONTEMPORARY WORKS at WILLIAMS
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – Acclaimed contemporary violist Nadia Sirota – one of my favorite new-music instrumentalists – will give a solo recital interspersed with an interpretive and narrative talk on her collaborations with contemporary composers and the creation of her hit radio show “Meet the Composer” at Williams College on Thursday, February 25, at 5pm in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall, Bernhard Music Center. The event is free and open to the public.
Marc Cohn
GRAMMY AWARD-WINNER MARC COHN BRINGS SOULFUL FOLK-ROCK to COLONIAL
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, best known for his signature tune, “Walking in Memphis,” performs at the Colonial Theatre on Thursday, February 25, at 8pm. Cohn’s short-story songwriting style is heavily influenced by Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, and Jackson Browne, and he is often named among the most personal and introspective lyricists of his generation.
Director John Miller Stephany and actor Andrew May (photo Barrington Stage)
10X10 NEW PLAY FESTIVAL in FINAL WEEKEND at BARRINGTON STAGE
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – The fifth annual 10X10 New Play Festival at Barrington Stage Company completes its three-week run this weekend through Sunday, February 28, as part of the 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival. The critically acclaimed new play festival features ten new 10-minute plays performed at BSC’s St. Germain Stage at 36 Linden St. Showtimes are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 3pm.
Sarah Borges
TWANG-ROCKER SARAH BORGES CELEBRATES NEW ALBUM at HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Boston-based twang-rocker Sarah Borges launches her new album, “Good and Dirty,” at Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, February 26, at 9pm. Borges brings a full band with her – including producer Eric “Roscoe” Ambel – to introduce her audience to her new music as well as old favorites. Borges mines early rock ‘n’ roll styles as well as their roots and tributaries, including country, blues, R&B, and country-punk, on her way toward making new indie-rock with the immediacy and passion of 1950s and early-‘60s music.