A highly selective preview of cultural events taking place this weekend in the greater Berkshires region, including ‘psychedelic cinema’ at MASS MoCA; classical music at Williams and Simon’s Rock; poet laureate Robert Hass at Williams; new artworks at MCLA Gallery 51 and Berkshire Museum; and the album release concert for the Seth Rogovoy-produced effort, “Dust Bowl Faeries.”
KEN WINOKUR BRINGS VINTAGE ‘PSYCHEDELIC CINEMA’ to MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) — Alloy Orchestra mastermind Ken Winokur brings his new film and live music project Psychedelic Cinema, which revitalizes cult filmmaker Ken Brown’s Super 8 films from the late 1960s (once used as light shows for Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, and Sly Stone), to Club B10 at MASS MoCA on Saturday, March 5, at 8pm. Winokur and his accomplices overlay his signature junk percussion, melodic clarinets and keyboards, and recorded speeches and audio artifacts over the video projections to dazzling effect.
Dust Bowl Faeries (photo Noah Fowler)
DUST BOWL FAERIES CELEBRATE NEW ALBUM at HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Hudson’s own Dust Bowl Faeries, a gothic chamber-folk outfit led by interdisciplinary artist Ryder Cooley, celebrates the release of its eponymous debut album at Club Helsinki Hudson on Sunday, March 6, at 8pm. The band will be joined by a handful of guest musicians who appear on the album, which will be released independently and was produced by yours truly.
Robert Hass
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING POET ROBERT HASS, FORMER U.S. POET LAUREATE, to READ at WILLIAMS COLLEGE
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass, winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the 2007 National Book Award for poetry, will give a reading of his work at Williams College on Monday, March 7, at 7pm, in the ’62 Center’s Adams Memorial Theater. This event is free and open to the public. Hass is the author of six poetry collections, including “Time and Materials,” which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and 2007 National Book Award; “Praise,” winner of the William Carlos Williams Award; and “Field Guide,” selected by Stanley Kunitz for the Yale Younger Poets series.
Vassily Primakov
VIOLINIST JOANA GENOVA, PIANIST VASSILY PRIMAKOV to PERFORM at WILLIAMS
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – Violinist Joana Genova and pianist Vassily Primakov are featured guests in a weekend of free concerts at Williams College. Genova joins violinist Heather Braun and pianist Michael Brown in a trio concert featuring works by Prokofiev, Ysaye, Moszkowski, Shostakovich, and de Sarasate on Saturday, March 5, at 4pm in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall, in a concert featuring the world premiere of “Fantasy for Two Violins” (2016) by composer Stephen Dankner. Primakov plays the Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor, K. 491 by Mozart with the Berkshire Symphony in Chapin Hall on Friday March 4, at 8pm, in a concert also featuring Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and Mussorgsky’s monumental “Pictures at an Exhibition.”
Conzett House by Stephen Dietemann (photo Paul Puiia)
WORKS by ARCHITECT STEPHEN DIETEMANN FEATURED in BERKSHIRE MUSEUM EXHIBIT
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – An innovative exhibition of the work of Berkshire architect Stephen Dietemann, along with that of three photographers who have documented his work, goes on view in the BerkshireNow gallery space at the Berkshire Museum on Saturday, March 5, and will remain on display through Sunday, May 22, 2016. There will be a reception and panel discussion on Friday, May 6, from 5 to 8pm, in conjunction with Pittsfield’s First Fridays Artswalk, when the museum’s BerkshireNow gallery is open to the public at no cost.
‘Broken Promises’ (2014) by Karen Moss
WORKS by KAREN MOSS on VIEW at MCLA GALLERY 51
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – “What’s Next?,” an exhibition of artwork by Karen Moss, opens at MCLA Gallery 51 on Thursday, March 3, with a free, opening reception from 5 to 7pm. The show, on display through April 24, showcases Moss’s most recent work, which appropriates materials and imagery from everyday life. Moss created the pieces for “What’s Next?” using items such as CVS sales flyers, consumer catalogs, “Have a Nice Day” bags and low-brow fabrics.
Diva Goodfriend-Koven
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) — Renowned flutist Diva Goodfriend-Koven will perform works by Haydn, Farrenc, Martinu, and Messiaen with faculty members Anne Legêne on cello and Larry Wallach on piano at Simon’s Rock College on Sunday, March 6, at 3pm, in the Kellogg Music Center, as part of the Faculty Recital Series. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.