A highly selective preview of cultural events taking place this weekend in the greater Berkshire region, including chamber music; an exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints; a display of Saturday morning cartoon art; and a whole lot more.
Kenneth Cooper
BACH’S BRANDENBURG CONCERTI at MAHAIWE
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – The Berkshire Bach Ensemble will ring out the old and ring in the new with its annual Bach at New Year’s program featuring all six Brandenburg Concerti at the Mahaiwe on Saturday, December 31, at 6pm. The program – featuring violinist Eugene Drucker, a cofounder of the Emerson String Quartet – will also take place at the Academy of Music in Northampton, Mass., on Friday, December 30, at 7:30pm, and at the Troy [N.Y.] Savings Bank Music Hall on Sunday, January 1, at 3pm.
Catherine Hudgins (photo Tiziana Rozzo)
WEST STOCKBRIDGE CHAMBER CONCERT to FEATURE WORKS by ALBUMLEAF, BRAHMS, DOHNANYI
(WEST STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – The West Stockbridge Chamber Players will perform works by Albumleaf, Brahms, and Dohnanyi at the West Stockbridge Congregational Church on Thursday, December 29, at 6pm. A reception will follow the concert.
The West Stockbridge Chamber Players are a world class-ensemble that is made up of Boston- and Berkshire-based musicians who regularly perform with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Spoleto Festival, and Portland Symphony, and who teach at the Tanglewood Music Center. The group includes clarinetist Catherine Hudgins, horn player Jason Snider, violinist Sheila Fiekowsky, violist Mary Ferrillo, cellist Jennifer Lucht, and pianist Sayuri Miyamoto.
The concert will feature Max Reger’s Albumleaf (for clarinet and piano); Johannes Brahms’ Horn Trio, Op. 40 (for horn, violin, and piano); and Erno Dohnanyi’s Sextet, Op. 37 (for clarinet, horn, violin, viola, cello, and piano).
Hayes Carll
HAYES CARLL and ALLISON MOORER to BRING ROOTS MUSIC to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Grammy Award-nominated Texas singer-songwriter Hayes Carll brings his roots-oriented original songs to Club Helsinki Hudson on Thursday, December 29, at 8pm. Carll is equally known for his outspoken politically-infused rockers and his self-described “degenerate love songs.” His most recent album, “Lovers and Leavers,” came out earlier this year. Singer-songwriter Allison Moorer will warm up the crowd for Carll with her country-inflected brand of folk-rock.
Simi Stone
SIMI STONE, PEARL ADAY, SCOTT IAN & LISA GREEN USHER IN 2017 at HELSINKI HUDSON ON NEW YEAR’S EVE
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Soul-rocker Simi Stone, classic rocker Pearl Aday, thrash-rock pioneer Scott Ian, and prog-rock singer Lisa Green will help the crowd ring out the old and ring in the new at Club Helsinki Hudson on New Year’s Eve, Saturday, December 31, at 9pm.
Hashimoto, Young Girl
JAPANESE WOODBLOCK PRINTS on VIEW at THE CLARK
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – More than a century of Japanese printing traditions, represented by seventy-three color woodblock prints, will be presented in the Clark Art Institute exhibition Japanese Impressions: Color Woodblock Prints from the Rodbell Family Collection.
The exhibition explores the complex and changing relationship among artists, woodblock cutters, and publishers from the ukiyo-e (scenes from the floating world) tradition of the mid-19th century, the shin-hanga (new print) movement of the 1920s and 1930s, and the s?saku-hanga (creative print) movement that began in the 1950s. Japanese Impressions is on view through April 2, 2017.
NICK CAVE’S SITE-SPECIFIC ‘UNTIL’ TAKES OVER MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) — Nick Cave, the artist known for his wearable sculptures called Soundsuits, turns expectations inside out at MASS MoCA in “Until,” a massive immersive installation. Cave uses MASS MoCA’s signature football field-sized space to create his largest and most overtly political installation to date, made up of thousands of found objects, a rich sensory tapestry. The sheer volume of material that has been gathered is astounding — 16,000 wind spinners; millions of plastic pony beads; thousands of ceramic birds, fruits, and animals; 13 gilded pigs; more than 10 miles of crystals; 24 chandeliers; 1 crocodile; and 17 cast-iron lawn jockeys.
NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM SALUTES SATURDAY MORNING CARTOON TEAM HANNA-BARBERA
(STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – “Hanna-Barbera: The Architects of Saturday Morning” features the work of the creative team behind such memorable Saturday morning cartoons as “The Yogi Bear Show,” “The Flintstones,” and the “The Jetsons,” on view at Norman Rockwell Museum through May 29, 2017.
Before the rise of basic cable, Saturday mornings for many children in America were spent watching cartoons on one of three available television channels. From 1958 through the 1980s, a majority of those cartoons bore the imprint of Hanna-Barbera. Creating scores of popular series such as The Yogi Bear Show, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Jonny Quest, and Scooby-Doo, Hanna-Barbera was an animation powerhouse and its bountiful creativity is beloved to this day.