A highly selective preview of cultural events taking place this weekend in the greater Hudson, N.Y., region, including Grammy-nominated Americana and Americana-inspired art; three-dimensional surreal sculptural art; new circus music; literary readings; and a whole lot more.
Rhiannon Giddens (photo John Peets)
RHIANNON GIDDENS to BRING AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Rhiannon Giddens – best known as the lead singer, violinist, banjo player, and cofounder of Carolina Chocolate Drops – celebrates the release of her brand-new solo album, “Freedom Highway,” with the aid of legendary Appalachian musician Dirk Powell, at Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, March 3, at 9pm.
ETHEL performing Circus: The Lives Behind the Big Top
STRING QUARTET ETHEL to PLAY ‘CIRCUS’ for KIDS at HUDSON OPERA HOUSE
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – New-music quartet ETHEL will play excerpts from their new original work, Circus: The Lives Behind the Big Top, in a special family-friendly performance at the Hudson Opera House on Sunday, March 5 at 3pm.
For this one-performance-only family concert, ETHEL will delight children and their families with selections from this very special work as they evoke the spirit of the individuals who brought fantasy, excitement and mystery to the three rings. The event is a presentation of Classics on Hudson, in association with the Hudson Opera House.
Bernadette Mayer
BERNADETTE MAYER to READ at TIME & SPACE
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Avant-garde writer Bernadette Mayer will read from her work at Time & Space Limited on Friday, March 3, at 6:30pm. Bernadette Mayer: An Evening of Poetry will include a supper of Mexican food at 6:30pm, followed by an introduction by writer Karen Schoemer, and a poetry reading and discussion with Bernadette Mayer starting at 7:15pm.
Bernadette Mayer is an avant-garde writer associated with the New York School of poets. Her collections of poetry include Midwinter Day (1982, 1999), A Bernadette Mayer Reader (1992), The Desire of Mothers to Please Others in Letters (1994), Another Smashed Pinecone (1998), and Poetry State Forest (2008). Mayer’s newest collection, Works and Days (2016), is a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award.
CHATHAM BOOKSTORE HOSTS AUTHORS on SLAVERY in the HUDSON VALLEY
(CHATHAM, N.Y.) – Authors Susan Stessin-Cohn and Ashley Hurlburt-Biagini will read from and discuss their new book, “In Defiance: Runaways from Slavery in New York’s Hudson River Valley, 1735-1831,” at the Chatham Bookstore on Sunday, March 5, from 2 to 4pm. A conversation with Thomas Chulak from the bookstore and Q & A follow a brief reading.
The coauthors conducted extensive research into newspaper advertisements from across the Hudson River Valley in the 18th and 19th centuries. As a result, “In Defiance” documents 607 fugitives from slavery through the reproduction and transcription of archival newspaper notices for runaway slaves placed by their enslavers or agents. Examples of notices are those advertising slaves captured, advertising slaves for sale, and offering to purchase slaves. Also included are a glossary, illustrations, and maps. A.J. Williams-Myers, Black Studies Department, SUNY at New Paltz, wrote the foreword.
Published by Black Dome Press, the book is “a valuable collection of fugitive slave advertisements that tells much about the lives of self-emancipated blacks in the rural North. Focusing on the Hudson River Valley, the editors uncover a persistent, local slavery, with national implications.” – G.R.G. Hodges, Colgate University.
Chloe Zerwick, ‘My Life’
CHLOE ZERWICK CONJURES the SURREAL in EXHIBITION at HUDSON OPERA HOUSE
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – “Inside the Box,” a solo exhibition of sculptural work by Hudson-based artist Chloe Zerwick, is on view at the Hudson Opera House until Sunday, March 26. The artist transforms everyday objects into enigmatic, three-dimensional statements framed inside boxes.
Under the EL by Arthur Hammer
MULTIMEDIA EXHIBIT at CARRIE HADDAD GALLERY EXAMINES ‘AMERICANA’
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – “Americana,” a new exhibit that stages concrete and abstract symbols of American values in a striking selection of ballpoint pen drawings, wood and cardboard constructions, paintings, and photographs that recall contemporary “artifacts” relating to American history, culture, and tradition defined by previous centuries, is on view at Carrie Haddad Gallery through Sunday, March 12.