A highly selective preview of cultural events taking place this weekend in the greater Hudson, N.Y., region, including a Grammy Award-winner; a jazz legend playing R&B; an Obie Award-winning play; an opera by Dvorak; and more.
Marc Cohn
GRAMMY-WINNER MARC COHN BRINGS SOULFUL FOLK-ROCK to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Grammy Award-winning folk-rock singer songwriter Marc Cohn, best known for the hit song, “Walking in Memphis,” will perform an intimate gig at Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, August 4, at 8:30pm.
Cohn’s distinctive, soulful vocals and his gift for melody have made him one of his generation’s most acclaimed singer-songwriters. The list of performers with whom he has collaborated reads like a who’s who of all-time folk-rock greats, including Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, Suzanne Vega, Jimmy Webb, Roseanne Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Aimee Mann, India.Arie, and Patty Griffin.
Maria-Christina Oliveras
OBIE AWARD-WINNING ‘WE’RE GONNA DIE’ GETS ANCRAM OPERA HOUSE STAGING
(ANCRAM, N.Y.) – Maria-Christina Oliveras stars in the Obie Award-winning play “We’re Gonna Die” by Young Jean Lee at Ancram Opera House on Friday-Saturday, August 4-5, and again on Friday-Saturday, August 11-12. All shows are at 8pm.
A blend of storytelling, music, and theater, “We’re Gonna Die” examines the universal experience of life’s unavoidable truths. A singer takes the stage, backed by her band, and tells slyly humorous stories about the one thing we all have in common. This play with live music boldly explores some of life’s darkest moments with humor and insight.
The Singer will be played by multi-talented actor Maria-Christina Oliveras, whose extensive theater, TV and film credits include “Taylor Mac’s 24 Hour History of Music” (St. Ann’s Warehouse); “Here Lies Love” (The Public); “Amelie” “Machinal” (Roundabout); “Law & Order: SVU” “Nurse Jackie” “Ugly Betty” “St. Vincent de Van Nuys” and “Time Out of Mind.”
Olga Tolkmit in Dimitrij (photo Dion Ogust
DVORAK’S ‘DIMITRIJ’ GETS RARE STAGING at BARD SUMMERSCAPE
(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) – The first fully staged American production of Antonin Dvorak’s 1882 grand opera Dimitrij is at Bard SummerScape with performance on Wednesday, August 2; Friday, August 4; and Sunday, August 6. The new production, performed in Czech with English supertitles, has been created expressly for SummerScape 2017 by Bard alumna Anne Bogart, co-founder of the acclaimed SITI Company. Starring tenor Clay Hilleyy, winner of the New York Wagner Society’s Robert Lauch Award, with music director Leon Botstein leading the American Symphony Orchestra and the Bard Festival Chorale under James Bagwell, Dmitrij takes place in Bard’s Frank Gehry-designed Fisher Center.
Don Byron (photo by Cori Wells Braun)
DON BYRON & FRIENDS to EXPLORE EARLY SOUL MUSIC at HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Jazz legend Don Byron brings his group of musician friends back to Club Helsinki Hudson for a tribute to early soul, featuring the music of R&B legends Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Junior Walker, and other soul, funk, and jazz artists, on Saturday, August 5, at 9pm. Joining Byron is an all-star cast of New York City and Woodstock-based musical talents, including Bruce Katz, Joey Eppard, Mike Nappi, Scott Petito, and Matt Finck.
Jen Chapin (photo Merri Cyr)
COMING SOON: JEN CHAPIN to BRING SOULFUL, JAZZY ‘URBAN FOLK’ to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Singer-songwriter Jen Chapin brings her unique style of soulful, jazzy “urban folk” to Club Helsinki Hudson on Sunday, August 13, at 7pm, as part of the Rogovoy Salon, a new music and literary series curated and hosted by cultural journalist and music critic Seth Rogovoy.
Chapin, who performed several memorable concerts in the original Club Helsinki listening room in Great Barrington, Mass., has been celebrated for writing “brilliant soulfully poetic urban folk music” (NPR) for well over a decade, beginning with her stunning debut album, “Open Wide,” in 2002, followed up by “Linger” in 2004, which featured such sensual numbers as “Good at Love” and “Little Hours” alongside her sociopolitically charged “Passive People” and her poignant 9/11 eulogy, “Hurry Up Sky.” The song “Let It Show” on 2006’s “Ready” was one of her first songs dealing with the responsibilities of parenthood, while the title track once again was a sultry, bedroom number.
Corinne Robbins
LAST CALL: CARRIE HADDAD SUMMER EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS REGIONAL ARTISTS
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Paintings by Mark Beard and Corinne Robbins and works on paper by Claire Lofrese, Anne Francey, Sue Bryan, David Seiler, and the duo Kahn & Selesnick, are on view at Carrie Haddad Gallery from Wednesday, June 21, through Sunday, August 6.