A selective, curatorial view of the cultural highlights of the upcoming weekend in the greater Berkshire region.

 

 

KRONOS QUARTET PERFORMS ‘LIVE DOCUMENTARY’ at MASS MoCA

(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Filmmaker Sam Green pairs with the legendary Kronos Quartet for a work-in-progress performance of “A Thousand Thoughts,” a multimedia documentary about the radical string quartet, blending live music and narration with archival footage and filmed interviews featuring the likes of Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Wu Man, and Terry Riley, at MASS MoCA on Fri, Dec 8, at 8pm, in the Hunter Center.

 

 

 

 

BLIND BOYS CELEBRATE XMAS at MAHAIWE

(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – The Mahaiwe continues its monthlong Christmas celebration with the Blind Boys of Alabama – featuring original member Jimmy Carter – performing with the Preservation Hall Legacy Horns, on Sun, Dec 10, at 7pm. The concert will feature songs from several Christmas albums by the Blind Boys along with gospel classics.

 

 

 

 

 

PHIL KLINE’s ‘UNSILENT NIGHT’ in DOWNTOWN NORTH ADAMS TONIGHT
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – ‘Unsilent Night,’ Phil Kline’s mobile sound-sculpture that has become a holiday cult classic, returns to the streets of North Adams tonight (Thurs, Dec 7) at 5:30pm. Led by Kline himself, participants will gather at Bright Ideas Brewing at MASS MoCA and walk to Freight Yard Pub, Ramunto’s, Public, the Mohawk, and back to Bright Ideas playing Phil Kline’s four-track composed piece, “Unsilent Night.” Think caroling but with new-music on boomboxes. This December, Kline’s pioneering work of public sound art – performed by whoever shows up with a boombox or amplified digital music player (such as a smartphone) – takes place in more than 37 cities across the United States and Canada. Streets, parks and sidewalks will come alive with “a shimmering sound-wall of bells and chimes that is dreamlike to wander through in the December nip” (Village Voice).

 

 

 

AMERNET STRING QUARTET PLAYS ITALIAN MUSIC at MAHAIWE

(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – The Amernet String Quartet performs in “Souvenir de Florence: An Italian Holiday Celebration,” a program of Italian-inspired classics at the Mahaiwe on Sat, Dec 9, at 6pm, as part of the Close Encounters with Music series. The centerpiece of the program is Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir de Florence”; Puccini’s sole chamber work, “Chrysanthemums”; works by Vivaldi; Hugo Wolf’s “Italian Serenade”; and a Verdi string quartet.

 

 

 

 

FRENCH ART SONG FEATURED in FREE CONCERT at ELLEN LYNCH PHOTOGRAPHY

(CHATHAM, N.Y.) – Soprano Amanda Boyd and pianist Timothy Dunne will present a free recital of French art songs in “La Lumière de Musique,” including works by Hahn and Fauré and featuring Debussy’s Ariettes Oublièes and Études for Piano, as part of the “Touched by Light” pop-up series at Ellen Lynch Photography in Chatham on Sat, Dec 9, at 5pm.