Berkshire Weekend Cultural Preview, Aug 8-12, 2012

ZUKERMAN and MA FEATURED in PROGRAMS SHOWCASING WORKS by BACH AND ELGAR at TANGLEWOOD

Pinchas Zukerman (photo Paul Labelle)

(LENOX, Mass.) – On Friday, August 10, 2012, at Tanglewood, Pinchas Zukerman acts as both conductor and solo violinist in an all-Bach program featuring the Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 3 and 5, the Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, BWV 1041, the Concerto in D minor for two violins and strings, BWV 1043, and the Concerto in C minor for violin, oboe, and strings, BWV 1060. Yo-Yo Ma returns to the Shed stage Saturday, August 11, 2012, as soloist in Elgar’s Cello Concerto, with conductor Stéphane Denève, who also leads the orchestra in the world premiere of Music for Boston, a BSO-commissioned new work by André Previn, and Shostakovich’s riveting Symphony No. 5. Christoph von Dohnányi takes the podium once again Sunday, August 12, 2012, for a program spanning almost 200 years of the Austro-German music tradition. Widely acclaimed pianist Paul Lewis makes his BSO and Tanglewood debuts as soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, K.488, bracketed by Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 and Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks.

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CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY by CASSANDRA SOHN at SOHN FINE ART GALLERY and CHESTERWOOD

'As if the Devil Had Torn His Way Through a Rock and left it All Jagged Behind' by Cassandra Sohn

(STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – A Sea Feeling In The Mountains, a solo exhibition of photographic work by artist and gallerist Cassandra Sohn,. is on view at two locations: Sohn Fine Art Gallery (through October 29, 2012) and Chesterwood (through October 8, 2012). Both organizations are presenting this exhibition in collaboration with the City of Pittsfield and Berkshire Historical Society’s Call Me Melville festival. Thirty percent of sales from the show will be donated to the nonprofit Chesterwood – A National Trust Historic Site. Opening receptions will be held at both locations on Saturday, August 11, 2012, at Sohn Fine Art Gallery (6 Elm St.) from 1 to 3 p.m. and at Chesterwood (4 Williamsville Rd.) from 3 to 5 p.m..

 

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INDIE-ROCK BAND REAL ESTATE at MASS MOCA

Real Estate

(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Real Estate brings its considered, melodic pop songs to MASS MoCA in North Adams on Thursday, August 9, 2012, at 8 p.m.. From suburban New Jersey, the band comes with music that echoes the mellow and unique charm of rural life. Real Estate plays lo-fi, summery songs – think Yo La Tengo, the Feelies, and Wilco, all of which have previously performed at MASS MoCA, suggesting the slow evolution of a kind of MASS MoCA sound or aesthetic.

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CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE DANCE at PS21

Nana by Phil Echo

(CHATHAM, N.Y.) – TAKE Dance returns to PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century on Friday and Saturday, August 10 and 11, 2012, with the world premiere of a new work created especially for PS21, along with two other expressive and distinctive pieces. This contemporary dance ensemble will perform at 8 pm under The Tent at PS21, located at 2980 Route 66 in the Town of Chatham. Led by Japanese native, Juilliard graduate and Paul Taylor Dance Company alumnus Takehiro Ueyama. The Friday and Saturday shows will include three pieces: Salaryman, Distance of the Moon, and the premiere of a yet-to-be-named work made especially for PS21.

 

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TREY MCINTYRE DANCE FUELED by PETER, PAUL AND MARY and ICONIC ‘70S CHILDREN’S ALBUM at JACOB’S PILLOW

Trey McIntyre Project in 'Leatherwing Bat' (photo Christopher Duggan/courtesy of Jacob's Pillow)

(BECKET, Mass.) – The iconic Sixties folk music of Peter, Paul and Mary and 1970s children’s album Free to Be … You and Me are the inspirations for much of the program by Trey McIntyre Project (TMP) in in the Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob’s Pillow from Wednesday, August 8, 2012, through Sunday, August 12, 2012. LADIES AND GENTLE MEN, inspired by Marlo Thomas’s children’s book, record, and TV show Free to Be…You and Me will receive its world premiere this week at the Pillow, in a program also including the two-part dance Bad Winter — a new work that premiered in February in the company’s hometown of Boise, Idaho, set in part to Arthur Tracy’s 1937 recording of “Pennies From Heaven” — and Leatherwing Bat, which unites whimsical balletic movement with the playful ballads of Peter, Paul and Mary, and which received its world premiere at Jacob’s Pillow in August 2008.

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COMEDY GETS WORLD PREMIERE at WTF

Playwright Katori Hall

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! by Olivier Award-winning playwright Katori Hall will be presented from August 8, 2012, through August 19, 2012, on the Nikos Stage at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the summer festival’s final production of the 2012 season. The world premiere of WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! is directed by May Adrales (Goodman Theatre’s Mary, WTF’s 2008 Fellowship Play Cold Hard Cash) and features Tina Benko (Irena’s Vow), Aaron Costa Ganis (Public Theater’s 365 Days/365 Plays), Brian Tyree Henry (The Book of Mormon), Greta Lee (4000 Miles), Andres Munar (Blood and Gifts), Kathy Searle (Apple Cove), and Carolyn Michelle Smith (The Acting Company’s As You Like It).

 

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CARPE DIEM STRING QUARTET at THE CLARK

Carpe Diem String Quartet

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – On Tuesday, August 14, 2012, at 8 pm, the Carpe Diem String Quartet will perform Mendelssohn’s String Quartet Opus 80 as their traditional work in The Clark’s popular chamber music series. In celebration of The Clark’s Unearthed exhibition, Carpe Diem will be joined by award-winning pipa player Yihan Chen in a performance of Five Seasons by contemporary Chinese composer Lei Liang., who has been awarded both a Guggenheim Fellowship and an Aaron Copland Award.

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BASILICA HUDSON TO LAUNCH MUSIC SERIES WITH WEEKEND FESTIVAL

Kris Perry

(HUDSON, N.Y.) – The Basilica Music Festival (Fri-Sat, Aug 10-11, 2012) marks the official launch of the Basilica Presents Music Program, which will bring dozens of performers from across the nation and around the world to the post-industrial venue literally a stone’s throw from the Hudson River. Hudson artist and welder Kris Perry’s MACHINES will occupy the industrial factory space on Friday night, while flocked by a small army of one-(wo)man noise makers. Saturday night will be anchored by NYC’s Gang Gang Dance and their friends in music and visual arts. This weekend promises to be the first of many multi-layered weekends of vanguard to come to the Hudson River waterfront.

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GALA and CONCERT to EXPLORE SHARED CUSTOMS of SHAKERS and JEWS

Clarinetist Paul Green

(PITTSFIELD, Mass.)  – Shaker Shalom: A Gala Celebration and Concert, a joint fundraising event intended to explore the shared customs from the Shaker tradition and from Judaism, with proceeds equally benefiting Hancock Shaker Village and Congregation Knesset Israel, will take place on Sunday, August 12, 2012, at 5:30 pm at Hancock Shaker Village. It will include cocktails and an elegant Shaker-inspired kosher picnic created by Chef Michael Roller, followed by a Shaker-Jewish fusion concert by clarinet virtuoso Paul Green and his Neshoma Klezmer Ensemble and auction in the Round Stone Barn.

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OVER 400 MUSICIANS to PERFORM in 3-DAY HUDSON MUSIC FESTIVAL

Gang Gang Dance

(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Over 400 musicians representing over 130 acts performing at more than 30 venues throughout this small riverfront city are expected to participate in the second annual Hudson Music Festival from Friday,August 10, 2012, through Sunday, August 12, 2012. The festival features in performers ranging from rock, folk, jazz, blues to klezmer, noise, metal, reggae, dance, indie and world music. Performers include Chris Merenda, Frank Cuthbert, Unbroken Chain, the Tommy Keys Band, The Matchstick Architects, The Knee Benders, SwampDaWamp, Sheila Raye Charles, Professor Louie & The Cromatix, Pamelech Klezmer Orkester, Justin Allen Band, Jeb Barry of the Pawn Shop Saints, Jesse Statman, Esterhazy, Christopher Lynn McMullen, C.B. Smith & the Lucky Devils, Abby Lappen with Steve Collins, and Benjamin Herndon.

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WORDXWORD FESTIVAL BOASTS OVER 40 EVENTS

Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz

(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – The annual WordXWord Festival celebrating written, spoken and sung words kicks off on Saturday, August 11, 2012, with its popular rooftop party and will feature over 40 events over the course of the following week, including participation by such nationally known writers and spoken-word performers as Derrick C. Brown, Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz and Taylor Mali. The core of the festival will feature spoken-word performers, including local participants and nine featured visiting artists: Derrick C. Brown, Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, Anis Mojgani, Robbie Q. Telfer, Thuli Zuma, Taylor Mali, Jon Sands, Jeanann Verlee and Megan Falley. Each evening of the festival will include at least one spoken-word event, including a Feature Night on Thursday, August 16, and the Poetry Olympics on Saturday, August 18 – an event that pits poetry teams against each other in a series of grueling challenges with often humorous results.

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SURVEY of MUSIC by CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS and his CONTEMPORARIES IS CENTERPIECE of 2012 BARD MUSIC FESTIVAL

Camille Saint-Saens

(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) – The world-renowned Bard Music Festival returns for its 23rd annual season, filling the last two weekends of Bard SummerScape 2012 with a compelling and enlightening investigation of Saint-Saëns and His World. Twelve concert programs over the two mid-August weekends, complemented by pre-concert lectures, panel discussions, and expert commentary, make up Bard’s examination of Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921), whose long and remarkable career spanned and helped shape the course of French music from Gounod to Ravel. The twelve concerts offer an immersion in the music of Belle Époque France, with its trademark opulence and emotional richness, presenting masterpieces from all genres of Saint-Saëns’s prodigious oeuvre, including a rare concert performance of his grand opera Henry VIII, alongside a wealth of music from contemporaries and compatriots.


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BROADWAY MUSIC STAR QUENTIN EARL DARRINGTON to PERFORM CABARET at BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY

Quentin Earl Darrington

(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – From the Tony Award-nominated revival of Ragtime and straight off the national tour of Memphis, Broadway’s Quentin Earl Darrington performs QED, Chapter 1: Verse 1, an evening of song at Barrington Stage Company’s new Mr. Finn’s Cabaret on Friday and Saturday, August 10 and 11, 2012, at 9:30 pm. The cabaret-style performance marks Darrington’s solo concert debut in the Berkshires and features selections from the Broadway, pop, jazz, gospel, and “Great American” songbooks, and also includes original works by new composers.

 

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