A highly selective preview of cultural events taking place this weekend in the greater Berkshires region, including six decades of 19th century pop at MASS MoCA; humorist David Sedaris; American Idol star Crystal Bowersox, Bach for trumpet and organ, and comedian Giulia Rozzi.
Taylor Mac
TAYLOR MAC BRINGS SIX DECADES of 19TH C. AMERICAN POP MUSIC to MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) — Performance artist Taylor Mac presents a six-hour work-in-progress performance of “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music: 1836-1896,” covering six decades of material from Mac’s wildly ambitious, multi-year effort to chart the history of popular music in America from the nation’s founding in 1776 to the present day, in the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA on Saturday, April 9, from 4 to 10pm.
David Sedaris
HUMORIST DAVID SEDARIS BOOKENDS REGION at MAHAIWE and BARDAVON
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass., and POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y) – Bestselling humor writer David Sedaris bookends our region with performances at the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie on Friday, April 8, at 8pm, and the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington on Sunday, April 10, at 7pm. Sedaris will read from his work and answer questions. A book signing will take place in the theater lobby after the show.
Giulia Rozzi (photo Ari Scott)
COMEDIAN-STORYTELLER GIULIA ROZZI COMING to COLONIAL
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Comedian Giulia Rozzi performs in the Garage at the Colonial Theatre as part of BTG’s Laugh Lounge Series on Wednesday, April 6, at 8pm. Storyteller, writer and actress, Giulia Rozzi’s blunt and animated humor has earned her the honor of being a Moth GrandSLAM champion and a Boston Comedy Festival finalist, in addition to other awards.
Organist Peter Sykes (photo Susan Wilson)
TRUMPET and ORGAN FEATURED in BERKSHIRE BACH CONCERT
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Organist Peter Sykes and trumpeter Robinson Pyle will duet in “New Directions for Trumpet and Organ,” a Berkshire Bach program, at the First United Methodist Church on Saturday, April 9, at 6pm. The program includes Johann Heinrich Fasch’s Trumpet Concerto, Kent Kennan’s Trumpet Sonata in an evocative transcription for organ and trumpet by Peter Sykes, and organ masterworks of Johann Sebastian Bach, including Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, BWV 548, the “Wedge.”
Crystal Bowersox
AMERICAN IDOL FINALIST CRYSTAL BOWERSOX to PERFORM at HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Folk-country singer-songwriter Crystal Bowersox, an American Idol finalist who was the first contestant in the program’s history to have one of her original songs played on the show, returns to Club Helsinki Hudson on Saturday, April 9, at 9pm. Bowersox is critically acclaimed for her considerable vocal prowess – her soulful audition pieces on Idol included songs by Aretha Franklin, Erma Franklin, Gladys Knight and LaVern Baker – and she has gone on to enjoy a successful post-American Idol career of originality and authenticity, along the way winning the endorsement of Jakob Dylan, who duetted with Bowersox on “Stitches,” a rootsy ballad the two co-wrote for her 2013 album “All That for This.”