A highly selective preview of cultural events taking place this weekend in the greater Hudson, N.Y., region, including gritty rock poetry; violin classics; flamenco; Bob Dylan; courage; and a whole lot more.
SEAN ROWE BRINGS GRITTY ROCK POETRY to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Sean Rowe, a Troy, N.Y. native and lifelong naturalist, brings his gritty style of singer-songwriter folk-rock back to Club Helsinki Hudson on Thursday, May 18, at 8pm. A throwback to 1970s-era soulful rock poets like Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen and Van Morrison, Rowe boasts an impossibly deep and rich baritone, a gift for melody, and a knack for the perfectly hewn image to get across his haunting, brooding folk-rock anthems. The Capitol Region electro-pop singer-songwriter Girl Blue (stage name of Arielle O’Keefe) will warm up the crowd for Rowe.
TIM FAIN BRINGS VIOLIN CLASSICS to HUDSON HALL
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Violinist Tim Fain headlines First Loves and Fresh Ink, a program featuring works by Philip Glass, Bach, Kreisler, and Tchaikovsky, among others, at Hudson Hall on Saturday, May 20 at 7pm, as part of the Classics on Hudson series. Fain will be accompanied by pianist Roman Rabinovich and flutist Eugenia Zukerman, artistic director of Classics on Hudson.
First Loves and Fresh Ink brings together violin masterpieces from Fain’s most recent album, “First Loves” – which includes works by Massenet, Elgar, Schubert, and Glazunov — alongside works by Philip Glass and some of Fain’s own arrangements. The program includes J.S. Bach’s Trio Sonata in G Major, Praeludium and Allegro by Fritz Kreisler, and Cesar Franck’s Sonata for violin and piano, as well as Arches by Kevin Puts and Fain’s remix of Tchaikovsky’s ballet classic, Swan Lake.
FLAMENCO GUITARIST MARIA ZEMANTAUSKI at ATHENS CULTURAL CENTER
(ATHENS, N.Y.) – A program of flamenco music and dance featuring renowned guitarist Maria Zemantauski and dancer La Niña will take place at the Athens Cultural Center on Saturday, May 20, at 7pm, as part of the One World Music Series curated by percussionist Brian Melick, who will also perform.
AUTHOR BARBARA BONNER ‘INSPIRES COURAGE’ with NEW BOOK
(CHATHAM and MILLBROOK, N.Y.) – Barbara Bonner, author of the award-winning Inspiring Generosity, will be signing copies of her new book, Inspiring Courage, at the Millbrook Literary Festival on Saturday, May 20, and at the Chatham Bookstore on Sunday, May 21, at 2pm.
Inspiring Courage is a timely call to action that offers readers the opportunity to feel the transformative power of their own inner courage. As Bonner so aptly reminds us, “courage” comes from the Latin cor, meaning heart. Courage doesn’t mean recklessness or fearlessness in the face of danger; rather, it means confronting challenges with an open heart – even, perhaps, with love.
SETH ROGOVOY to DISCUSS BOB DYLAN’S JEWISH INFLUENCES at KNESSET ISRAEL in PITTSFIELD, Mass.
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Seth Rogovoy, termed “American Jewry’s greatest Dylan scholar” by Religious News Service, will present “The Kabbalah of Bob Dylan,” a multimedia program exploring the Jewish influences in the life and work of the recent Nobel Prize-winner, at Congregation Knesset Israel (16 Colt Rd.) on Monday, May 22, at 7pm.
With the aid of audio clips, video, still images, and textual comparisons, Seth Rogovoy, author of “Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet” (Scribner 2009), will illustrate how Bob Dylan’s songwriting has always been profoundly rooted in Jewish writings, including the Torah, the Prophets, the Talmud, and mysticism, fusing these inspirations into a genre of “rock ’n’ roll midrash.”
Along the way, the program will examine the Minnesota-born folksinger’s deeply religious and cultural upbringing, his commitment to Jewish practice and causes, and his decades-long connection to the Jewish outreach organization Chabad.