A highly selective preview of cultural events taking place this weekend in the greater Berkshire region, including a founder of Carolina Chocolate Drops; legends of folk music; a jazz festival; a scary play; Pablo Picasso; Andy Warhol, and a whole lot more.
Dom Flemons (photo Tim Duffy)
DON FLEMONS of CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS to KICK OFF HANCOCK SHAKER VILLAGE ROOTS MUSIC SERIES
(HANCOCK, Mass.) – Grammy Award-winning folk artist Dom Flemons, best known as a cofounder of Carolina Chocolate Drops, kicks off the new Shaker Barn Music series at Hancock Shaker Village on Friday, June 16, at 7pm. Fierce-folk duo Long Journey from Williamstown will warm up the crowd for Flemons. Other performers in the series include folksinger Sarah Lee Guthrie (7/1), country-rockers Western Centuries (7/13), folk music duo Anna & Elizabeth (7/26), acclaimed banjoist Tony Trischka (8/19), and singer-songwriter Milton (9/23).
Joan Baez, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Amy Ray, Emily Saliers
JOAN BAEZ, INDIGO GIRLS, MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER at TANGLEWOOD
(LENOX, Mass.) – Folk music legend Joan Baez will be joined by Amy Ray and Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls and singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter for “Four Voices,” in the Shed at Tanglewood on Saturday, June 17, at 7pm. Vintage jazz group the Hot Sardines will perform the previous evening, Friday, June 16, at 8pm, in Ozawa Hall.
Duke Robillard
GUITARIST DUKE ROBILLARD, ELLA TRIBUTE, BLACK EAGLES REUNION TOP WEEKEND JAZZ FEST
(LEE, Mass.) – Guitarist Duke Robillard, whose rock, blues, swing, and jazz credits include playing with Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Ruth Brown, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and his own group, Roomful of Blues, will join a reunion concert by the New Black Eagle Jazz Band at the Lee Meeting House on Saturday, June 17, as part of the sixth annual Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend, which also includes a tribute to legendary vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, featuring Wanda Houston.
In addition to the two ticketed concerts, the four-day festival will include several free events spanning Father’s Day weekend, June 15-18, including a fine art show, al fresco dining, daytime jazz, a wine and beer tasting under a tent in Church Park, and other activities.
Carl Hancock Rux (photo Scott Groller Courtesy CalArts Photographry)
CARL HANCOCK RUX to READ WORKS in RESPONSE to NICK CAVE EXHIBIT at MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Performance poet Carl Hancock Rux will read works created in response to the Nick Cave exhibition, “Until,” at MASS MoCA on Friday, June 16, at 8pm. The performance will take place within the expansive installation.
Rux is an award-winning poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, and recording artist. Beginning his career as a freelance art and music critic, Rux immersed himself in the poetry and experimental theater scene of the Lower East Side where he collaborated with a number of poets, musicians, and theater artists, including Miguel Algarin, Jayne Cortez, David Murray, Jeanne Lee, Laurie Carlos, and Lee Breuer.
Hector del Curto
ASTON MAGNA OPENS SEASON with a SPANISH TINGE
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass., and ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) – Aston Magna Music Festival presents Music for Forbidden Dances, showcasing tangos, chaconas, and sarabands, at Bard College on Friday, June 16 at 8pm, and at Saint James Place in Great Barrington on Saturday, June 17 at 6pm. The opening concert of Aston Magna’s 45th season includes works by Arañes, Bach, Bertali, Merula, Purcell, Corelli, Piazzolli, and Rodriquez.
Kathleen McNenny
‘THE BIRDS’ FLY INTO BARRINGTON STAGE
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – A stage adaptation of “The Birds,” the 1952 Daphne du Maurier suspense story immortalized in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film version starring Tippi Hedren, runs at Barrington Stage Company from Thursday, June 15, through Saturday, July 8. The play is written by acclaimed Irish playwright Conor McPherson and directed by Barrington Stage artistic director Julianne Boyd.
“The Birds” will star Kathleen McNenny (Broadway’s The Father) as Diane, Sasha Diamond (BSC’s peerless/Broadway’s Significant Other) as Julia, Stevie Ray Dallimore (Broadway’s Impressionism) as Nat, and Obie Award-winner Rocco Sisto (BSC’s His Girl Friday) as Tierney. The play runs on the St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center (36 Linden St.).
Krakauer-Tagg Duo (photo Tasja Keetman)
COMING SOON: KRAKAUER/TAGG DUO to BRING INVENTIVE NEW SOUNDS to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – The Krakauer/Tagg Duo, featuring world renowned clarinetist David Krakauer and experimental keyboardist Kathleen Tagg, brings its innovative blend of world music, jazz, classical, experimental techniques, and electronics to Club Helsinki Hudson on Sunday, July 2, 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.
The Flying V guitar (courtesy National GUITAR Museum)
GUITAR GETS SPOTLIGHT at BERKSHIRE MUSEUM
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – GUITAR: The Instrument That Rocked the World, a fully immersive exhibition exploring all aspects of one of the most enduring musical icons of the last 200 years, opens at the Berkshire Museum on Saturday, May 20, and will be on view through Monday, September 4.
Gabriel Metsu (Dutch, 1629–1667), Public Notary, c. 1653. Oil on panel, 16.14 x 12.8 in (41 x 32.5 cm). The Leiden Collection, N.Y.
17th-CENTURY DUTCH PAINTINGS at THE CLARK
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – An Inner World: 17th-Century Dutch Genre Painting is on view at the Clark Art Institute now through Sunday, September 17. The exhibit brings together paintings from the Clark and The Leiden Collection, among the largest and most important private collections of Dutch Golden Age paintings in the world. The exhibition features seven exceptional genre paintings by Dutch artists working in or near the city of Leiden in the 17th century.
An Inner World explores the work of Gerrit Dou (Dutch, 1613–1675) and his contemporaries by considering tradition and innovation in the representation of figures in interior spaces, individuals in moments of contemplation or quiet exchange, and the enduring taste among collectors for works created by fijnschilders, or fine painters.
Nick Cave, ‘Until’ (detail) (photo Doug Mason)
NICK CAVE’S SITE-SPECIFIC ‘UNTIL’ TAKES OVER MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) — Nick Cave, the artist known for his wearable sculptures called Soundsuits, turns expectations inside out at MASS MoCA in “Until,” a massive immersive installation. Cave uses MASS MoCA’s signature football field-sized space to create his largest and most overtly political installation to date, made up of thousands of found objects, a rich sensory tapestry. The sheer volume of material that has been gathered is astounding — 16,000 wind spinners; millions of plastic pony beads; thousands of ceramic birds, fruits, and animals; 13 gilded pigs; more than 10 miles of crystals; 24 chandeliers; 1 crocodile; and 17 cast-iron lawn jockeys.
Grounded Iceberg, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, by Shaun O’Boyle
SHAUN O’BOYLE’S ANTARCTICA PHOTOGRAPHS at BERKSHIRE MUSEUM
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Extraordinary images of Antarctica by Berkshire-based photographer Shaun O’Boyle go on view in the Berkshire Now gallery space at the Berkshire Museum from Friday, June 2, through August 21.
MASS MoCA Building 6
MASS MoCA UNVEILS NEWLY RENOVATED CAMPUS
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) — MASS MoCA has unveiled its newly renovated campus with the opening of Building 6, the third phase of campus development that encompasses 130,000 square feet of interior renovations to the museum’s 19th-century mill buildings. The new galleries include works by Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Bourgeois, James Turrell, Jenny Holzer, Laurie Anderson, and Gunnar Schonbeck (Bang on a Can), among others.
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973), Portrait of Dora Maar, 1937. Oil on canvas, 31 7/8 x 23 5/8i n. MPI58. © 2017 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Mathieu Rabeau, Musée Picasso © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY
PICASSO WORKS on VIEW at THE CLARK
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – Works by Pablo Picasso are on view at the Clark Art Institute, along with an exhibition devoted to painter-designer Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Picasso: Encounters includes paintings and prints by the 20th century visionary and is on view through Sunday, August 27.
Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Jackie, 1964. Synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas, 20” x 17”. Williams College Musuem of Art; Partial gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. and museum purchase from the John B. Turner ’24 Memorial Fund and Karl E. Weston Memorial Fund. ©The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
ROCKWELL and WARHOL in UNIQUE PAIRING at NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM
(STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) — On the surface they might seem like an odd couple from two different universes, but for the first time Norman Rockwell and Andy Warhol will come face to face in “Inventing America: Rockwell and Warhol,” opening at the Norman Rockwell Museum on Saturday, June 10. With 100 works of art, a selection of archival materials, and objects relating to their work and lives, the exhibition will show how both of these internationally celebrated image-makers — among America’s most important visual communicators — created enduring icons and opened new ways of seeing.