Hong Kong native Ian Chang, who now calls New York City home, has been on the cutting edge of experimental electronic music for the past decade. A member of Son Lux and Landlady, Chang has also performed with Joan As Policewoman, Dave Douglas, and Rubblebucket. The composer-drummer collaborates with visual duo Endless Endless to create a mesmerizing world of integrated sound, light, and projection – in which Chang’s electronic sample-based drum kit triggers visuals that respond to each strike of the stick — in Club B10 at MASS MoCA in North Adams on Saturday, January 18 at 8pm.
The Williams College Department of Music presents I/O Fest ’19, it free, annual, four-day festival of new music, beginning next Thursday, Jan. 16, and running through Sunday, Jan. 19 at various venues in Williamstown, including the college’s ’62 Center and the Clark Art Institute.
Singer-songwriter Jesse Harris, best known for writing several of Norah Jones’s greatest hits, brings his newest all-instrumental project, Cosmo, to the Egremont Barn next Fri, Jan 17, at 8pm. Blending folk, soul, Brazilian and rock music, Cosmo is instrumental pop in the classic tradition of Burt Bacharach, given Harris’s indelible stamp.
Jazzy singer-songwriter Vance Gilbert brings his pointed compositions and humorous banter to the Towne Crier in Beacon, N.Y., on Fri, Jan 17, at 8:30pm. Alisa Amador warms up the crowd for Gilbert.
Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney will share his creative process illustrating his new book, A Place to Land (written by Barry Wittenstein), about Martin Luther King Jr. and how he came to write his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech, at Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., on Saturday, Jan 18, at 1pm.
Acclaimed sister folk-pop duo The Nields are at Spencertown Academy in Spencertown, N.Y., in its Roots & Shoots Concert series on Saturday, January 18 at 8pm. Nerissa and Katryna are known for their hook-heavy folk-pop tunes and their close sisterly harmonies.
Hudson’s own Bindlestiff Family Cirkus returns to Club Helsinki Hudson on Saturday, January 18, at 9pm, with the kickoff of its annual monthly wintertime Cabin Fever Cabaret Series.
The Wallace Roney Quintet brings jazz to the Falcon in Marlboro, N.Y., on Sunday, January 19, at 8pm. Roney kicked off his career as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers before being mentored by Miles Davis, on his way to becoming one of the original “Young Lions” in the 1980s and early 1990s.
And finally, the Cantilena Chamber Choir will present its annual Martin Luther King Concert with a special tribute to Rep. Elijah Cummings at Trinity Church in Lenox, Mass., on Sunday, Jan 19, at 3pm. Special guests include a return appearance by the Urban Choral Arts Society from Baltimore. Dr. King will be remembered in a combined choir performance of Robert Ray’s Gospel Mass and the choral music of composer Adolphus Hailstork. Members of the Baltimore Choir will give a special tribute to the late Rep. Elijah Cummings through personal testimonies.