With so much going on culturally speaking in our region, this is my highly selective, curated snapshot of some of the most promising events happening this weekend …
Vertigo Dance Company (courtesy PS21)
VERTIGO DANCE at PS21
Israel’s renowned Vertigo Dance Company brings its vision of sustainability to PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., with “One. One & One,” featuring ten dancers on a soil-covered stage in a piece choreographed by Noa Wertheim and set to an original score for strings and vocals by Avi Belleli, tonight at 8pm (July 29).
Steve Reich (photo by Wonge Bergmann)
BANG on a CAN at MASS MoCA
Bang on a Can’s LOUD Weekend, its annual weekend-long festival concluding its residency at MASS MoCA in North Adams, takes place today and Saturday and features dozens of performances of works by the likes of Steve Reich, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Yuka Honda, Phil Kline, and Igor Stravinsky, among many others. (July 29-30)
Renee Fleming (courtesy artist)
RENÉE FLEMING at THE MAHAIWE
Grammy Award-winning opera and concert star Renée Fleming will perform an intimate recital of beloved songs and arias at the Mahaiwe’s 2022 Gala in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday at 8pm. (July 30)
Taraka (photo Matthew Hoffman / courtesy artist)
TARAKA at TURNPARK AMPHITHEATER
Taraka, former frontwoman of the underground cult duo Prince Rama, brings her fusion of outsider-psych, post-edenic grunge, kaleidoscopic punk and post-adolescent angst to the TurnPark Amphitheater in West Stockbridge, Mass., on Saturday at 8pm. (July 30)
Tony Kieraldo (courtesy artist)
HUDSON FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA PREMIERES TONY KIERALDO’s ‘WARREN STREET RAG’
The nascent Hudson Festival Orchestra makes its public debut at Henry Hudson Riverfront Park in Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday at 7pm under the direction of Gwen Gould. The program will include works by Copland and Piazzolla alongside Bangla folk music and the new “Warren Street Rag” composed by Hudson’s own resident musical visionary Tony Kieraldo, arranged for orchestra and performed by the composer. (July 30)
Paul Lewis (courtesy BSO)
PAUL LEWIS TACKLES ALL FIVE of BEETHOVEN’S PIANO CONCERTOS at TANGLEWOOD
With the help of the BSO under the direction of Andris Nelsons, pianist Paul Lewis will tackle all five of Beethoven’s piano concertos at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., over the course of this weekend, beginning today and running through Sunday. Each program will open with world premiere works by acclaimed women composers, Saturday night’s featuring Caroline Shaw’s Punctum. (July 29-31)
Robert Burke Warren (courtesy artist)
ROBERT BURKE WARREN HOSTS ‘REAL LIVE REVIVAL’ VARIETY SHOW in SAUGERTIES
Musician and author Robert Burke Warren presents his “Real Life Revival,” a curated evening of storytelling and music described as a “Catskills-centric cross between ‘A Prairie Home Companion,’ ‘The Moth,’ and ‘Mountain Stage’,” to the Orpheum Theater in Saugerties, N.Y., on Sunday at 8pm. (July 31)
OLDTONE ROOTS MUSIC FESTIVAL in HILLSDALE, N.Y.
The 7th annual Oldtone Roots Music Festival in Hillsdale, N.Y., takes place today through Sunday, featuring artists including Roochie Toochie & the Ragtime Shepherd Kings, the Deslondes, Bill & The Belles, Hubby Jenkins, the Daiquiri Queens, Big Jon Atkinson, the Tennessee Stifflegs, Hopalong Andrew, Slinky Armadillo and many more. (July 29-31)
Nerissa & Katryna Nields (courtesy FRFF)
THE NIELDS and DAR WILLIAMS HEADLINE FALCON RIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL
The 34th annual Falcon Ridge Folk Festival takes place today through Sunday at the Goshen Fairgrounds in Goshen, Conn., featuring two dozen performers including the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Nerissa & Katryna Nields, Dar Williams and Mary Gauthier among others. (July 29-31)
JOE LOVANO BRINGS JAZZ TRIO to THE FALCON
Legendary jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano’s Trio Tapestry, with pianist Marilyn Crispell and drummer Carmen Castaldi, brings its delicate, Zen-like sounds to the Falcon in Marlboro, N.Y., on Sunday at 7pm. (July 31)
Jana McIntyre (Aminta) and David Portillo (Henry) in ‘The Silent Woman’ (photo Maria Baranova / courtesy Bard)
BARD SUMMERSCAPE REVIVES ‘THE SILENT WOMAN’ OPERA BY STRAUSS AND ZWEIG
Bard SummerScape continues its program of reviving important but neglected operas with “The Silent Woman” by Richard Strauss. Director Christian Räth’s colorful, fast-paced new staging continues its run at Bard’s Fisher Centertoday and Sunday. The opera, described as “an intricately plotted screwball comedy,” represents the first and only fruit of the composer’s collaboration with celebrated Austrian-Jewish novelist Stefan Zweig. (July 29 and 31)