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 …

 

Fans of chamber music have lots to choose from this weekend.

 

THE ORCHESTRA NOW OFFERS FREE CHAMBER MUSIC at BARD FISHER CENTER

Members of The Orchestra Now perform a free concert of chamber music featuring works by Mendelssohn, Debussy, Schubert, Mozart, Schumann and others at the Bard Fisher Center tonight at 6pm. (Fri, Nov 11)

 

 

 

 

LONDON’S CASTALIAN STRING QUARTET PERFORMS BEETHOVEN at UNION COLLEGE

London’s Castalian String Quartet will perform works by Haydn and Britten, along with Beethoven’s B-flat major Quartet, as part of the Capital Region Classical series at Union College’s Memorial Chapel in Schenectady, N.Y., on Sunday at 3pm. (Sun, Nov 13)

 

 

 

 

 

BERKSHIRE CHAMBER PLAYERS PLAY PÄRT at STOCKBRIDGE LIBRARY

The Berkshire Chamber Players return to the Stockbridge Library in Stockbridge, Mass., on Sunday at 2pm to perform works by Arvo Pärt, Mozart, Beethoven, and Jessie Montgomery (Sun, Nov 13)

 

SAGE CITY SYMPHONY BRINGS HINDEMITH, PRICE to BENNINGTON COLLEGE

Sage City Symphony presents its annual free Fall Concert at Bennington College in Bennington, Vt., on Sunday at 4pm. The orchestra will perform works by Hindemith, Florence Price, and “Fantasia for Piano and Orchestra,” by Geoffrey Gee, commissioned by Sage City Symphony, with the composer on piano. (Sun, Nov 13)

 

 

CITV BRINGS HAYDN’S ‘THE CREATION’ to KINDERHOOK

Concerts in the Village presents Joseph Haydn’s oratorio The Creation at Kinderhook Reformed Church on Sunday at 2:30pm. The Broad Street Orchestra, Broad Street Chorale and five outstanding soloists – over 70 musicians – will perform this dramatic musical account of the world’s formation out of chaos and the arrival of Adam and Eve which followed in its wake. Guest soloists include sopranos Caroline Dunigan and Katherine Lerner Lee, tenor Maximillian Jansen, and baritones Nathaniel Sullivan and Jonathan Lawlor. Dunigan, Jansen, and Sullivan are graduates of Bard’s Graduate Vocal Arts Program, in which Lerner Lee and Lawlor are current students. Recent Bard graduate Hailey McAvoy will be alto soloist at the conclusion.  (Sun, Nov 13)

 

 

 

 

Jazz fans take note:

PAUL WINTER BRINGS ‘EARTH JAZZ’ to BERKSHIRE MUSEUM

Seven-time Grammy Award-winner Paul Winter brings his saxophone and musical ear attuned to the sounds of nature and the earth to the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Mass., on Saturday at 5:30. (Sat, Nov 12)

 

 

 

 

 

 

MICHAEL WIMBERLY TRIO BRINGS AFROFUTURISM to BENNINGTON MUSEUM

Percussionist Michael Wimberly and his trio, featuring cellist Nathaniel Parke and pianist Yoshiko Sato, perform a free concert of their jazzy, funky blend of Sun Ra-influenced Afrofuturism at Bennington Museum on Saturday afternoon at 2pm. (Sat, Nov 12)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEVEN BERNSTEIN’S MILLENNIAL TERRITORY ORCHESTRA REARRANGES JAZZ and POP at THE FALCON

Trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Steven Bernstein brings his famed nine-piece group, the Millennial Territory Orchestra, to the Falcon in Marlboro, N.Y., on Sunday at 7pm. Bernstein is a musical visionary and a deft improviser, and I would go see him play anything anywhere. For this program, Bernstein promises original compositions and new arrangements of works by Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, the Grateful Dead, Allen Toussaint, and the Beatles.  (Sun, Nov 13)

 

 

 

Women singer-songwriters abound in our region in this weekend.

JOAN OSBORNE and TEDDY THOMPSON at THE EGG in ALBANY

Seven-time Grammy nominee Joan Osborne, best known for her mega-hit “One of Us” and a co-headliner of the legendary Lilith Fair, the traveling music festival celebrating women artists in the late-1990s, brings her eclectic stylings, including pop rock, soul, R&B, blues, roots rock, gospel, funk, and country, to the Egg in Albany tonight at 7:30pm. Warming up the crowd for Osborne is Teddy Thompson, scion of the British folk-rock pioneers Richard and Linda Thompson. (Fri, Nov 11)

 

 

 

LILA BLUE BRINGS DREAMY FOLK to TIME AND SPACE in HUDSON

Lila Blue brings her dreamy acoustic folk to Time and Space in Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday at 8pm. Also on the bill is roots-rocker Phillip Roebuck. Lila and Phillip will perform both solo and as a duo. (Sat, Nov 12)

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHRISTINE LAVIN and JOHN FORSTER BRING MUSIC and LAUGHTER to SPENCERTOWN ACADEMY

Singer-songwriter Christine Lavin has always struck me as one part folksinger, the other part comedian, and she is a great entertainer. Lavin will perform at Spencertown Academy in Spencertown, N.Y., on Saturday at 8pm, along with singer-songwriter John Forster, who like Lavin is also a musical humorist, somewhat in the vein of Tom Lehrer. (Sat, Nov 12)

 

 

 

 

 

ANI DiFRANCO and RIGHTEOUS BABES REVUE at TROY SAVINGS BANK MUSIC HALL

Singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco, the so-called “Little Folksinger Who Could,” who began building an independent, DIY career in 1990 and just kept going, from selling cassette tapes out of her trunk to releasing her own albums as well as a host of like-minded artists on her own Righteous Babe Records label, celebrates the 25th anniversary of her iconic live album, Living in Clip, at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, N.Y., tonight at 7:30pm, when she will be joined by The Righteous Babes Revue, featuring fellow artists Gracie and Rachel, Holly Miranda, and Jocelyn Mackenzie. I remember seeing Ani evolve from a single folksinger with a guitar to a duo format with drummer Andy Stochansky, adding bassist Sara Lee of B-52s to the mix, before expanding her group into a large funk band. Ani has enjoyed an amazing career and continues to entertain and provoke with her pointed and humorous political and socially minded songs. (Fri, Nov 11)

 

 

 

MARTHA WAINWRIGHT and SISTER SLOAN at RADIO WOODSTOCK STUDIOS

Singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright will be joined by her sister Sloan Wainwright for a rare and intimate performance at Radio Woodstock Studios in West Hurley, N.Y., on Saturday at 5pm. The two siblings are part of the musical family dynasty that includes their father, Loudon Wainwright III; late mother, Kate McGarrigle; and brother, Rufus Wainwright. All of the proceeds generated by the limited-attendance (80 seats only) show will go toward supporting area venue Unison Arts programming for the remainder of the year and into 2023. (Sat, Nov 12)

 

 

 

GUY DAVIS BRINGS BLUES and STORIES to WAMC’S THE LINDA

Blues singer and storyteller Guy Davis is at The Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio, in Albany, N.Y., tonight at 8pm. (Fri, Nov 11)

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE MAMMALS UPDATE FOLK-PROTEST at THE EGREMONT BARN

And finally, modern folk-rock group The Mammals of the Hudson Valley bring their updated brand of political folk and activism to the Egremont Barn in South Egremont, Mass., on Saturday at 7:30pm. (Sat Nov 12)