Ladysmith Black Mambazo
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO BRING SOUTH AFRICAN CHORAL STYLE to MAHAIWE
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – Four-time Grammy Award-winning South African vocal and dance troupe Ladysmith Black Mambazo – best known for its groundbreaking work with Paul Simon on his landmark “Graceland” album – brings its joyful choral music to the Mahaiwe on Friday, February 6, at 8pm.
Steve Earle
ALT-COUNTRY ICON STEVE EARLE to PLAY MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Alt-country icon and political singer-songwriter Steve Earle will make a return engagement in the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA on Saturday, February 7, at 8pm. Earle, who will be performing solo on the eve of the release of “Terraplane,” his new album of swampy, southern-stomp blues, is a multiple Grammy Award-winner.
‘Cafe’ by Jim Youngerman
COFFEE-INSPIRED ARTWORKS at NO. SIX DEPOT
(WEST STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – For months about 20 artists have answered a call for submissions on coffee-inspired art. The results, grouped in the exhibition “Coffee as Muse,” will be on display at No. Six Depot and celebrated with a reception on Sunday February 8, from 3 to 5pm. Among the artists whose works are represented in the reception are Jim Youngerman, Diane Firtell, Evan J. Soldinger, John Clarke, Valerie Fanarjian, Jay Elling, Rose Tannenbaum, Peter Taussig, and others. The exhibit includes a checkerboard with coffee filters; pinhole coffee can photographs; paintings painted in coffee; stirrer stick sculptures; poems; coffee-tinted photographs, and coffee curtains from a textile artist. Coffee and coffee-related snacks will be served at the reception.
ReMINDers
ReMINDers and MAYA AZUCENA HEADLINE MCLA BLUES & FUNK FEST
(NORTH ADAMS, MASS.) – The ReMINDers and Maya Azucena headline the 10th Annual Blues and Funk Festival at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) on Friday, February 6, and Saturday, February 7, at 7:30pm in the MCLA Venable Gymnasium at 375 Church St. Other performers include the Berkshires’ own Albert Cummings Band, Arthur Holmes Blues Band, and Misty Blues Band.
‘Berkshire Hills by Jon Ahlen
SCREEN PRINTER JOHN AHLEN at SHIRE CITY SANCTUARY GALLERY OPENING
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Works by master silkscreen artist Jon Ahlen, a Pittsfield native, will inaugurate the Shire City Sanctuary Gallery with a solo exhibition, opening with an artist’s reception on Friday, February 6, from 5 to 8pm.
Leon Botstein Conducting ASO (photo Steve Sherman)
AMERICAN SYMPHONY to PERFORM WORKS by TCHAIKOVSKY and KORNGOLD at BARD
(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) – The American Symphony Orchestra (ASO) will perform works by Tchaikovsky, Korngold, and Carl Reinecke, in a concert conducted by Leon Botstein, music director, and featuring Concerto Competition winners, at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College on Friday, February 6, 2015, and Saturday, February 7, at 8pm. The program includes Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 4; Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Violin Concerto in D Major; and Carl Reinecke, Flute Concerto, and features Concerto Competition winners Gabriel Baeza ’18, violin, and Adrienn Kántor ’14, flute. A special preconcert talk by Christopher H. Gibbs, James H. Ottaway Jr. Professor of Music, begins at 7pm.
Barnstar!
ALL-STAR BLUEGRASS ENSEMBLE BARNSTAR! CELEBRATES CD RELEASE at HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Barnstar!, an all-star collective of bluegrass and roots-music talent, will celebrate the release of its new album, “Sit Down! Get Up! Get Out!,” at Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, February 6, at 9pm. Using the familiar tools of the genre, Barnstar! forges its own brand of song-based bluegrass, gloriously harmonized and raucously played. The group includes bassist Zachariah Hickman, singer-guitarist Mark Erelli, fiddler Jake Amerding, mandolinist Taylor Armerding, and banjoist Charlie Rose.