The Guthrie Center presents Misty Blues
Great Barrington— On Saturday, September 30th from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., The Guthrie Center presents Misty Blues.
In 1999, lead singer of Misty Blues Gina Coleman played a gospel singer in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of “A Raisin In The Sun”. The lead actor in the production, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, told Coleman that he felt her voice was well suited to sing classic blues. This sentiment was echoed by actor/singer, Mandy Patinkin, who sought her out after seeing the opening performance of the production. After actress Gwyneth Paltrow commented on her performance, Coleman knew a musical shift was imminent.
Misty Blues pays homage to the older blues made popular by the bold and brassy women of its time, while still paying respect to classic male artists of the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. The band hasn’t completely abandoned their musical roots; they have been known to perform classic rock and folk tunes infused with a healthy dose of the blues. Over the years, Misty Blues has produced ten albums. The members include Gina Coleman, Seth Fleischmann, Bill Patriquin, Ben Kohn, Rob Tatten and Aaron Dean.
The concert is on Saturday, September 30th from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at The Guthrie Center on Van Deusenville Road in Great Barrington. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and music begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door. Beer, wine, and lite fare will be available for purchase. More information can be found online.
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The Clark Art Institute hosts a concert by the BlackBox Ensemble on its Fernández Terrace
Williamstown— On Saturday, September 30th at 4 p.m., the Clark Art Institute hosts a concert by the BlackBox Ensemble on its Fernández Terrace, located by its Reflecting Pool. “The Sound of Space Between Us” is a site-specific performance connecting sound and movement through physical space.
In this performance, the Clark’s grounds are used as a meeting place for music and dance to converse about our public place in the ecosystem and our private paths with(in) it. The musicians are choreographic agents, responding to each other, the dancers, and the audience in real time while stationed around the space, whether working as parts in a predetermined map or improvising as a unit.
Founded in 2018, the BlackBox Ensemble is a collective of young contemporary music performers based in New York dedicated to exploring the experimental boundaries of the music of our time. The group’s performance at the Clark kicks off their ambitious 2023–24 season, with major performances slated in New York and beyond, including touring engagements in Washington, DC, Florida, Michigan, and throughout the Northeast. The BlackBox Ensemble aims to present contemporary classical music in a format that is approachable, innovative, and impactful.
The free performance is on Saturday, September 30th at 4 p.m. on the Fernández Terrace located by the Reflecting Pool. at the Clark Art Institute on South Street in Williamstown. Bring a picnic and your own seating. Rain moves the performance to October 1st at 4 p.m. More information can be found online.
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Berkshire Theatre Group presents winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, ‘Copenhagen’ by Michael Frayn on The Larry Vaber Stage at The Unicorn Theatre
Stockbridge— Thursday, September 28th through Sunday, October 29th, Berkshire Theatre Group presents “Copenhagen” by Michael Frayn on the Larry Vaber Stage at the Unicorn Theatre.
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, Copenhagen is a gripping and intellectually stimulating play that explores the events surrounding a mysterious and fateful meeting between two of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century, Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, two Nobel laureate physicists who were at the forefront of the development of the atomic bomb. Niels Bohr is joined by his wife Margrethe, as they engage in a heated and thought-provoking conversation with Heisenberg. As the conversation unfolds, the characters grapple with their past and present roles in the development of atomic weapons and the potential consequences of their work. Set in Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II, the play is a fascinating exploration of the ethics of science and the consequences of our actions.
Copenhagen is a must-see for anyone interested in history, science or politics. It challenges our understanding of the world and forces us to confront the difficult questions that arise when science and politics collide. With its captivating storyline and masterful writing, this play will leave audiences on the edge of their seats and pondering its themes long after the final curtain call.
Performances run Thursday, September 28th through Sunday, October 29th on the Larry Vaber Stage at Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre. It is suitable for ages 12 and up. Tickets are $52 and $45 for previews. Tickets and more information can be found online or by calling 413-997-4444.
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Celebrated Canadian conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni makes Fisher Center debut
Annandale-On-Hudson— On Saturday, September 30th at 7 p.m., Jean-Marie Zeitouni makes his Fisher Center debut.
Celebrated Canadian conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni makes his debut with TŌN in an all-French program. The evening begins with Saint-Saëns’ exuberant “Bacchanale” from his opera “Samson et Dalila”. Then mezzo-soprano Megan Moore, who has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, joins us for Berlioz’s tenderly expressive song cycle “The Summer Nights”. The program also includes Fauré’s evocative suite of incidental music for the play “Pelléas et Mélisande”, and d’Indy’s soaring and lyrical “Symphony on a French Mountain Air”, featuring Bard College Conservatory faculty pianist Ryan MacEvoy McCullough.
Jean-Marie Zeitouni is one of the brightest conductors of his generation, renowned for his expressive and eloquent style, in a repertoire that ranges from baroque to contemporary music. He studied at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, most notably under Maestro Raffi Armenian, and graduated in conducting, percussion, and music theory. Highly sought after as a conductor of both symphonic and operatic repertoire, Zeitouni regularly conducts in Europe and across America.
The concert is on Saturday, September 30th at 7 p.m. at the Fisher Center’s Sosnoff Theater on Manor Avenue in Annandale-On-Hudson. The estimated duration is two hours and 20 minutes. Tickets start at $15 with a pay-what-you-wish livestream option. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Race Brook Lodge presents the Down County Jump Music Festival
Sheffield— On Saturday, September 30th from noon to 11 p.m., Race Brook Lodge presents the Down County Jump Music Festival.
Brought to you by members of the curator team of Old Tone Roots Music Festival comes a new daylong musical odyssey dedicated to a very particular sound – a tone that hangs over high wide mountain tops, sinking down into narrow hollers, and wading through damp winding bayous; a sound that stumbles into the hooch-houses of Storyville and around the smokey tables of Chez Florence. It wafts over the lush breezy islands of the Pacific and Caribbean and it roars in the swirling swollen ocean itself that connects them all, a syncopated melodic longing that can’t be restrained. A grainy, warm, spirited Voodoo vibrato that pulses with soul and sass through decade after decade of music from the Americas and their surrounding ports of call.
Come celebrate this wide net of human expression at Down County Jump Music Festival, a full day and night of spirited transformative performances from some of the most dedicated roots musicians anywhere focusing on vernacular music that spans from 1860 to 1960. From Gypsy Waltzes to Swamp-Pop Two-Steps to Haitian Rasin Chants to Olde Time Breakdowns to Sea Shanties to Hawaiian Hapa Haole to post-war New Orleans R&B to Jamaican Rock Steady, “The Jump” will offer some of the most danceable shuffles this side of the civil war.
Hosted in the towering music barn at the bucolic mountainside retreat of the Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield, lodging, food, hiking, campfire gatherings, and kids activities will be available on the sprawling grounds. Featured artists include Jackson Lynch Band, Tjovi Ginen, Rose & The Bros, The Lucky 5, Fatboy Wilson & Old Viejo Bones, Slowey & The Boats, The Haughties, Moonshine Holler, and Shinbone Alley.
The festival is on Saturday, September 30th from noon to 11 p.m. in the Barnspace at Race Brook Lodge on South Undermountain Road in Sheffield, Tickets are $70 Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Kinderhook Memorial Library a hip-hop freestyle workshop with Salomon Mpondo-Dicka
Kinderhook— On Friday, September 29th at 4 p.m., the Kinderhook Memorial Library presents a Hip-Hop Freestyle Workshop with Salomon Mpondo-Dicka.
Salomon Mpondo-Dicka aka Bidjé De Rosa was born in Toulouse, France. He has worked with Collectif (La) Horde / Arthur Harel, Cie Massala / Fouad Boussouf, Swaggers / Marion Motin or DC Vortex / Hugo “Yugson” Lumengo, and collaborates with visual artists and musicians. His work feeds on krump, hip hop, house, and contemporary dance, and straddles the world of performing arts as well as battles and the hip hop underground.
Starting from the participants’ own techniques, practices, and approaches, Salomon Mpondo-Dicka’s workshop is an introduction to building a foundation in individual freestyle dance. Different aspects of freestyle hip-hop will be explored through exercises and short basic choreographic phrases, both solo and in groups. Participants will experiment with how fluidity, dissociation, and slowness break down into several forms to feed a collective vocabulary. The culmination of the workshop will focus on the assimilation of this new material into a personal freestyle creation.
The free workshop is on Friday, September 29th at 4 p.m. at the Kinderhook Memorial Library on Hudson Street in Kinderhook. It open to all (age 15+) who have any experience of dance or movement in any genre. Hip-hop experience is not required. Registration and more information can be found online.
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5th Annual Hilltown open studios tour
Cummington— On September 30th and October 1st, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, the Hilltown Arts Alliance presents the 5th Annual Hilltown open studios tour during peak leaf season.
Artists from around the world (who have chosen the beautiful and historic Western Massachusetts Hilltowns as a place to live and work) will be opening their workspaces to the public. The weekend features work and demonstrations from a global slate of artists in 23 locations.
“This year we wanted to broaden the representation of what is art in the Hilltowns and we are pleased to be including local musicians and dancers. We encourage the public to come, meet an artist and see how they live and work, then stay for the performances and local foods,” says Kathryn Jensen, watercolor artist and this year’s tour chairman.
Restaurants, a brewery and food trucks serving local fare are dotted throughout the area including Worthy-Que Smoke N’ BBQ and Holyoke Hummus. Music and dance performances will take place in Worthington and Cummington in the late afternoons during the weekend. Attendees can come for the entire weekend, or just spend a few hours getting to know the work of Hilltowns artists and the scenery that inspires them.
The free tour is on September 30th and October 1st from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. A “tour hub” will be set up in the Community House at 33 Main Street in Cummington. Printed maps will be available there and at each studio stop on the tour. You can also find an interactive tour map online. The most updated information on artists and events throughout the weekend can be found online.
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The Becket Arts Center presents ‘Fall for Oysters’
Becket— On Sunday, October 1st from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., the Becket Arts Center will celebrate the season with its annual “Fall for Oysters” event. The fundraiser will include oysters, wine tasting, and music by Bernice Lewis and Amy Attias.
The fundraiser is on Sunday, October 1st from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Becket Arts Center on Brooker Hill Road in Becket. Tickets, which include two oysters and two glasses of wine, are $25 per person in advance and $30 at the event. More information can be found online.
