PS21 Center for Contemporary Performance presents ‘The Dark,’ an ambitious week-long winter festival
Chatham, N.Y.— From February 16th through February 22nd, PS21 Center for Contemporary Performance presents ‘The Dark,’ an ambitious week-long winter festival of performance, installation, music, dance and theater, exploring the winter season as a time of paradox: community and solitude, fire and ice, darkness and light.
Featuring more than 80 performances by over 60 international artists, the festival unfolds not only across PS21’s campus, but also an array of unexpected sites throughout Columbia County—from theaters and churches to libraries, saunas, barns, and outdoor public spaces—transforming the region into an immersive canvas for performance, inviting audiences to experience the region anew, establishing a major wintertime attraction.
Highlights at PS21 include the U.S. premieres of “Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born: My Tongue is a Blade” and “Tim Etchells and Bert and Nasi: L’Addition.”
“My Tongue is a Blade” is a three-hour durational movement practice that functions as a work with relation, memory, and reflection. It asks: What are the limits of our attention and how does that test the strength of our bonds? Three performers commit to remembering each other, holding each other, bearing each other and sustaining the world that contains them.
“L’Addition” plays out like a deranged game of telephone, except that the message being passed is a single scene on an increasingly distorted loop: A man at a café orders a drink. A waiter pours the drink. A man at a café orders a drink. A waiter pours the drink. Each escalation of the otherwise everyday scenario introduces a more outlandish set of circumstances.
Highlights at off-campus locations include “Arone Dyer: Dronechoir” at The Masonic and the world premiere of “Sophia Brous and Gundega Laiviņa: Songs for the Dark”at Art Omi Barn.
“Arone Dyer: Dronechoir” is a boundary-blurring, ever-evolving, highly interactive musical experience that aims to provide new or deeper connections between participants and audience members. The curated group of vocalists perform an unrehearsed a capella piece in which directions are fed to them through earphones, physically foregrounding specific singers or creating positional unity at different points in the piece.
“Sophia Brous and Gundega Laiviņa: Songs for the Dark” explores the ritual of song that holds us, the global repertoire of lullabies that help us through the dark. Part immersive performance, concert nocturne, and public testimonial, it is an invitation to witness each other’s humanity together.
“This festival and this program is a snow-fed fever dream,” said Artistic and Executive Director of PS21 Vallejo Ganter. “This is what organizations like us should and need to be doing—creating moments for the community around them that simply can’t happen otherwise. This is why the arts exist: to bring us together in dialogue, debate, and communion, in ways that we didn’t know were possible.”
The festival runs from February 16th through February 22nd at PS21 Center for Contemporary Performance and array of unexpected sites throughout Columbia County. Tickets and more information, including the full line-up of locations and events, can be found online.
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Fisher Center presents seventh annual ‘Sound of Spring’ Chinese New Year concert, celebrating the Year of the Horse
Annandale-On-Hudson, N.Y.— On Saturday, February 14th at 3 p.m., the Fisher Center presents the seventh annual “Sound of Spring” Chinese New Year concert, celebrating the Year of the Horse.
The Orchestra Now and conductor Jindong Cai perform a program in praise of love and horses—filling Sosnoff Theater with joyful Chinese and Western symphonic music for the whole family. Special guest soloists include winds virtuoso Yazhi Guo, plus a selection of outstanding young performers with top international accolades from the legendary Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the groundbreaking US-China Music Institute at Bard.
The concert is on Saturday, February 14th at 3 p.m. at the Fisher Center’s Sosnoff Theater, located at 60 Manor Avenue in Annandale-On-Hudson, N.Y. There is pre-concert celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year at 2 p.m., featuring a Chinese instrument demonstration, tea, and snacks. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Barrington Hall presents the Rev Tor Band
Great Barrington— On Friday, February 13th from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., Barrington Hall presents the Rev Tor Band.
A power house on the east coast club and festival circuit, the Rev Tor Band’s large original repertoire features funky, bass oriented rhythms and foot stomping percussion. Bouncy guitar lines pull the whole groove together, creating an entrancing state that will move you. Soulful melodies are immediately memorable. Even the occasional cover tune thrown in has a distinctly “Torricized” feel.
Rev Tor Band members have worked with the likes of The Band, Little Feat, Bill Monroe, Pete Seager and Arlo Guthrie. Together they have shared the stage with members of The Grateful Dead, Phish, The Allman Brothers, Dead & Co., Moe. and Hot Tuna. They have performed at festivals and concerts with Leon Russel, JGB, Los Lobos, The Funky Meters, String Cheese Incident, Rusted Root, and have toured regularly with Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten. They have eight releases on Smellydog Records.
The concert is on Friday, February 13th from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Barrington Hall, located at 426 Stockbridge Road in Great Barrington. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Guild of Berkshire Artists presents ‘Flora/Fauna/Form,’ its annual juried member show at Berkshire Botanical Garden
Stockbridge— From February 13th through March 1st, the Guild of Berkshire Artists presents “Flora/Fauna/Form,” its annual juried member show at Berkshire Botanical Garden.
Featured artists include Carolyn M. Abrams, Leslie Alfin, Lee Becker, Donna Bernstein, Chelsea Bradway, Elizabeth Butler, Deborah H. Carter, Keith Davidson, Pat Hogan, Harvey S. Kimmelman, Caryn King, Jody King Camarra, Lisa B. Loustaunau, Cindy Mathias, Jeff Nestel-Patt, Moira O’Grady, Marilyn Orner, Ronald Piazza, Ingrid Raab, Peggy Reeves, Lee Roger, Krissy Romano, Paula Shalan Harriet S. Wetstone, Mary O. Davidson, Julie Edmonds, Anne Ferril, Gail Gelburd, Gail Giles, Nancy K. Harrod, and Marion Grant.
The exhibit is on view from February 13th through March 1st at Berkshire Botanical Garden, located at 5 West Stockbridge Road in Stockbridge. There will be an opening reception on Friday, February 13th from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Refreshments will be served. There will be a walk-about on Saturday, February 21st from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Each artist will speak about their work. Tea and sweets will be served. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. More information can be found online.
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Lichtenstein Center for the Arts presents ‘ABSTRACTEN,’ showcasing ten regional abstract artists
Pittsfield— Through February 27th, the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, in conjunction with Pittsfield’s “10 x 10 Festival,” presents “ABSTRACTEN,” showcasing ten regional abstract artists.
The featured artists, who contribute to the flourishing arts scene in Pittsfield, include Joanie Ciolfi, Sarah Horne, Ellie Kreischer, Bruce Laird, Melissa Matsuki Lillie, Mark Mellinger, Shany Porras, Brent Ridge, Jesse Tobin McCauley, and JJ Tobin.
The exhibit is on view through February 27th at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, located at 28 Renne Avenue in Pittsfield. There is an opening reception on Thursday, February 12th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Gallery hours are Wednesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. More information can be found online.
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Sanctum Gallery presents inaugural exhibit ‘When Listening Becomes the Lens’ by founder Tracy Squires
Pittsfield— On Saturday, February 14th from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., in conjunction with Pittsfield’s “10 x 10 Festival,” the Sanctum Gallery presents its inaugural exhibit “When Listening Becomes the Lens” by founder Tracy Squires.
The event celebrates the grand opening of the gallery, located at. The new community-centered art and gathering space will serve as a community hub, hosting art exhibits alongside films, music, sound baths, classes, and creative offerings, with a commitment to supporting local artists.
Squires’ exhibit emerged through extended solitude and deep intimacy with nature giving rise to liminal experiences where listening becomes a way of seeing and awareness blossoms into a shared presence. Offered on Valentine’s Day, a day devoted to love, the exhibit invites a remembrance of the deeper connection that underlies and connects us all.
The celebration slash art opening is on Saturday, February 14th from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Sanctum Gallery, located at 148 North Street in Pittsfield. At 4 p.m., attendees are invited to gather in a circle, marking the beginning of an ongoing rhythm of community gatherings, rooted in listening, love and belonging. More information can be found online.
