Bits & Bytes: BSO performance canceled; ‘Rafiki’ at Triplex Cinema; ‘Bach & Friends’ concert; Kevin McKrell at Spencertown Academy; ‘Folk Art of Limners’; Maplefest at Williams

BSO concert at Darrow School cancelled

This just in: Due to pending inclement weather this weekend, the March 10th Community Chamber Concert scheduled at The Darrow School has been cancelled. We will provide any further updates as soon as possible. The BSO apologizes for the inconvenience, and hopes that you’ll join them at a future event!

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BIFF to screen ‘Rafiki’ at Triplex Cinema

Great Barrington — The Berkshire International Film Festival will conclude its “BIFF Selects” film series with the Kenyan drama “Rafiki” Sunday, March 10, at 10:30 a.m. at the Triplex Cinema.

Directed by Wanuri Kahiu and bursting with the colorful street style and music of Nairobi’s vibrant youth culture, “Rafiki” is a tender love story between two young women in a country that still criminalizes homosexuality. Kena and Ziki have long been told that “good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives,” but they yearn for something more. Despite the political rivalry between their families, the girls encourage each other to pursue their dreams in a conservative society. When love blossoms between them, Kena and Ziki must choose between happiness and safety. Initially banned in Kenya for its positive portrayal of queer romance, “Rafiki” won a landmark case in the Kenyan High Court, chipping away at anti-LGBT legislation.

Tickets are $10. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Berkshire International Film Festival at (413) 528-8030.

–E.E.

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Salisbury Sinfonietta to present ‘Bach & Friends: Music for a King’ 

Jack Bowman. Photo courtesy Salisbury Sinfonietta

Salisbury, Conn. — The Salisbury Sinfonietta will present “Bach & Friends: Music for a King” a concert by and for 18^th-century royals, Sunday, March 10, at 3:00 pm at the Salisbury Congregational Church.

The concert planned by Sinfonietta maestro and founder Jack Bowman premieres a newly discovered symphony by Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia who loved war, music and his flute. Featured compositions are by the great German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and contemporaries King Frederick and Johann Joaquim Quantz, a distinguished flutist and pedagogue frequently in residence at Frederick’s Sans Souci Palace in Potsdam.

The program includes Bach’s beloved Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 with harpsichord, Bach’s Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor for Organ and Quantz’s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra in G Major. Bowman will be the soloist for the organ fantasy. The concert will feature seven Sinfonietta members including violinist Anne Trépanier of Winsted, flutist Kim Collins of Hartford and harpsichordist Jackson Kohl of New York City.

Tickets will bee available at the door via cash or check at $25 for adults, $10 for students and youth, and free for children under age 12. For more information, contact (612) 226-7944 or jack.bowman.dma@gmail.com.

–E.E.

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Brian Melick and Kevin McKrell. Photo courtesy Spencertown Academy Arts Center

Spencertown Academy to host Celtic music concert with Kevin McKrell

Spencertown, N.Y. — The Spencertown Academy Roots & Shoots Concerts Series will presents Celtic singer-songwriter Kevin McKrell with Brian Melick Saturday, March 9, at 8 p.m. at Spencertown Academy Arts Center.

Celtic folk music legend and Saratoga native McKrell has performed at top Celtic, folk and bluegrass festivals around the world, as well as at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, among other illustrious venues. Songs that he’s written have been performed and recorded by the Kingston Trio, the Furey Brothers, Bob Shane, North Sea Gas, the Woods Tea Co., Seamus Kennedy, Hair of the Dog, Get Up Jack, and the Dublin City Ramblers.

Melick, who will accompany McKrell on drums and percussion, has recorded and played live with musicians as diverse as Cathie Ryan, Joel Brown and Dave Maswick, Peggy Delaney, Reggie Harris, Maria Zemantauski, and the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company.

Tickets are $20 for the general public, $15 for Spencertown Academy members and $10 for students. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact Spencertown Academy Arts Center at (518) 392-3693 or info@spencertownacademy.org.

–E.E.

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‘Folk Art of Limners’ talk to discuss the lives of traveling portrait artists

Sheffield — On Friday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. at Dewey Hall, the Sheffield Historical Society will present the talk “Folk Art of the Limners” by Charles Flint.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, traveling portrait artists called limners would go from town to town painting likenesses for an affordable price. This region was host to some of the finest of these portraitists, in particular Ammi Phillips, whose works are considered the epitome of this folk-art genre. An expert on early American fine art and furniture who has been an art and antiques dealer for 53 years, Flint will discuss the peripatetic limner, who was uniquely American, often self-taught, and whose identity in many instances remained unknown for over a century. The presentation accompanies the Society’s exhibit “Limners: Itinerant Portraitists of the 19th Century”, which runs through early April at the Old Stone Store, 137 Main St.

The talk is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Sheffield Historical Society at (413) 229-2694 or sheffieldhistoricalsociety@gmail.com.

–E.E.

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Williams College to host annual Maplefest

Williamstown — Williams College’s Hopkins Memorial Forest, at the junction of Bulkley Street and Northwest Hill Road, will host its annual Maplefest celebration Saturday, March 9, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Attendees will be able to observe and take part in the process of producing maple syrup.

Maplefest attendees will be able to visit a working sugar house, observe the finishing and bottling of the final product, tap trees, gather sap, and taste homemade syrup on pancakes and “sugar on snow.” In addition there will be demonstrations of old-time evaporating methods, a taste test, videos and more.

The event is free to the public, appropriate for people of all ages and will be held regardless of the weather. For building locations on the Williams campus, consult the online map or call the Office of Communications at (413) 597-4277.

–E.E.