Rogovoy Report For 6/10/16

The cultural highlights in our region in coming days include superstars of indie-rock; an exhibition of nudes by Old Masters; a chamber concert featuring early works of musical modernism; a soulful rock singer songwriter; poetry and fiction, plus a whole lot more.

The National, the Brooklyn-based kings of indie-rock, bring their distinctive sound to Joe’s Field at MASS MoCA in North Adams on Saturday at 8pm, in their only northeast headline show in all of 2016. All proceeds from the concert benefit the Ghent, N.Y. –based Hawthorne Valley Association - a 400-acre farm and cultural center integrating agriculture, education, and art in its mission of social and cultural renewal - and MASS MoCA itself. The National are known for their melancholy, brooding sound, featuring the baritone vocals of lead singer Matt Berninger.

“Splendor, Myth, and Vision: Nudes from the Prado,” the summer’s major exhibition at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, consists of 28 Old Master paintings. The exhibit opens on Saturday and remains on view through October 10. The exhibition examines the collecting of 16th- and 17th-century paintings of the nude at the Spanish court, exploring the histories of these works and their display in the Spanish Royal Collections, and reconsiders the significant role of the nude in European art.

Pianist Michael Chertock, violinist Yehonatan Berick, and Close Encounters with Music artistic director Yehuda Hanani on cello, will perform works by Beethoven, Stravinsky, Debussy, Messiaen, Léger and Schoenfield, joined by special guest narrator Alison Larkin, for “Music That Shook the World,” a gala concert for the Close Encounters with Music series, at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, on Saturday at 6pm.

Brooklyn-based rock singer-songwriter Holly Miranda, whose soulful, sensual vocals were one of the distinguishing characteristics of the sound of much-beloved, Brooklyn-based indie-rock band the Jealous Girlfriends, brings her pointed and outspoken songs to Club Helsinki Hudson tonight at 9pm. New England singer-songwriter Sonya Kitchell warms up the crowd for Miranda, who should appeal to fans of Cat Power, Feist, Jeff Buckley, Liz Phair, and Nina Simone.

Authors and poets including Julie Metz, Benjamin Hale, and Mary Lou Buschi will read from their works at Spotty Dog Books & Ale in Hudson on Saturday at 7pm, as part of Volume, the free monthly reading and music series that takes place at Spotty Dog every second Saturday of the month. The readings will be followed by a set of music by DJ Stephen Bluhm.

The Chandler Travis Philharmonic performs a free concert at Musica in Hudson on Sunday at 3pm. The ensemble, a nine-piece ensemble from Boston that includes a horn section, string bass, keyboard, mandocello, guitar, drums, accordion, and a singing valet, plays an eclectic, melodic brand of pop and rock, a self-described “alt-Dixieland omnipop” and the “missing link between the Kinks and Sun Ra,” which should also appeal to fans of NRBQ, Joe Jackson, and They Might Be Giants.