The cultural highlights for our region this weekend include roots music, chamber music, orchestral music, punk rock … plus a whole lot more.
Bruce Molsky, a self-described "street kid" from the Bronx who was a big fan of the Beatles, Motown, and Bob Dylan, bailed on college and dreams of becoming an architect, instead opting for a cold-water cabin in Virginia in the 1970s. Today, Bruce Molsky is one of the most revered ambassadors for America’s old-time mountain music and one of its most esteemed fiddlers. Molsky, who performs at Dewey Hall in Sheffield, Mass., in the venue's Tap Roots Sessions series outdoors in the back yard, on Sunday at 4pm, calls Beacon, N.Y., home these days, and in addition to fiddle, the multi-instrumentalist also plays banjo, guitar, probably any stringed instrument you hand him, plus he sings.
The play “Shirley Valentine” by Willy Russell follows a bored, middle-aged Liverpool housewife trapped in a stale, loveless marriage, who finds herself talking to the wall while she prepares her husband's chips 'n' egg, wondering what happened to her life. When a friend invites her on holiday to Greece, she leaves the drudgery of cooking dinner for her husband, packs her bags and heads for the sun. While relaxing on holiday, she rediscovers the woman she used to be and the happiness she has been missing. “Shirley Valentine” kicks off at the Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, Mass., on Saturday night and runs through Sunday, October 24. The production stars Corinna May in the title role.
Renowned pianist Jenny Lin premieres composer William Bolcom’s “Suite of Preludes” at Hudson Hall on Saturday at 7pm. Composed during lockdown, this new nine-movement suite shares the bill with music by Lin’s longtime musical collaborator Philip Glass – including his Passacaglia and selections from his soundtrack to the 2002 film “The Hours.” Born in Taiwan, raised in Austria, and educated in Europe and America, Lin has built a vibrant international career, notable for innovative collaborations with a range of artists and creators.
Speaking of piano players, Shai Wosner has attracted international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity, and creative insight. Born in Israel, where he began his musical studies, Wosner is a former student of Emanuel Ax at the Juilliard School in New York City. Wosner will perform a recital of two works by Beethoven – the Sonatina Op. 79 and Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli Op. 120—at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., on Sunday at 4.
Fans of chamber music might also want to check out The Eribeth Chamber Players performing at Roeliff Jansen Park in Hillsdale, NY on Sunday at 3.
If you like your classical music big and bold, you’re in luck. The Orchestra Now, based at the Fisher Center at Bard College, concludes its fall concert series with Strauss’ Merry Pranks & Bruckner’s Fifth, tonight at 8pm and Saturday at 5pm. Conductor Leon Botstein will take the orchestra through the paces of Richard Strauss's Merry Pranks and Bruckner's massive Fifth Symphony.
Remember late Seventies and early 1980s pop singer Christopher Cross? Of course you do. He was the man responsible for such huge ear candy hits as “Sailing,” “Arthur’s Theme” and of course, “Ride Like the Wind.” Cross won the dreaded Best New Artist Grammy Award in 1980, which is historically a kiss of death, but Cross is still around, and will be playing these hits and more tonight at the Mahaiwe Theater in Great Barrington, Mass., at 8pm.
And if your taste leans a bit more toward the avant-garde, you might want to check out Richard Lloyd, a cofounder of punk/new wave avatars Television, leading his own band tonight at 8 at the Egremont Barn in South Egremont, Mass., featuring members and associates of Katrina and the Waves, Dave Davies of the Kinks, and Rick Derringer.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.com