Xian Zhang conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a program featuring Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in the Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., tonight at 8pm. Joining the BSO for the performance is contemporary ensemble Nimbus Dance. (Fri, Jul 21)
The 20th annual Bard SummerScape Festival presents the first major new American production of Camille Saint-Saëns’s grand opera Henri VIII at the Fisher Center at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., tonight at 6:30pm, Sunday at 2pm; Wednesday, July 26, at 2pm; Friday, July 28, at 4pm; and Sunday, July 30, at 2pm. The original staging by visionary French director Jean-Romain Vesperini features bass-baritone Alfred Walker with the American Symphony Orchestra and Bard Festival Chorale, led by festival founder and co-artistic director Leon Botstein. (Fri, Jul 21; Sun, Jul 23; Wed, Jul 26; Fri, Jul 28; Sun, Jul 30)
Dorrance Dance is at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, Mass., today through Sunday to perform SOUNDspace — one of the early works that brought choreographer/dancer and company founder Michelle Dorrance to prominence — on the occasion of its 10th anniversary, including never-before-seen elements created specifically for the Ted Shawn Theatre. The program will also feature 45th & 8th, a new work featuring original compositions by Aaron Marcellus. (Wed, Jul 19-Sun, Jul 23)
Works by Bach, Villa Lobos, and Henry Purcell are on the program for Aston Magna’s Baroque Celebration #2 at Hudson Hall in Hudson, N.Y., tonight at 7pm, and at St. James Place in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday at 6pm. Performers include Kristen Watson, soprano; Deborah Rentz Moore, alto; Jason McStoots, tenor; and David McFerrin, baritone. (Fri, Jul 21)
Icelandic singer-songwriter Nanna brings her moody musical landscapes to the Colony Cafe in Woodstock, N.Y., on Saturday at 8pm. Some of her gorgeous music was recorded right here in the Hudson Valley, produced by Aaron Dessner of the National at his Long Pond studio. (Sat, Jul 22)
Berkshire Opera Festival opens its 2023 summer season with Breaking the Mold: Baroque, Bel Canto, and Beyond, a concert of arias and ensembles spanning 300 years, at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday at 2pm. The program traverses a vast range of musical eras and styles, from Handel to Heggie. Performers include soprano Jacqueline Piccolino, mezzo-soprano Megan Moore, tenor Alex McKissick, baritone Ethan Vincent, and pianist Travis Bloom. (Sat, Jul 22)
The Manhattan Chamber Players with special guest pianist David Fung will perform works by Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Ravel, and Schumann at Maverick Concerts in Woodstock, N.Y., on Sunday at 4pm. (Sun, Jul 23)
From her work in the 1980s with MTV favorite ‘Til Tuesday and her acclaimed solo discs in the 1990s to her Grammy Award-winning soundtrack to Magnolia in the 2000s, Aimee Mann is one of the most celebrated and insightful singer-songwriters of her generation. She is also a generous and compelling performer, as she will demonstrate when she plays the Egg in Albany, N.Y., on Monday at 7:30pm. (Mon, Jul 24)
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.substack.com.
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