Oona Doherty will make her Jacob’s Pillow debut this summer as the first headlining artist from Northern Ireland to perform at the festival in Becket, Mass., today through Sunday. Based in Belfast and now touring internationally, Doherty — a choreographer, dancer, and visual artist — was the recipient of the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Biennale in 2021. Doherty’s Pillow residency includes the U.S. premiere of Navy Blue, her largest work yet, a mash-up of ensemble dance, spoken word poetry, political candor, and eclectic music ranging from Rachmaninoff to the pulsing sounds of Jamie xx. (Fri-Sun, Jul 26-30)
The Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet, celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, headlines Bang on a Can’s three-day LOUD Weekend festival at MASS MoCA, taking place today through Saturday, with dozens of events popping up on stages and in galleries throughout the campus of the cultural laboratory in North Adams. Kronos will perform works by Bang on a Can cofounder Michael Gordon, minimalist avatar Terry Riley, and others. Bang on a Can’s resident ensemble, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, will perform music by George Lewis, Meredith Monk, and Bang on a Can cofounder Julia Wolfe, and Vicky Chow will play piano etudes by Philip Glass. (Thu-Sat, Jul 27-29)
Julia Wolfe will also be on the menu at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., tonight at 8, when Giancarlo Guerrero conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Lorelei Ensemble in Wolfe’s Her Story, a BSO co-commission. The program additionally features a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. (Fri, Jul 28)
Iron & Wine, the musical project of singer-songwriter Sam Beam, brings its Back to Basics tour, featuring its singular blend of indie-folk and Americana, to UPAC in Kingston, N.Y., tonight at 8. (Fri, Jul 28)
Guitarist Jesse Cook will bring his unique blend of flamenco, world music, jazz, pop, Brazilian samba, and Persian music to the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday at 8 p.m. (Sat, Jul 29)
It is a constantly debated question as to whether to categorize Don White as a singer-songwriter first and comedian second or the other way around. White brings his blend of comedy, storytelling, and folk-singing to the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday at 8 p.m. (Sat, Jul 29)
Italian theatermaker Alessandro Sciarroni brings his inventive revival of the polka chinata, a nearly lost Bolognese courtship dance from the last century, called Save the Last Dance for Me, to PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (Sat, Jul 29)
The Grammy Award-nominated Danish String Quartet will perform works by Haydn, Shostakovich, Britten, and Schubert at Maverick Concerts in Woodstock, N.Y., on Sunday at 4 p.m. Three of the group’s members are from Denmark; the cellist, however, hails from Norway. (Sun, Jul 30)
New-folk singer-songwriters Lori McKenna and Mark Erelli bring their personal, intimate song portraits to Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, N.Y., on Sunday at 8 p.m. (Sun, Jul 30)
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., today at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. (Fri, Jul 28; Sun, Jul 30)
New York City singer-songwriter Lucy Kaplansky brings her intimate songs of love and heartache to Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Thursday, August 3, at 7 p.m. (Thu, Aug 3)
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.substack.com.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.