Winterpills brings its gauzy, elegant chamber-pop to Park Theater in Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday at 8pm. Based in Northampton, Mass., and known for their melancholy sound and sublime male-female vocal harmonies, the core of the band, formed in 2003, consists of singer-songwriter Philip Price and singer-keyboardist Flora Reed, who are also husband and wife. Their music often features lush, sometimes gritty instrumentation and literate, emotive lyrics, earning them comparisons to artists such as Elliott Smith and Big Star. Imagine Fleetwood Mac married 10,000 Maniacs and had a baby – it would likely sound like Winterpills. (Sat, Dec 6)
The Aimée Allen Jazz Quartet brings its modern jazz stylings to Kaatsbaan in Tivoli, N.Y., on Saturday at 7pm. In addition to playing jazz standards and bossa nova, the quartet will perform original songs by Allen, who is also an accomplished composer and songwriter. Based in New York City, Allen has released several acclaimed albums, including the 2022 release Love & the Catalyst, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album. (Sat, Dec 6)
The 14-member Vivace Chamber Orchestra will perform works by Mozart, Britten, Bruch and Mendelssohn at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Sunday at 4pm, in a presentation of Close Encounters With Music. The orchestra includes members of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Sybarite5, Frisson, Eighth Blackbird, Seraphic Fire, Sejong Soloists, The Knights, A Far Cry, Music from Copland House, Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, and the Jasper String Quartet. (Sun, Dec 7)
Also of note:
Lily Vakili brings her band and her genre-blending fusion of rock, blues, jazz, Bossa Nova, and indie-punk to Buttonball Barn in Egremont, Mass., tonight at 7pm.
ARKAI brings its chill fusion of classical textures with elements from rock, electronic music, pop, and jazz to the Mahaiwe’s Indigo Room in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday at 8pm. The award-winning electroacoustic string duo is composed of two Juilliard-trained musicians: violinist Jonathan Miron and cellist Philip Sheegog.
Crescendo inaugurates its holiday concert season this weekend with The Bach Experience – Choral Music for the Spirit, featuring Bach’s Christmas Cantata and Mass in G Minor, at St. James Place in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday at 4pm, and again at Trinity Church in Lakeville, Conn., on Sunday at 4pm.
The Slambovian Circus of Dreams brings its psychedelic folk-rock and its ‘Very Slambovian Christmas’ show to the 8th Step at Proctors in Schenectady, N.Y., on Saturday at 7:30pm.
Cantilena Chamber Choir will present its 22nd annual Christmas at Trinity concert at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lenox, Mass., on Sunday at 3pm. The program features centuries-spanning choral masterworks with contemporary compositions and special guest readings, including Berkshire author Kevin O’Hara, recipient of the 2012 John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Award.
French accordionist Théo Ould performs a tango-inspired program featuring works from Bach to Piazzolla at Union College’s Memorial Chapel in Schenectady, N.Y., on Sunday at 3pm, in a presentation of Capitol Region Classical.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.substack.com.
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