Not for nothing has singer-songwriter Antje Duvekot garnered three top songwriting awards, including the Kerrville New Folk Competition’s Best New Folk Award, the Boston Music Award for Outstanding Folk Act, and Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Duvekot’s vocals are from the Emmylou Harris/Patty Griffin school of country twang, perfectly suited to her intricate, closely observed portraits. Duvekot performs at Buttonball Barn in South Egremont, Mass., on Saturday at 7:30pm. (Sat, Feb 7)
Black Belt Eagle Scout and Mato Wayuhi plus Ailani bring their evening-length Black Bear Tour to Club B10 at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass., on Saturday at 8pm. The performance is meant to engage with Jeffrey Gibson’s installation Power Full Because We’re Different. Katherine Paul, a grunge-informed indie rocker better known as Black Belt Eagle Scout, performs alongside multi-disciplinary hip-hop artist Mato Wayuhi and pop-rock artist Ailani for the first stop of their national Black Bear Tour. (Sat, Feb 7)
Hudson Valley-based singer-songwriter Al Olender celebrates the release of her brand-new album, The Worrier, at the Old Dutch Church in Kingston, N.Y., next Friday, February 13, at 7:30pm, in what is cleverly billed as an Alentine’s Day performance. Olender writes tuneful folk-pop melodies to go with her intimate, confessional lyrics, and sings in a voice with a hint of a twang that betrays her early inspirations including contemporary country icons like Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and The Chicks. (Fri, Feb 13)
Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Nicole Zuraitis brings her contemporary jazz sounds to Hudson Hall in Hudson, N.Y., for a Valentine’s Day Concert next Saturday, February 14, at 7pm. Zuraitis, who also plays piano, won a Grammy Award in 2024 for Best Jazz Vocal Album for How Love Begins. A classically trained, self-described “recovering opera singer,” audiences frequently marvel at her four-octave range. In addition to her original songs and jazz standards, her repertoire includes Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon,” and Carole King’s “So Far Away.” (Sat, Feb 14)
Also of note this weekend:
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo brings its troupe of male dancers to the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday at 3pm and 8pm, to perform its combination of skillful pointe work and hilarious parodying of classical ballet favorites like Swan Lake.
Renée Anne Louprette presents The Baroque Dance Masters with organ works by Bach, Georg Böhm, Dieterich Buxtehude, and Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre at the UU Meeting House in Housatonic, Mass., on Saturday at 2pm, in a presentation of Berkshire Bach.
The Orchestra Now will perform works by Stravinsky, Cage, and C. P. E. Bach at the Bard Fisher Center in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 2pm.
The Crystalline Chamber Collective Piano Trio performs works by Mozart, Liszt, and Clara Schumann at Saugerties United Methodist Church in Saugerties, N.Y., on Sunday at 3pm, in a free concert presented by Saugerties Pro Musica.
Cellists Annabelle Hoffman and Perri Morris will perform Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Cellos at Greenwall Auditorium in the VAPA Building at Bennington College in Bennington, Vt., in a free concert featuring Sage City Symphony on Sunday at 4pm. The concert will also include works by Mozart, Wagner, and Stravinsky.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.substack.com.