Rogovoy Report 12/21/18

The cultural highlights in our region this weekend include Americana, pop standards, French music, avant-garde, classical, plus a whole lot more.

The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow, one of the Berkshires most popular bands, teams up with rock singer-songwriter Johnny Irion - who is producing the group's next album -- as well as other musical friends for a Holiday Extravaganza concert to take place at the Stationery Factory in Dalton, Mass., tonight at 7pm. Whiskey Treaty Roadshow is unique in that it is a collaborative band that brings together five different Massachusetts singer-songwriters to write and play original, rootsy Americana songs.

John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey will record their syndicated American-songbook radio program, "Radio Deluxe," live at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday at 8pm. On their popular program, the two jazz stars mix and match songs in medleys and sequences that flow like a continuing dialogue about life, relationships, and popular culture itself. The common denominator is their playful sense of humor; the husband-and-wife hosts are masters of off-the-cuff repartee. This time out, John and Jessica bring with them special guests stars of the Brazilian music scene.

A new exhibition, “Turner and Constable: The Inhabited Landscape,” is on view at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown now through March 10. The exhibition features more than fifty paintings, drawings and watercolors, prints, and books exploring the significance of human figures and the built environment in the landscape, as well as specific places meaningful to each artist, Joseph Turner and John Constable.

Multiple Grammy Award–winning vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant returns to the Fisher Center at Bard College for “Les Belles Chansons Françaises,” a special winter concert on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Accompanied by Franco-American virtuoso pianist Dan Tepfer, Salvant presents the enchanting music of the French Songbook, from Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel to Serge Gainsbourg and more.  Ooh la la.

Composer Phil Kline’s mobile sound-sculpture UNSILENT NIGHT — a landmark in avant-garde public art - takes place in downtown Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday at 6:30 pm, beginning at Fourth and Warren streets. Unsilent Night takes the form of a street promenade in which the audience becomes the performer. Each participant gets one of four tracks of music. Originally the music was played using only cassette tapes in boomboxes, but as vintage boomboxes have become harder to find, more people use smartphones with portable speakers to blast the music. The event in Hudson explores the city's secret past through lesser traveled alleys and enclaves.

And finally, The Orchestra Now returns to Hudson Hall tonight at 7pm for a special Christmas concert featuring works by Beethoven and Mozart. The program includes Corelli’s Christmas Concerto followed by Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante and Beethoven’s colossal Symphony No. 2.