The cultural highlights for our region this weekend include chamber music, orchestral music, experimental music, indie-pop … plus a whole lot more.The Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., presents Heartbeat Opera’s Breathing Free, a visual album screened for free on Saturday at 7 p.m. Breathing Free focuses on Black empowerment in the arts, featuring excerpts from Beethoven’s Fidelio, a selection of Negro Spirituals, and songs by Harry T. Burleigh, Florence Price, Langston Hughes, Anthony Davis, and Thulani Davis. Immediately following the event there will be a live virtual talkback with the concert’s creators, Ethan Heard and Ras Dia. Although the event is free, registration is required – find details at mahaiwe.org.
Hershey Felder continues his series of virtual programs devoted to composers in Nicholas, Anna & Sergei, performed live from Florence and streamed as a benefit show by Berkshire Theatre Group on Sunday at 8 p.m. In the program, Felder portrays Sergei Rachmaninoff, in a memory play that takes place in the house in which the Russian Rachmaninoff died in Beverly Hills. The story involves a strange meeting between Rachmaninoff and Anna Anderson, the woman who claimed to be the sole surviving member of the Romanov Dynasty, the Princess Anastasia. The Nicholas of the title is Tsar Nicholas II. For complete details, visit berkshiretheatregroup.org.
MASS MoCA's innovative new series, Auditory After Hours, continues at the cultural laboratory in North Adams with a sound installation curated by Tune-Yards, a critically acclaimed duo churning out endlessly danceable and inventive indie-pop tracks. For their Auditory After Hours soundtrack, the duo recorded an all-new vocals-heavy set incorporating sounds from their recent album that recontextualize the art in MASS MoCA’s galleries. Timed tickets are available for the event on Saturday night at massmoca.org.
Other Sounds, a new concert series presented by Dewey Hall in Sheffield, Mass., features the duo of Amirtha Kidambi & Lea Bertucci on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Vocalist Kidambi and Lea Bertucci on tapes and electronics combine forces to extend the sonic possibilities of the human voice through electronic manipulation and improvised tactics. Influenced equally by jazz, Carnatic, and western classical vocal techniques, the duo takes a thoroughly freely improvised approach. Other Sounds concerts at Dewey Hall will take place the third Saturday of each month. For more details, visit deweyhall.org
The final concert of Saugerties Pro Musica’s 25th Season features the Will Hayes Trio playing compositions by female composers, including works by Amy Beach, Hilary Tann, Rhonda Larson, Katherine Hoover, and Fanny Mendelssohn. The free, virtual concert will premiere on Sunday at 3 p.m. and again at 8, and will be available on demand from the series website at Saugertieslighthousetv.com.
The Wish You Were Hear virtual variety show series hosted by Dust Bowl Faeries and broadcast live from the stage of Club Helsinki Hudson concludes its run on Saturday at 8 p.m. with the Flower Power Summer Break Show, featuring special guest artists Sirsy, an upstate NY-based indie pop duo. The show begins at 8 p.m., streaming from a private YouTube link, which is emailed to guests when they register for tickets. Visit helsinkihudson.com for more details.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.com
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