The highlights of the cultural weekend in our region include orchestral music, dance, early music, chamber music, choral music, jazz … plus a whole lot more.
The Tanglewood season proper kicks off this weekend with the arrival of the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Andris Nelsons and a host of superstar guest musicians, including pianist Emanuel Ax and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. On Friday night, Manny Ax will accompany the BSO in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat, K.482, and the BSO will play Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. On Saturday night, Mutter takes the stage for the BSO’s first Tanglewood performance of André Previn’s Violin Concerto, Anne-Sophie, which was written for and dedicated to her, and which is being performed in celebration of the composer, who passed away in February. Also on the program are works by Joan Tower and Dvorak.
Choreographer Reggie Wilson and his Brooklyn-based Fist and Heel Performance Group present a roving performance on the grounds of Hancock Shaker Village on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Compagnie CNDC-Angers/Robert Swinston Honors Merce Cunningham at Jacob's Pillow in Becket, Mass., with performances tonight, Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon.
Tonight, Aston Magna Music opens its festival season with "Birth of the String Quartet," featuring Music by Caldara, Castello, Purcell, Mozart, Haydn and others at Time and Space in Hudson NY. Remember, it's early music, so don't be late.
Tonight, at the Saugerties Reformed Church in Saugerties, NY, the wonderfully talented and brilliant Phoebe Legere and Joakim Lartey join forces using dance, song and tribal costumes, to tell the story of how Jazz began. Showtime is 6:30 p.m. Admission is free.
On Saturday night, Eilen Jewell, self-styled "queen of the minor key," brings her blend of noirish rockabilly, surf-tinged country, retro-rock and jazzy folk to Club Helsinki Hudson at 9 p.m. Joined by her band, Jewell will be playing old favorites, recent hits, and previewing songs from her upcoming album, "Gypsy," due out next month.
The 50th anniversary of the original Woodstock Festival of Music and Arts is coming up fast, and this weekend the buildup to the anniversary begins at the Emerson Resort in Mt. Tremper, NY, with a three-day event kicking off tonight at 7 with the original promoter, Michael Lang, at a reception and book signing for “The Road to Woodstock,” which he co-wrote with Woodstock author Holly George-Warren. Also on tap for the weekend are art exhibits, talks, film screenings, yoga, a concert, and a roundtable conversation moderated by Holly George-Warren featuring musicians and other figures from the original festival.
Berkshire Playwrights Lab presents “Judgment Day,” written by Rob Ulin and directed by BPL Co-Artistic Director Matthew Penn, another in its Staged Reading Series, at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., next Wednesday, July 10, at 7:30 p.m.
Also: Momix Brings Dance Entertainment to the Mahaiwe tonight at 8 and Saturday at 7 p.m.; Ida O'Keeffe Escapes Georgia's Shadow at The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass.; the Supertone Roots Music Festival lands at Basilica Hudson on Saturday at 2 p.m.; the New York City Gay Men's Chorus brings “Quiet No More: A Choral Celebration of Stonewall” Lumberyard in Catskill, N.Y., on Saturday at 8 p.m.; Ronald K. Brown’s Evidence premieres its new dance, Mercy, featuring music written and performed by Meshell Ndegeocello at Bard Summerscape tonight, Saturday and Sunday.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of Berkishire Daily and the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.com