Jeremy O. Harris, recently named inaugural creative director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Creative Collective, will share his creative process as he develops his new play prior to its world premiere at Williamstown Theatre Festival, in a program in Club B10 at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass., tonight at 8pm. Excerpts will be performed as the culmination of a workshop that was part of the production’s Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at Potash Hill. The celebrated writer, producer, and actor wrote the Tony Award-nominated Broadway play Slave Play. (Fri, Feb 7)
Owls, a string quartet boasting a unique lineup of two cellists rather than two violinists, brings an eclectic program featuring works from the 17th century through more recent times to Opalka Gallery on the campus of Russell Sage College in Albany, N.Y., tonight at 7:30pm, in a presentation of Capital Region Classical. The quartet will perform works by Couperin, Trollstilt, Chick Corea, and Terry Riley, among others. (Fri, Feb 7)
Composer-pianist Matthew Aucoin and pianist Conor Hanick join forces for an inventive and dazzling two-piano recital called Introvert/Extrovert, featuring a new work composed by Aucoin for Hanick, at The Clark in Williamstown, Mass., on Saturday at 6pm. Admission is free. In addition to Aucoin’s new piece, which is inspired by recent poetry by Ben Lerner, Hanick and Aucoin play a program divided into “introverted” and “extroverted” halves: in the former category, a mysterious and meditative work by Morton Feldman, and in the latter category, a selection of jubilant and thrilling music for one and two pianos by Gabriella Smith, Julius Eastman, and John Adams. (Sat, Feb 8)
Renée Anne Louprette presents The Best of Bach—The Great Organ Works in the first of two organ recitals on historic organs in Housatonic and Great Barrington as part of Berkshire Bach’s Organ Masters series, at the UU Meeting House in Housatonic, Mass., on Saturday at 2pm. The recital features familiar pieces, including the iconic Toccata in D minor and transcriptions from the cantatas. (Sat, Feb 8)
Seth Rogovoy – hey, that’s me! -- will read from my new book, Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison, at The Chatham Synagogue in Chatham, N.Y., on Sunday at 1pm. The reading will include multimedia elements, including audio and video, and will be followed by a Q&A and a booksigning. The event is free and open to the public. (Sun, Feb 9)
Also of note:
Zoe Wohlfeld delivers a work-in-progress showing of Dog Funeral at The Foundry in West Stockbridge, Mass., tonight at 7:30pm.
Canadian singer-songwriter Madeleine Roger brings her confessional folk to Park Theater in Hudson, N.Y., tonight at 8pm. Carter Lou McElroy is also on the bill.
Choreographers Ephrat Asherie and Michelle Dorrance present a work-in-progress showing of The Center Will Not Hold, showcasing 11 singular performers deeply rooted in street, club, and vernacular dances including house, breaking, hip hop, tap, Chicago footwork, Detroit jit, litefeet, Memphis jookin, and body percussion, plus live percussion, in the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass., on Saturday at 8pm.
Vocalist Claudia Bruce will be accompanied by Paula Vitolo on piano for Songs, a cabaret of love songs, at Time & Space Limited (TSL) in Hudson, N.Y., on Sunday at 2pm. The songs have been culled from popular tunes dating from 1904 to 1938, with a couple of favorites from the inimitable Jacques Brel.
Pianist Junwen Liang plays a pre-Valentine’s Day program of Romantic Impressionism featuring works by Ravel, Debussy, Chopin, and Schubert at the Saugerties United Methodist Church in Saugerties, N.Y., on Sunday at 3pm. The free concert is presented by Saugerties Pro Musica.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.substack.com.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.