Apr 22 Monday
Katie Castagno’s “Our Queer Elders” uses song to celebrate and elevate the lives of queer icons throughout history. At a time when queer history and queer voices are increasingly erased, “Our Queer Elders” is part sentimental and part cheeky, whether it’s an account of Rachel Carson’s whirlwind romance with Dorothy Freeman, a hypothetical look into a clandestine meeting of Sally Ride and Russian cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya during the Cold War, or a rollicking love song from Emily Dickinson to Susan Gilbert.
Katie Castagno is a geologist by day and a musician by night. Drawing on roots in rural New England and collegiate a cappella, Katie writes about people, places, and geological phenomena. Katie is a Smith College alum and is now the director of the Land-Sea Interaction Program at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, MA.
Apr 27 Saturday
Renaissance Jukebox presents music inspired by the works of Wm. Shakespeare(and beyond): In Spring...As oft 'twixt May and April is to see,When winds breathe sweet, unruly though they be. from A Lover's Complaint, pub. 1609
This program includes quotes, songs, ballads, and instrumental works associated with Shakespeare in his own era, and modern songs that connect with our personal and sometimes unruly responses to Shakespeare’s texts. Works of Campion, Danyel, Dowland, Holborne, and other 17th-century composers, in juxtaposition with modern songs evoking related stories, moods, and/or imagery, by Jason Isbell, Cat Stevens, the Everly Brothers, Phoebe Bridgers, Hozier and others.
Renaissance Jukebox is comprised of longtime early music performers Donnie Cotter (voice), Meg Pash (lute, voice, viol) and Chris Stetson (lute, mandolin), newly joined by McKay Perry (violin) and Liam Birkerts (bass viol). As individual and intergenerational artists they have explored the song literature of the 16th and 17th centuries with modern singer-songwriter styles from folk to rock, country, and jazz, and have come to value and enjoy presenting thematic and expressive connections among multiple genres across the centuries.
Since the founding of Tanglewood in 1940 by Serge Koussevitzky, the BSO’s long-time music director and conductor, the Berkshires and Koussevitzky have become synonymous with world-class classical music. 2024 marks the 150th anniversary of Koussevitzky’s birth and the West Stockbridge Historical Society has an opportunity to participate in the celebration of this occasion and in doing so make some history itself.
Susan Hagen, principal bassist of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and first alternate bassist for both the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra 150th anniversary during the spring of 2024. Susan, along with renowned British bassist David Heyes, has curated a program of music expressly commissioned for the occasion. In addition to the newly commissioned compositions, their program will also include several pieces for bass by composers such as Giovanni Bottesini. Accompanying the two bassists will be pianist Rebecca Plummer and acclaimed soprano Sarah Poole.
Ashley Gearing and Andrea Young are no strangers to Nashville's music scene. Both have numerous accolades and individual successes to their names, working with some of the biggest and baddest in the business. Their pairing exposes Ashley's powerhouse vocals and rhythmic acoustic guitar alongside Andrea's ferocious fiddle playing and angelic harmonies...add in the dynamic of their songwriting and the deck is stacked. American Songwriter calls The Wildcards a "Soaring new partnership...with talent in spades." Joining forces with some of the world's finest musicians, they bring a show filled with unforgettable original music and cover song favorites. With The Wildcards, you bring the good vibes, they'll bring the party. Every time.
Apr 28 Sunday
Zara Bode’s Little Big Band performs classic American swing to delight the ears, eyes and feet. Inspired by the likes of Duke Ellington, Django Reinhardt and Ella Fitzgerald the Little Big Band features top shelf chanteuse Zara Bode (of Signature Sounds artists The Sweetback Sisters) and a sizzling horn section led by clarinetist and arranger Anna Patton. From chic to cheeky, the Little Big Band digs into the classics with aplomb and affection creating vibrant new takes on the old radio hits. Dancing is not required, but be forewarned your feet may be inspired.Suggested Donation: $10 - $30100% of donations benefit the Pioneer Valley Workers' Centerhttps://pvworkerscenter.org
May 03 Friday
Samora Pinderhughes is a composer, pianist/vocalist, interdisciplinary artist and surrealist. His primary body of work, The Healing Project, is an extension of the political commitments that Samora has held throughout his life and work: abolitionist, anti-capitalist, anti-colonialist, internationalist, pro-Black power, intersectional, revolutionary. Pinderhughes has been known in the music world for a while now as somebody who goes past just making songs about issues and is actively involved in the struggle—it’s an everyday, lifelong commitment for him, not just a moment.
May 04 Saturday
Haneef Nelson is a New York born and raised trumpeter, educator, and composer. His lifelong love of music started with his early studies at the famed Jazzmobile program in Harlem. At the Jazzmobile he studied trumpet, music theory, as well as played in ensembles taught by jazz luminaries including Eddie Preston, Cecil Bridgewater, Dr. Donald Byrd; John Stubblefield; Frank Foster; Charles Davis; Roland Guerrero. Donald Byrd continued to be a mentor along with his high school music teachers Cedric J. Lemmie from Uniondale High School and Dave Burns from the Long Island High School of the Arts.
Haneef has performed with jazz greats Yoron Israel, Avery Sharpe, Bill Saxton, Paul Brown, and Charles Tolliver. His original music and arrangements for Big Band have been featured around the world and on the records of the New London Big Band. He holds a Bachelor of Music in African American Music Study from the University of Hartford, a Master’s Degree in Jazz Composition and Arranging from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and he will receive his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Composition from the University of Hartford in May 2024.For this performance Haneef will be joined by Michael Carabello-keyboard, Matt Dwonszyk-bass and Akin Hobson-drums.
May 06 Monday
In an intimate dinner-theater experience, "Domme & Giovanni" is a modern retelling of Mozart's famous opera "Don Giovanni". In this sexy, modern and comedic twist of the centuries-old opera, Giovanni better ensures the relevancy told from a female point of view.
May 09 Thursday
Carsie Blanton is a songwriter with hooks, chutzpah, and revolutionary optimism. Inspired by artist-activists including Nina Simone and Woody Guthrie, her catalog careens through American popular song from folk and swing to pop-punk protest anthems.
With her unique mix of humor, soul, and political wit, and fifteen-plus years on the road, Blanton has amassed a dedicated fan base and a small menagerie of viral hits (Rich People, Shit List, Fishin’ With You). Her latest album, After the Revolution, produced by Grammy-winner Tyler Chester, was released in March of 2024.
Co-presented with Twilight Music.
May 10 Friday
J.S. Bach owed part of his creative inspiration to the 17th-century’s Stylus phantasticus, a method that sought freedom of form and expression, especially in instrumental works. This program explores several composers who embraced this approach. With a flourishing send-off in the finale of our 25th anniversary year, birds of a feather include Rosenmüller, Reincken, Westhoff, Schmelzer, Scheidt, and Bach, with his sparkling harpsichord concerto in E major.
With Christina Day Martinson, Megumi Stohs Lewis, violins; Jenny Stirling, viola; Jennifer Morsches, piccolo cello; Timothy Merton, cello; Maggie Cole, harpsichord.
Information at https://www.sarasamusic.org/birds