Green River Festival
Franklin County Fairgrounds
Friday, June 23 – Sunday, June 25
The Green River festival is a huge celebration of world class music, great local food, beer and wine, a handmade craft fair, and lots of family games and activities. Our friends at Signature Sounds have put together a sensational lineup for this year’s festival including Wood Brothers, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Sammy Rae & The Friends, Sierra Ferrell, 2022 NPR Tiny Desk Contest winner Alisa Amador and many, many others. New this year — The Fabulous 413 will be broadcasting its Friday show live at the Festival.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! With Special Guest Karen Allen
Tanglewood, Lenox
Thursday, June 22 at 8 p.m.
If you’re like me, you tune in to Wait Wait to make Saturday morning errands more enjoyable. Here’s your chance to sit in on a taping — at Tanglewood, no less. Now in its 25th season, the Peabody Award-winning series offers a fast-paced, irreverent look at the week’s news, hosted by Peter Sagal along with official judge and scorekeeper Bill Kurtis. This week’s special guest is Berkshire actress of Raiders of the Lost Ark fame, Karen Allen. Plus! Tune in to The Fabulous 413 on Thursday for a conversation with the show’s panelists Negin Farsad, Alonzo Bodden, and Roy Blount Jr.
Chester Theatre Company: The Making of a Great Moment
Chester Town Hall
Thursday, June 22 – Sunday, July 2
The Chester Theatre Company produces contemporary professional Equity theater in an intimate setting, creating community and offering audiences fresh perspectives on vital issues. Their 2023 season kicks off with The Making of a Great Moment. It follows Actors Mona and Terry who are on tour performing a four-hour opus called “Great Moments in Human Achievement,” in New Hampshire, on bicycles, while camping.
Mikaela Davis + Jake Manzi
The Drake, Amherst
Thursday, June 22 at 8 p.m.
Mikaela Davis earned a degree in harp performance and molded her classical music training to create an original and genre-bending catalog that weaves together 60s pop-soaked melodies, psychedelia and driving folk rock. She has shared the stage with the likes of Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Christian McBride, Bon Iver, and Lake Street Dive.
The View UpStairs
Northampton Canter for the Arts
Thursday, June 22 – Sunday June 25
When Wes, a young fashion designer from 2023, buys an abandoned building in the French Quarter of New Orleans, he finds himself transported to the UpStairs Lounge, a vibrant seventies gay bar. As this forgotten community comes to life, Wes embarks on an exhilarating journey of self-exploration that spans two generations of queer history. This smash Off-Broadway hit features a gritty, glam rock score and a tight-knit ensemble of unforgettable characters.
New Directions Cello Festival
Bombyx, Florence
Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24 at 7 p.m.
Since 1995, the New Directions Cello Festival has provided an international forum for the exchange of music and ideas for creative and alternative cellists of all ages, levels and backgrounds. With a “big tent” ethos, New Directions embraces all styles of music, especially those that incorporate improvisation. Cellist participants come from all over the US and abroad for a weekend of workshops, panels and jam sessions with some of the most innovative cellists working today.
[Tristan + Isolde] / Marke
Edwards Church of Northampton
Friday, June 23 at 7 p.m.
TUNDI is an organization that specializes in the music of Richard Wagner and aims to support the continuing development of Wagnerian singers. But there’s much more to it. The show is a re-working of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde in three scenes, for three cast members and four instrumentalists, where the character Marke is positioned as Everyman, no longer a king, but a passionately committed outsider. With Alan Schneider as Tristan, Jenna Rae as Isolde, and Kirk Eichelberger as Marke. The show is free and open to the public.
Mohawk Trail Concerts 53rd Season Opening Weekend
Emlyn Ngai, Baroque violin and Greg Hayes, Harpsichord
Charlemont Federated Church
Saturday, June 24 at 5 p.m.
The International String Trio
The Shelburne Falls Band Shell
Sunday, June 25 at 5 p.m.
Mohawk Trail Concerts has been presenting chamber music in a friendly and informal atmosphere since 1970. Most of the concerts are at the acoustically superb (and air-conditioned) Federated Church in Charlemont. On Saturday, enjoy a concert of baroque music by Handel, Bach, Couperin and others. On Sunday, head to the Shelburne Falls Band Shell to hear an eclectic mix of repertoire performed by a trio that got going at the Berklee School of Music.
Terry Jenoure & Angelica Sanchez: Secret to Life
Bombyx, Florence
Sunday, June 25, at 7 p.m.
Secret to Life features original compositions performed by an ensemble of women of color (WOC) based on private stories or “secrets” of WOC, gathered through interviews and guided writing. Jenoure and Sanchez take bits and pieces of stories and dive into that deep, sacred space between the known and unknown, combining solid narrative with daring improvisation. Sometimes playful, sometimes raucous, sometimes meditative, and at other times a war cry, Jenoure and Sanchez are a force that takes you by surprise but lands you where you need to be.
Frontiers of Impressionism
Worcester Art Museum
Closes Sunday, June 25
This exhibit explores the emergence of impressionism in 19th-century France, its subsequent expansion to much of Europe and the United States, and the lasting changes the movement has brought to the art world. Framed through the lens of the Worcester Art Museum's collection of impressionist works, many of which were acquired when these artists were still living, the exhibition highlights over 30 artists, including Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Mary Cassatt, Childe Hassam, and Max Slevogt. Approximately half of the works in the exhibition are on view for the first time in decades. The show now goes on tour internationally.
Million Dollar Quartet
Colonial Theater, Pittsfield
Tuesday, June 27 – Sunday, July 16
This three-time Tony Award-nominated musical brings audiences into the recording studio with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. Based on a true story and set on December 4, 1956, it follows the tale of these four legendary musicians as they come together for one monumental night of music at Sun Records in Memphis.
Pioneer Valley Symphony Summer Sing: Brahms’ Requiem
Most Holy Redeemer Parish Hall, Hadley
Tuesday, June 27 at 7 p.m.
Regardless of your vocal ability, here’s your chance to sing one of the greatest oratorios of the 19th century at the first of three Summer Sings hosted by the Pioneer Valley Symphony. This summer, each Sing will be led by a different conductor, who will share comments, work on tricky sections, and then conduct a sing-and-play-through.
Vieux Farka Touré
Bombyx, Florence
Wednesday, June 28 at 7 p.m.
Often referred to as “The Hendrix of the Sahara”, Vieux Farka Touré is the son of legendary Malian guitar player Ali Farka Touré, who died in 2006. When Vieux was in his teens, he declared that he also wanted to be a musician. His father disapproved due to the pressures he had experienced being a musician. But with help from family friend Toumani Diabaté, Vieux eventually convinced his father to give him his blessing. With each new project, Vieux expands his horizons, embraces new challenges and further entrenches his reputation as one of the world’s most talented and innovative musicians.
Mark Morris Dance Group
Jacob’s Pillow, Becket
Wednesday, June 28 – Saturday, July 2
A longtime Pillow favorite, Mark Morris Dance Group will open Festival 2023 with the evening-length work The Look of Love, an homage to the music of Burt Bacharach that had its world premiere in 2022 and which Fjord Review called “a breath of fresh, brilliant, joyous—and much needed—air.” The work features original choreography by Morris and new musical arrangements by Ethan Iverson, performed live by an ensemble of piano, trumpet, bass, and drums, with singer, actress, and Broadway star Marcy Harriell on lead vocals.