Opening Night at Tanglewood
Koussevitzky Music Shed, Lenox
Friday, July 7 at 8 p.m.
Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the opening night concert. The program includes Herald, Holler, and Hallelujah by Wynton Marsalis, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, and Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. with Grammy Award-winning pianist Daniil Trifonov. He’s Musical America’s 2019 Artist of the Year.
Plus! Find out more about the Tanglewood 2023 season. Tune in to The Fabulous 413 on Thursday for a conversation with Keith Lockhart, our very own Tanglewood correspondent.
Dutch National Ballet
Jacob’s Pillow, Becket
Thursday, July 6 – Sunday, July 9
Week 2 at Jacob’s Pillow is headlined by the debut of Dutch National Ballet performing in the Ted Shawn Theatre. Over the past 60 years, Dutch National Ballet has evolved into one of the world's most critically acclaimed ballet companies, with a unique and wide repertoire, a tradition of innovation, and dancers from all over the world.
Guards at the Taj
Chester Theatre Company
Thursday, July 6 – Sunday, July 16
In the second production of the season, Ruchir Khazanchi and Abuzar Farrukh,seen above in rehearsal, portray two friends who stand guard at the site of one of the most stunning buildings the world has ever seen, the Taj Mahal. They protect it with their lives, yet they are forbidden from looking upon its beauty.
Eggy
Tree House Brewing Company, Deerfield
Friday, July 7 at 7 p.m.
Last summer we went to the new Tree House facility in Deerfield to meet with friends. The pizza? We had a big enough group to order one of each and it was supremely delicious! Beer? Legendary. Plus, they have gorgeous non-alcoholic sodas on tap too! It all adds up to a great place to go for a concert. Connecticut jam band Eggy “traces the full spectrum of emotions evoked by a life well-lived alongside friends well-loved.”
Roger Tincknell: Music for All Ages
Kids Summer Entertainment Series
Odyssey Bookshop, Hadley
Saturday, July 8 at 11 a.m.
Roger Tincknell’s expressive vocal style, show stopping yodeling and masterful instrumental skills bring a warmth and versatility to his performances. With a background as a classroom teacher and music specialist, Roger has pioneered programs in multicultural, environmental and special needs education. and curriculum development. The series continues with Tom Ricardi: Birds of Prey on Saturday, July 15 and Trevor the Gamesman on Saturday, July 22. Bring blankets and/or chairs to enjoy the performances outside.
Textile Art by Lee Sproull and Mixed Media by Eva Lin Fahey
Hosmer Gallery at Forbes Library, Northampton
Reception Saturday July 8 from 3 – 5 p.m.
Exhibit through Saturday, July 29
Lee Sproull uses quilt-making tools, materials, and techniques to create abstract art that explore ideas about perception and meaning. Many of the pieces in the exhibit build on branches and branching forms, which reference both literal and metaphorical meaning. Eva Lin Fahey primarily works in water-based media to create abstracted, dream-like spaces. These spaces explore the interconnections between family, cultural hybridity, loss, and longing. As one of over a quarter of a million children adopted internationally from China, her work exists within the context of this shared experience of cultural loss, personal migration, and separation.
Circus Smirkus: A Midsummer Night’s Circus
Tri-County Fairgrounds, Northampton
Saturday, July 8 and Sunday, July 9
Celebrating its 36th year, Circus Smirkus is the only traveling ‘tented’ youth circus in the United States — and its shows are among the most beloved arts events of the New England summer. The show will feature a vast array of circus arts — including aerials, acrobatics, juggling, clowning — a dazzling display of brilliant costumes, and many other surprises. The 2023 Big Top Tour caravan requires some 23 support vehicles and 80 people including performers, coaches, cooks, tech and tent crew and a live circus band playing an original score written specifically for this show.
Blueberry Festival
Quonquont Farm, Whately
Saturday, July 8 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Bring the family to celebratie some of New England's finest fruit! Live music by TJ & the Peepers. Taste some awesome beer (including blueberry beer!) made by Progression Brewing Company. Grab food from Little Truc and Holyoke Hummus and ice cream from Herrell's featuring a Quonquont signature sundae. Take a pollinator tour in Quonquont's PYO flower garden. Enjoy a full bar and seasonal drink specials from Quonquont's Silo Bar. Plus there will be blueberry-themed games and fun for the whole family.
Sarah Clay & the StarCats
1794 meeting House, New Salem
Saturday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m.
The StarCats have been performing throughout New England for many years to a wide variety of audiences. Their repertoire intertwines jazz standards, Latin jazz, and pop songs from the likes of Soundgarden, Sara Bareilles, Joni Mitchell, Oregon, Electric Light Orchestra and Stevie Wonder that have been reimagined for this intimate instrumentation.
Sevenars 55th Summer Concert Opener: Schrade and James Family Musicians
Sevenars Academy, South Worthington
Sunday, July 9 at 4 p.m.
Sevenars Concerts was founded in 1968 by internationally known pianist Robert Schrade and his celebrated composer/songwriter/pianist wife Rolande Young Schrade. It all began with family concerts that included their five young pianist children, Robelyn, Rhonda Lee, Rolisa, Randolph, and Rorianne. Hence the name “Sevenars” as all seven performers had names starting with the letter R. In 1978, Robelyn married New Zealand pianist, David James, and the concerts became “Schrade-James family” concerts. Family members have played the opening concert for all of the Sevenars Festival’s 55 years. Concerts are held every Sunday through August 20.
Viva Quetzal
The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum, Hadley
Wednesday, July 12 at 6:30 p.m.
The Wednesday Folk Traditions concert series at The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum continues with Viva Quetzal, a World/Afro-Andean/Latin/Jazz Fusion band who draw on a diverse soundscape and folkloric themes to create a link between the rainforests of Central and South America, the carnivals of Brazil, the high plateaus of the Andes, and the urban barrios of Latin America and the United States.
Rewind & Play screening with NEPM’s Tom Reney
Amherst Cinema
Wednesday, July 12 at 7 p.m.
In December 1969, legendary jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk ended his European concert tour with a performance at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. Before the show, he was invited to appear on a French television program to perform and answer questions in an intimate setting. Using newly discovered footage from this recording, director Alain Gomis (FÉLICITÉ) reveals the disconnect between Monk and his interviewer, Henri Renaud, whose unwittingly trivializing approach conveys the casual racism and exploitation prevalent in the music industry at large. Tom Reney, host of NEPM’s Jazz à la Mode will offer insight.
The Smile of Her (world premiere)
The Unicorn Theater, Stockbridge
Through Saturday, July 29
Written and performed by Christine Lahti, The Smile of Her is set in America in the 1950s. The patriarchy is on steroids. Christine’s “perfect” suburban family is its quintessential microcosm. The play takes the audience on a sometimes funny, always deeply personal, journey of denial, neglect, abuse, understanding and by the end—maybe possibly, hope. The first few performance dates are sold out, so it would be a good idea to grab your tickets now.