In Stile Moderno
Enfin la beauté: Delights of the French Baroque
Edwards Church, Northampton
Thursday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.
In Stile Moderno is an early music group. So, why is “Moderno” part of its name? It refers to the then-modern style of music which emerged in Europe around 1600. For this concert, Tenor Corey Shotwell joins Agnes Coakley Cox and Nathaniel Cox to explore French airs de cour, or courtly airs — music that would have been heard at the courts of Louis XIII and Louis XIV in 17th-century France. The program features songs by Étienne Moulinié, Sébastien le Camus, Joseph Chabanceau de La Barre, and others.
WAM Theatre: Galileo’s Daughter
Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, Lenox
Friday Oct. 18 – Sunday, Nov. 3
Rattled by a personal crisis, a playwright flees to Florence to study the letters between Galileo and his eldest daughter Maria Celeste. Caught up in the threats against her father, Maria must abandon her work and join a convent. The writer’s discovery of Maria’s strength and tenacity inspires her own pursuit of purpose. Alternating between past and present, this play is a personal examination of faith, forgiveness, and the cost of seeking and speaking truth. WAM stands for ‘Where Arts and Activism Meet’. Its vision is to create opportunity for women and girls through theatre as philanthropy.
Frankenstein Live with the Pioneer Valley Symphony
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall, UMass
Friday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
The UMass Fine Arts Center partners with the Pioneer Valley Symphony for a screening of the classic 1931 sci-fi horror film Frankenstein featuring a live performance of composer Michael Shapiro’s original score. The movie, which starred Boris Karloff as the Monster, was a smash success, but it was created without a musical score. Shapiro was commissioned to “correct” that omission in 2001, and the film with his score was premiered the following year at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Jacob Burns Film Center. Plus! Come early (starting at 6 p.m.) for a spectacular costume party in the lobby.
Pothole Pictures: BUBBA HO-TEP
Memorial Hall, Shelburne Falls
Friday, Oct. 18 and Saturday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. (preceded by live music at 7 p.m.)
Here’s another Halloween film option. Head to the historic 400-seat Memorial Hall theater in Shelburne Falls to see BUBBA HO-TEP, an under-appreciated gem in which Elvis is still alive and living in a nursing home, down the hall from a man who claims to be John F. Kennedy. When people in the home start dying mysteriously, Elvis and JFK need to do battle with an Egyptian mummy. With Bruce Campbell as Elvis and Ossie Davis as JFK.
Salt and Seasoning
Berkshire Botanical Garden, Stockbridge
Saturday, Oct. 19 from 1 – 3 p.m.
Sheffield’s Rolling Rock Salt will share the history of salt, various types of salt, and “no salt” options. Learn about peppercorns and herbal seasoning, make salty infusions and cook with all the salts, pepper and seasonings available. There will be a “stump the band” grand finale, and a salt and seasoning sale following the class.
Berkshire Bach Society Harpsichord Festival
Elliot Figg and Caitlyn Koester play ‘Skeletons of the Opera’
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Stockbridge
Saturday, Oct. 19 at 4 p.m.
This super interesting concert will present transcriptions of Baroque opera for harpsichord, four hands including excerpts from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Handel opera overtures, and selections by Lully and Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre. According to BBS executive director Terrill McDade, it’s “an opportunity to hear wonderful musicians play music from arguably the most important invention of the Baroque era — opera — with all the drama, contrasts, and different humors that characterize theatre music of the period.”
Jake Blount & Mali Obomsawin
The Parlor Room, Northampton
Saturday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m.
Jake Blount and Mali Obomsawin are artists who have joined forces on their upcoming Smithsonian Folkways release, symbiont (2024). Blount is a renowned interpreter of Black folk music recognized for his skill as a string band musician, Obomsawin (Odanak First Nation) is a celebrated composer and bassist-vocalist in free jazz and experimental music. Together, Blount and Obomsawin have fashioned an Indigenous and Afrofuturist folklore that disintegrates the boundaries between acoustic and electric, artist and medium, and ancestor and progeny.
Springfield Symphony Orchestra: New England Reverie
Springfield Symphony Hall
Saturday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m.
New England shines in newly appointed SSO Artistic Director Mei-Ann Chen’s first concert under her new title, featuring works by Massachusetts-born George Whitefield Chadwick, and New Hampshire-born Amy Beach. Chadwick’s exhilarating ‘Jubilee’ from Symphonic Sketches sets the tone, with a nod to Dvořák. The first-ever piano concerto written by an American woman follows —the Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor by Amy Beach. The concert concludes with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.
Big Yellow Taxi — The Music of Joni Mitchell
The Drake, Amherst
Saturday, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m.
Big Yellow Taxi was created to explore Joni Mitchell’s music from its early folk roots to her pop masterpieces to her jazz influenced compositions. The band features the expressive and soaring voice of Teresa Lorenço, whose “sweet, husky, and bell-like voice” deliver an emotional journey through Joni's expansive catalog.
Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association: Eastern European Festival
Memorial Hall Museum, Deerfield
Sunday, Oct. 20 from 1– 5 p.m.
Attend this festival and you can check out an exhibit that conveys the experiences of two Eastern European immigrant families — the Skibicki/Skibiski family farming in Sunderland and the Sojka family who worked in factories in Turners Falls. Plus, there will be a lecture by Dr. Patrice Dabrowski at 2 p.m., craft demos, family activities, Eastern European desserts, and more.
Valley Classical Israeli Chamber Project
Sweeney Concert Hall, Smith College
Sunday, Oct. 20 at 3 p.m.
Now in its second decade, the Israeli Chamber Project is a dynamic ensemble that brings together some of today’s most distinguished musicians for chamber music concerts and educational and outreach programs both in Israel and abroad. For their Valley Classical appearance, violinist Carmit Zori and pianist Assaff Weisman are joined by guest cellist Raman Ramakrishnan to present a program of music by Schumann, Ravel, and Jörg Widmann from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, respectively.
Trio Oko
The Drake, Amherst
Sunday, Oct. 20 at 4 p.m.
The Drake’s chamber music series continues with the distinctive instrumentation of a harp trio consisting of violinist Emma Powell, cellist Mina Kim, and harpist Charles Overton. The three musicians met at the Tanglewood Music Center in 2016. The story goes that they shared the Japanese dish okonomiyaki in their first rehearsal along with giggles (hence, Oko) and happily committed to bringing joy to concert halls. The ensemble aims to expand the harp trio repertoire by commissioning new works and arrangements.
Nightingale Vocal Ensemble: Blue Sun
Grace Episcopal Church, Amherst
Sunday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.
The centerpiece of this concert is the New England premiere of local composer Gregory Brown's 2017 cantata un/bodying/s. The piece, scored for 24 voices and set to text by local New England poet Todd Hearon, explores the history and future of the four 'drowned towns' that were 'disincorporated' to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir. Also on the program: Land-locked for double-choir, and historic and modern works from the shape-note tradition.