Arts and Culture in the Mountains
We love this time of the year because this is when our arts and culture venues announce the schedules for their upcoming season. Whether it’s fine art, music, theater or something in between, our galleries, theaters and arts organizations have something to enrich your life. Here’s a sampling of what’s coming our way in 2023. Please check the organizations’ websites for updates, tickets and more information about these events.
Yasmin Williams, Photo courtesy of West Kortright Centre
The Franklin Stage Company produces professional admission-free classic and new plays. They have announced a few shows for their 2023 season, with more to come. Check back here and visit their website for more information as more programs are added.
Good People
June 30–July 16
Thursday–Sunday at 7:30 pm
Saturday Matinee at 3:00 pm
Sunday at 5 pm
When down-on-her-luck single mom Margie Walsh loses her job at a South Boston dollar store, she reaches out to old flame Mike, a Southie boy who left the neighborhood and became a successful doctor. Margie’s attempt to hit Mike up for a job takes on a threatening cast when she realizes the power a secret from Mike’s past holds. With wry humour and astonishing realism, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire creates both a loving portrait of his hometown and a widely relatable tale of socio-economic struggle.
A Palo Seco Flamenco
July 21–23
Friday and Saturday 7:30 pm
Sunday 5:00 pm
A Palo Seco is a New York based Flamenco Company that strives to develop a unique voice, employing their Flamenco expertise, while also taking into account the context in which they live. Their work aims to expose people to an innovative way of looking at Flamenco, combining traditional techniques with a modern, metropolitan flare.
Photo courtesy of Franklin Stage Company
Julien Fleisher and Band
July 28–30
Friday and Saturday 7:30 pm
Sunday 5:00 pm
Long standing member of the Franklin Stage family, singer/songwriter Julian Fleisher brings his band back to Chapel Hall for an evening of songs gathered along the unexpected detours during a career that has ranged all over the musical map. New songs sound familiar, classic tunes feel fresh but all roads lead back home when the main one is closed — but the alternate route turns out to be The Yellow Brick Road.
Toliver & Wakeman
August 4–August 20
Thursday–Sunday at 7:30 pm
Saturday Matinee at 3:00 pm
Sunday at 5 pm
Kyle Bass’s intimate new play dramatizes the Civil War experiences of two actual historical characters from two very different (and not so different) backgrounds. Toliver Holmes was a young black man born into slavery in Virginia who escaped to New York, changed his name to avoid capture, and mustered into the Union Army’s 26th Regiment of Colored Troops (NY), later settling in Delhi, NY. Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, a young white woman born in Bainbridge, New York, disguised herself as a man and mustered into the Union Army—the 153rd New York State Volunteers—using the alias Lyons Wakeman.
Photo courtesy of Roxbury Arts Group
The Roxbury Arts Group has announced its 2023 performance schedule taking place at the Roxbury Arts Center and locations in the surrounding area. Visit their website for more details, tickets (when needed) and the upcoming announcement for their exhibition schedule.
I’m Not That Girl… [How I Got From There to Here]
Thursday, June 1
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
A Cabaret Benefit for the Roxbury Arts Group featuring Marge Helenchild with musical director Tracy Stark. In this coming-out story, Marge Helenchild shares her observations and adventures of her Lesbian journey, from shy midwest tomboy to proud New York City feminist.
The Prodigals
Thursday, July 13
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
An iconic Celtic rock band, The Prodigals have released ten albums, the most recent in 2022, and have headlined major venues across the United States and Ireland. Their sound retains authentic Irish traditional melodic roots, while embracing eclectic world rhythms infused with ‘jig punk’.
The Prodigals, Photo courtesy of Roxbury Arts Group
Hub New Music
Thursday, July 20
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Called “contemporary chamber trailblazers” by the Boston Globe, Hub New Music is a “nimble quartet of winds and strings” (NPR) forging new paths in 21st-century repertoire. The ensemble’s ambitious commissioning projects and “appealing programs” (New Yorker) celebrate the rich diversity of today’s classical music landscape.
The Zelos Quartet
Thursday, August 3
7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
The Zēlos Quartet is dedicated to performing a wide array of repertoire ranging from underrepresented contemporary works to transcriptions from the baroque, classical, and romantic eras.
Buffalo Nichols
Friday, August 18
7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Since his earliest infatuations with guitar, Buffalo Nichols has asked himself the same question: How can I bring the blues of the past into the future? After cutting his teeth between a Baptist church and bars in Milwaukee, it was a globetrotting trip through West Africa and Europe during a creative down period that began to reveal the answer. Come see blues singer and guitarist at Roxbury Arts Center.
Mopar Cams
Thursday, August 24
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Mopar Cams bring their brand of rockabilly to Stamford! This three-man wrecking machine is hellbent on delivering only the finest in rockabilly, and these rabble-rousers will have you on your feet and clapping your hands!
Sunny War, Photo courtesy of Roxbury Arts Group
Thalia String Quartet
Thursday, August 31
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Thalea String Quartet brings their signature vibrancy and emotional commitment to dynamic performances that reflect the past, present, and the future of the string quartet repertoire while celebrating diverse musical traditions from around the world.
Sunny War
Friday, September 22
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Sunny War is more than just an artist; she is a force of nature that is tough to pin down. What exactly is her style? Blues or punk? Yes, she may be a Robert Johnson with a shot of Bad Brains, but even this description falls short.
Photo courtesy of West Kortright Centre
The West Kortright Centre is a nonprofit organization dedicated to excellence in arts programming, featuring a diverse blend of world-class concerts, workshops, art exhibits, and community events. This year, the Centre is using their indoor space for programming as well as their outside space. Most nights there are sandwiches and beverage for sale during the performances.
Yasmin Williams
Saturday, May 13
7:00 pm
Yasmin Williams is an acoustic fingerstyle guitarist with an unorthodox, modern style of playing.
The Nude Party
Saturday, May 27
4:00 pm
A septet formed at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina playing electro-pop and stripped down country.
The Kody Norris Show
Sunday, June 4
4:00 pm
Always clad in colorful, tailored suits adorned with rhinestones, ties, classic hats and ornate boots, the band earns its moniker as a“show.” The brand is traditional, clean cut, acoustic and always entertaining.
The Kody Norris Show, Photo courtesy of West Kortright Centre
A Riparian Rhapsody: How the Forest Sings to the Stream
Saturday, June 17
2:00 pm
This puppet extravaganza dives into the Catskill ecology to reveal the intricate interactions between Forest and Stream and lyricalls makes the case for protecting streamside buffer zones.
KIDSTOCK!
Saturday, July 1
11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Join us for a fun afternoon with live music and activities for kids including face painting, crafts, an obstacle course and more!
2023 Landscape and Garden Tour
Sunday, July 16
The 32nd annual tour to benefit the West Kortright Centre will be a journey along beautiful country roads. Get a rare insider look at how local garden enthusiasts have enhanced the natural beauty of their outdoor environments.
Meredith Monk and John Hollenbeck
Duet Behavior
Saturday, July 22
7:00 pm
Duet Behavior 2023 is an intimate evening of Meredith Monk’s music as it has never been experienced.
Medicine Singers (ft. Yonatan Gat & Lee Ranaldo and more special guests TBA)
Saturday, August 12
4:00 pm
The Medicine Singers embody decades of musical genres influenced by Native American music, offering what Pitchfork called a “vivid new context for the sound of the powwow drum, highlighting the debt that rock music owes to Native American music.”
Noura Mint Seymali
Saturday, August 19
7:00 pm
Drawing on the timeless repertoire of the Moorish griot, the hereditary class of musical poets/historians, her band conjures “a full blown sandstorm of hypnotic grooves, melding traditional Mauritanian instruments within an electrified psychedelic rock band.”
Mali Obomsawin
Thursday, September 28
7:00 pm
Mali Obomsawin is an award winning bassist/composer from Odanak First Nation.
Mali Obomsawin, Photo courtesy of West Kortright Centre