February
Trinity Irish Dance Company
$42 All Seats/$37 Members / $20 Side Balcony and Students with valid ID
The Trinity Irish Dance Company quickly dispels whatever notions you may have about Irish dance. This innovative, uniquely Irish-American company is constantly searching for original means of expression while maintaining a high regard for old traditions. Trinity was the birthplace of progressive Irish dance.
By using Irish dance as an instrument and a metaphor, Trinity crosses both cultural and disciplinary boundaries in important ways. The result is a thoroughly fresh and engaging artistic vision that goes beyond the source without losing touch with its essence.
For sheer good cheer, there's nothing quite like the Trinity Irish Dance Company - The New York Times http://www.trinity-dancers.com/
By using Irish dance as an instrument and a metaphor, Trinity crosses both cultural and disciplinary boundaries in important ways. The result is a thoroughly fresh and engaging artistic vision that goes beyond the source without losing touch with its essence.
For sheer good cheer, there's nothing quite like the Trinity Irish Dance Company - The New York Times http://www.trinity-dancers.com/
Capitol Steps - Enjoy this election year with humor!
$40/ $35 Members
Musical and political satire- Capitol Steps comes to the Mahaiwe with political satire at its best. The group began as Senate staffers who set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them.
In the years that followed, many of the Steps ignored the conventional wisdom ("Don't quit your day job!"). Although not all of the current members of the Steps are former Capitol Hill staffers, taken together the performers have worked in a total of 18 Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience. They've performed for 5 U.S. Presidents (6 if you include Hillary.) Since 1981, they have recorded 27 albums consisting primarily of song parodies.
?Those who complain that politicians and government are good for nothing are wrong. ''Capitol Steps" makes clear that more often than not, they're good for a laugh." - The New York Times http://www.capsteps.com/
In the years that followed, many of the Steps ignored the conventional wisdom ("Don't quit your day job!"). Although not all of the current members of the Steps are former Capitol Hill staffers, taken together the performers have worked in a total of 18 Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience. They've performed for 5 U.S. Presidents (6 if you include Hillary.) Since 1981, they have recorded 27 albums consisting primarily of song parodies.
?Those who complain that politicians and government are good for nothing are wrong. ''Capitol Steps" makes clear that more often than not, they're good for a laugh." - The New York Times http://www.capsteps.com/
City Lights / Rural Utopia - Urban Pastoral Music
Close Encounters With Music
Saturday February 23, 2008/ 6pm$35.00/ $10.00 Students with valid ID
Bucolic music has always been associated with the flute, evoking Pan, Arcadia, shepherds, sounds of the woods, meadows, and the breath of the outdoors. Here it will be juxtaposed with angular, urban music, the quickened, jazzy pulse of the large city. The Berkshire premiere of Urban Quartet by Frederick Kaufman and works by Copland, Couperin, Weber, Debussy, and Bach. Flutist Eugenia Zukerman makes her series debut.
Amernet String Quartet; Eugenia Zukerman, flute; Michael Levin, piano; Yehuda Hanani, cello. www.cewm.org
Amernet String Quartet; Eugenia Zukerman, flute; Michael Levin, piano; Yehuda Hanani, cello. www.cewm.org
Robert Cray Band / opening act Swati
$65 Limited Golden Circle (premium seating) /$50 All Seats /$45 Members
Five-time Grammy Award Winning Guitarist Robert Cray and his band started a Blues journey in Oregon that has led them to the top of the Blues world.
He is one of the few blues artists who managed to cultivate a mainstream following in the 1980s and 1990s. Cray uniquely blended elements of rhythm and blues, pop, and traditional blues to win fans to a more contemporary blues sound. Dan Forte of Guitar Player magazine acknowledged the rarity of a popular blues artist by noting, "Robert Cray is not only making great music, he's making history. With a few exceptions...it used to be that there was the blues and there were the masses, and never the twain shall meet. But Cray, who obviously is respected in blues circles, is a press darling and crossover smash."
"Cray...is first and foremost a singer par excellence, a master craftsman who shapes that soft talking voice into a powerfully expressive instrument that evokes soul and R&B greats from Otis Redding to Al Green." Rolling Stone Magazine
Swati will open for Robert Cray: http://www.swatilive.com/ Swati ('birth of a star' in Hindu') is a New York City native. Swati's early exposure to music came via the classical world when she was awarded an academic scholarship to study trombone. Her performing debut at Carnegie Hall, however, resulted in abandoning the classical world in favor of exploring her own singing, songwriting and guitar playing. Swati immersed herself in the city's music scene at a young age, managing the popular club Nightingale's. This put her in touch with the fertile music and arts scene in Manhattan's lower east side. Before long Swati was performing and creating a sensation there, attracting musicians and record company execs alike and securing a spot at Lilith Fair.
Swati's songs are direct, honest and powerful and delivered with disarming humor. In the crowded singer/songwriter universe, Swati stands out as a particularly distinct star.
http://www.robertcray.com/minisites/live/index.php
"Cray...is first and foremost a singer par excellence, a master craftsman who shapes that soft talking voice into a powerfully expressive instrument that evokes soul and R&B greats from Otis Redding to Al Green." Rolling Stone Magazine
Swati will open for Robert Cray: http://www.swatilive.com/ Swati ('birth of a star' in Hindu') is a New York City native. Swati's early exposure to music came via the classical world when she was awarded an academic scholarship to study trombone. Her performing debut at Carnegie Hall, however, resulted in abandoning the classical world in favor of exploring her own singing, songwriting and guitar playing. Swati immersed herself in the city's music scene at a young age, managing the popular club Nightingale's. This put her in touch with the fertile music and arts scene in Manhattan's lower east side. Before long Swati was performing and creating a sensation there, attracting musicians and record company execs alike and securing a spot at Lilith Fair.
Swati's songs are direct, honest and powerful and delivered with disarming humor. In the crowded singer/songwriter universe, Swati stands out as a particularly distinct star.
http://www.robertcray.com/minisites/live/index.php