As we enter the penultimate week of August, Tanglewood’s classical music season draws to a close, hinting at the coming seasonal shift in the stunning Berkshires landscape. Yet, the music scene remains vibrant, with 78 performances on the calendar this week. From classical and Broadway to jazz, rock, pop, folk, Celtic, and experimental, there’s still a rich tapestry of genres to enjoy before summer fades. Below are some highlights for the week ahead, followed by our comprehensive show rundown.
Classical and Opera
This week, we have 10 classical performances as we reach the final week in the Tanglewood classical season (there are two popular series concerts next week). The music starts Monday at Tanglewood, with Prokofiev Symphony No. 5. Hannu Lintu was to be the conductor of this and several other performances this week but had to cancel after recently sustaining a leg injury. In addition to Prokofiev, Ortiz, Rands, and Sibelius are also on the program. On Wednesday evening, you can listen to Tanglewood Recital Series: James Ehnes & Alessio Bax. The duo will perform music by Mozart, Brahms, and Beethoven.
Thursday afternoon at Tanglewood, you can take in TLI Talks and Walks, featuring conductor Karina Canellakis. Friday evening at Tanglewood starts with a Prelude Concert–Koussevitzky and the Choral Connection. Following this, you can enjoy the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 with Bruce Liu & Elgar Enigma Variation.
Saturday morning, you attend the Open Rehearsal for Sunday afternoon’s Tanglewood performance. Saturday afternoon, there is a matinee performance of the Berkshire Opera Festival: Faust at the Mahaiwe – there are two more performances next week. You will also find the Emerging Artist Series: Pittsfield Chamber Project at The Foundry in West Stockbridge. These young artists will perform pieces by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Vivaldi, and others. And back at Tanglewood, you can listen to Karina Canellakis conducts Beethoven, Brahms, Chausson, and Ravel featuring Leonidas Kavakos, violin.
Sunday afternoon, you won’t want to miss the final 🥲 classical performance of the summer season at Tanglewood: Beethoven Symphony No. 9.
Jazz
We have seven jazz performances in the county this week. It all starts with Andy Wrba, Conor Meehan, and Benny Kohn hosting Monday Night Jazz at Pizzeria Boema in Lenox. On Tuesday, catch the Jazz Night with Paul Ostermayer and Friends at Tito’s Mexican Bar and Grill in Pittsfield. Wednesday night, you’ll find the Peggy Stern Trio at The Lion’s Den in Stockbridge.
Friday night, the hard-swinging jazz band The Lucky 5 plays at Egremont Barn. Saturday afternoon in Pittsfield, catch a subset of the Lucky 5 at Jazz in Persip Park with The Lucky 3. Sunday night, you’ll find Michael Junkins and Friends performing at The Lion’s Den. This week, Michael features Aaron Dean on Saxophone. Also on Sunday evening over at Tanglewood Studio E, you can enjoy TLI Presents: Edmar Castaneda Quartet, led by the Colombian-born preeminent jazz harp virtuoso.
Popular (Rock, Pop, Folk, Blues, etc.)
This week, the popular music category has over 50 performances. We can’t highlight them all, but we will mention a few (see our calendar or show rundown below for all the performances).
The music starts Monday with the Americana band out of Boston, Cold Chocolate, playing at Tourists in North Adams. Tuesday night, Tourists is hosting two singer-songwriters out of California, Scott Hirsch + Kelly McFarling, while down at the Great Barrington VFW, you’ll find Generation X Rock.
Wednesday features two outdoor concerts: Soul’d Out! featuring JoAnne Redding and Ed Moran at Lilac Park in Lenox and Pandemic Relief at Windsor Lake in North Adams. Indoor options include Colby Lewis and Steve Ide at the Ostrich Room at Apple Tree Inn in Lenox. The duo plays again Thursday night at the Lion’s Den in Stockbridge.
Thursday night, you can experience something different by taking the chairlift to the top of Bousquet Mountain in Pittsfield to experience Summit Sounds @ Sunset with Movin’ On (rescheduled from an earlier date due to rain). You’ll find Music in the Berkshires Featured Musician Jordan Weller with his new band The Way it Seems, featuring local musicians Bobby Sweet, Brian Kantor, Miles Lally, and Joe Rose. Jordan plays again solo at Roberto’s Pizza on Friday night. You’ll find an exciting co-bill at the Dream Away Lodge in Becket: Seth Bernard & Jordan Hamilton. Seth is a folk-rock artist whose music is tied to a life of work for youth, equity, water, and community throughout rural Michigan. Jordan is a Michigan-based vocalist and cellist who performs R&B, soul, hip-hop, electronic, and jazz. At the Down County Social Club at Race Brook Lodge, you’ll find Asheville singer-songwriter Madelyn Ilana.
On Friday early evening, there are two outdoor performances: The Mark Fusco band performs at Catamount in South Egremont, and The Bobby Sweet Band performs at the Great Barrington Town Hall. Bobby performs again on Saturday at The Becket Arts Center. Week 9 of Berkshire Busk kicks off Friday night in downtown Great Barrington. In Pittsfield, you’ll find Dave Brown at Bousquet, a 90’s Themed Anniversary Party with Rusted Chains at Dottie’s and Dorothy’s, and the Woodstock 55th Anniversary Celebration with Back to the Garden 1969 at the Colonial Theatre, recreating the classic sounds of artists like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Jimi Hendrix, Sly & The Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin, and others. In Stockbridge at The Lion’s Den, you can catch Mike Cobb & The Crevulaters. Vermont’s super-talented rock band Billy Wylder is back in the Berkshires playing at The Foundry in West Stockbridge. See a reel of them on our Instagram page from last September when they performed at The Egremont Barn. Folk-rock artist Forest Sun (pictured above), whose song “No Regrets” has 6.7M streams on Spotify, stops at Tourists in North Adams. Lexi Weege & JJ Slater Band are at Dream Away Lodge. Finally, you can catch the Beats Night with Jackson Whalan & Friends at Housatonic’s Common or Garden Pub. Jackson is a local hip-hop artist – read our interview with Jackson here.
Saturday in downtown Great Barrington, Berkshire Busk continues in the afternoon and evening with another seven musical performances – see our Music Calendar for a list of performers. Saturday evening, rock, pop, and folk artist Sam Brown is back at The Lion’s Den. Honeysuckle, an indie folk-pop duo from upstate NY and 2019 Americana Artist of the Year is back in town this week to perform at the Ostrich Room at Apple Tree Inn. The rock, R&B, and Funk band The National Reserve is at The Egremont Barn. Home Body, a duo that performs electronic, new wave, and experimental pop music, is at Dream Away Lodge. Or, put on your dancing shoes and see Urban Renewal, which blends a mixture of 70’s and 80’s funk and soul music with West African polyrhythms, at The Guthrie Center in Great Barrington.
Sunday morning, you can catch Christine Bile at the Domingo Brunch at Dottie’s and Dorothy’s in Pittsfield. On the Sunday afternoon “winery and brewery circuit,” you’ll find Colby Lewis and Steve Ide at Antimony Brewing in Lenox, Evan Lanoue at Balderdash Cellars in Richmond, and Patrick Collins in the Taproom at Bright Ideas Brewing in North Adams. It’s another great night to head up to the hill towns, as Rev Tor rocks Washington Town Park, and later on in nearby Becket, Frank Hurricane brings to the Dream Away Lodge his spiritual blues and folk music inspired by “the holy mountains of North Carolina.”
Something Else
This week, we have 11 performances in our Something Else category. Starting Thursday night and continuing through Sunday night, you’ll find Night at the Speakeasy – A Cabaret at the Adams Theatre, which will be transformed into a Roaring 20s speakeasy club for an evening of period jazz, traditional Broadway and new Broadway show tunes. There are three performances of A Jewish Journey through Broadway: Part 1 at St. James Place in Great Barrington – the first is Friday night followed by Saturday matinee and evening performances. Part 1 honors Jewish composers between 1920-1980, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, Jerome Kern, Stephen Sondheim, Bock and Harnick, Jerry Herman, and others.
Saturday between noon and midnight, you can stop by the WBCR-lp radio station in Great Barrington to listen to the 1st Annual WBCR-lp Experimental Music Festival. Artists from across the Northeast will perform a variety of experimental music genres including electronica, noise, ambient, drone, live coding, and more. Saturday night, two-time Grammy® winners Roomful of Teeth are back at MASS MoCA in North Adams. The a cappella group will present a retrospective performance of the new works born out of 14 years of consecutive summer residencies at MASS MoCA.
Sunday afternoon, the Fiesta Latina Latin Dance Celebration comes to The Mount in Lenox. Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra will share their unique blend of Afro-Caribbean rhythms drawn from Salsa, Merengue, Cha-cha, Bomba, Plena, and Latin Jazz. Sunday evening, you can close out your week by heading down to Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield to catch Reverie Road: Irish Supergroup, a mashup of two of the biggest North American Celtic bands of the last 30 years, Solas and Gaelic Storm.
You can read about all of these performances and more in our day-by-day show rundown below or jump right to our music calendar. Please note that our deadline for inclusion in the weekly narrative above and the day-by-day listing below is Wednesday at noon. Check our music calendar for shows we’ve added after our weekly publication deadline. Use the subscribe button below to receive this free weekly rundown of upcoming performances in your inbox each Monday. And if I missed a performance, please contact me, and I’ll add it to the calendar.
Monday
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Monday Night Jazz @ Pizzeria Boema, Lenox.
8:00 pm Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 @ Tanglewood, Lenox.
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm Cold Chocolate @ Tourists, North Adams.
Tuesday
5:30 pm – 8:30 pm Jazz Night with Paul Ostermayer and Friends @ Tito’s Mexican Bar and Grill, Pittsfield.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Generation X Rock @ Great Barrington VFW, Great Barrington.
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm Scott Hirsch + Kelly McFarling @ Tourists, North Adams.
Wednesday
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm Soul’d Out! featuring JoAnne Redding and Ed Moran @ Lilac Park, Lenox.
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm Peggy Stern Trio @ The Lion’s Den, Stockbridge.
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm Pandemic Relief @ Windsor Lake, North Adams.
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm Colby Lewis and Steve Ide @ Ostrich Room at Apple Tree Inn, Lenox.
8:00 pm Tanglewood Recital Series: James Ehnes & Alessio Bax @ Tanglewood, Lenox.
Thursday
1:00 pm TLI Talks and Walks, featuring conductor Karina Canellakis @ Tanglewood, Lenox.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Summit Sounds @ Sunset with Movin’ On @ Bousquet, Pittsfield.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Mixtape @ Firehouse Cafe & Bistro, Adams.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Live Music with Clara Guatta @ Tito’s Mexican Bar and Grill, Pittsfield.
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Night at the Speakeasy – A Cabaret @ Adams Theatre, Adams.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Steve Ide & Colby Lewis @ The Lion’s Den, Stockbridge.
7:30 pm – 10:30 pm Seth Bernard & Jordan Hamilton @ Dream Away Lodge, Becket.
7:30 pm – 10:00 pm Jordan Weller and The Way It Seems @ Egremont Barn, South Egremont.
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm DCSC: Madelyn Ilana @ Race Brook Lodge, Sheffield.
Friday
5:00 pm – 8:30 pm The Mark Fusco band @ Catamount, South Egremont.
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm Tom Savoy @ Balderdash Cellars, Richmond.
5:30 pm – 7:15 pm BOBBY SWEET BAND @ Great Barrington Town Hall, Great Barrington.
6:00 pm Prelude Concert–Koussevitzky and the Choral Connection: exploring choral works by composers who were commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation @ Tanglewood, Lenox.
6:00 pm Jordan Weller @ Roberto’s Pizza, Sheffield.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Dave Brown @ Bousquet, Pittsfield.
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm 90’s Themed Anniversary Party with Rusted Chains @ Dottie’s and Dorothy’s, Pittsfield.
6:30 pm – 10:00 pm Berkshire Busk @ Downtown Great Barrington, Great Barrington.
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Berkshire Busk @ Downtown Great Barrington, Great Barrington.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Mike Cobb & The Crevulaters @ The Lion’s Den, Stockbridge.
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Night at the Speakeasy – A Cabaret @ Adams Theatre, Adams.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Pug + John @ Antimony Brewing, Lenox.
7:30 pm – 10:00 pm Billy Wylder @ The Foundry, West Stockbridge.
7:30 pm – 10:00 pm Woodstock 55th Anniversary Celebration with Back to the Garden 1969 @ Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield.
7:30 pm – 10:30 pm The Lucky 5 @ Egremont Barn, South Egremont.
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm A Jewish Journey through Broadway: Part 1 @ St. James Place, Great Barrington.
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm The 413s @ Knox Trail Inn, East Otis.
8:00 pm Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 with Bruce Liu & Elgar Enigma Variations @ Tanglewood, Lenox.
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm Forest Sun @ Tourists, North Adams.
8:00 pm – 10:30 pm Lexi Weege & JJ Slater Band @ Dream Away Lodge, Becket.
9:00 pm Beats Night with Jackson Whalan & Friends at Common or Garden Pub @ Common or Garden Pub, Great Barrington.
Saturday
10:15 am – 12:00 pm Elizabeth Berliner @ Great Barrington Town Hall, Great Barrington.
10:30 am Open Rehearsal: Beethoven Symphony No. 9 @ Tanglewood, Lenox.
12:00 pm – 11:59 pm 1st Annual WBCR-lp Experimental Music Festival @ WBCR-lp Studio, Great Barrington.
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Tom Corrigon @ Balderdash Cellars, Richmond.
1:00 pm – 3:45 pm Berkshire Opera Festival: Faust @ Mahaiwe, Great Barrington.
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Berkshire Busk @ Downtown Great Barrington, Great Barrington.
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm Jazz in Persip Park with The Lucky 3 @ Persip Park, Pittsfield.
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm A Jewish Journey through Broadway: Part 1 @ St. James Place, Great Barrington.
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Music Brings Communities Together – Bobby Sweet and the BSweet Band @ Becket Arts Center, Becket.
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm Jack Waldheim @ Balderdash Cellars, Richmond.
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Berkshire Busk @ Downtown Great Barrington, Great Barrington.
6:30 pm – 10:00 pm Berkshire Busk @ Downtown Great Barrington, Great Barrington.
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Melissa Brinton @ Firehouse Cafe & Bistro, Adams.
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Night at the Speakeasy – A Cabaret @ Adams Theatre, Adams.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Sam Brown @ The Lion’s Den, Stockbridge.
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm A Jewish Journey through Broadway: Part 1 @ St. James Place, Great Barrington.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Greg Caproni @ Antimony Brewing, Lenox.
7:30 pm Emerging Artist Series: Pittsfield Chamber Project @ The Foundry, West Stockbridge.
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm Honeysuckle @ Ostrich Room at Apple Tree Inn, Lenox.
7:30 pm – 10:30 pm National Reserve @ Egremont Barn, South Egremont.
8:00 pm Roomful of Teeth @ MASS MoCA, North Adams.
8:00 pm Karina Canellakis conducts Beethoven, Brahms, Chausson, and Ravel featuring Leonidas Kavakos, violin @ Tanglewood, Lenox.
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm Home Body @ Dream Away Lodge, Becket.
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm Urban Renewal Live at The Guthrie Center @ Guthrie Center, Great Barrington.
Sunday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm Domingo Brunch featuring Christine Bile @ Dottie’s and Dorothy’s, Pittsfield.
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm Colby Lewis with Steve Ide @ Antimony Brewing, Lenox.
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm Evan Lanoue @ Balderdash Cellars, Richmond.
2:30 pm Beethoven Symphony No. 9 @ Tanglewood, Lenox.
3:00 pm – 7:00 pm Fiesta Latina Latin Dance Celebration @ The Mount, Lenox.
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm Taproom Music: Patrick Collins @ Bright Ideas Brewing, North Adams.
4:00 pm Rev Tor @ Washington Town Park, Washington.
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm Laura Tupper and Bobby Sweet @ The Barn Kitchen and Bar, Williamstown.
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm Michael Junkins and Friends @ The Lion’s Den, Stockbridge.
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Night at the Speakeasy – A Cabaret @ Adams Theatre, Adams.
7:00 pm TLI Presents: Edmar Castaneda Quartet @ Tanglewood, Lenox.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Reverie Road: Irish Supergroup @ Race Brook Lodge, Sheffield.
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm Frank Hurricane @ Dream Away Lodge, Becket.
Please get out and support your local musicians and venues!
— Mark @ Music in the Berkshires