MARK AUERBACH
The Bach Suites: A MoveableFeast with Cellist Matt Haimovitz
Acclaimed cellist Matt Haimovitz is renowned for his classical performances in unusual contemporary spaces, like New York’s CBGB club. Now he brings his Moveable Feast concept to the Valley, performing three free mini-concerts in Northampton, Hadley and Amherst on the afternoon of March 6. The feast culminates in a ticketed performance at Bowker Auditorium at UMass, on March 7.
Bach’s Suites for Unaccompanied Cello are some of classical music’s most moving and spiritual compositions for a solo instrument. For A Moveable Feast, Haimovitz pairs these celebrated cello suites with overtures that he commissioned specifically for this purpose, from the best contemporary composers. Sunday’s program travels from one end of Route 9 to the other, with one suite and the accompanying overture performed at each location (Bach suites II, III and IV, and overtures by Vijay Ayer, Du Yun and Roberto Sierra). The three stops are: Smith College Art Museum in Northampton at 12:15 p.m.; The Yiddish Book Center in Amherst at 2 p.m., and Esselon Cafe in Hadley at 4 p.m.
Monday’s ticketed performance concludes the Feast. The program includes Bach Suites I, V and VI, as well as overtures by Philip Glass, Mount Holyoke’s David Sanford and Luna Pearl Woolf.
Matt Haimovitz, cellist, performs The Bach Suites all over the Valley
Haimovitz made his debut in 1984, at the age of 13, as soloist with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic. At 17 he made his first recording with James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for Deutsche Grammophon. He has gone on to perform on the world’s most esteemed stages, with such orchestras and conductors as the Berlin Philharmonic with James Levine, the New York Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta, the English Chamber Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim, the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra with Kent Nagano. Haimovitz made his Carnegie Hall debut when he substituted for his teacher, Leonard Rose, in Schubert’s String Quintet in C.
For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMAS, or www.fineartscenter.com.
Brian Lapis emcees The Big Broadcast at Chapin Auditorium
The Big Broadcast Swings in South Hadley
The Jazz Ensembles of Mount Holyoke College present the 11th edition of The Big Broadcast! on March 6, at Chapin Auditorium, Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley. The Big Broadcast!, directed by Mark Gionfriddo (onstage as “Matt Morgan”), is a recreation of a live 1940’s radio show, and features WWLP-TV meteorologist Brian Lapis as emcee “Fred Kelley”. The Mount Holyoke Big Band, Vocal Jazz, and Chamber Jazz Ensembles perform well-known tunes from the swing era and the American songbook.
The Jazz Showcase sizzles at UMass.
“This year’s The Big Broadcast! features all new material, except for two songs, which were audience favorites from the last ten years,” says Gionfriddo. “We’ll be featuring some big hits of the 1940s, as performed by the top singers of the day, including Artie Shaw (“At Sundown”), The Andrews Sisters (“Tico Tico”), Benny Goodman (“Camel Hop”) and Gene Krupa (“Massachusetts”). We’ve got authentic radio commercials from the 1940s, and a radio drama with sound effects”.
Brian Lapis loves performing as “Fred Kelley”.
“The combination of the opportunity for me to perform, the creative energy of the students and Mark Gionfriddo, and the great music makes this far and away my favorite event of the year. As a ‘student of broadcasting’, I am one who appreciates the golden age of radio and just how hugely popular these jazz variety shows were in their day. I’d like to believe if I was around back in the 1940s, that I would have a gig like Fred Kelley’s. Guys like Matt Morgan & Fred Kelley were the Ryan Seacrests, Jimmy Fallons and Jay Lenos of their day. These hosts were smooth, swank, and witty. They rubbed elbows with the biggest starts of the era. What a gig! I’m thrilled to bring back that part of broadcasting’s glory days with the Mount Holyoke College Jazz Ensembles!”
For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMASS or https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/music/jazz-0
Think Summer
Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced its summer season, which includes Marisa Tomei starring in Tennessee Williams’ The Rose Tattoo, the world premiere of Bob Killebrew’s RomanceNovels for Dummies; Wendy Wasserstein’s An American Daughter; and the American Premiere of Tom Holloway’s And No More Shall We Part with Alfred Molina and Jane Kaczmarek . For details: www.wtfestival.org
Dan Whelton stars in “I Hate Hamlet” at Playhouse on Park
Keep in Mind…
From Vietnam to America: A Musical Odyssey, with multi-instrumentalist Vân-Ánh Võ on the Vietnamese zither known as the Dan Tranh, plays at UMass’ Bowker Auditorium on March 4. Marking the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, Vân-Ánh Võ’s A Musical Odyssey explores the personal and spiritual journeys of the Boat People as they abandoned their lives in war torn Vietnam to search for freedom in a world with an alien and unknowable future. Utilizing new music for Vietnamese instruments – zither, dulcimer, and monochord along with ambient sound, spoken word, and historical objects, this new musical work conveys stories of human transformations that resonate for all refugees. For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMAS, or www.fineartscenter.com.
The 35th Annual Jazz Showcase, a UMass Department of Music and Dance production, puts the spotlight on music from Brazil on March 1 at UMass’ Bowker Auditorium. Guitarist Chico Pinheiro and four other virtuoso Brazilian jazz musicians play the Reunion Project, their own compositions inspired by the concept of reunion. The showcase will include performances by the Department’s Jazz Ensemble I with Mr. Pinheiro, Chapel Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Lab, Vocal Jazz, UMass Marimbas, and various combos. For details:413-545-2511, 800-999-UMASS or www.fineartscenter.com/musicanddance.
I Hate Hamlet, Paul Rudnick’s very funny comedy about an up-and-coming Los Angeles actor who tries to make it in New York, is next (through March 13) at West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park. For details:( 860)-523-5900 x10, or www.playhouseonpark.org.
Mark G. Auerbach studied theatre at American University and the Yale School of Drama. He’s worked for arts organizations and reported on theatre for newspapers and radio.
