Harpsichord Festival Part II

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Berkshire Bach Society continues its 34th season on Sunday, Nov. 12, 4pm, with the second concert in its Harpsichord Festival—The Ensemble Harpsichord with Elliot Figg and Caitlyn Koester.  
 
The duo plays works by scions of the dominant keyboard dynasties in the Baroque era, J.S. & W.F. Bach and Louis & François Couperin.  The event is a preview of the concert they will present on Nov. 30 at St. Malachy's Church in New York City, sponsored by Gotham Early Music Scene, Inc.
 
"We're delighted to welcome two new harpsichordists to the Berkshire Bach family," said Terrill McDade, Interim Executive Director of The Berkshire Bach Society. "Actually, Elliot and Caitlyn have strong connections to Berkshire Bach.  They are graduates of the Juilliard Historical Performance Program and have studied or worked with at least three Berkshire Bach harpsichordists familiar to our audience—Kenneth Weiss, Peter Sykes, and Arthur Haas—and in fact, they're borrowing two instruments from Peter Sykes for the performance.  In the first concert of our festival, we heard music from the early Baroque, including Sweelinck and the English Virginalists. This time we hear something even more uncommon—repertoire from the late Baroque for two harpsichords, four hands.  It should be a fascinating event that expands our understanding of what the Baroque music scene was really like." 
 
Join The Berkshire Bach Society for this program of rarely heard repertoire and enjoy a sneak preview of the New York event.  The concert takes place at The Kellogg Music Center located on the campus of Bard College at Simon's Rock (84 Alford Road, Great Barrington).
 
Tickets:  $45 for non-members, $40 for Berkshire Bach members, available at www.berkshirebach.org/events and at the door.  As always, children under 18 and students with valid ID are admitted free.
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Triplex Special Screening of 'A Complete Unknown'

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.—The Triplex Cinema announces a special screening on Sunday, Jan. 5 of the critically-acclaimed film "A Complete Unknown," directed by James Mangold and starring Timothee Chalamet, Monica Barbara, Edward Norton and Elle Fanning.

Based on the Elijah Wald book "Dylan Goes Electric," the film portrays Bob Dylan through his earliest folk music success until the momentous controversy over his use of electric instruments at the 1965 Newport Film Festival. The title of the film comes from the chorus of Dylan’s 1965 hit single "Like a Rolling Stone." 

Released on Dec. 25, "A Complete Unknown" has been widely praised by critics and nominated for many critical awards, and early box office returns suggest a major financial success. Tickets are available at www.thetriplex.org.

Seth Rogovoy is a longtime music critic and cultural journalist working in the Hudson Valley and the Berkshires. His 2009 book "Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet" is a full-length analysis of the life and work of Bob Dylan, focusing on the different strands of Judaism that appear throughout Dylan’s songs, revealing the ways in which Dylan walks in the footsteps of the Jewish Prophets. Rogovoy explains the profound depth of Jewish content - drawn from the Bible, the Talmud, and the Kabbalah - at the heart of Dylan’s music, and demonstrates how his music can best be appreciated in light of Dylan’s relationship to Judaism and the Jewish themes that inform them.

In 2024 Oxford University Press published "Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison," a highly personal exploration of George Harrison’s essential contributions to the Beatles and his solo work, as well as his significant role as a Western proponent of Indian music and beliefs. Harrison had a close relationship with Bob Dylan; Dylan joined Harrison as a performer at the 1971 "Concert for Bangladesh" and they were both members of the 1980’s supergroup "The Traveling Wilburys," along with Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne.

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