SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) returns to the Spa Little Theater for its summer residency, starting on Bloomsday. 

Saratoga Performing Arts Center welcomes CMS from June 16-Aug. 18. Part of its year-round presence in Saratoga Springs, the six-concert summer season follows its spring series, which will culminate on May 11 with Wu Han, David Finckel and Chad Hoopes.

“Opening the Spa Little Theater doors for our community to experience world-class chamber music – now year-round — is an important part of our expanded mission,” SPAC President and CEO Elizabeth Sobol said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing this new tradition with our partners at CMS under the brilliant direction of Wu Han and David Finckel.” 

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s summer season opens with “Romantic Masterpieces,” showcasing works from Brahms and Arensky (June 16), followed by “Musical Mosaics” featuring Mozart, Puccini, Brahms and Dvořák (June 23); “Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Brahms” with the Escher String Quartet (July 14); an “Enchanting Winds” program (July 21); and “Beethoven, Ravel, and Schumann” (August 11). The season closes with “The Carnival of the Animals” (August 18), in its original instrumentation for chamber ensemble.  

Anchored by Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Artistic Directors Wu Han (piano) and David Finckel (cello), this season’s guest artists also include violinists Bella Hristova, Chad Hoopes, Kristin Lee, Adam Barnett-Hart, Brendan Speltz, Danbi Um, and Francisco Fullana; violists Paul Neubauer, Pierre Lapointe, Matthew Lipman, and Guillermo Figueroa; cellists Dmitri Atapine, Brook Speltz, Nicholas Canellakis, and Sterling Elliott; double bassist Nina Bernat; pianists Wu Qian, Anna Geniushene, Evren Ozel, and Michael Stephen Brown; clarinetists Romie de Guise-Langlois and David Shifrin; flutists Demarre McGill and Sooyun Kim; Hugo Valverde on horn; bassoonist Peter Kolkay; harpist Bridget Kibbey; percussionists Ian David Rosenblum and Ayano Kataoka, and The Escher String Quartet. 

The summer season follows two previously announced spring concerts offered by CMS. The final spring performance is slated for May 11 with pianist Wu Han, violinist Chad Hoopes, and cellist David Finckel featuring works by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Smetana. 

All summer 2024 CMS events will take place at the Spa Little Theatre – 19 Roosevelt Drive, Saratoga Springs. There is one performance of each program at 3 p.m. Doors open at 2 p.m. and the house opens at 2:30 p.m. Visit spac.org for more information.

Subscriptions to all six summer programs will be available to purchase at spac.org. Subscription packages will be $198 – $378 depending on seating location. Single performance tickets will be available to purchase beginning on March 20 for members (tiered by level) and March 22 for the general public and will be $38 – $68 each. 

ALBANY — Poet and rhyme-master Nas will perform Friday, July 19 at the Palace Theatre. 

Nas delivered his first full-length album Illmatic in 1994 and went on to release 14 subsequent albums, 8 of which are multi-platinum and platinum including: Nastradamus, Stillmatic, God’s Son, and Street’s Disciple. 

Most recently, Nas released the third installment of the King’s Disease series, and Nas and Hit-Boy released Magic 3, featuring 15 brand new tracks marking the final chapter of the legendary run for the prolific rapper-producer duo. 

Magic 3 serves as the duo’s sixth album together in the last 3 years and serves as the third installment to the Magic series.

Tickets range from $59.50 – $199.50 and are available via Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available for purchase at the Palace Theatre Box Office, located at 19 Clinton Ave. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS —John Fogerty, who first grew to international acclaim leading Creedence Clearwater Revival with his songs “Proud Mary,” “Down on the Corner,” “Fortunate Son,” “Bad Moon Rising,” and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain”  – note he’s also the only musician to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, for his song, “Centerfield” – will return to Saratoga Performing Arts Center in June.

Fogerty will headline a show June 12 at SPAC with support provided by George Thorogood and The Destroyers, and  Hearty Har – which features two of Fogerty’s sons. Tickets: livenation.com  

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Universal Preservation Hall has announced Shawn Colvin and KT Tunstall will be coming to the Great Hall for a concert on Friday, April 26. In the 30 years since the release of her debut album, Colvin has released 13 albums, written a critically acclaimed memoir, maintained a non-stop national and international touring schedule, and had her songs featured in major motion pictures. Tunstall is a Scottish musician who entered the music scene with her multi-platinum debut album in 2004, “Eye to the Telescope,” which included hits “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and “Suddenly I See.” 

Performing at UPH on May 2, is Lyle Lovett and Lisa Loeb. As a singer, composer and actor, Lyle Lovett has broadened the definition of American music in a career that spans 14 albums. 

Singer-songwriter, touring musician and philanthropist Lisa Loeb started her career with the platinum-selling hit song “Stay (I Missed You).” A trailblazing independent artist, Loeb was the first pop musician to have a Number 1 single while not signed to a recording contract. She followed the feat with several hit singles and six albums.

Tickets on sale through the Box Office at Proctors in-person, via phone at 518-346-6204 Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., or visit atuph.org.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College announces Framing the Flesh, a series of four films shown over three nights on March 28, April 4, and April 18 that explore our relationship with our bodies and unconventional bodily alterations. 

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Abject Anatomy, the screening series is the capstone project by Piper Ingels ’24, the 2023-24 Meg Reitman Jacobs ’63 Endowed Intern at the Tang.

Framing the Flesh screenings are:

March 28, 7:30 p.m.: Crimes of the Future (2022): Directed by David Cronenberg; starring Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart.

April 4, 6 p.m.: Double Feature – Eyes Without a Face (1960), Directed by Georges Franju; starring Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, Juliette Mayniel; Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), Directed by Shin’ya Tsukamoto; starring Tomorô Taguchi, Kei Fujiwara, and Nobu Kanaoka. 

April 18, 6 pm: birth/rebirth (2023): Directed by Laura Moss; starring Marin Ireland, Judy Reyes, and A.J. Lister.

Note, the films contain material of a highly sensitive nature including language, nudity, violence, gore, and disturbing content. The screenings are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Visitors Services Desk at 518-580-8080 or visit the Tang website at tang.skidmore.edu.

The exhibition Abject Anatomy is on view at the Tang through April 21.

SARATOGA SPRINGS —Musician/comedian Erin Harkes continues her songwriters’ series at Caffè Lena on Wednesday, March 27. Doors at 7 p.m.

The monthly showcase, curated and hosted by Harkes, spotlights rising talent who take turns playing their songs and telling stories “in the round,” for an audience and for each other. 

Lena Go Round is inspired by the original music that has been the cornerstone of Caffè Lena’s 63 years in operation.

The featured songwriters this month are Jacob Shipley, Ryan Leddick and Deb Cavanaugh. For more information, go to: caffelena.org. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — More than 100 local children took part in an audition to dance with New York City Ballet during its Saratoga season, July 9 – 13.

New York City Ballet Children’s Repertory Director Dena Abergel led the auditions seeking 24 children for roles in scenes from George Balanchine’s Coppélia. Auditions were staged at SPAC School of the Arts on South Broadway. 

Considered one of the greatest comedic ballets of the 19th Century, Coppélia premiered in Saratoga in 1974 and was co-commissioned by SPAC. Choreographed by George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova after Marius Petipa, it has remained one of the best-loved classical works in the ballet repertory.

Scenes from Coppélia will be featured as part of the Swan Lake & Stars and Stripes program on Friday, July 12 and Saturday, July 13, in addition to opening night’s NYCB On and Off Stage program on Tuesday, July 9.

SARATOGA SPRINGS ­—In recognition of SaratogaREADS! 20th Anniversary, Saratoga Springs Public Library asked the community to revisit by vote a previous community read selection. By popular vote, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” by Rebecca Skloot was chosen. 

For this year’s keynote event, SaratogaREADS! and Skidmore College will welcome two members of Henrietta Lacks’ family to Saratoga Springs, streaming to an in-person audience at Skidmore’s Gannett Auditorium, 2-3 p.m. Saturday, March 23. Lacks’ great-grandaughter, Victoria Baptiste and daughter-in-law, Shirley Lacks will participate in a conversation about Henrietta’s legacy. 

The event does not require tickets or pre-registration, and is open to all.

Through SaratogaREADS! programming, the library plans to delve into a variety of the book’s themes – sexism, racism, classism, poverty, inequality, ethics, medicine, and other themes.

In addition to the keynote event, a variety of library programs inspired by the 2024 selection can be found at www.saratogareads.org, or on the library’s Events Calendar at www.sspl.org.

GANSEVOORT — A captivating evening of jazz, spirits, and secrets is slated for the 6th Annual CLUE Murder Mystery Fundraiser to benefit Saratoga Children’s Theatre.  

The event – titled ‘And All That Jazz’ – will take place 6-9 p.m. Friday, March 22 at The Wishing Well, 745 Saratoga Road, Gansevoort. 

This year’s event will feature a full course meal and an enhanced collection of silent auction items. The theme is 1920s Jazz. Dress to impress. 

Cost is $100 per person and all proceeds benefit Saratoga Children’s Theatre ongoing programs, equipment upgrades and theater improvements. For more information   visit saratogachildrenstheatre.org/event-details-registration/6th-annual-clue-murder-mystery-night