American Fiddle Fest at the Troy Music Hall

12:00AM / Tuesday, October 12, 2004Print Story | Email Story

Darol Anger

TROY, N.Y. - Whether youâ€™re into bluegrass or jazz, classical or Celtic, the American Fiddle Fest has what youâ€™re searching for. Taking the stage at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on October 29th at 8 p.m., the incendiary collaborations and foot-stomping rhythms of Darol Angerâ€™s Fiddle Ensemble, with special guests Vassar Clements, Bryan Sutton, and Bryn Bright, will leave the audience cheering for more. Grammy-nominated violinist Darol Anger has long been known as a violinist vanguard, constantly collaborating with fellow musicians to push the boundaries of music as far as possible. Called â€œthe quintessential improvising violinistâ€ by CBSâ€™ Dr. Billy Taylor, Angerâ€™s fluidly diverse style has been shaped by his work with some of the worldâ€™s best string musicians, including Mark Oâ€™Connor, Bela Fleck, Vassar Clements, and Martin Hayes. His various groups, including the Turtle Island String Quartet, the Anger-Marshall Band, and the Grammy-nominated Montreux, which was the original musical model for the New Adult Contemporary radio format, have reshaped and reinvented string music throughout the past thirty years. An educator and producer as well as composer and musician, Anger holds the String Chair of the International Association of Jazz Educators, and wrote and performed the score for the Sundance award-winning film â€œBest Offer.â€ He has produced dozens of critically hailed recordings featuring his compositions and recordings, among them jazz originals and reshapings of established tunes, a fiddle tune collection, contemporary folk, and bluegrass. Noted for his â€œfertile inventiveness, surprising touches and technical masteryâ€ by the Boston Herald, Anger is an innovator who canâ€™t be missed. Five-time Grammy-nominee Vassar Clements will also take the stage with the American Fiddle Fest. A true legend, Clementsâ€™ fifty-year career has included recordings with some of the biggest recording artists of their genres, including the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Paul McCartney, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Earl Scruggs. His deft handling of virtually all musical styles on the seven instruments he playsâ€”violin, viola, cello, bass, mandolin, guitar, and tenor banjoâ€”combined with his prolific recordings and compositions have earned him the reputation as one of the worldâ€™s finest string instrumentalists performing today. Joining Anger will be guitar virtuoso Bryan Sutton, whose unmatched bluegrass sensibilities have made him a much sought after recording artist. Best known for his work with Ricky Skaggsâ€™ Kentucky Thunder in the late 1990s, Sutton has recorded albums with a veritable Whoâ€™s Who of country and bluegrass artists, including Rhonda Vincent, the Dixie Chicks, Aubrey Haynie, and Dolly Parton. â€œJamgrassâ€ pioneer Bryn Bright will join in for the American Fiddle Fest performance. A relative newcomer to the bluegrass scene, the upright bassist is best known for her work with husband Billy Bright. Weeks after meeting at the Berklee School of Music in 1995, the two were performing as part of the Two High String Band, and quickly established a reputation for inventive jams and daring compositions. With a sound that incorporates influences as diverse as the Clash, the Grateful Dead and Primus, Bright is sure to bring a wildly inventive note to the American Fiddle Fest. Reserved seats for American Fiddle Fest are $25 and $22, and may be purchased by calling the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Box Office at (518) 273-0038 or online at www.troymusichall.org. The Music Hall Box Office opens one hour prior to the performance. Otherwise, Box Office operations are handled at its business office at 7 State Street, Monday through Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., on show days only. The Troy Savings Bank Music Hallâ€™s full season schedule can be viewed at www.troymusichall.org. The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, named a National Historic Landmark in 1989, is in use over one hundred and fifty days a year. Since it opened its doors in 1875, the Hall has hosted performances by numerous world-renowned artists including Marion Anderson, Dizzy Gillespie, Peter Seeger, Ella Fitzgerald, Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma, Henri Vieuxtemps, Ignace Jan Paderewski, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Jose Iturbi, Vladimir Horowitz, Yehudi Menuhin, and Artur Rubenstein, among many others.

Stockbridge Grange Community Dinner

03:12PM / Tuesday, February 03, 2026

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — The Stockbridge Grange is holding a community dinner on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, featuring spaghetti and meatballs, salad, and bread with dessert choices of chocolate cream or lemon meringue pie.

Dinner is $17.00 per person, take out only with 12-1:30 pm pick up at the Stockbridge Grange Hall at 51 Church Street, Stockbridge. Orders may be made by calling 413-243-1298 or 413-443-4352.

Inclement weather postpones the meal for a week.