Mass MoCA summer season features Kraftwerk, Cirque Kalabanté, The Roots, Courtney Barnett's Here and Then festival

NORTH ADAMS — After two years of limited performances, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts has a summer season bursting with performing arts events. 

The season kicks off Memorial Day Weekend with the return of Wilco's three-day Solid Sound Festival, May 27-29, and the opening of artist Amy Yoes' "Hot Corners" in Building 6 on May 28. A new Kidspace exhibition, "Defining Moments," by Shaun Leonardo and Bruno Miguel opens on June 26. 

Announced concerts include Kraftwork 3D (sold out), The Roots, Brooke Annibale, John Cameron Mitchell and Amber Martin and Roomful of Teeth and Friends. They Might Be Giants rounds out the summer with a sold-out performance Sept. 3. 

Also on tap are an evening of Juneteenth music and storytelling from Terrance Simien; a family-friendly cirque performance from Cirque Kalabante; and an array of both new and beloved festival events: Time of Now, Bang on a Can: LOUD Weekend, Courtney Barnett’s Here & There, and FreshGrass Festival 2022. 

The Chalet, Mass MoCA’s intimate riverside beer garden, reopens in July with free evening concerts from local musicians on Thursdays. 

Tickets are now on sale at massmoca.org.

SEASON AT A GLANCE

EXHIBITIONS

'Amy Yoes: Hot Corners'

On view beginning May 28

Amy Yoes’ site-specific installation "Hot Corners" will transform a 142-foot hall space in Mass MoCA’s Building 6 into a multi-room, immersive complex with thematic forms and functions. Each of the installation’s five rooms — the Foyer, the Parlor, the Library, the Theatre, and the Drawing Room — will be designed with custom-built mobile furniture acting as shifting set pieces for a variety of functions including artmaking, socializing, reflection and performance. Rather than static and fixed, the installation is a set of evolving propositions and possibilities. Combining Yoes’ passion for architecture, period rooms, interior design, and decorative arts in a dynamic environment, "Hot Corners" will serve as a destination space for interactive participation.

'Defining Moments'

On view beginning June 26

The Kidspace exhibition "Defining Moments" explores how memories are formed, recalled and visualized. Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist Shaun Leonardo and Brazilian pop artist Bruno Miguel share their individual and cultural memories, expressed in a range of mediums from paintings and wall drawings, to mixed-media sculpture and collages. Their work delves into the mythic aspects of generational storytelling, the formative role of nostalgia, and the fallibility of collective memory.

EVENTS

Solid Sound Festival

May 27–29

Spanning three days and four stages, Solid Sound includes music by Wilco and its members’ side projects, as well as many other musical performers. This year’s lineup features Sylvan Esso, Japanese Breakfast, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, and many more. There’s also a full comedy lineup, family fun for all ages, local food, craft beer, camping and naturalist activities.

Three-day passes start at $249.

Summer Open Studios 

5 p.m. to 7 p.m., June 2, July 14 and  Aug. 11

Open Studios at Mass MoCA offers the public an opportunity to see the works-in-progress of artists participating in Assets for Artists’ residency program. Each month will feature work from a new cohort.

Free.

Kraftwerk

8 p.m., June 10 

German electro-pop pioneers Kraftwerk built the soundtrack for the digital age. A fusion of art, beat and electronics, these 1970s visionaries ignited pop music’s evolution from rock to electronic with their revolutionary soundscapes and musical experimentation. 

Tickets are currently sold out.

Aún Los Gallos Lloran (Even Roosters Cry): A Performance by Armando Cortés 

2 p.m., June 10 and 11 

Armando Cortés activates his installation Castillos — on view in the exhibition "Ceramics in the Expanded Field" — with a performance exploring his Mexican roots, while using the traditional sport of cockfighting as a metaphor for the rituals of masculine bravado and the relationships between men.

Free with museum admission.

Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience’s Juneteenth Celebration 

8 p.m., June 18

Grammy-winning zydeco master, educator, activist, and 8th generation Louisiana Creole Terrance Simien brings his red hot band back to Mass MoCA for a special night of music, storytelling, and joy on the eve of Juneteenth to celebrate the holiday.

Tickets start at $22.

Time of Now 

11 a.m. to 6 p.m., June 25,

The third iteration of Time of Now — Mass MoCA’s annual festival of thought and performance — explores themes of fragility, community and repair through pop-ups, performances, talks and film screenings by artists, musicians, dancers, designers and thinkers, including artists Lily Cox-Richard and Jessica Jackson Hutchins — who will be presenting a performance for four dancers wearing her ceramic sculptures — and a conversation on debt between anthropologist Elizabeth Sweet and kelli rae adams, as well as screenings of video by performers Helga Davis, Treya Lam and more.

Free with museum admission.

Cirque Kalabanté: Afrique En Cirque 

4 p.m., June 26 

Montréal-based Cirque Kalabanté combines breathtaking acrobatics with live music played on the traditional instruments of their native Guinea, including kora, djembe and various kinds of percussion. This beautiful presentation of dazzling circus arts and cultural exploration is the perfect summer afternoon for the whole family.

Tickets start at $22.

Brooke Annibale 

8 p.m., July 2 

Pop-folk singer-songwriter Brooke Annibale conjures up a dreamy, dark and enticing sonic landscape. Her exquisite writing and musicianship has created opportunities to share the stage with the likes of Mt. Joy, Iron & Wine, Lucius and Rufus Wainwright.

Tickets start at $18.

The Roots

8 p.m., July 8 

Formed in 1987 in Philadelphia, The Roots have become one of the best known and most respected hip-hop acts in the business. Named one of the “50 Greatest Live Acts” by Rolling Stone, The Roots became the official house band on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” where they currently perform every weeknight.

Tickets start at $60.

The Chalet 

6 p.m. to 10 p.m., Thursdays, July 14 through Sept. 8 

The museum’s summer fun spot returns with the reopening of The Chalet, Oh, Canada artist Dean Baldwin’s sculpture-turned-riverside-beer-garden, for one night of local music and performance each week. Lineup will be announced in June.

Free.

John Cameron Mitchell & Amber Martin 

8 p.m. July 16

Tony Award-winning star of stage and screen John Cameron Mitchell (Joe vs. Carole, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), one of alt-culture’s boldest creators, joins forces with international cabaret star Amber Martin and a bevy of special guests in an evening of songs and stories spanning his singular career — all backed by the Hedwig house band Tits of Clay.

Tickets start at $35.

Bang on a Can: LOUD Weekend

July 28–30

Bang on a Can and Mass MoCA present LOUD Weekend, a fully loaded eclectic super-mix of minimal, experimental and electronic music over three days throughout the museum’s expansive campus. Lineup will be announced in June.

Three-day passes start at $109.

Courtney Barnett's Here and There 

Aug. 13

Courtney Barnett’s boutique touring festival offers a rotating line-up featuring some of the most exciting songwriters in music today. Curated by Barnett, the North Adams festival will feature Barnett, Lucy Dacus, Men I Trust, Faye Webster, Bartees Strange, The Beths and Hana Vu.

Tickets start at $60.50.

Roomful of Teeth & Friends

8 p.m. Aug. 17

Roomful of Teeth, the ensemble of Grammy-winning vocal titans led by Williams College faculty, Brad Wells, returns to its summer home at Mass MoCA to create new works and hone techniques, culminating in a knock-out performance.

Tickets start at $22.

An Evening with They Might Be Giants 

8 p.m., Sept. 3 

In honor of the album that made them an international act, They Might Be Giants is celebrating Flood’s by performing the album, in its entirety, on stages across the country. The show is “an evening with” and the band will play two full sets with their barnstorming live band, featuring the show-stopping Curt Ramm on trumpet. In addition to Flood, the show will span the band’s entire career from early favorites to brand new tracks, as well as the live improvisations that have become a concert highlight.

Tickets are currently sold out.

FreshGrass North Adams 

September 23–25

An opportunity for enthusiasts to both appreciate and participate, FreshGrass is a family-friendly festival, brimming with the best of bluegrass and roots on four stages, and also in our galleries, brick-lined courtyards, and grassy field. FreshGrass | North Adams 2022 features Gary Clark Jr., Old Crow Medicine Show, Trampled by Turtles, Yola, The Jerry Douglas Band, Aoife O’Donovan, Sierra Ferrell and many more.

Three-day passes start at $129.