The days are getting longer, brighter, and warmer, signaling the perfect time to take a fresh look at the Hudson Valley’s celebrated cultural scene. From intricate art installations to compelling performances of classical music, comedy, and dance, don’t hibernate on the opportunity to spread your wings and soar into a new season of exploration, learning, and wonder.
Art
The Anatomy of a Movie Poster: The Work of Dawn Baillie
Jacob Burns Film Center, Pleasantville
Through May
Highlighting the artistry behind film marketing, the exhibit features a curated selection of the pioneering designer’s most memorable work, including Dirty Dancing, Sleepless in Seattle, The Silence of the Lambs, and Barbie.
Great Green Hope for the Urban Blues
The Loeb, Poughkeepsie
Ongoing
From the creation of the Hudson River School to today, artists have depicted the Hudson Valley as a haven, in both myth and reality. Historic and contemporary works in various media explore the region and its identity.
Landmines
The Dorsky, New Paltz
Ongoing
Camera-based works by Dawoud Bey, Christina Fernandez, Richard Mosse, and Rick Silva showcase how landscapes can be used to cover up, or reveal, social history.
Maria Lai: A Journey to America
Magazzino Italian Art, Cold Spring
Reopens March 7
This 20th-century Italian artist receives her first retrospective show in the United States with an exhibit of the paintings and thread-stitched canvases she crafted over the course of her six-decade career.
Psychological Portraiture
Hudson Valley MOCA, Peekskill
Ongoing
MOCA’s main floor is taken over by portraits—both photographs and paintings—that capture the true persona of the subject in their environment.
Roni Horn
Dia Beacon, Beacon
Ongoing
Minimalist projects of lead, cast iron, and copper from the sculptor’s early work are on view throughout Dia’s galleries.
Smoke in Our Hair: Native Memory and Unsettled Time
Hudson River Museum, Yonkers
Ongoing
Contemporary art by Native American, Alaska Native, First Nations, and Métis makers comes together to demonstrate Indigenous understandings of time and memory.
Michael Fortenberry
Headstone Gallery, Kingston
March 1-30
Sculptures by this interdisciplinary artist invite interaction, allowing gallery visitors to touch and move parts to hear (via headphones) variations in soundscapes.
Renée Green: The Equator Has Moved
Dia Beacon, Beacon
Opens March 7
Multidisciplinary artist Renée Green displays work that uses a range of materials—from archival and literary fragments to personal ephemera—to establish a connection between public recollection and personal memory.
Clay Conversations
Hudson River Museum, Yonkers
Through March 9
Pieces from the museum’s collection of Chinese porcelain is juxtaposed with modern work by seven New York-based artists to show how ceramics can be used for personal and political expression.
Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist
Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah
Opens March 16
Complex compositions in painting, drawing, printmaking, and sculpting make up the Iranian artist’s body of work, which is influenced by his experience of synesthesia and childhood memories of the Iran-Iraq War.
An Unfamiliar Place
The Loeb, Vassar
Through March 30
Photographs and prints by East Asian and Asian American artists are presented to consider the techniques used to abstract a landscape.
History Lessons
University Art Museum, Albany
Through April 4
Pieces from a variety of artists in the University at Albany Fine Art Collections demonstrate different methods of learning, preserving, and making history.
Hudson Valley Artists 2025: Movement
The Dorsky, New Paltz
Through April 6
This year’s iteration of the annual Hudson Valley Artists exhibition considers the theme of movement: how our bodies carry us forward and how the effects of relocating can be felt over generations by melding cultures and creating communities.
Alvin C. Hollingsworth: And All That Jazz
Hudson River Museum, Yonkers
Through April 27
Vivid never-before-seen paintings, illustrations, and prints from the artist’s long career explore his start in comics, his love for jazz, and representations of the Black experience in America.
Portal: The Window in American Photography
Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center, Nyack
Through April 27
Spanning the late 1920s to the early 2000s, a collection of gelatin silver prints and color photographs reveal how those behind a camera use a “window” to frame and anchor each shot.
Dance
My Town
EMPAC, Troy
March 21, 7 P.M.
Choreographer and theater director Jack Ferver puts a spin on the American classic play Our Town by loosely using the story to reflect on the rural queer experience, oscillating between dance numbers and theatrical sketches.
Ballet Hispánico Junior Ensemble
Orpheum Performing Arts Center, Tannersville
March 22, 7 P.M.
A one-week residence at the Orpheum will culminate in a final stage presentation by these talented young artists.
Passion Fruit Dance Company: Dimensions
Orpheum Performing Arts Center, Tannersville
March 29, 7 P.M.
Combining street dance and theater styles, this NYC troupe brings its immersive show to the region, ahead of its world premiere at the American Dance Festival, a decades-strong education and performance institution in Manhattan.
Faculty Dance Concert
Fisher Center, Annandale-on-Hudson
May 1–3
Faculty members of the distinguished Bard College Dance Program showcase their choreographic prowess with arrangements performed by students and guests.
Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company
The Egg, Albany
May 3, 8 P.M.
The resident dance company premieres a selection of new, complex, and varied compositions in the modern style.
Film
Barton Fink
Jacob Burns Film Center, Pleasantville
March 6, 7 P.M.
Join the JBFC for a screening of the 1991 Coen brothers’ film in which the titular character struggles with Hollywood, writer’s block, and his hotel neighbor. The movie will be followed by a Q&A session with writer and film critic Jordan Hoffman.
Flesh/Flash: Scanning as Moving Image
EMPAC, Troy
March 12, 6 P.M.
The capstone of their residency at EMPAC, artist P. Staff presents their current work in a brief screening that explores the act of scanning, both as an image practice and a tool used in power and surveillance. An open conversation will follow.
Classic Film Series: A Face in the Crowd
The Rosendale Theatre, Rosendale
March 13, 7 P.M.
This special screening of the 1957 movie starring Andy Griffith follows Larry Rhodes through themes of the power of television, fame, manipulation, and entertainment.
Premier Performances: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
The Bardavon, Poughkeepsie
May 8, 7:30 P.M.
Wrapping up the “Premier Performances” series, the 1975 classic is free to attend and will feature a 30-minute preshow concert by organist Juan Cardona Jr.
Music
Elvis Costello & Steve Nieve
Bearsville Theater, Woodstock
March 4 and 5, 8 P.M.
Rock, pop, and new wave singer-songwriter Elvis Costello is joined on stage by Steve Nieve, a longtime member of his backing bands.
Danú
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy
March 7, 7:30 P.M.
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day a week early with one of today’s leading traditional Irish ensembles, hailing from County Waterford.
Josh Ritter
Assembly, Kingston
March 7, 8 P.M.
Expect an intimate show with the singer-songwriter and two members of his band, featuring tunes from Ritter’s eleven-album discography.
Broadway Leading Ladies
Paramount Hudson Valley, Peekskill
March 7, 8 P.M.
Five Broadway vocalists—Emily Bautista, Keri Rene Fuller, Judy McLane, Jill Paice, and Ta-Tynisa Wilson—join forces to celebrate the leading ladies of renowned musicals and their iconic songs, along with a Q&A with the audience.
Considering Matthew Shepard
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy
March 9, 3 P.M.
Choral ensemble Albany Pro Musica presents a drama by Craig Hella Johnson that retells the heartbreaking story of a college student in Wyoming.
Rubblebucket
Bearsville Theater, Woodstock
March 13, 8 P.M.
The Brooklyn-based indie group comes upstate for a night of art pop and dancing.
Bard Conservatory Orchestra
Fisher Center, Annandale-on-Hudson
March 15, 7 P.M.
Led by music director Leon Botstein, Bard’s orchestra performs selections from classical music greats Brahms, Mozart, Perle, and Franck.
Tuvan Throat Songs: Alash Ensemble
The Local, Saugerties
March 15, 8 P.M.
Alash, a trio from the Central Asian nation of Tuva, specializes in throat singing and traditional instruments such as the two-stringed bowed lute and the jaw harp. Join them at 6:45 p.m. before the show for a workshop on the ancient art of throat singing.
Schwab Vocal Rising Stars
Caramoor, Katonah
March 16, 3 P.M.
Participants in this annual program present “Beginner’s Luck,” featuring everything from German Lieder tunes to Bob Dylan.
Meshell Ndegeocello
Levon Helm Studios, Woodstock
March 21, 8 P.M.
Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Meshell Ndegeocello takes the stage with her repertoire of alternative jazz music.
Alex Cuba
Emelin Theatre, Mamaroneck
March 21, 8 P.M.
Latin Grammy-winning artist Alex Cuba, known for his sweet melodies and strong guitar riffs, draws inspiration from North American influences, pop songs, and Cuban folk traditions.
Lila Downs
UPAC, Kingston
March 22, 8 P.M.
This Grammy-and Latin Grammy-winning singer uses her experiences growing up in Minnesota and Oaxaca to craft songs in which Mexican and South American folk meets American jazz, blues, and hip-hop.
Angélique Kidjo
UPAC, Kingston
March 27, 8 P.M.
This five-time Grammy winner blends West African music with elements of American funk, jazz, and R&B, drawing on Latin American and European influences.
Kimbra
Assembly, Kingston
March 27, 8 P.M.
New Zealand pop artist Kimbra presents songs from her latest release, Idols and Vices.
Habibi
Assembly, Kingston
March 29, 8 P.M.
Formed in Brooklyn in 2011, this group has a distinct sound that experiments with a multitude of genres including garage rock, vintage disco, and post-punk.
Ally the Piper
The Egg, Albany
March 30, 7:30 P.M.
Experience the traditional music of the Highlands, but with a modern twist, along with original compositions influenced by classic rock, heavy metal, and Celtic sounds.
Weber & “Laterna Magica”
Fisher Center, Annandale-on-Hudson
April 5–6
This concert, featuring music by European composers Kaija Saariaho, Carl Maria von Weber, and Albéric Magnard, concludes The Orchestra Now’s tenth season at the Fisher Center.
Twelfth Night
Caramoor, Katonah
April 6, 3 P.M.
Instrument ensemble Twelfth Night transports the audience to the Baroque period with compositions from Vivaldi and Handel played on violin, harpsichord, viola, cello, and more.
The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit in Concert
The Egg, Albany
April 8, 3:30 P.M.
The world of Middle Earth is brought to life by an orchestra and choir performing the cozy melodies of The Shire, the ominous sounds of Mordor, and everything in between.
EXTC: XTC’s Terry Chambers & Friends
City Winery Hudson Valley, Montgomery
April 9, 7:30 P.M.
The drummer of former British rock band XTC plays classics from the group’s repertoire with the help of musicians Steve Hampton and Terry Lines.
Dawes
Bearsville Theater, Woodstock
April 9, 8 P.M.
Brothers Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith play folk songs influenced by artists such as Joni Mitchell and Neil Young.
The War & Treaty
Levon Helm Studios, Woodstock
April 10, 8 P.M.
Grammy-nominated husband-and-wife duo The War & Treaty are known for their songs that blend folk, Americana, and roots influences.
Brentano String Quartet
Caramoor, Katonah
April 27, 3 P.M.
Classic pieces from Haydn and Brahms are performed, as well as the New York premiere of an arrangement by Chinese American composer Lei Liang.
Boscobel Chamber Music Festival: Rising Artists Weekend
Boscobel House and Gardens, Garrison
May 1–4
This 19th-century Georgian mansion expands its annual Chamber Music Festival with the inaugural Rising Artists Weekend, showcasing acclaimed emerging chamber musicians in partnership with the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach.
Twisted Pine
Caramoor, Katonah
May 2, 7:30 P.M.
Caramoor’s Music Room will be filled with the upbeat sounds of this Boston-based band that fuses bluegrass with jazz, folk, funk, and other genres.
Performance
Cahoots Theatre: The Vanishing Elephant
Orpheum Performing Arts Center, Tannersville
March 2, 2 P.M.
Join Opu, a young boy in Bengal who is an aspiring elephant trainer, on an adventure across decades and continents, beginning with when he befriends an Asian elephant, Janu.
The All-New Wizard of Oz on Ice
Paramount Hudson Valley, Peekskill
March 23, 3 P.M.
Follow the classic story of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion as they glide along the Yellow Brick Road to Emerald City.
Masterclass
Fisher Center, Annandale-on-Hudson
April 3–6
Taking the form of a conversation between an egotistical male artist and an interviewer, this award-winning parody show explores privilege, gender, and power, with humorous quips, wigs, and more.
Pete the Cat
Emelin Theatre, Mamaroneck
April 5, 11 A.M. & 2 P.M.
Based on the book series of the same name, this production explores inspiration and friendship through the relationship of second-grader Jimmy Biddle and the eponymous feline.
Ephemeral Organ Festival
EMPAC, Troy
April 17–18
Over the course of two days, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s EMPAC hosts a series of performances and artist talks that explore themes of memory, history, and Black experiences through choreography and bodily motion.
Shrek the Musical
Parker Theatre, New Paltz
April 17–19, 24–27
Students in SUNY New Paltz’s theatre department put a musical twist on this timeless fairytale about the world’s most lovable ogre.
Comedy
Sam Morril: The Errors Tour
The Egg, Albany
March 13, 7:30 P.M.
The NYC-based comic embarks on his latest tour full of sarcastic quips and observations.
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the PTSD-List
Paramount Hudson Valley, Peekskill
March 28, 8 P.M.
Stand-up’s leading lady brings her brand of unapologetic, pull-no-punches comedy to the Paramount.
Jim Jefferies: Son of A Carpenter
MJN Convention Center, Poughkeepsie
May 9, 7 P.M.
Australian comedian, actor, and writer Jim Jefferies, who gained popularity in the U.S. with The Jim Jefferies Show on Comedy Central, comes to Poughkeepsie with thought-provoking comedy.
Fran Lebowitz
Paramount Hudson Valley, Peekskill
May 9, 8 P.M.
Known for her sharp wit and no-nonsense jokes, Fran Lebowitz offers a satirical take on current events.
Related: Mountain Jam Music Festival Returns for 2025 at Belleayre Mountain
