MUSIC
Pop & Rock
SIGUR RÓS The Icelandic post-rock outfit celebrates nearly 30 years of making expansive, intricately detailed mood music at a show featuring selections from its latest album, “Átta,” and its vast catalog, with the band backed by the 41-piece Wordless Music Orchestra. Aug. 19, 8 p.m. Boch Center Wang Theatre. 800-982-2787, bochcenter.org
PRONOUN Bedroom-emo-pop architect Alyse Vellturo makes hooky, heart-on-sleeve gems that marinate in deep feelings, with her 2021 EP “OMG I MADE IT” featuring the kicky synth-pop-punk cut “I WANNA DIE BUT I CAN’T (CUZ I GOTTA KEEP LIVING)” and the stretched-out-fuzz lament “WASTING TIME.” Aug. 21, 8 p.m. Deep Cuts, Medford. 781-219-3815, deepcuts.rocks
GIRL ULTRA Hailing from Mexico City, Mariana de Miguel has a versatile voice that gives a lightness to songs like the speedy collaboration with rockers Little Jesus “Punk” and the broken-hearted, bolero-tinged “Rosas.” Aug. 24, 7 p.m. Brighton Music Hall. 617-779-0140, crossroadspresents.com
MAURA JOHNSTON
Folk, World & Country
SAY ZUZU This New Hampshire band was a prominent representative of the great alt-country wave of the 1990s, until they called it quits in 2003. Twenty years later, they’re back with brand new music, gathered on an album with the situationally appropriate title, “No Time to Lose.” Aug. 19, 8 p.m. $25. The Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge. 617-955-7729. www.lilypadinman.com
NORA KELLY BAND Nora Kelly addresses questions of authenticity thusly: “I live in Montreal, where I earned a Fine Arts degree. I’m not trying to fool anyone. I’m no ‘Okie from Muskogee’ or ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter.’ But I’m not the first city slicker to love playing ‘cowboy’ either.” You can see her and her band cowboy up Sunday. Aug. 20, 7 p.m. $15. The Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. www.get2thegigbos.com
ROBERT ELLIS Listen to Robert Ellis’s last two records, and the word “chameleon” comes to mind: he’s gone from channeling his inner Billy Joel on 2019′s “Texas Piano Man” to sparse, acoustic singer-songwriter fare on just-released “Yesterday’s News.” Presumably, he’ll be wearing the latter hat at this date. Aug. 24, 8 p.m. $25. Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Cambridge. 617-492-7679. www.passim.org
STUART MUNRO
Jazz & Blues
DAVID CHESNUT JAZZ FESTIVAL Mandorla music presents a daylong event with bands including keyboardist Nina Ott’s Astronomico; trumpeter Lemuel Marc’s Quartet; master tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi’s Quartet with ace trumpeter Phil Grenadier; pianist and vocalist Zahili Zamora’s trio; and much more! Aug. 19, noon. $20. The Eustis Estate, 1424 Canton Ave., Milton. 617-994-6600, www.mandorlamusic.net
MARILYN MAYE Jazz and pop song maven Will Friedwald has written that the marvelous Ms. Maye is the only singer working today who can equally please the Broadway/cabaret crowd and jazz vocal aficionados, combining “the projection and personality of Ethel Merman with the musicality and sheer swing of Ella Fitzgerald.” Who could ask for anything more? Aug. 23-Sept. 2, 6 p.m. $50-$75. The Art House, 214 Commercial St., Provincetown. 800-838-3006, www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5745434
WILLIE J. LAWS BAND The locally-based guitarist, songwriter, and singer hails from the gulf coast of Texas, and his deeply funky blues incorporates soul, country, rock ‘n’ roll, and Afro-Caribbean influences. Aug. 24, 7 p.m. No cover. The Porch Southern Fare & Juke Joint, 175 Rivers Edge Drive, Medford. 781-874-9357, www.theporchsouthern.com
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
TANGLEWOOD The BSO plays its last Tanglewood dates of the season this weekend, starting on Friday with a double dose of concertos (Saint-Saëns and Gershwin) featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet (Aug. 18) and finishing up on Saturday with an all-Russian program featuring violinist Leonidas Kavakos (Aug. 19), both conducted by music director Andris Nelsons. Sunday afternoon, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra joins conductor Susanna Mälkki and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus for the traditional season-finale performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Not in a hurry to leave? Come back to Ozawa Hall the same evening for jazz with the Gerald Clayton Trio (Aug. 20). Lenox. 888-266-1200, www.tanglewood.org
ENSEMBLE ALTERA Professional chorus Ensemble Altera presents a program exploring the themes of darkness and light, encompassing music from the Renaissance through today. The concert will include three world premieres, including one by Altera composition competition winner Motshwane Pege. Aug. 19, 7 p.m. St. Paul’s Parish, Cambridge. Aug. 20, Providence. www.ensemblealtera.com
BOSTON LANDMARKS ORCHESTRA Boston’s (usually) outdoor summer orchestra ends its season on the Esplanade with its ever-popular annual collaboration with dancers. This year’s event features music by Berlioz, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, David Kempers, Kareem Roustom, and Hershy Kay, with appearances by Jean Apollon Expressions, Sayat Nova Dance Company, and Boston Ballet principal dancer Chyrstyn Mariah Fentroy. Aug. 23, 7 p.m. DCR Hatch Memorial Shell. www.landmarksorchestra.org
ARTS
Theater
FENCES August Wilson won both a Pulitzer Prize for drama and a Tony Award for best play in 1987 for this powerful work. Former Negro League star Troy Maxson (“ranney”), embittered that he never got a shot at major league baseball, lives with his wife, Rose (Ella Joyce), in the 1950s in Pittsburgh, where he works as a trash collector. Troy clashes with his son, Cory (JāQuan Malik Jones) over the son’s desire to pursue a music career, opening a rupture in the family that proves hard to heal. Directed by Christopher V. Edwards. Through Aug. 27. Shakespeare & Company, Lenox. 413-637-3353, www.shakespeare.org
A NEW BRAIN William Finn (music and lyrics) and James Lapine (book) collaborated on this 1998 musical. It is based on Finn’s struggles with a life-threatening neurological disorder that struck the composer when he was at the peak of his career. Directed by Joe Calarco. Aug. 20-Sept. 10. Barrington Stage Company in association with Williamstown Theatre Festival. At Boyd-Quinson Stage, Pittsfield. 413-236-8888, www.barringtonstageco.org
THE THIN PLACE Play by Lucas Hnath (”A Doll’s House, Part 2,” “Hillary and Clinton”) about the complex interactions between a psychic (D’Arcy Dersham) and a client (Stacy Fischer) seeking to connect with her mother, who suddenly disappeared one day, and her beloved grandmother, who had coached her in ways they might communicate after the grandmother’s death. Also featuring Brenda Withers and Robert Kropf. Directed by Jeff Zinn. Through Sept. 3. Harbor Stage Company, Wellfleet. 508-349-6800, www.harborstage.org
DON AUCOIN
Dance
JACOB’S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL Compagnie Käfig, founded by acclaimed French hip-hop artist Mourad Merzouki, is known for melding modern and contemporary dance with circus, martial arts, video, live music, and hip-hop. Their signature work “Pixel,” which headlines the Pillow week (Aug. 23-27), pulls in 3-D technology as well. Outdoor festival performances include The School at Jacob’s Pillow Performance Ensemble (Aug. 19) and the Pillow debut of Tulsa Ballet (Aug. 23-27). Choose-What-You-Pay-$90. Becket. www.jacobspillow.org
BEANTOWN GET DOWN This free event by Urbanity Dance celebrates 50 years of hip-hop with a live DJ and a day full of workshops, battles, a cypher, and a community conversation. Following the teen battle ($150 award), the grand finale will be an adult battle with judges and a $500 award. Aug. 19, noon-10 p.m. Free. Boston City Hall Plaza. www.urbanitydance.org
CALEB TEICHER AND NIC GAREISS If you’re lucky enough to be on the Vineyard this weekend, The Yard will be the place to be as these two talented creators offer a new 60-minute collaboration. Teicher, a master of interdisciplinary fusion, and Gareiss, a dancer/musician drawing from percussive dance traditions, explore improvisation, song, and dance influences ranging from American tap and swing to Appalachian clogging and Irish step dance. Aug. 18-19. $13-$33. Patricia Nanon Theater, Chilmark. www.dancetheyard.org
WINDHOVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS The Rockport arts hub offers a wealth of dance activity this week. In addition to dance performances as part of its annual gala fund-raiser (Aug. 23), the center hosts Alison Cook-Beatty Dance Company (Aug. 23-24) and presents the company in a dance at Halibut Point Quarry on Aug. 22 — “Murmurations,” exploring the migration paths of five different bird species. Free-$25. Windhover Center for the Performing Arts, Rockport. https://windhover.org/performances/
KAREN CAMPBELL
Visual art
GIO SWABY: FRESH UP A quiltmaker with a thoroughly contemporary vision for the medium, Swaby, who is in her early 30s, makes portraits of the women in her immediate social circle with needle, thread, and fabric. Through a gesture of tenderness and care, Swaby is also subverting the perception of the medium as utilitarian craft as she imbues it with deeply personal, emotional value and a desire to be seen on her own terms. Through Nov. 26. Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St., Salem. 978-745-9500, www.pem.org
GUADALUPE MARAVILLA: MARIPOSA RELÁMPAGO When Maravilla was 8 years old, he fled El Salvador’s then-raging civil war and picked his way north to the United States, where he was eventually reunited with his family. In the years following, he suffered bouts of illness, both mental and physical, that he attributes to the trauma of war and migration; in searching for ways to heal, he discovered the therapeutic potential of sound, which he incorporates in his work. “Mariposa Relámpago” is part of the artist’s Disease Thrower series, a talismanic enterprise built from materials the artist collects revisiting the hazardous byways of his path to freedom all those years ago — and, of course, a series of gongs to make the healing complete. Through Sept. 4. The Institute of Contemporary Art’s Watershed, 256 Marginal St. 617-478-3100, www.icaboston.org
PRESENCE OF PLANTS IN CONTEMPORARY ART This exhibition is a living, breathing thing, at least for the most part; the five artists (or teams) in the show work with living plant matter to create both a paean to the thriving natural world and a warning of its fragility in this era of environmental despoilment and climate disaster. Participants are the British team Ackroyd & Harvey; Welsh conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans; Los Angeles-based conceptual artist Piero Golia; Swedish artist Henrik Hakansson; and American multimedia artist Rashid Johnson. A film piece by Hong-Kong artist Zheng Bo will also appear in the museum’s Fenway Gallery. Through Oct. 2. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 25 Evans Way. 617-566-1401, www.isgm.org
MURRAY WHYTE
LYNNE DREXLER: ALL THE DECADES Painter Lynne Drexler (1928-99) came of age when Abstract Expressionism was at its height. She showed in New York starting in 1961. But perhaps in part because she was a woman, her career didn’t take off during her lifetime. Drexler moved to Monhegan Island in the early 1980s. Last year, two of her paintings, estimated to be valued in tens of thousands of dollars, sold for more than a million dollars each. Suddenly, she’s hot. This show of 23 paintings is a mini-retrospective. Through Sept. 23. Moss Galleries, 100 Fore St., Portland. 207-804-0459, www.elizabethmossgalleries.com
CATE McQUAID
EVENTS
Comedy
SARAH SHERMAN A newish cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” Sherman has cultivated an offbeat style of comedy and doesn’t mind making an audience uncomfortable with gross-out humor — she sometimes goes by Sarah Squirm,” and once performed in a suit of raw meat for a stand-up show. Aug. 18, 7:30 p.m. $27-$37. The Wilbur, 246 Tremont St., Boston. www.thewilbur.com
ANDREW DELLA VOLPE Della Volpe is suspicious of the 1-to-10 pain scale. “I stumble into the ER one time, I was like, ‘I think I sprained my ankle, might have broke it,’” he says. “The doctor’s like, ‘OK, all right, what’s your pain level at?’ Hospital! That’s what it’s at, lady!” Aug. 18-19, 8 p.m. $22. Nick’s Comedy Stop, 100 Warrenton St. www.nickscomedystop.com
STANDUP COMEDY AT THE TRIDENT Steph Dalwin headlines this stand-up showcase at a bookstore, presented by “The Boston Tee Hee Party.” Antonio Morales hosts, featuring Halley Griffin, Ms. Adventure, and Tyler Tuttle. Aug. 19, 7:30 p.m. $7. Trident Booksellers & Café, 338 Newbury St. www.eventbrite.com
NICK A. ZAINO III
Family
MARVELOUS MICE AND ICE CREAM Join Mass Audubon for a presentation all about mice at the Magazine Beach Park Nature Center. Attendees can learn from their mice ambassadors and enjoy some ice cream from Frosty Ice Cream Truck in nature. Aug. 18, 5 p.m.-6 p.m. Free. 668 Memorial Drive, Cambridge. massaudubon.org
COMMUNITY FUN DAY Looking for some fun? Head to Newton for a Community Fun Day! Jump around in the inflatable bouncy house, make a splash in the water slide, and marvel at some magic at the magic show. Animal lovers can also enjoy a reptile display and petting zoo. There will also be face painting, balloon artists, arts and crafts, an obstacle course, lawn games, an ice cream truck, T-shirt tie-dyeing activities, face painting, and live music. Aug. 19, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. 2101 Washington St., Newton. mommypoppins.com
AUGUST MOON FEST Celebrate with QARI at Quincy’s 36th annual Moon Festival. Opening ceremonies start at noon, during which festival-goers can enjoy lion-dancing and other Asian cultural performances. There will also be live music, lawn games, food trucks, cultural booths, and a vendor marketplace. Aug. 20, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Free. Quincy Center, Coddington St., Quincy. qariusa.org
ELENA GIARDINA