The Punch Brothers

Chris Thile knows how to keep the ball rolling. Little more than a year after Nickel Creek announced their indefinite hiatus, the mandolinist is already drawing sold-out crowds with a new act, the Punch Brothers. Technically, the band have been at it for a little while—Punch Brothers is simply a proper name for the group Thile assembled to record his last solo release (2006’s How to Grow a Woman From the Ground)—but their approach is a little different from that of the average bluegrass band. To wit: “The Blind Leaving the Blind,” from the group’s album Punch (due next week on Nonesuch Records), is a four-movement, 40-minute suite, chronicling Thile’s 2004 divorce. Fun stuff.

The Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile will perform at the Egg (Empire State Plaza, Albany) on Sunday (Feb. 17). Tickets for the 7 PM show are $22. To reserve seats or for more information, call the Egg’s box office at 473-1845.

St. Petersburg String Quartet

Violinists Alla Aranovskaya and Alla Krolevich, violist Boris Vayner and cellist Leonid Shukayev—otherwise known as the St. Petersburg String Quartet—will be presented in concert by the Friends of Chamber Music this Sunday afternoon at Emma Willard School in Troy. The program will feature Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 4, Borodin’s String Quartet No. 2 and—this is the real treat—Schnittke’s String Quartet No. 3.

As the Los Angeles Times wrote of one performance, “Masters of subtlety and refinement, the members of the St. Petersburg String Quartet embodied the chamber music ideal of four voices speaking as one.”

St. Petersburg String Quartet will perform Sunday (Feb. 17) at 4 PM at Emma Willard School (Kiggins Hall, 285 Pawling Ave., Troy). Tickets are $22, $11 students. For reservations, call 273-8135.

Remington Looking West

Frederic Remington’s art is well known to have shaped America’s vision of the West, and the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute’s collection of Remingtons has long been a highlight of the museum for visitors.

The newest exhibit opening at the Clark celebrates Remington’s iconic images of the American West from the museum collection—including the oil on canvas painting Friends of Foes? (The Scout), pictured here—along with lesser-known works from public and private collections. Photographs, sketches, and scrapbooks from Remington’s personal collection also will be on display, offering a personal window into the artist’s process, and insight into how Remington captured a grippingly real sense of the American frontier while working from his New York studio.

Remington Looking West will be on view from Sunday (Feb. 17) through May 4. Admission to the Clark is free through the end of May. The exhibition kicks off Saturday (Feb. 16) at 6:30 PM with a “Cowboy Couture” reception at the Clark (225 South St., Williamstown, Mass.). Tickets are $50, and include a preview of the exhibition, and a wild-west-themed evening of dancing, live music, food and drinks. There may still be tickets available; call the Clark for details at (413) 458-2303.