When The Local opened in Saugerties in 2023, it announced itself less as a club than as a listening room with an ethos—an intimate space built around curiosity, trust, and the belief that audiences don’t need their hands held to encounter unfamiliar music. The venue’s newly announced Winter/Spring 2026 season doubles down on that premise, offering nearly 30 events between February and June that stretch across continents, traditions, and genres, all while retaining a clear sense of identity.
The season opens February 13 with contemporary jazz from the Karen Mantler Trio, followed days later by a Mardi Gras celebration led by New Orleans mainstay Glen David Andrews. From there, the calendar fans outward—Indigenous Inuk pop, Korean mask dance fused with folk rock, Ukrainian ritual singing, Moroccan Gnawa, Colombian cumbia, Tibetan sacred music, and a deep bench of jazz, roots, and experimental artists.
“What we’re really programming for is trust,” says cofounder Danny Melnick. “When Isabel and I set out to build each season, we look at what’s resonated before, but we’re always pushing ourselves—and our audience—toward discovery. We love that people trust us enough to come to a show even if they’ve never heard the artist’s name.”
That trust shows up in the bookings. On February 20, Canadian Inuk artist Elisapie performs a set of classic rock and pop songs translated into Inuktitut—an act of reclamation that’s as political as it is melodic. In March, Blue Note all-star ensemble Artemis arrives just one night before a Carnegie Hall appearance, while Swiss minimalist-groove architect Nik Bartsch brings his band Ronin’s ritualistic precision to the room.
Photo: David McIntyre
Jazz remains a throughline this season, not as genre orthodoxy but as an open system. Trumpeter Ralph Alessi’s album-release show, drummer Bobby Previte’s Second Arrow Quintet, and a double-bill spotlighting guitarist Joel Harrison all underscore The Local’s commitment to presenting jazz as a living, evolving language rather than a museum piece.
But the season’s gravitational pull lies just as much in its global offerings. Palestinian-American oud virtuoso Simon Shaheen performs in April, followed by the two-day Mystical Arts of Tibet program, featuring monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery performing sacred chants and a traditional puja ceremony. In May, Colombian cumbia torchbearer Yeison Landero brings dance-floor energy rooted in Caribbean history, while Sardinian experimentalist Paolo Angeli closes out the month with his 18-string prepared guitar—part instrument, part invention.
This season also marks an evolution for The Local itself. Now operating as a nonprofit, the venue is expanding its role beyond presenting concerts. “We’re thinking hard about access and relevance,” says cofounder Isabel Soffer. “We want The Local to be a true community resource—not just a place to see great artists, but a place where local organizers and creatives feel supported.”
Planned initiatives include reduced rental rates for community-produced cultural programs and a free salon series for local artists, both set to be announced later this year. “Diverse, accessible, and thoughtful programming has the power to open minds and hearts,” Soffer says. “The arts are essential, and we want to make sure this space reflects and welcomes the full range of voices in the Hudson Valley.”
The season closes June 13 with the return of the 20-piece NYC Ska Orchestra, revisiting the golden eras of Jamaican music just days before the summer solstice—a fitting finale for a lineup that treats music not as a product, but as a practice of connection.
Taken as a whole, The Local’s Winter/Spring 2026 season feels less like a checklist of bookings than a carefully tuned ecosystem built on the increasingly rare assumption that audiences are eager to listen closely—if given the chance.
