Exciting events around New York October 2021
By Great Performances
Explore Great Music, Art and More at Our Partner Venues This Month!
R&B FESTIVAL AT FORT GREENE PRAK
october 2 – 10
Location: Fort Greene Park
Produced by Danny Kapilian
BAM’s free annual R&B festival is at Fort Greene Park! Now in its 26th year, join us this fall for our beloved outdoor concert series, bringing together friends, families, and neighbors for great music under the trees. This year’s lineup features Memphis singer-songwriter Valerie June, singer-songwriter and playwright, Stew with his band The Negro Problem, jazz piano and Hammond B3 virtuoso Matthew Whitaker, and the Grammy Award-winning singer Mykal Rose, formerly of Black Uhuru.
The BAM R&B Festival has presented Wilson Pickett, Roy Hargrove, Andra Day, Ashford and Simpson, Snarky Puppy, George Clinton and P-Funk, Dr. John, Savion Glover, Angelique Kidjo, Marcus Miller, Richie Havens, and hundreds of other great performing artists since 1995.
THE OBAMA PORTRAITS TOUR
August 27 – October 24
Location: Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing, 4th Floor
From the moment of their unveiling at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., in February 2018, the official portraits of President Barack Obama and Mrs. Michelle Obama have become iconic. Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of President Obama and Amy Sherald’s portrait of the former First Lady have inspired unprecedented responses from the public.
This five-city tour travels the United States from June 2021 through May 2022 and is expected to reach millions of people who might not otherwise have an opportunity to view these remarkable paintings. This special presentation enhances the conversations surrounding the power of portraiture and its potential to engage communities. The Obama Portraits Tour is accompanied by a richly illustrated book published by National Portrait Gallery and Princeton University Press.
Other tour locations include the Art Institute of Chicago (June 18–August 15, 2021), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (November 5, 2021–January 2, 2022), High Museum of Art, Atlanta (January 14–March 20, 2022), and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (April 2–May 30, 2022).
The Obama Portraits Tour has been organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
CHRISTIAN DIOR: DESIGNER OF DREAMS
September 10, 2021 – February 20, 2022
Location: Beaux-Arts Court, 3rd Floor
Tickets: $25
The New York premiere of the exhibition Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams traces the groundbreaking history and legacy of the House of Dior. The exhibition brings to life Dior’s many sources of inspiration—from the splendor of flowers and other natural forms to classical and contemporary art.
With objects drawn primarily from the Dior archives, the exhibition includes a vast array of over two hundred haute couture garments as well as photographs, archival videos, sketches, vintage perfume elements, accessories, and works from the Museum’s collection. The haute couture on view exemplifies many of the French couturier’s fabled silhouettes, including the “New Look,” which debuted in 1947.
Presented are galleries devoted to Dior and the artistic directors who succeeded him—Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons, and Maria Grazia Chiuri. A toile room, a tribute to the Ateliers, and adjacent galleries of couture garments showcase the excellence of Dior’s petites mains. The central atrium of our Beaux-Arts Court has been redesigned as an enchanted garden, and a concluding gallery celebrates dresses worn by stars from Grace Kelly to Jennifer Lawrence.
The Brooklyn Museum presentation of Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams is curated by Florence Müller, Avenir Foundation Curator of Textile Art and Fashion, Denver Art Museum, in collaboration with Matthew Yokobosky, Senior Curator of Fashion and Material Culture, Brooklyn Museum.
ISAIAH J. THOMPSON QUARTET
Presented in Collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center
Friday, October 15 at 8:00 pm
Location: Music Room
Ticket Information: Start at $30
A frequent collaborator with contemporary jazz luminaries, Isaiah J. Thompson has emerged as a powerful pianist, bandleader, and composer. As a performer, he emits joy and conveys his personal experiences and everlasting love of jazz through the music itself. A recent graduate of The Juilliard School, he’s the recipient of the 2018 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award and won second place in the 2018 Thelonious Monk (now Herbie Hancock) Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition.
Please note: All audience members for this concert must wear a mask and show proof of vaccination. To learn more about our Health & Safety policies, please click here.
FAMILY EVENT: CELEBRATE DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS
Sunday, October 24 at 2:00 pm
Location: Caramoor Grounds
Ticket Information: Free
Caramoor collaborates with Mexico Beyond Mariachi to bring a family-friendly afternoon of music and dance to celebrate the Mexican holiday Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Typically, the holiday involves the gathering of family and friends to pray for and to remember those who have passed, however instead of mourning, the day is filled with celebrations.
The afternoon includes several traditional and regional dance performances around Caramoor’s grounds, leading to the main event on Friends Field. Appropriate for all ages, the event includes crafts and snacks.
Schedule
Stage 1 / Spanish Courtyard
Tabasco & Guerrero / 2:00pm & 2:30pm
Stage 2 / Sunken Garden
Veracruz / 2:10pm & 2:40pm
Stage 3 / Friends Field Stage
Mexica & Aztec / 2:20pm & 2:50pm
All Artists / 3:30pm–4:15pm
EVNIN RISING STARS
Sunday, October 31 at 3:00 pm
Location: Music Room
Ticket Information: Tickets start at $30
One of three mentoring programs at Caramoor, Evnin Rising Stars serves as an incubator for the next generation of classical musicians. Renowned cellist Marcy Rosen serves as this year’s Guest Artistic Director, working with violist Daniel Phillips to mentor five young instrumentalists. The week-long residency concludes with a concert in the Music Room, giving the public the opportunity to hear these exciting artists on their way to becoming leaders in the field.
MIKE LEDONNE TRIO WITH RON CARTER & JOE FARNSWORTH
Friday – Saturday, October 15-16, 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm
Location: Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center
Ticket Information: $45 plus f&b; Students $15
“Hearing Mike LeDonne was a startling revelation. I was knocked out.” —Milt Jackson
“Mike LeDonne is one of the most talented pianists of this particular era. He’s incredible.” —Oscar Peterson
Pianist and organist Mike LeDonne is a modern master who in the past few decades has worked with Benny Goodman, Sonny Rollins, Milt Jackson, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, and more. LeDonne’s ace trio features Ron Carter on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums, so it’s guaranteed to be a virtuosic evening of swinging jazz.
JEREMY PELT
Thursday – Saturday, October 28-30, 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm
Location: Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center
Ticket Information: $40 – $45 plus f&b; Students $15
Jeremy Pelt is one of this generation’s leading band leaders and trumpeters with the ability to execute intricate solos—whether open or muted—with ease, and deliver a ballad in a soulfully tasteful manner. On this special engagement, Pelt will perform music from Griot: This Is Important!, his newest release which is part jazz album, part oral history featuring spoken interludes from fellow artists he has interviewed in recent years. For Pelt, Griot: This Is Important! both honors his forebears and sheds light on the meaning of the music and the motivations of those who devote their lives to it. He brings to Dizzy’s the core powerhouse lineup featured on the album to perform these characteristically lyrical and flowing, and stylistically diverse compositions.
INFINITE LIFE
Fall 2021
Location: The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre
A play about no end in sight. After the critically acclaimed premiere of John and sold-out run of The Antipodes, Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Baker returns with the final play of her Signature Residency, directing a new work that tackles persistent pain and desire.
TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, 1992
October 12 – November 14
Location: Irene Diamond Stage
One verdict can change the course of history. The news of the police officers’ acquittal in Rodney King’s police brutality case reverberated throughout the streets of Los Angeles. Variously called a “riot, a revolution, or a social explosion,” the events that followed the verdict drew worldwide attention. Playwright, actor and scholar Anna Deavere Smith responded artistically by dissecting the anatomy of the unrest. She interviewed over 350 Los Angelinos in preparation for the performance. Declared a “rich, panoramic canvas of a national trauma” by The New York Times, Smith’s transformative study of the 1992 L.A. riots reveals the fault lines that set the city ablaze. Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 is equal parts meticulously researched reportage and stirring cry for reform.
Signature is excited to work with Anna Deavere Smith and director Taibi Magar to reimagine this play for new performers and collaborators.
THE OVERLOOK QUARTET PERFORMS “IF THE STARS ALIGN”
Thursday, October 7, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Location: On the grounds
The Overlook is a quartet of accomplished string players dedicated to amplifying the music of Black composers, by looking to voices both celebrated and underperformed and seeking out living composers to perform and commission. Through this work, The Overlook upholds a commitment to a more representative canon. The quartet will perform “If the Stars Align,” a program dedicated to the music of living Black female composers Leila Adu, Shelley Washington and Eleanor Alberga
Violinists Monica Davis and Ravenna Lipchik have held chairs in Broadway orchestras and toured internationally with renowned chamber ensembles; violist Angela Pickett and cellist Laura Metcalf are members of award-winning string quintet Sybarite5. The four friends and colleagues formed the quartet in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, a time when creative work had all but disappeared from the artistic landscape of New York. The quartet has performed dozens of in-person and online concerts presented by the Kaufman Music Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Strathmore Arts and many others.
Registration strongly recommended, online or by calling 718.549.3200 x251. In case of rain, the event will move to Kate French Terrace. Because space is limited, registered guests will receive priority. If you have any questions about this program or have registration questions, please contact us at information@wavehill.org or by calling the number and extension provided above.
The Overlook Quartet’s performance of “If the Stars Align”, part of a two-day festival of community performance activities in the Bronx, is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the Bronx Council on the Arts.
SKY-HUNTERS IN FLIGHT
Monday, October 11, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Location: Shade Border Lawn
Welcome back master falconer Brian Bradley and his beautiful and beloved raptors, here for a live bird presentation! Watch trained birds of prey sharpen their hunting skills during an exciting outdoor flight demonstration. Hear about the ancient sport of falconry and see live raptors from around the world. Ages eight and older welcome with an adult. Space is limited. Rain location: Armor Hall in Wave Hill House. Wings over Wave Hill: Birds of Prey Day event.
Registration required, online or by calling 718.549.3200 x251. If you have any questions about this program or have registration questions, please contact us information@wavehill.org or by calling the number and extension provided above.
