Exciting Events Around New York: July 2022
EXCITING EVENTS AROUND NEW YORK: JULY 2022
By Great Performances
Explore Great Music, Art and More at Our Partner Venues This Month!
AMATEUR NIGHT AT THE APOLLO
Every Wednesday at 7:30pm
Location: Apollo’s Historic Theater
Known as one of New York’s most popular live entertainment experiences, Amateur Night at the Apollo attracts performers and audiences from around the world in a classic talent competition that has launched the careers of countless legendary artists, from Ella Fitzgerald, Luther Vandross, Lauryn Hill, H.E.R, and Jazmine Sullivan.
Join in on the fun with the weekly classic competition that sheds light on the careers of a whole new roster of stars. Be a part of the notoriously “tough” audience in an interactive evening unlike any other and lend your voice to decide who will “Be Good or Be Gone” to win the triumphant grand prize.
Amateur Night at the Apollo is hosted by the comedian Capone. Each show begins with a festive pre-party featuring video and music by DJ Jess. And keep a lookout for C.P. Lacey, the resident Executioner who sweeps bad talent off the stage.
DRINK AND DRAW
Thursday, July 21st from 7:00pm-9:30pm
Location: Steinberg Family Sculpture Garden, 1st Floor
Ticket Information: $35 and include after-hours admission to Monet to Morisot, your own Brooklyn Museum tote, and a complimentary drink. Member tickets are $25.
Sip and sketch in our backyard Sculpture Garden this summer with a monthly series of life drawing classes. Drink and Draw is open to all levels and accompanied by a refreshing beverage and musical vibes by local DJs. In July, celebrate works from our European art collection featured in Monet to Morisot: The Real and Imagined in European Art. Sketch from live models and experiment with materials in a casual class led by teaching artist Mellasenah Nicole Edwards. Plus, enjoy tunes by Amber Valentine.
JAZZ IN THE GARDEN: ABDOU MBOUP AND WAAKAW
Sunday, July 24th from 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Location: Steinberg Family Sculpture Garden, 1st Floor
Ticket Information: This program is free and open to the public.
Swing by the Museum’s backyard Sculpture Garden for performances by some of the city’s best musicians, and enjoy a range of creative styles incorporating blues, jazz, and international sounds. Presented in partnership with Jazz Foundation of America.
In July, multi-instrumentalist Abdou Mboup incorporates jazz ensemble music by his group, Waakaw, into the griot tradition of his native Senegal.
THE CHEVALIER
Sunday, July 10th at 4:00pm
Ticket Information: Starting at $40
This innovative work of concert theater honors the life of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges — a prolific 18th-century composer, virtuoso violinist, the finest fencer in Europe, general of Europe’s first Black regiment, and a crusader for equality. The story of this extraordinary artist of color, overlooked in history, is bursting to be told!
The Harlem Chamber Players are joined by four actors and violinist Brendon Elliott for this concert theater work exploring Bologne’s music, friendships with Mozart and Marie Antoinette, and his unknown contribution to the abolishment of slavery.
IMANI WINDS
A Woman’s Perspective
Thursday, July 14th at 7:00pm
Ticket Information: Starting at $40
The Grammy-nominated Imani Winds lead the evolution of the wind quintet through their dynamic playing and adventurous programming, striving to push the classical repertory forward into inclusivity. Their Caramoor debut celebrates the diversity of four prominent, yet under-represented, female composers.
Talkback with Helga Davis / Stay for a conversation with Imani Winds immediately following the concert.
CONCERT ON THE LAWN: RACHAEL & VILRAY
Presented in collaboration with City Winery
Saturday, July 23rd at 8:00pm
Ticket Information: $65
Lake Street Dive singer-songwriter Rachael Price and composer, singer, and guitarist Vilray turned their shared love for the jazz music of the 1930s and ’40s into a heart-warming collaboration between friends. After meeting at the New England Conservatory of Music, the duo later reunited for a performance that sparked songwriting inspiration. Performing a mixture of original songs and forgotten treasures, Rachael & Vilray welcome you to an evening rich with nostalgia for an era gone by.
Please bring your own seating for this concert, as it takes place on our grassy Friends Field. You can even bring or purchase a picnic dinner!
LAKECIA BENJAMIN
Tuesday, July 12th and Wednesday, July 13th
Ticket Information: Start at $35
ABOUT THE SHOW
Rising star saxophonist and Essentially Ellington alumna Lakecia Benjamin returns to the Dizzy’s Club stage! Benjamin has developed a reputation for energetic, genre-crossing performances, and she has played with musicians ranging from Jimmy Heath, Joanne Brackeen, Charenee Wade, and Harry Belafonte to Macy Gray, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, and The Roots. For this performance, she will return to a favorite source of material by leading her quartet through repertoire from her new album, which celebrates her major saxophone influence John Coltrane as well as the great multi-instrumentalist Alice Coltrane. Come check out one of the instrument’s freshest new voices perform her own take on this timeless music.
JON FADDIS QUARTET: HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEK!
Thursday, July 21st through Sunday, July 24th
Ticket Information: Start at $40
ABOUT THE SHOW
It’s only fitting that Jon Faddis celebrates his birthday every year – July 24 – at Dizzy’s Club, considering the club’s namesake was Jon’s lifelong mentor and friend. And, like his hero, Faddis is an overwhelming presence on the bandstand, as both a player of both prodigious power and finesse and as a gregarious frontman, cracking up both his bandmates and audiences.
Born in 1953, Faddis began playing at age seven, inspired by an appearance by Louis Armstrong on the Ed Sullivan Show. Bill Catalano (an alumnus of the Stan Kenton band) hipped Faddis to the music of Dizzy Gillespie. Meeting Dizzy Gillespie at the Monterey Jazz Festival and then sitting in with him at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco proved to be a pivotal beginning of a unique friendship between Gillespie and Faddis, one that spanned almost three decades.
Two days before his 18th birthday, Faddis joined Lionel Hampton’s band as a featured soloist, moving from Oakland, CA to New York. Shortly after arriving in Manhattan, Faddis was invited to sit in with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra at the Village Vanguard; he rapidly became lead trumpeter for the band, touring the world. He soon formed his own quartet, and began directing orchestras, including the Grammy-winning United Nation Orchestra, the Dizzy Gillespie 70th Birthday Big Band, the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble (2004-2010), the Carnegie Hall Centennial Big Band, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band (1992-2002), and the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra of New York (2003-present).
A devoted educator, Faddis is a full-time faculty member at the Conservatory of Music, Purchase College-SUNY, where he began in 1999 as Artist-in-Residence, becoming shortly after Professor and Director of Jazz Performance and he holds the first-ever honorary doctorate in Jazz from Manhattan School of Music (which he attended for about a semester when he was 18). Come celebrate the birthday of one of the true disciples of bebop, the one and only Jon Faddis.
PERFORMANCE LINEUP
Jon Faddis – Leader & Trumpet
David Hazeltine – Piano
Kiyoshi Kitagawa – Bass
Dion Parson – Drums
FIRST FRIDAY
Friday, July 1st
Peace Poster Workshop: (1:00pm to 2:30pm) Join artist and printmaker Todd Drake for this hands-on workshop centered on the theme of peace. Inspired by the work of designer and artist Peter Paul Piech, participants will learn basic linoleum printmaking techniques while creating their very own peace posters. Tickets: $10
Collaborative Paper Marbling: (4:00pm to 5:30pm) Led by cultural worker and teaching artist Fan Kong, this workshop will introduce beginners to Suminagashi, the oldest paper marbling technique. This meditative practice involves floating colors on the surface of water and delicately transferring them to paper. Each participant will learn to create and experiment with Suminagashi in small groups. Along the way, we will reflect on and challenge traditional thinking processes through creative problem solving and mindfulness. Tickets: $20
Ethel Reed Docent Tour: (5:30pm to 6:30pm) Get an inside look at the exhibition Ethel Reed: I Am My Own Property during this informative docent tour. Learn about this pioneering graphic designer—one of a handful of American women to make a name for herself in the field at the turn of the 19th century—and explore the dark and oftentimes defiant thread that ran just beneath the surface of her otherwise cheerful compositions. FREE!
Fabulous Florals Workshop: (6:00pm to 7:00pm) Just in time for spring, join artist and designer M for an interactive, flower-based design activity. Participants in this hands-on workshop will learn to incorporate floral motifs into their analog designs. Guests will leave with a personal design inspired by the exhibition Ethel Reed: I Am My Own Property. Tickets: $10
Battleship Potemkin Movie Screening: (7:00pm to 8:30pm) Enjoy a screening of the renowned 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin in the museum’s main gallery. Widely considered to be a technical masterpiece and one of the greatest movies of all time, Battleship Potemkin continues to influence and inspire filmmakers. This unique experience offers attendees the opportunity to enjoy the acclaimed film among the film posters featured in The Utopian Avant-Garde: Soviet Film Posters of the 1920s, on view through August 21. FREE!
SIGSPACE X EMANCIPATED STORIES
Wednesday, June 29th through Sunday, July 24th
Ticket Information: Free!
Creating invigorating connections among people on the inside and out, Emancipated Stories is collaborating with SigSpace to share a visual and experiential activation to create a bridge to people who have been affected by incarceration, who often feel impenetrably separated. Founded by Quiara Alegría Hudes and her cousin Sean Ortiz, designed by Yazmany Arboleda, this lobby installation features letter-writing and pop-up performances produced in collaboration with The Fortune Society. Bear witness to the real, handwritten words and art of those behind bars — and respond.
SUNSET WEDNESDAY: AFRO LATIN JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Wednesday, July 13th from 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Location: Great Lawn
Ticket Information: $12/adults, $8/students/seniors, $6/children, FREE for members
Feel the beat of the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble, an octet made up of some of the most virtuosic musicians in jazz today. Based in New York City, the ensemble is part of the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, founded by Grammy-award winning pianist and composer Arturo O’Farrill. Their repertoire honors the pioneers of Latin jazz, like Mario Bauzá and Tito Puente, while keeping a strong foothold in progressing that music by performing contemporary compositions of the genre.
Sunset Wednesdays take place on the Great Lawn. You may bring folding chairs, but blankets are not permitted, and visitors may picnic only in designated picnic areas. The closest to the Great Lawn is adjacent to Glyndor Gallery. The Café and Shop are open until 7PM.
SUNSET WEDNESDAY: GINA D’SOTO
Wednesday, July 20th from 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Location: Great Lawn
Ticket Information: $12/adults, $8/students/seniors, $6/children, FREE for members
The multi-talented singer, composer and arranger Gina D’Soto is one of the first prominent Cuban musicians to emerge out of the late 90s generation, with a sound best described as the blending of jazz, soul, fusion and Cuban traditions. She is known for her energetic, soulful and powerful vocals, and has shared the stage with such legendary musicians as Arturo O’Farrill, Antonio Sanchez and Anna Tijoux.
Sunset Wednesdays take place on the Great Lawn. You may bring folding chairs, but blankets are not permitted, and visitors may picnic only in designated picnic areas. The closest to the Great Lawn is adjacent to Glyndor Gallery. The Café and Shop are open until 7PM.
SUNSET WEDNESDAY: THE BRASS QUEENS
Wednesday, July 27th from 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Location: Great Lawn
Ticket Information: $12/adults, $8/students/seniors, $6/children, FREE for members
The Brass Queens is a Brooklyn-based, 8-piece brass band whose music is deeply inspired by the New Orleans tradition, which influences their genre-spanning sound. Brass Queens features an all-female horn section with the goal of expanding the space for women in a male-dominated industry. Their rousing energy will have you swaying, dancing and toe-tapping!
Sunset Wednesdays take place on the Great Lawn. You may bring folding chairs, but blankets are not permitted, and visitors may picnic only in designated picnic areas. The closest to the Great Lawn is adjacent to Glyndor Gallery. The Café and Shop are open until 7PM.
THE DISCOASIS
Extended through October 1st!
Ticket Information: Start at $29, varies based on day and time
The DiscOasis is a timed-entry immersive theatrical experience that unites art, light, music, dance, live performances, roller skating, good times, and good vibes within the iconic Wollman Rink in Central Park. At The DiscOasis you will find yourself dancing and skating your way through a glittering sonic fantasia for the soul with a soundscape curated by our Groovemaster, disco and funk legend Nile Rodgers. Whenever you visit, you will be immersed in the groovy paradise that is The DiscOasis. The environmental design features art installations, photo ops, and soundscapes curated by Groovemaster Nile Rodgers.
The DiscOasis is rolling through New York for a limited engagement starting June 16. The experience will be open Wednesday-Sunday, with daytime skate sessions from 10:00am-4:30pm, and the nighttime experience from 5:30-10:00pm.
BROADWAY SINGS THAT FUNKY MUSIC
Tuesday, July 5th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Ticket Information: $25 – general admission to the performances.
Live performances are back at Wollman Rink during roller skating season! At Broadway Sings® that Funky Music, join the live, brass-packed Broadway Sings band and six insanely talented Broadway stars as we jam to popular songs from the past 50 years. Throughout the night, you’ll hear new arrangements of the hits from the 1970s to 2022, each given a funky-fresh twist and featuring artists such as Stevie Wonder, Kelly Clarkson, Bruno Mars and Ariana Grande. Grab a cocktail and some food and come party with Broadway Sings in Central Park — this band kicks BRASS!
Scheduled to Appear:
- Tamika Lawrence (Caroline, or Change)
- Marty Thomas (Wicked)
- Corey Mach (Kinky Boots)
- Mia Gentile (Kinky Boots)
- Phoenix Best (Dear Evan Hansen)
- Ben Fankhauser (Newsies)
