free things to do in New York City
Free events for Thursday, 05/05/11
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Free Events, Free Things to Do in New York City!    Read More
64 free events take place in New York City on Thursday, May 5, 2011.
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64 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Thursday, May 5, 2011

All events are free unless otherwise noted.
        

Workshop | Tai Chi in the Park


Tai Chi and Eternal Spring are instructed by members of the Tai Chi Chuan Center for all ages and experience levels. Classes are rain or shine.
   
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7:30 am
free, no reservation required

Symposium | Essentially Indigenous?: Contemporary Native Arts


This two-day symposium will wrestle with questions about how we define Native art. Is there an essential quality we can identify? Is it a relationship to land or ties to traditional art forms? How do contemporary artists define their work as Indigenous? What role do communities play in establishing or enforcing standards?
   
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9:00 am
Free

Forum | The Shifting Sands of Population and the Electorate: Changes in New York


Soon, Census 2010 will report on the net gains and losses of New York’s population on a block-by-block basis. The data will likely indicate the need for regional, demographic and political shifts in the makeup of the districts. Population variances will shift the boundaries of virtually every district in New York. Learn who’s up and who’s down from a panel of demographic experts analyzing the geographic, racial and ethnic changes of the general population, the registered voters and those regularly turning out to vote.
   
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9:00 am
Free

Tour | Federal Reserve Bank Tour


Learn about central banking functions that Federal Reserve System performs and see Bank's vault of international monetary gold on bedrock of Manhattan Island, five stories below street level. Learn why Federal Reserve has "Federal" in its name, while it's a private bank, not Federal at all. Congressman Ron Paul considers the Federal Reserve "both corrupt and unconstitutional" Five tours daily on the hour.
   
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9:30 am
Free...

Conference | Islam in Europe and America


Join the Committee for the Study of Religion in a conference presenting interdisciplinary research on religion and the sacred, and their complex and diverse manifestations in modern societies. Speakers will include Ulrich Beck, Sociology, London School of Economics & University of Munich; Jocelin Cesari, Government, Harvard University; Sherman Jackson, Near East Studies, University of Michigan; Christian Joppke, Government, American University of Paris; Daniele Hervieu-Leger, l’École hautes études en sciences sociales; Saba Mahmood, Sociocultural Anthropology, University of California Berkeley, and others.
   
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10:00 am
free, no reservation required

Talk | Open IxD Student Theses


Students from the first graduating class of the MFA Interaction Design Department will present their thesis explorations alongside special guests. Inside the theater, the inaugural class presents stories and interactive work; outside, prototypes are on display for play and exploration.
   
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10:00 am
free, no reservation required

Gallery Talk | The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Room


An expert leads informal discussions in the room and answers questions. Two sessions: 10am-1pm and 1:30pm -3pm.
   
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10:00 am
free, no reservation required

Workshop | Yoga in the Park


Expert instructors, provided by lululemon athletica, lead all levels of yogis. Mats are provided.
   
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10:00 am
free, no reservation required

Tour | Cathedral Tour


Explore the Cathedral's newly cleaned and restored Nave. Learn about the art, architecture and history of this great sacred space from 1892 to the present.
   
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11:00 am
$6

Workshop | Ping Pong in the Park


Test your skills at state-of-the-art tables. Paddles and balls are provided free of charge.
   
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11:00 am
free, no reservation required

Symposium | The Anarchist Turn


The Philosophy Department invite you to the Hanna Arendt and Reiner Schurmann Symposium entitled The Anarchist Turn. 11:15am-11:30am Opening Remarks by Simon Critchley 11:30am-1:00pm Black and Red: The Freedom of Equals, Chiara Bottici 1:15pm-3:00pm Anarchism and Feminism, Mitchell Verter, Cinzia Arruzza, Laura Corradi 4:00pm-5:30pm The Politics of Commensality, Banu Bargu 5:45pm-7:15pm Queer Anarchism and Anarchists Against the Wall, Judith Butler 8:00pm-9:30pm A Conversation with Ben Morea of Black Mask
   
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11:15 am
free, no reservation required

Tour | “Manhattan Adirondacks” Tour


Olmsted and Vaux designed the North Woods to replicate the forests of the Adirondack Mountains with its crystal streams, calming cascades, and rustic bridges. This scenic and meditative walk is right in New York City's backyard. Tour will be approximately one hour.
   
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12:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Book Signing | Jesse James signs copies of his book American Outlaw


Sandra Bullock's ex has "written" a memoir.
   
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12:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Tour | Cathedral Tour


Explore the Cathedral's newly cleaned and restored Nave. Learn about the art, architecture and history of this great sacred space from 1892 to the present.
   
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1:00 pm
$6

Concert | Chamber Music Department 2010/2011 - Concert 8


This concert is a chamber music recital featuring ensembles from the College Division Chamber Music Program.
   
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1:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Concert | Isabelle Demers, Organist


Isabelle Demers at the organ is a force of nature-a "diminutive dynamo" to whom La Presse in Montreal attributed "vehement virtuosity." A native of Québec, she is rapidly becoming recognized as one of North America's most virtuosic organists.
   
1:00 pm
$5 suggested donation

Workshop | Open Lab Computer Class


Bring your technology questions and get one-on-one assistance. If you have your own lap top you can also bring it to the class.
   
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1:00 pm
Free

Screening | Short Films on and by Native Americans


Featuring UNRESERVED: The Work of Louie Gong, Writing the Land, Airplane, Button Blanket, and Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire, and Shadows. Start times are 1pm and 3pm.
   
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1:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Author Reading | Jonathan Goldman reads from his book Modernism Is the Literature of Celebrity


Jonathan Goldman offers a startling new theory of early 20th century culture and the formal experiments that constitute modernist literature’s unmistakable legacy.
   
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1:15 pm
free, no reservation required

Tour | “The Castle and its Kingdom” Tour


Take a walk around the lands dominated by the Castle, situated high on Vista Rock. Visit the tiny 55-acre realm on an eclectic tour of history and nature. Tour is approximately one hour.
   
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2:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Workshop | Stay Well Exercise


A free Stay Well exercise session. Stay Well volunteers cetrified by the NYC's Department for the aging will lead participants in a well-balanced series of exercises for seniors of all ability levels. Please wear loose comfortable clothing. Exercise equipment will be provided. All participants are required to sign a personal medical waiver at the beginning of the class.
   
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2:30 pm
Free

Birdwatching | Birding Tour of the Park


Discover the varieties of birds that call Bryant Park home during the migratory season with guided tours.
   
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5:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Other | Chess & Games Club


A Beginning and Intermediate Chess Program for Adults. Show off your best moves against other chess fans! Or simply learn from other chess fans! Whether you're a chess master or just starting out, come join us for some board time. They also welcome board games and strategy games as well.
   
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5:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Screening | Vicki Abeles & Jessica Congdon's Documentary Race to Nowhere (2009): The Lives of Today's Students


A close-up look at the pressures on today's students, offering an intimate view of lives packed with activities, leaving little room for down-time or family time.
   
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5:00 pm
Free

Book Signing | Sara Cedar Miller signs copies of her book Strawberry Fields: Central Park's Memorial to John Lennon


Miller will give a brief presentation on her newest book and then do a book signing. Refreshments and hors d'oeuvres will be served.
   
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5:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Screening | Short Films on and by Native Americans


Featuring UNRESERVED: The Work of Louie Gong, Writing the Land, Airplane, Button Blanket, and Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire, and Shadows.
   
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5:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Opening Reception | Chad Kleitsch's Works on Paper


In the New York debut of Works on Paper, Chad Kleitsch, whose projects have brought him behind the scenes of the museum and up close with the complexity of a petal, selects original documents – letters, scores, manuscripts, and everyday correspondence and exposes them under the light of the scanner, creating a new portrait of the document, that reveals both sides of the page within one. Kleitsch uses a scanner as a camera in a practice termed “scanography”, where the light of the scanner exposes the paper/object, similar to the way in which photographers worked from paper negatives in the last century.
   
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Opening Reception | Group Show: Among the Serious and Playful Things


A group of selected artists, from US, France, Japan and Italy, has been asked to represent the passage among the serious and playful things. With Barbara Busetto, Paul Carbo, Adriana Collovati, Pierre- Régis Dides, Jim Dixon Rosanna Forino, Luciano Maciotta, Tina Parotti, Barbara Rosenzweig, Rachel Schneider, Sayuri Shimizu, Monika Wolf.
   
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Opening Reception | Group Show: Focal Points


The show will exhibit works from five contemporary artists: Margaret Evangeline, Mark Gibian, William Manning, Andy Moses, and Nancy Steinson.
   
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Opening Reception | Jack Walls' “Mona Lisa” Collage Paintings


Jack Walls insists on putting quotation marks around each "Mona Lisa," because they are as much portraiture as history painting: sexually ambiguous, oddly mischievous and caught in an eternal metaphorical nod. His "Ada" collage series was exhibited at the Fuse Gallery in 2008 and followed last year by his epic poetry book, The Ebony Prick of the White Rose's Thorn.
   
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Opening Reception | Paper Sculptures: Sonya Blesofsky's Tenement


Sonya Blesofsky’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. For Tenement, she investigates impermanence, instability, community, history, and preservation through fragile paper sculptures.
   
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Opening Reception | Photography: Paul Shore & Nicole Root's Licked, Sucked, Stacked, Stuck


The artists call this show "a confectionary history of contemporary sculpture."
   
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Opening Reception | Student Exhibition: Ideopolis


An exhibition of thesis projects by students in the MFA Design Department.
   
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Talk | Tips for Maximizing Every Job Interview


Executive career coach Beth Ross illustrates the importance of being prepared, articulate, and knowledgeable on the interview.
   
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Poetry Reading | 4 poets read from their work


With Kevin Prufer, Joni Wallace, Tom Healy and Deborah Landau.
   
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6:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Discussion | Alumni Publishing Panel


Recent MFA graduates discuss their careers in publishing and the shifting state of the industry. With Christopher Beha, author of The Whole Five Feet and assistant editor at Harper’s Magazine; Lila Cecil, co-founder of Paragraph: Workspace for Writers; Brian DeLeeuw, author of In This Way I Was Saved and assistant editor at Tin House; and Alina Gregorian, an editor at Maggy Poetry Journal. Moderated by Helen Schulman.
   
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6:30 pm
$5

Discussion | Artists Leading Economic Redevelopment


A roundtable discussion focusing on how artists and art organizations have taken lead roles in the economic redevelopment of New York City and other urban centers. Leaders of local arts organizations from the Bronx, Coney Island, Gowanus, and the Lower East Side discuss how small business creation and community outreach contribute to economic development.
   
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6:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Author Reading | Christopher Payne discusses his book Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals


The author, a New York based photographer and a trained architect, presents a haunting yet exquisite visual documentary of the architectural decay of state mental hospitals built during the 19th century across the United States.
   
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6:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Discussion | Countdown to 2050: Race and America's Future


By 2050, people of color will constitute the majority in the United States. But even as the face of the nation changes, racial inequality remains stark. More than one quarter of young black men fail to graduate from high school. Nearly a third of all black, Latino, and Southeast Asian-American children live in poverty. In this panel, Angela Glover Blackwell and Manuel Pastor, authors of Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America’s Future (W.W. Norton, 2010), discuss the challenges of overcoming such inequities in the United States in planning for the future. Joined by moderator Tracyann Williams, a professor of cultural studies and humanities at The New School, the authors present a blueprint for the future—one that is built from the ground up, characterized by equity and fairness, and achieved through bold and visionary leadership.
   
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6:30 pm
Free

Screening | Documentary: Marcel Ophuls' A Sense of Loss (1972)


After trawling through a past that many wanted to forget in The Sorrow and the Pity, Ophuls turned to the conflict in Northern Ireland that was attracting the world's attention and which had recently exploded into Bloody Sunday. With Bernadette Devlin charismatically representing the new face of Republicanism and Ian Paisley emerging as a spokesman for grassroots Unionism, Ophuls also focuses on the emotions that give his powerful film its title, voiced by a couple grieving over the death of their baby. 135 min.
   
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6:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Author Reading | Mosette Broderick discusses her book Triumvirate: McKim, Mead & White: Art, Architecture, Scandal, and Class


Two historians discuss the Gilded Age's most influential architects. The men behind many of New York's most iconic structures were involved in scandals as grand as their designs.
   
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6:30 pm
Free

Discussion | Piero Gobetti@NYC


Although well-known and influential as a political theorist in Italy, until recently Piero Gobetti (1901-1925) has been relatively unknown in the English-speaking world. Gobetti wore many hats: he was founder and editor of two influential political reviews, Energie nove and Rivoluzione liberale; a political theorist whose revolutionary liberalism was grounded in an ethics of self-emancipation; an ardent anti-fascist whose untimely death at the age of 24 was a result of a beating he had suffered at the hands of fascist thugs acting on the orders of Benito Mussolini. Bringing together scholars who have recently published in English on Gobetti, Piero Gobetti@NYC represents an occasion to gain insight into and gauge the importance of the thought of one of early twentieth century Italy's most innovative and remarkable intellectuals.
   
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6:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Talk | A Talk by Eric Wolpaw, Video Game Writer


This lecture series invites leaders and innovators in game design, criticism, and culture to explore the future of games as a mode of entertainment, an economic force, and a cultural practice. Eric Wolpaw, an American video game writer, has pushed the boundaries to great narratives and dialogues in video games with his work on Psychonauts, Half-Life, Portal, and other Valve products.
   
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7:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Book Discussion | Book Club: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce


Stephen Daedalus negotiates his formative years in this classic semi-autobiographical novel.
   
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7:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Reading | Contributors read from the new issue of Noon


Chiara Barzini is an Italian writer who has lived and studied in the United States where she worked as a correspondent for Italian Vanity Fair, GQ, Flair, Rolling Stone Italy, and Marie Claire. Her fiction has appeared in a variety of American magazines as well. Films written by her have been distributed in Italy, Spain, Japan, and Latin America. The most recent one she co-wrote, Into Paradiso, premiered at the 67th edition of the Venice Film Festival in 2010. Sister Stop Breathing—a story collection—is due out from Calamari Press in 2011. Brandon Hobson's The Levitationist is available from Ravenna Press. His fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in NOON, New York Tyrant, Gigantic, Narrative Magazine, and elsewhere. Diane Williams is the founder and editor of NOON. She has a brand new collection of stories—Vicky Swanky Is a Beauty—due out from McSweeney's next year. She will read from Robert Tindall's first published story—"So His Life Was Like a Goose of Some Kind"—now appearing in NOON 2011.
   
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7:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | Daniel Clowes discusses his book Mister Wonderful: A Love Story


The fan-favorite Eisner Award-winning story, originally serialized in The New York Times Magazine, is now collected with forty pages of new material. Sitting alone in the local coffee place, Marshall awaits Natalie's arrival. He's been set up by his friend on a blind date and he's been waiting nearly an hour for her to arrive. When he's given up home, Natalie appears, apologizing profusely. She's too god to be true. There has to be a catch. And, of course, there is.
   
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7:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Author Reading | Janet Malcolm reads from her book Iphigenia in Forest Hills


“She couldn’t have done it and she must have done it.” This is the enigma at the heart of Janet Malcolm’s riveting new book about a murder trial in the insular Bukharan-Jewish community of Forest Hills, Queens, that captured national attention.
   
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7:00 pm
Free

Screening | Josh Fox's Oscar-Nominated Documentary Gasland (2010), Followed by a Q&A with the Director


It is happening all across America-rural landowners wake up one day to find a lucrative offer from an energy company wanting to lease their property. Reason? The company hopes to tap into a reservoir dubbed the "Saudi Arabia of natural gas." Halliburton developed a way to get the gas out of the ground-a hydraulic drilling process called "fracking"-and suddenly America finds itself on the precipice of becoming an energy superpower.
   
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7:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough discuss her book Knowing Your Value: Women, Money and Getting What You're Worth


Brzezinski, journalist and bestselling author of All Things at Once talks about her latest book with her Morning Joe co-host.
   
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7:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Poetry Reading | Pulitzer-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa reads from his book The Chameleon Couch


Komunyakaa’s newest collection of poems was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in March 2011. Also reading: Chuck Wachtel, whose most recent novel, 3/03 was published by Hanging Loose Press.
   
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Jazz | Spring 2011 Ensemble and Recital Series: Music of Ornette Coleman


Directed by Jane Ira Bloom.
   
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7:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Performance | Standing Reason: A Sketch Comedy Show


Inner thoughts are kept inner for a reason. It's what separates the subway riders from the subway screamers. But it isn't any fun to sit and watch people think. And besides, sometimes that guy yelling obscenities on the A Train seems to have a point. Standing Reason is a sketch comedy show that takes an inside look at both the crazy and the sane to see if there's really all that much of a difference. Featuring: Mike Barry, Kevin Condardo, Nick Kanellis, Margo Brooke Pellmar, and Matt B. Weir Directed By: Danny Williams Written By: Tim Eberle Video Direction By: Andrew Osborne
   
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7:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Theater | Student Production: George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara


Performed by the Graduate Acting Class of 2012.
   
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7:00 pm
Free...

Concert | Chamber Singers: Music by Women Composers


   
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7:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Jazz | Music Ed Jazz Ensemble


A Celebration of Big Band Music and Dance featuring the NYU Swing Dancers.
   
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8:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Concert | Opera Hispánica


After presenting sold-out, preview performances throughout New York City, Opera Hispánica is proud to present its first, full-length concert of Soneto de Amor y Muerte with a special one-night only performance. Come experience a magical evening of Spanish Zarzuela, Argentinian Tango, and Latin American opera performed by New York’s first and only Spanish-language opera company. Audience members are invited to participate in a pre-performance discussion with Opera Hispánica company members at 7 pm. Featuring: Anna Noggle, Soprano; Camille Ortiz-Lafont, Soprano; Aniello Alberti, Tenor; Vaughn Lindquist, Baritone; Juan Pablo Horcasitas, Piano; Juan Pablo Jofre, Bandoneon/Arranger; Francisco Roldán, Classical Guitar.
   
8:00 pm
Free

Dance Performance | Student Dance: Showing V


The final showing of new work created by students in their 1st and 2nd years of study.
   
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8:00 pm
Free

Concert | Student Recital - Hyeran Hwang, soprano


A uniquely rewarding experience for music lovers - the freshness and excitement of a solo recital by a gifted young artist at one of the world's leading conservatories.
   
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8:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Theater | Students in Repertory Productions


The Actors Studio Drama School presents its annual Repertory Season at Pace University, in five weeks of theatre designed to introduce graduating students to the professional world and the public in full productions of the work they have created during their three years of study. Here you will witness a weekly series of scenes, one-act plays and full-length plays, some of them written by our playwrights, and all of them directed and acted by students.
   
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8:00 pm
Free

Jazz | Innovative Jazz: Brahim Fribgane / Ibrahim Maalouf


Brahim Fribgane, a New York-based composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, grew up immersed in his Berber (Amazigh) culture while absorbing Arab, Gnaoua, and Andalusian influences. Today he is known as an innovator who artfully blends these musical traditions. For this special evening, Fribgane will draw specifically on Amazigh tradition for one of his signature inventive performances. Sharing the bill with Fribgane is French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf, known for his own innovative combination of jazz and traditional Arabic music. The two musicians will then perform together, collaborating to create a dynamic and original sound.
   
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8:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Jazz | Spring 2011 Ensemble and Recital Series: R&B Ensemble


Directed by Michael Wolff.
   
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9:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Performance | Ramblings of a Gentleman Scumbag Comedy Show


Lucky Chengs Balloon man, delusional comic, and man of no God tries to justify 34 years of poor life choices and degeneracy. Profiled in Playgirl, FHM Magazine, Time-Out NY Magazine, Murdock is not your Father’s balloon man.
   
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10:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Jazz | 5/5/5 After Hours Set


A great way to hear some of the most talented young lions of jazz while enjoying spectacular views of Manhattan.
   
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11:00 pm
$5 cover, $5...

Performance | The Big One Comedy Show


The hottest comedians in New York City join special guests from NBC, Comedy Central, and more in a weekly comedy extravaganza on the main stage of the newly-renovated People's Improv Theater. Hosted by Harrison Greenbaum (Comedy Central's "Comics to Watch" and Andy Kaufman Award winner)
   
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11:00 pm
$5
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Classical Music | Holiday Concert at a Landmark Venue

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Dance Performance | "Astonishing" Choreographer

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Performance | Mysticism and Music from Broadway Creators

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Performance | Comedy by 13-time Emmy Winner with Broadway Actors

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