free things to do in New York City
Free events for Wednesday, 05/17/23
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Free Events, Free Things to Do in New York City!  Read More

Are you looking for free things to do in New York City (NYC) on May 17, 2023?

38 free events take place on Wednesday, May 17 in New York City. Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides! Exciting, high quality, unique and off the beaten path free events and free things to do take place in New York today, tonight, tomorrow and each day of the year, any time of the day: whether it's a weekday or a weekend, day or night, morning or evening or afternoon, December or July, April or November! These events will take your breath away!

New York City (NYC) never ceases to amaze you with quantity and quality of its free culture and free entertainment. Check out May 17 and see for yourself. Summer or Winter, Spring or Fall! Just click on any day of the calendar above and you'll find most inspiring and entertaining free events to go to and free things to do on each day of May . Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides!

Some events take place all year long: same day of the week, same time there are there for you to take advantage of. One of the oldest free weekly events in Manhattan is Dixieland Jazz with the Gotham Jazzmen, which happen at noon every Tuesday. Another example of an event that you can attend all year round on weekdays is Federal Reserve Bank Tour, which takes place every week day at 1 pm (but advanced reservations are required). You can take at least 13 free tours every day of the year, except the New Year Day, July 4th, and the Christmas Day. If you are classical music afficionado, you can spend whole day in New York going from one free classical concert to another. If you love theater, then New York gives you an option to attend plays and musicals free of charge, or at deep discount. You just need to have information about it. And we are here to make that information available to you.
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The quality and quantity of
free events,
free things to do
that happen in New York City
every day of the year
is truly amazing.

So don't miss the opportunities
that only New York provides:
stop wondering what to do;
start taking advantage of
free events to go to,
free things to do in NYC
today!

38 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Wednesday, May 17, 2023

All events are free unless otherwise noted.

Editor's Picks

free events nyc Tour of New York City Hall
free events nyc Standards from the American Songbook
free events nyc Dance Party: Bachata Tradicional
free events nyc CANCELLED***An Evening with Award-Winning Photographer Louie Palu***CANCELLED
free events nyc Birthday Presence: A New Cabaret Extravaganza
More Editor's Picks for 05/17/23
        

Workshop | Core Body Boot Camp


A community-driven pop-up fitness group for an early-morning core body boot camp. Rotations through exercises like crunches, planks, push-ups, burpees, and mountain climbers ensure a mixture of cardio and strength training that will keep you coming back, and seeing results. No equipment necessary; smiles and high fives welcome.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 am
Free

Workshop | HIIT Workout


A High Intestity Interval Training workout in the park.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 am
Free

Tour | 13 Tours, All City Neighborhoods, Any Time Of The Day, Choose One Tour Or Many


These free tours take place at various times during the day, all day long. You can make reservations for as many tours as your schedule allows. SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights + DUMBO 3 Hour Lower Manhattan Harlem Chelsea and the High Line 6 Hour Downtown Combined Greenwich Village Central Park Lower Manhattan Midtown Manhattan Grand Central Terminal Graffiti and Street Art Tours World Trade Center
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
Free

Workshop | Figure Al Fresco


This event offers a unique setting to observe and sketch the human figure. Each week a model will strike short and long poses for participants to draw. An artist/educator will offer constructive suggestions and critique. Drawing materials provided, and artists are encouraged to bring their own favorite media.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
Free

Park Walk | Park Tour: From Freight to Flowers


Hear the story behind New York City's park in the sky: an insider's perspective on the park's history, design, and landscape.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
Free

Fair | Street Fair


Free fun for the whole family, including arts, crafts, antiques, plants, entertainment, games, and more.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
Free

Workshop | Juggling in the Park


Jugglers use the park throughout the year to provide free classes to the public. Stop by for a quick lesson, stay for the whole time, or just enjoy watching them put their skills to the test. They're a friendly group and open to drop-ins, even if you catch them outside of the regular juggling lessons. All skill levels welcome. Equipment is provided.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free

Tour | Tour of New York City Hall


One of the oldest continuously used City Halls in the nation that still houses its original governmental functions, New York's City Hall is considered one of the finest architectural achievements of its period. Constructed from 1803 to 1812, the building was an early expression of the City's cosmopolitanism. City Hall is a designated New York City landmark, and its rotunda is a designated interior landmark as well.
   New York City, NY; NYC
12:00 pm
Free

Gallery Talk | Artist Talk: Eccentric Squares


In Jeff Way’s current series of paintings, Eccentric Squares, he has returned to a more purely abstract approach, which is elemental yet achieves a high level of visual complexity. This series presents an instant duality between the flatness and depth of a grid. In each of the paintings, although the squares are flat, they create a sense of depth. While the grids gravitate towards the centripetal direction, they are not centered but always eccentric. For Way, the color functions much like musical notes establishing harmony, dissonance, and rhythm. Variations in transparency and opacity contribute to the richness of the surface. The sequential layering process continues until Way feels a sense of resolution in the quality of the paint application and resonance in the layered sequencing of the color. The grid is present as an organizing principle, but the eccentric placement and layering establish an ambiguous sense of space. Color is a fundamental element in these paintings and establishes the singular character of each unique artwork.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:30 pm
Free

Concert | Piano in the Park


Come on by and tap your toes to The Big Apple's finest ragtime, stride, and jazz pianists around! Featuring special events and performances by distinguished musicians. Today's pianist: Pete Malinverni.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:30 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Night Without End: The Fate of Jews in German Occupied Poland (online)


Jan Grabowski discusses her study focused on the so-called third phase of the Holocaust in Poland. The phase began after the liquidation of the ghettos and continued until the very end of the occupation. The authors of the book look at eight rural counties which, in the summer of 1942, contained a population of more than 110,000 Jews. Less than 2% of them survived the war and close to 70% of those who went into hiding, either perished at the hands of their gentile neighbors, or were turned in by them to the Germans. On the basis of Israeli, Polish, German, US and Russian/Ukrainian archives, the authors study the Jewish struggle for survival, the agency of the local populations, and the German genocidal strategies. The book, which provoked a furious reaction of the Polish nationalist authorities, has now been made available to the English-reading audience through the combined efforts of Yad Vashem and Indiana University Press.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Book Club | Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys


Wide Sargasso Sea is a 1966 novel by Dominican-British author Jean Rhys. The novel serves as a postcolonial and feminist prequel to Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre, describing the background to Mr. Rochester's marriage from the point-of-view of his wife Antoinette Cosway, a Creole heiress.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Discussion | A Conversation with Tamara Tunie, Prominent Woman in Theatre


The League of Professional Theatre Women speaks with actress Tamara Tunie. Tunie has a distinguished body of work that encompasses stage, television, and the silver-screen. She recently wrapped the role of Cissy Houston, mother of the great American icon, Whitney Houston, in the recent feature film, I Wanna Dance With Somebody. Tunie will speak with David Gordon, editor in chief of TheaterMania. The League of Professional Theatre Women (a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization) has been championing women and leading the gender parity conversation in the professional theatre for over 35 years. Since its founding, the LPTW's membership has grown to more than 500+ theatre artists and practitioners of all backgrounds, across multiple disciplines, working in the commercial and non-profit sectors. Registration required.
   New York City, NY; NYC
1:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Adult Chorus


Directed by Church Street School of Music, the chorus is open to all who love to sing. Learn contemporary and classic songs and perform at community events throughout the year.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Jazz | Standards from the American Songbook


Jazz guitarist Bill Wurtzel and guests play standards from the American Songbook. Bill Wurtzel began playing guitar at age 9, and was a radio and TV country music performer by age 12. He attended art school and had a career as an award-winning advertising creative director. He continued to play professionally and switched to music full time in 1989. Bill has played worldwide with many jazz legends, including the Count Basie Countsmen, Wild Bill Davis, Bill Doggett, Jimmy McGriff, the Harlem Blues & Jazz Band, singers Gloria Lynne and Terri Thornton, as well as Paul Simon. Bill is a director of the Jazz Foundation of America.
   New York City, NY; NYC
1:00 pm
Free

Film | A Woman of Affairs (1928) with Greta Garbo


Childhood friends Diana, Neville, and David are caught in a love triangle as adults. Diana and Neville have long been smitten with each other, but her father disapproves of the relationship, resulting in her eventual marriage to David. It's not long after their wedding, however, that tragedy strikes, sending Diana on a downward spiral. When Neville reappears in her life, will he be able to save her from her own misery? Director: Clarence Brown Cast:  Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lewis Stone, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Greta Garbo was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses of all time, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic characters, and her subtle and understated performances. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Garbo fifth on its list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema. Garbo launched her career with a secondary role in the 1924 Swedish film The Saga of Gösta Berling. Her performance caught the attention of Louis B. Mayer, chief executive of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), who brought her to Hollywood in 1925. She stirred interest with her first American silent film, Torrent (1926). Garbo's performance in Flesh and the Devil (1927), her third movie, made her an international star. In 1928, Garbo starred in A Woman of Affairs, which catapulted her at MGM to its highest box-office star. Registration required.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Elements of Nature Drawing


A community of artists of all skill levels are inspired by our surroundings to create with drawing materials, pastels and watercolors. Embolden your artwork amidst the flower-filled and seasonally evolving palette of the verdant gardens. An artist/educator will provide ideas and instruction. Materials provided, and artists are encouraged to bring their own favorite media.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Gallery Talk | Museum Closer Look Tour


A public tour of current exhibitions, led by museum Gallery Guides.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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3:00 pm
Free

Book Club | Silent Spring by Rachel Carson


First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Jazz | Jazz Standards


An hour of music directed by Reggie Workman. This ensemble focuses on material that can be considered standard up to approximately 1965 including songs made popular via theatre, Broadway, film, etc. (Reginald) “Reggie” Workman (born in 1937) is recognized as one of the most technically gifted American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassists in history. He is an educator, composer, and jazz advocate whose style ranges from Bop, Post Bop, and beyond. Workman, a “Sound Scientist” is a 2020 recipient for the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship Award, the nation’s highest honor in jazz. Although best known for his work with John Coltrane, his collaborative projects with other artists include Art Blakey's Jazz Messngers, Yusef Lateef, Eric Dolphy, Lee Morgan, Booker Little, Elvin Jones, Alice Coltrane, Freddy Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Terumasa Hino, Mal Waldron, Abby Lincoln, Max Roach, David Murray, Oliver Lake, Cecil Taylor, Black Swan String Quartet, Ernie Watts, Sonny Simmons, and many others.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Settlers of Catan Social


Play one of the most popular board games in the world at the Games Cart. They welcome players of all levels to this weekly social.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Wellness Wednesdays


Curated by Sputnik Yoga, Wellness Wednesdays will offer a variety of fitness and wellness themed classes on a weekly basis. Bring your own yoga mat or blanket. Wednesdays, May 3 - October 25, 2023.   
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:30 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Cry, Baby: Why Our Tears Matter


Benjamin Perry's book explores humans' rich legacy of weeping- and why some of us stopped. With the keen gaze of a journalist and the vulnerability of a good friend, Perry explores the great paradoxes of our tears.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Hernan Bas: The Conceptualists: Vol. II


This spring, we are delighted to present an exhibition of new paintings by Hernan Bas, marking his sixth solo show with the gallery. The exhibition is a continuation of the artist’s recent Conceptualists series and reimagines absurdity and obsession as foundations of artistic practice. Bas is best known for his narratively rich scenes that feature a wide-range of references spanning art and literature, popular culture, kitsch, the occult, religion, and mythology. Across his works, the artist seeks to defamiliarize everyday experience through humor, revealing the surreal and absurd lurking beneath the mundane. In the Conceptualists series, Bas marries his personal appreciation of conceptual artists with his ongoing exploration of eccentricity.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Tria Giovan: Loisaida


Tria Giovan launches her evocative chronicle of the Lower East Side’s halcyon days collected from her archives, with Sean Corcoran. In 1984, Tria Giovan moved to a tenement building on Clinton Street on New York City’s Lower East Side. She wandered the streets photographing as if in a foreign land. Loisaida— as it is known to some—was as gritty, authentic and humble as it was exotic, vibrant and colorful. The melding cultures and humanity she encountered inspired these photographs. Giovan left the neighborhood and the work behind in 1990 without ever editing or producing the majority of the photographs. The negatives languished until the pandemic.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Gallery Talk | Artist Talk: Symbiosis


Artist Ji Zhou: Symbiosis will be broadcast from Beijing, with an introduction by Jonathan Kuhn, Director, Art & Antiquities, NYC Parks and Eli Klein, owner of Eli Klein Gallery. Presented in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Dancing | Dance Party: Bachata Tradicional


Superb bands and expert dance instruction. Instruction by Desiree Godsell Live music by Valerio Valerio is a bachata band from New York City. The brothers Joel and Mony sing, play guitar, and compose all of their music. Joel started playing guitar at the age of 15 and quickly realized his younger brother Mony had the same passion for music and was eager to learn. They were born and raised in Jamaica, Queens, and were heavily inspired by their father, who played piano, and older brother, Mariano, who played percussion. Joel and Mony mainly write romantic-style love songs, but they also have a funny side where they combine traditional bachata with humorous Spanglish lyrics. They've been performing professionally since 2006 and now are social media stars thanks to their hit song "I Don't Wanna Work."
   New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Slow Looking at Home: On Dancer Ming Smith (online)


Dance and movement psychotherapist Jennifer Sterling leads this Slow Looking session with MoMA and The Studio Museum in Harlem.   This program is one in a series in support of Projects: Ming Smith that seeks to expand the discourse on Smith’s practice beyond existing art historical, curatorial, and cultural theory frameworks. In focusing on “the blur,” that which is just beyond the grasp of our touch and eyes, that opacity, privacy, and fugitivity characteristic of blackness, we hope to reframe how we sense and perceive image and movement as captured through Smith’s photographic lens.   In Slow Looking, explore a single artwork from the exhibition Projects: Ming Smith through a series of guided activities, including close looking, writing, and drawing. The intention is to offer a welcoming, calm space for individuals to experience and respond to art together.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Sunset Yoga


Namaste! Unwind from the day with outdoor yoga. Immerse yourself in this meditative practice- surrounded by the Hudson's peaceful aura. Strengthen the body and cultivate awareness in a relaxed environment as your instructor guides you through alignments and poses. All levels are welcome. Bringing your own mat is encouraged, as provided accessories are first come first serve.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Discussion | Threads of Knowledge: The Intricacies of Hawaiian Textiles (online)


What That Quilt Knows About Me features quilts whose textiles and styles reflect global histories of conflict in the 18th and 19th centuries. One quilt in the exhibition is Ku’u Hae Aloha (“My Beloved Flag”), a rare 19th-century Hawaiian flag quilt that carries powerful political meaning in opposition to the United States’s annexation of Hawaii in 1893. The program invites us to examine the ways in which vibrant Hawaiian cloth culture speaks to a complex system of material exchange and colonialism in the Pacific and beyond. Native Hawaiian artist and activist Bernice Akamine draws from a long tradition of Hawaiian weaving to reflect on the islands’ current historical and ecological moment. Weaved in kapa (a bark cloth made from the wauke plant), her protest piece Hae Hawaii strips the Hawaiian flag quilt down to its most basic element to express patriotic pride and the perseverance of the lāhui (sovereignty in Hawaiian). Joiri Minaya, a Dominican-American multidisciplinary artist, destabilizes historic and contemporary representations of Indigenous identity by concealing bodies in tropical pattern design and fabric. In her series I can wear tropical print now where she juxtaposes Aloha shirts with Hawaiian design prints, the artist reveals the colonial violence hidden in the production and consumption of tourist fantasy spaces. In dialogue with curator Drew Kahuʻāina Broderick, Akamine and Minaya will explore the Hawaiian flag and Hawaiian-style quilt aesthetics from a post-colonial perspective. The history of Hawaiian weaving, design and pattern will serve as a springboard for a broader consideration of tropicalism, and its entanglement with settler colonialism and the appropriation of lands and traditions.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Performance | Embracing the Root: Music and Science Event


Embracing the Root is a music theatre work-in-progress concerned with what humanity can learn from the wisdom of trees and roots in relation to care for the climate and life of all kinds on the planet. The project involves music, drama, dance and puppetry, and collaborates with partners of sustainable development, and science of trees and the human brain and nervous system. Presenters: Composer Carman Moore (Academy of Arts & Letters) Folk singer, climate activist Peter Yarrow (Peter,Paul&Mary) Artistic mentor Anthony Bannon (Eastmen Kodak) Actress, singer Lotte Arnsbjerg Neuroscientist and biologist Sofia Hidalgo Director and Founder of The Lieber Institute Daniel Weinberger  
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Staged Reading | I Walk With Murder: A Daughter Ten Years Gone


Reese has placed an ad online looking to pay a ten thousand-dollar reward for anyone who knows where his daughter Lilly May is. She ran away or was kidnapped ten years earlier. A drifter, Saunders, contacts Reese wanting the reward for information of where Lilly May, now Kat, is living. The two men travel cross country in search for the elusive Kat. Written by Richard Vetere.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Book Discussion | The Sorrows of Others: Stories of China's Cultural Revolution


Set in China and America, in the generations after the Cultural Revolution, Ada Zhang's novel is a dazzling collection about people confronted with being outsiders--as immigrants, as revolutionaries, and even, often, within their own families. In New York City, an art student finds an unexpected subject when she moves in with a grandmother from Xi'an, and boundaries are put into question. When a newlywed couple moves to Arizona, adapting to unfamiliar customs keeps their marriage from falling apart. A woman grapples with what it means to care for another, and the limits of that care, when her dying husband returns from Beijing years after abandoning her. And during a rainy summer in Texas, a visitor exposes the unspoken but unburiable history that binds two families together. Ada Zhang writes with startling honesty and love about lives young and old, in a stunning debut that explores what happens when we leave home and what happens when we stay, and the selves we meet and shed in the process of becoming.    
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
$5

Book Discussion | The Wounded World: W.E.B. Du Bois and the First World War (online)


When W. E. B. Du Bois, believing in the possibility of full citizenship and democratic change, encouraged African Americans to “close ranks” and support the Allied cause in World War I, he made a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Seeking both intellectual clarity and personal atonement, for more than two decades Du Bois attempted to write the definitive history of Black participation in World War I. His book, however, remained unfinished. Author Chad Williams offers the dramatic account of Du Bois’s failed efforts to complete what would have been one of his most significant works. The surprising story of this unpublished book offers new insight into Du Bois’s struggles to reckon with both the history and the troubling memory of the war, along with the broader meanings of race and democracy for Black people in the twentieth century.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Talk | CANCELLED***An Evening with Award-Winning Photographer Louie Palu***CANCELLED


Travel to the front lines of global conflict, the climate crisis, and the pursuit of justice with award-winning photographer and filmmaker Louie Palu. Palu's keen and critical eye bears witness to the human condition, exploring the often uncomfortable spaces between destruction and beauty. Palu has received numerous recognitions, such as the Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Grants, and a Guggenheim/National Geographic Fellowship. His work has been featured on the BBC, Al Jazeera, Der Spiegel, NPR, El Pais, The New York Times, La Republica, and many others.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
Free

Concert | Cannonball/Nat Adderley Ensemble


An hour of music directed by Jim Snidero. The Cannonball/ Nat Adderley ensemble is a repertory ensemble. From blazing hard bop classics and major soul jazz hits to deep modal explorations and electric music, the group spanned one of the most consequential periods in jazz (1955-’75), changing with the times, yet staying true to their roots. Jim Snidero has performed and recorded with the Mingus Big Band, Brother Jack McDuff, Eddie Palmieri, Frank Sinatra, Sting, Tony Bennett, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Walt Weiskopf, Frank Wess, and Conrad Herwig, among others.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Film | Babylon: Ghetto, Renaissance, and Modern Oblivion (2020)


This short film considers the resonance of Psalm 137 through the music of two ghettoized peoples - Italian Jews of Mantua during the period of the Counter-Reformation, and African Americans before, during, and after the Harlem Renaissance. Director: Jessica Gould 29 min. Followed by a Q&A with the director
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Free

Performance | Birthday Presence: A New Cabaret Extravaganza


The International Godmother of the Royal House of LaBeija--recently shouted out by Beyonce in the "Break My Soul (Queens Remix)"--summons her family uptown for a birthday kiki destined for legendary status. Drag artist Jasmine Rice LaBeija is a Juilliard trained tenor possessed of a devastating wit, razor-sharp timing, and a commanding voice; all of which is on full display in her new cabaret extravaganza. The downtown darling hosts a homecoming celebration recital on the blessed day of her birth, presiding over the city in unparalleled fabulousness.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:30 pm
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