Celebrate Juneteenth in person in Bedford or online with Alvin Ailey. Last week we featured the Ailey All-Access presentation of Ailey’s beloved Revelations, performed at the December 2021 Opening Night Gala. Access to the 2021 performance ends on June 19, but – good news! – you can enjoy another performance of this Ailey gem online on Lincoln Center at Home.
Lincoln Center at Home presents
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Revelations
On-demand
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is celebrating six decades of Revelations, a choreographic masterpiece that has become a lasting cultural treasure beloved by generations. Watch the company’s full performance from the 2015 Lincoln Center at the Movies production. The piece, which premiered in 1960, pays homage to and reflects African-American cultural heritage, which Ailey considered one of America’s richest treasures – “sometimes sorrowful, sometimes jubilant, but always hopeful.”
Watch Lincoln Center at Home on YouTube
The Canadian Opera Company presents
Bluebeard’s Castle
On-demand until Saturday, September 24.
In this hybrid work, director Atom Egoyan melds his award-winning film Felicia’s Journey with Hungarian composer Béla Bartók’s one-act opera Bluebeard’s Castle. Egoyan’s 1999 film starring Bob Hoskins is about a serial killer who preys on women in Birmingham, England, while Bartók’s 1918 opera tells the grisly fairy tale of Bluebeard, whose new bride Judith begins to suspect that the doors of her husband’s castle conceal gruesome secrets. At the outset, a man watches Egoyan’s film on a laptop alone in a room, a 14-minute prologue that establishes a Hitchcockian mood, after which the audio of the film falls away and is replaced by Bartók’s unmistakably modernist score. The COC Orchestra under the baton of Music Director Johannes Debus begin to perform the one-act opera, with Kyle Ketelsen (Bluebeard) and Krisztina Szabó (Judith) singing and acting the action on stage—even as the moving images of Felicia’s Journey continue to project on a panel above them. Haunting connections emerge between the visual symbolism and thematic concerns of two different art forms, as they entwine in parallel around the dark nucleus of a story concerning violence and madness.
Watch “Bluebeard’s Castle” on the Canadian Opera Company website
Hudson Stage Company presents
Staged Reading: Memory of Convenience
Friday, June 17, at 7:30pm
Whippoorwill Theatre, North Castle Public Library, Kent Place, Armonk, NY 10504
$10 general admission, no reservations necessary
Hudson Stage announces its final event of the season, a staged reading of Memory Of Convenience, a new play by Jeff McCracken, co-directed by noted Irish director Ray Yeates and Jeff McCracken. This contemporary Irish/American drama focuses on four central characters in a rural New England tavern trying to navigate and reconcile their respective pasts while negotiating their perceptions of the truth. Forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. Q&A immediately follows with participating artists. HSC info line: 914-271-2811. Denise Bessette and Olivia Sklar, Producers.
Learn more about Hudson Stage
The Metropolitan Opera in association with PBS and The WNET Group presents
Great Performances at the Met: Rigoletto
Premieres Friday, June 17, at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings)
Verdi’s timeless tragedy is reset in 1920s Europe by Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher. Baritone Quinn Kelsey portrays the title role at the Met for the first time, starring alongside soprano Rosa Feola as Gilda and tenor Piotr Beczała as the Duke of Mantua, with leading maestro Daniele Rustioni on the podium. Varduhi Abrahamyan plays Maddalena and Andrea Mastroni plays Sparafucile. Hosted by Isabel Leonard.
Available on: PBS.org, Facebook, YouTube
View the Great Performances Season 16 schedule on PBS.org
Lincoln Center presents
American Ballet Theatre Family Performance for General Audiences: ABT Kids
Metropolitan Opera House
Saturday, June 18, 11:00 am–12:00 pm (Ages 4-12)
Share the wonder of dance with your entire family at ABTKids, a special, one-hour performance designed to introduce young audiences to the magic and beauty of dance. The performance, recommended for children ages 4-12, is narrated by a member of ABT’s Artistic Staff and features child-friendly highlights from the Company’s vast repertoire of ballets.
Get tickets for ABTKids at Lincoln Center
Caramoor, in collaboration with the Town of Bedford, NY, presents
Celebrate Juneteenth: A Day to Energize and Recognize!
Sunday, June 19, 3pm
Join Caramoor to celebrate African American freedom and achievement! Known as our country’s second Independence Day, Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans and honors their families, heritage, and resilience. Millions celebrate this nationally and globally significant American holiday. Jeremiah Abiah — international acclaimed recording artist, vocal coach, and songwriter — will perform a soulful set and family-friendly activities complete this annual June jubilee steeped in tradition and joy. All are welcome!
More information about the Juneteenth Celebration is available on Caramoor’s website
GEMS (Gotham Early Music Scene, Inc.) Midtown Concerts presents
Concordian Dawn: Preview: Medieval Song from Aristotle to Opera
Thursday, June 23, 1:15 – 2:00 pm
Live at The Church of the Transfiguration, 1 East 29th Street, NYC
Livestream here or on YouTube
While writing her forthcoming monograph, Medieval Song from Aristotle to Opera, renowned medieval studies scholar Sarah Kay teamed up with Concordian Dawn to produce a multimedia publication and recording project currently set for release in the late summer of 2022 (Cornell University Press/MSR Classics). Concordian Dawn, an ensemble for medieval music, brings source material from centuries ago into conversation with the mindset of modern society. The ensemble gives the GEMS audience a “sneak peek” into this exciting release.
Kristina Boerger ~ soprano
Niccolo Seligmann ~ vielle
Christopher Preston Thompson ~ tenor and medieval harp, artistic director
Learn more about the Concordian Dawn performance on the Gotham Early Music Scene website
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Culture Picks is a weekly feature celebrating the performing arts. The arts are back and there is so much to take in, both live and virtual. Cultural connoisseur and PAC staff member Coni Guhl is here to help you sort through it all. Each week we will post her curated selection of events featuring the artists you know and love from The PAC Center Series, work being done by Purchase alums, plus a sampling of arts experiences you just can’t miss. Enjoy!
All times are EDT unless otherwise noted.
Pictured: Jeremiah Abiah © Jeremiah Abiah / Caramoor
