Culture Picks: January 13

Here we go again! The pandemic has encouraged many presenters to move online. Fortunately, there is still so much to experience. Here are some of my favorite virtual events for this week, a plus one that has pivoted back to being in-person only.

Wigmore Hall presents
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, piano & Dmitry Shishkin, piano: Bartók, Liszt, Debussy, and Ravel
Livestream Thursday, January 13, 3pm
Available on-demand after that
In this program, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet is joined by Dmitry Shishkin, the young Russian pianist who won the Geneva International Music Competition in 2019 and second prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition the following year; their joint program places Debussy in the midst of his musical milieu, with works written or transcribed for two pianos.
Watch Wigmore Hall presents on YouTube

The New York Public Library presents
Schomburg Center’s 10th Annual Black Comic Book Festival
Thursday, Jan 13–Saturday, Jan 15
Join us (virtually) as we mark a decade of bringing together animators, Blerds, bloggers, cosplay lovers, fans, families, illustrators, independent publishers, and writers! Founded by writer Jerry Craft, scholar Jonathan Gayles, educator Deirdre Hollman, and illustrator John Jennings, the Black Comic Book Festival celebrates Black comic books and graphic novels and provides a platform for independent publishers to get work directly to readers of color.
10th Annual Black Comic Book Festival registration and more information on Eventbrite

Passim presents
Boston Celtic Music Fest
Thursday, Jan 13–Sunday, January 15
BCMFest showcases Greater Boston’s deep tradition of music, song, and dance from Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, and other Celtic communities. The festival features traditional acts as well as others that draw on contemporary sounds and ideas; full-time, professional touring acts as well as evenings-and-weekends musicians; and performers from across the generations.
View the BCMF 2022 schedule of events

The Greenburgh Public Library presents
Opera Talk: The Operas of Verdi – Part One
Saturday, January 15, 2pm
Join host Frank De Ligio on Zoom for the first of three programs on Giuseppe Verdi, who created many of the most glorious operas in the history of music.
Access Opera Talk on the library’s website

Hudson River Museum presents
The Sky Tonight
Saturday, January 15, and Sunday, January 16, 2pm
Take an awe-inspiring virtual tour of the night sky as seen from our area, with topics ranging from visible planets, bright stars, and the Milky Way, to periodic comets, seasonal constellations, alien planets, upcoming rocket launches, and more! As the year begins, we’ll look ahead to a year’s worth of upcoming events: stellar sights such as meteor showers, space missions like the JUICE mission to Jupiter to examine its giant, possibly life-bearing moons, and the discoveries made by the James Webb Space Telescope. This 60-minute interactive virtual show is recommended for ages 8 and up. Free; advance registration required.
Register for “The Sky Tonight”

ALL ARTS presents
We Are Broadway
On-demand starting Monday, January 17
The seven-episode series of super-short videos “We Are Broadway” explores what Broadway means to the cast and crew of today’s biggest hits, including “Come From Away,” “Beetlejuice,” “Wicked,” “Aladdin,” “Hadestown,” “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” and more. This episode features “Wicked” makeup artist Joe Dulude II. The series continues on January 24 with Michael Maliakel of “Aladdin” and January 31 with Beverly Jenkins of “Hadestown.”
Watch “We Are Broadway” on AllArts.org

PBS presents
Great Performances – Reopening: The Broadway Revival
Premieres Tuesday, January 18, 9pm
Available on-demand through Tuesday, February 15
Go behind the scenes of Broadway as shows reunite, rehearse, and re-stage for their long-awaited reopening nights while the theater industry learns how to turn the lights back on after its longest hiatus in history due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Watch “Reopening: The Broadway Revival” on pbs.org

Downtown Music at Grace presents
Timothy Lewis, organ
Live and in-person on Wednesday, January 19, 12:10-1pm
Grace Church in downtown White Plains, NY
Timothy Lewis plays works of Frescobaldi, Couperin, J.S. Bach, and Henri Mulet on the magnificent Guilbault-Therien organ at Grace Church. Timothy Lewis has served as Artistic and Managing Director of Downtown Music since 1988. As an organist, he has been heard in concert at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, the early music series at St. Peter’s Church, and at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church where he performed the New York premiere of Ruth Schonthal’s The Temptation of St. Anthony. He served as conductor for the east coast premiere of The Three Hermits, an opera by the American composer, Stephen Paulus. Lewis, whose articles on church music have been published by Yale University, is Director of Music and Organist at the Episcopal Church of the Messiah in Rhinebeck, New York.
More information on the Downtown Music website

Northrop presents
Paul Taylor Dance Company Open Rehearsal and Artist Q&A
Livestream Wednesday, January 19, 6pm
On-demand through Saturday, February 19
Experience a rare glimpse into the studios of Paul Taylor Dance Company during an online, behind-the-scenes preview of a new work by Peter Chu. Enjoy the first look into this Northrop Centennial Commission which will include exclusive footage of rehearsal as well as a live Q&A with choreographer Peter Chu and Paul Taylor Dance Company Artistic Director, Michael Novak.
This event is free but registration is required

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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, plus a sampling of stellar local experiences. Enjoy!

All times are EDT unless otherwise noted.