Stay safe and warm this weekend as you enjoy my selection of virtual events.

Midtown Concerts presents
Schwarz / Shin Duo: Treasures of the High Baroque
Thursday, January 27, from 1:15 – 2pm
In-person at the Church of the Transfiguration, NYC and live-streamed
Ensembles for these lunchtime performances of music of the 18th century and earlier are chosen by a panel of early-music specialists from the metropolitan area. The January 27 program features works of three internationally renowned composers: the German-born George Frideric Handel in London; the Italian-born Michele Mascitti in Paris, and arguably best-known at the time, Georg Philipp Telemann, who held the most important positions in Leipzig, Frankfurt, and Hamburg within the German states. Jörg-Michael Schwarz, violin; Dongsok Shin, harpsichord.
Watch online on GemsNY.org or on YouTube

The Greene Space and WQXR present
Eine kleine Birthday-musik: A Celebration of Mozart (Virtual)
Thursday, January 27,  7-8pm
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is looking pretty good for a composer turning 266 years old!  To mark the anniversary of the original Wunderkind’s birth, WQXR is celebrating with a free, all-Mozart live-streamed concert from The Greene Space. Remarkable Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto will kick off the evening’s festivities. Akin to the praise Mozart received in his own heyday, Kuusisto has been called “a free-spirited innovator” (The ArtsDesk). Triple threat — flutist, singer, and composer — Emi Ferguson will be joined by Aisslinn Nosky, Maureen Murchie, and Coleman Itzkoff to perform Mozart’s Flute Quartet in D Major, and rising star pianist Ying Li closes out the night with the Piano Sonata No. 13 in B Flat Major.  WQXR’s Jeff Spurgeon hosts the event.
Listen to Eine kleine Birthday-musik: A Celebration of Mozart

Wigmore Hall presents
A Musical Banquet
Iestyn Davies, countertenor; Thomas Dunford, lute
Livestream Friday, January 28, from 3-5pm
On-demand on YouTube
Son of the more famous John Dowland, Robert (c.1591-1641), equally a renowned lutenist, published in 1610 A Musicall Banquet furnished with varietie of delicious Ayres, Collected out of the best Authors in English, French, Spanish and Italian – a treasure of its period here performed by two of today’s leading exponents of the lute song.
Watch and listen to the live stream on Wigmorehall.org
Watch Wigmore Hall presents on YouTube

Classical Music Festivals Canada (CMFC) presents
 July in January
Friday, January 28 – Friday, February 28
CMFC was founded in 2021, and July in January is their first initiative. During the uncertain times of the COVID pandemic, the organizers of 11 of Ontario’s classical music festivals got together to come up with an off-season event that would connect musical communities through the winter.
Access Classical Music Festivals Canada

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents
Virtual Lunar New Year Festival: Year of the Tiger
Saturday, January 29, 10am–5pm
May art bring you good fortune! Celebrate the Year of the Tiger, one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, with virtual performances, interactive activities, and artist-led workshops for all ages. All virtual activities are free, and no registration is required. All videos are prerecorded.  Videos have captions in English, Simplified Chinese, Korean, and Spanish.
Virtual Lunar New Year Festival: Year of the Tiger | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players presents
H.M.S. Pinafore
Live stream Sunday, January 30, 3-5pm
To thank all of you who have stood by NYGASP in these difficult times, we are offering a free live stream of H.M.S. Pinafore.  This is a one-time-only event (it cannot be watched at a later date). We hope that we will all be able to enjoy live performances again in the not-too-distant future.  The video is of a live performance at the Williams Center for the Arts at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, filmed in fall 2021. Thanks to the editing of our intrepid videographer, Danny Bristoll, we are now able to offer this video of a complete performance for the first time in NYGASP history. While it cannot replace the interaction with our constituency in which we revel as a company, and the performance uses a reduced cast and orchestra, it does convey the artistry, enthusiastic spirit, and spontaneity for which NYGASP is noted.
Register to access the “HMS Pinafore” live stream

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre presents
Hope Boykin’s r-Evolution, Dream
On-demand Monday, January 31 – Sunday, February 13
Beginning on January 31, Ailey All Access free programs, viewable on Ailey’s YouTube channel, will debut on select Mondays through June and be available online for a two-week period. The series will kick off with a celebration of Black History program showcasing former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater member Hope Boykin‘s r-Evolution, Dream, a work inspired by the sermons and speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. following a visit to Atlanta’s Center for Civil and Human Rights during Ailey’s annual U.S. tour. The large ensemble work melds creative storytelling, music by Ali Jackson, and historic and original writings recorded by Tony Award winner Leslie Odom, Jr.
Watch Ailey All Access on YouTube

Jewish Studies Program, Purchase College SUNY presents
A lecture by Joan Nathan:  Israeli Culture through the Lens of Multicultural Cuisine
Live stream Tuesday, February 1, at 6pm
One of the foremost experts on Jewish cuisine, Joan Nathan is the author of ten cookbooks and a regular contributor to The New York Times. Ms. Nathan established her career by studying ethnic cuisines, primarily Jewish food, and by tracing families—and the foods they prepared—to their roots of the food in the Middle East. In this lecture, she will introduce audiences to the history of cooking in the land of Israel as well as tell the human stories behind dishes both biblical and modern in Israel today and how they have changed over the years to reflect the current social, political, and environmental landscape.
This lecture is made possible by the Jewish Studies Program, Purchase College SUNY. Individuals requiring accommodations for equal access to this event should contact the Jewish Studies Program a minimum of 5 business days prior to the event. Questions, Contact the Jewish Studies Program
Register for Israeli Culture through the Lens of Multicultural Cuisine

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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.

Pictured: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company members in r-Evolution, Dream © Paul Kolnik