free things to do in New York City
Free events for Thursday, 02/17/11
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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 February 17, 2011?

53 free events take place on Thursday, February 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 February 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 February . 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!

53 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Thursday, February 17, 2011

All events are free unless otherwise noted.
        

Other | Ice Skating in the Heart of the City


Bring your own skates and skate for free in the heart of the city.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 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.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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9:30 am
Free

Screening | Animated Short Films on Native Americans


Featuring: The Visit, Čurte-Nillas: The (Short) Movie, In This Manner, I Am, Waseteg, How Birds Got Their Song, Little Thunder, Weichafes - 500 Años de Historia: Mito del Diluvio, Mapuche/Weichafes - 500 Years of History: The Mapuche Myth of the Flood, and Wapos Bay: Guardians. Starts at 10:30am, 11:45am, 1:00pm, 3:00pm, and 5:30pm.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:30 am
Free

Workshop | Online Social Networking


Hands on using wireless laptops. Learn about online social networks and explore some of the most popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:30 am
Free

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.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 am
$6

Concert | Organ Performance Class


Students of Paul Jacobs, Chair of Organ Dept.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 am
Free

Author Reading | Lisbeth Eng reads from her book In the Arms of the Enemy


Eng is a native New Yorker whose love of literature, history and romance led her on the rewarding path to romance writing. Besides writing, world travel is her passion, and trips to Italy and Germany have lent authenticity to her European-set World War II romance novel. She currently lives on the Upper West Side.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free

Park Walk | “Cross Park Promenade” Tour


You'll be amazed at what you'll see.... a hidden bench that tells time, miniature boats powered by the wind, a magnificent sculpture celebrating fresh water, and a glorious drinking fountain for the city's equine population. These are just some of the the sites along the way on this east to west walk through the park. Tour is approximately one hour long.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free

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.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
$6

Concert | Trois Pommes


The members of Trois Pommes have been performing chamber music together since 1999, throughout the U.S. and in Switzerland. Cellist Arash Amini and pianist Jennifer Lim met while studying at The Curtis Institute of Music. Shortly after, flutist Eveline Kuhn met her future husband, Arash Amini, in New York, and they began performing together. All three are Artist Members of the New York-based chamber music society, America's Dream Chamber Artists, of which Arash Amini and Eveline Kuhn are its two co-founders.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
$5 suggested donation

Lecture | “Bauhausbücher” and Architecture: Photographic Blueprints for Early Modernism’s Architectural Theory


During Germany’s Weimar period, avant-garde book design, photography, and typography featuring early modern architecture generated a visual template based on abstraction for the growing architectural elite to emulate in their building practices. This talk by John Casey focuses on the role of photography in several books produced by the Bauhaus concerned with architecture, such as Walter Gropius’s canonical Internationale Architektur . It will situate and analyze them as key visual devices central to the formulation and dissemination of early modernist architectural theory.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:15 pm
Free

Film | Japanese Cinema: Juzo Itami's The Funeral (1984)


An old man's unexpected death creates havoc with his family. The traditional three-day undertaking becomes a sly comedy of manners as the younger generation struggles with the complex rituals of the Buddhist ceremony. 124 min.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Computer Maintenance Workshop


Hands on using wireless laptops. Learn how to care for your computer, protect it from viruses, and perform regular maintenance functions to keep it running smoothly.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:30 pm
Free

Lecture | Abkhazia: A Survey of Attitudes and Beliefs in a De Facto State


A talk by Gerard Toal (Virginia Tech) and John O'Loughlin (University of Colorado).
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:00 pm
Free

Film | German Film: Tom Tykwer's Run Lola Run (1998)


A young woman in Germany has twenty minutes to find and bring 100,000 Deutschmarks to her boyfriend before he robs a supermarket. 81 min.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:15 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Digital Art: Yorgo Alexopoulos' No Feeling Is Final


Alexopoulos is a New York-based artist best known for his innovative use of new media and technology. His artistic approach is informed by techniques fine-tuned as a visual effects animator in the motion graphics industry. Alexopoulos' artworks often touch upon transcendental themes. No Feeling is Final is a digitally animated aesthetic journey exploring elements of nature including mountains, forests, rain, deserts and entropy, and was first premiered at the Torrance Museum of Art, Torrance CA, in the fall of 2010.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Group Exhibition: Drawn from Photography


The exhibition showcases 13 artists who use drawing to meticulously translate images originally received through photo-based media or digital circulation. Drawings feature scenes of social transformation from the last two centuries including scenes of war and protest as well as views of urban landscapes and industrial developments. Whether using found media sources or their own snapshots, the artists share a reconstructive, labor-intensive impulse that counteracts the rapid dissemination of information that defines the media age. Drawing as translation—at once utterly individual and fundamentally egoless—privileges time spent, care, and attention as forms of commitment in their own right. In this presentation, personal attention and slowing down mark a desire for agency coupled with a sense of the distance between “reality out there” and the artist’s attempt to comprehend or impact it.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Painting: Angel Otero's Memento


Otero interweaves traditional Spanish Baroque imagery with personal subject matter, employing unconventional techniques to create large-scale, dynamic expressionistic abstractions. Angel Otero was born in 1981 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he resided until moving to Chicago at the age of 24. He is currently based in Brooklyn but divides his time between New York and Chicago. Otero was included in the exhibition Constellations at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and was the recipient of the prestigious Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Visual Arts. Otero’s recent solo shows include exhibitions at Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago and the Chicago Cultural Center. Shown: Angel Otero, "There is nothing so I wonder," 2011 oil paint skin on canvas, 87.5 x 98 x 3.5 inches.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Painting: Shanna Waddell's Misshapen Chaos of Well-Seeming Forms


The first solo show of American painter Waddell (b. 1981, Long Beach, CA; lives and works in Philadelphia) is a group of new paintings. Playing impasto against splattered veils and contrasting urban colors with a new age palette, these works distort material flatness into a warped spatiality and combine figuration with abstract symbols and uninhibited brushwork, holding together a spectrum of sensibilities that precipitates early American modernism into an apocalyptic, prophetic hyperbole and personal vision.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Paintings by Stephen Cimini


Continuing to draw from the architectural origins of his past work and his obsession with color, these new paintings also focus on the shape and scale of the canvases. They range from seven inch squares, to the tall, slender 7 foot high ask the giraffe piece (featured at right) to a luscious, green nine-foot-long triptych.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Discussion | The 411 on Faith: Communities in Dialogue


A moderated conversation with local spiritual leaders about belief, worship and how religious traditions shape everyday lives in New York City. Henry Goldschmidt (series moderator) is the Education Program Associate at the Interfaith Center of New York and the author of Race and Religion Among the Chosen Peoples of Crown Heights.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Other | Tokyo Fashion Fiesta NY Part 2: Cosplay


A special cosplay fashion show, featuring costumes inspired by favorite characters from manga and anime. The fashion show will be followed by a make-up demonstration showing how to create the latest cosplay and subcultural styles. After the event, a tea party reception-because the one last fall was so much fun!-where you can mingle, model, and learn more about cosplay!
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Gallery Talk | Design Student Project: 102nd Street Fieldhouse


The students of the 2010 Design Workshop give a slide presentation and open an exhibition on their project, the 102nd Street Fieldhouse. Students in this year’s Design Workshop undertook a complete renovation of a stone pavilion in New York’s Riverside Park. The work involved retrofitting a park building that had been left in disrepair after a fire more than 40 years ago. The entire project was designed by students of the School of Constructed Environments, working closely with a client group composed of members of the Riverside Park Fund. The project is currently under construction.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Author Reading | Dolen Perkins-Valez reads from her book Wench


Perkins-Valdez was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and splits her time between Washington, DC, and Seattle, Washington. She is a graduate of Harvard. Her fiction and essays have appeared in StoryQuarterly, Robert Olen Butler Prize Stories 2009, The Kenyon Review, PMS: PoemMemoirStory, North Carolina Literary Review, Richard Wright Newsletter, and SLI: Studies in Literary Imagination.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Workshop | English Conversation Hour - Intermediate & Advanced


Would you like to practice your English conversation skills and meet English language learners from other countries? Drop in on an open conversation where English language learners and fluent English speakers can discuss life in New York, art, music, films, food, culture, current events, and other topics of interest. Open to Intermediate & Advanced English speakers only.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Author Reading | International Careers with NGOs and Volunteer Organizations


Intrigued by an international career? Ready for life with at least one foot across sovereign borders? Are you a new job seeker or transitioning to a new career? This popular series provides an opportunity to meet international insiders who offer practical advice and share their real-life experiences. Moderated by Lynda Selde, director of development, American-Scandinavian Foundation. Previous panels have featured the International Rescue Committee, the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, the International Monetary Fund, and Freedom House.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Slide Lecture | Mazel Tov! The Art and History of Decorated Jewish Marriage Contracts


With Sharon Liberman Mintz, the Curator of Jewish Art at The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary. Magnificently illustrated ketubbot have been a feature of Jewish weddings for centuries. This visual lecture will present an historical overview of their superb ornamentation and the ways in which they reflect the culture and traditions of the Jewish communities in which they were created.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Workshop | Microsoft Office 2003: MS Excel 2


Hands on using wireless laptops. Explore more advanced features of Microsoft Excel 2003. Topics include using formulas and functions, data sorting and conditional formatting.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Poetry Reading | Poets Ann Lauterbach and Paul Foster Johnson read their work


Ann Lauterbach (pictured), a New York City native, is the author of eight books of poetry and the recipient of several prestigious fellowships as well as a National Book Award nomination. She is currently the co-chair of Writing at the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College, and visiting core critic at the Yale University School of Art. Paul Foster Johnson, a New York-based editor, is the author of Refrains/Unworkings, the upcoming Study in Pavilions and Safe Rooms, and, with E. Tracy Grinnell, the g-o-n-g press chapbook Quadriga. His poems have appeared in The Awl, Jacket, Cannot Exist, GAM, EOAGH, Fence, and Octopus.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
$6

Lecture | Animals and the Ethics of Medieval Reading


Sarah Kay, author of The Place of Thought, explores the impact on medieval readers of the fact that medieval books are produced in a context involving the systematic exploitation of animals, and written on parchment that is made from their skins. Connections sparked between this parchment support and the content of texts copied upon it can produce an uncanny short-circuit between reader and page, whereby the page may appear as a phantasmatic double of the reader's own skin, whether as an envelope or as an opposing face. Reading becomes charged with affect; and the categorical distinction between human beings and other animals insisted on by medieval philosophy is undermined. An ethics of reading is one that responds to this ethos of the medieval page.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Film | Bryan Poyser’s Lovers of Hate (2010): A New Indie Comedy


A dark comedy about two brothers who are in love with the same woman. 93 min.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
$5

Author Reading | Deborah Lutz reads from her book Pleasure Bound: Victorian Sex Rebels and the New Eroticism


How many times do we need to say the phrase "Victorian sex rebels" for you to want to come to this, about art, literature and the Victorian sexual underground? Probably once. Victorian sex rebels! There. Done. Deborah Lutz will be here discussing Pleasure Bound with Rachel Kramer Bussell, who has edited all sorts of sex writing.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Screening | Documentary: The Truth Behind “Waiting for 'Superman'”


Created by Grassroots Education Movement, this film documents the daily struggles of students, teachers, and parents within the public school system and challenges views propagated by Waiting for "Superman". Join folks from GEM for a screening of the film and or discussion about the reforming the public education system.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
$5 suggested donation

Discussion | From Luis Buñuel to Alejandro González Iñárritu: The Pitfalls of the National Cinema Debate


The concept of “national cinema” has played a significant role in the emergence and development of film studies. Nevertheless, the discussion has failed to illuminate the intercultural and international nature of cinema. This panel will explore the limitations on the debate of what constitutes “national cinema” in filmmaking.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | Josh Klein discusses his book Hacking Work: Breaking Stupid Rules for Smart Results


Hacker Klein teaches employees how to “hack” their work, and get more done in less time.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | Liel Leibovitz & Matthew Miller discuss their book Fortunate Sons: The 120 Chinese Boys Who Came to America, Went to School, and Revolutionized an Ancient Civilization


The authors chronicle the West's engagement with China through the eyewitnesses who faced a clash of cultures.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | Maya Angelou presents her latest book Great Food, All Day Long: Cook Splendidly, Eat Smart


The famed author returns to the kitchen—both hers and ours—with her second cookbook, filled with time-tested recipes and the intimate, autobiographical sketches of how they came to be.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | Mosette Broderick discusses her book Triumvirate: McKim, Mead & White - Art, Architecture, Scandal and Class in America's Gilded Age


A fascinating saga of the most influential architectural firm of America’s Gilded Age, the author details the dazzling rise of Charles McKim, William Mead, and Stanford White–three powerful figures who created many of America’s major monuments including New York's Pennsylvania Station, Boston Public Library, Columbia University campus and Low Memorial Library, and the Brooklyn Museum, among many others. The architectural and social historian weaves together the strands of biography and urban history, highlighting, the story of America in an era of transition from an unsophisticated young country, the role of architecture in social status, and the arrival of artists as an accepted class in American society.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Performance | Photographer Michael Schmelling discusses his work


Schmelling will be interviewed by ClampArt gallery director Brian Paul Clamp. Schmelling has published four books: Atlanta: Hip Hop And The South, The Plan, The Week Of No Computer, and Shut Up Truth. Schmelling was also the principal photographer of The Wilco Book. His clients include Details Magazine, The Fader, New York, Wired, The New York Times, Penguin Books, Converse and Sony. Clamp is the owner and director of ClampArt, a gallery in Chelsea specializing in modern and contemporary art with an emphasis on photography.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
$5

Poetry Reading | Poet Patricia Spears Jones reads from her work


Born and raised in Arkansas, Spears Jones aka has lived in New York City since the mid-1970s where she has been involved in the city's poetry and theater scenes as poet, editor, anthologist, teacher and former Program Coordinator for the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church and working with Mabou Mines, the internationally acclaimed theater collective which is celebrating its 40th year.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Performance | Student Graduation Comedy Show


Tonight, brilliant students take the stage. The legends of tomorrow show you they're actually the stars of today.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
$5

Author Reading | Tim Kreider discusses his book Twilight of the Assholes


Cartoonist Kreider has been called "extremely extremely f-ing good" (David Foster Wallace), "an iconoclast in the purest sense of the word" (Matt Taibbi) and "the funniest person alive" (Jennifer Finney Boylan). Join him for the release of his latest collection. In a slideshow, talk and Q&A, he'll wax nostalgic about the endearing atrocities and deadly foibles of the Bush administration and have a fond chuckle over the deadpan haplessness of Obama and the fascist antics of the tea party.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Poetry Reading | Translators read poems by Ugly Duckling Presse authors


Featuring Marosa di Giorgio’s "The History of Violets / Historia de las violetas" and Yván Yauri’s "Fire Wind / Viento de fuego." Poems will be read by their English Language translators: Jeannine Marie Pitas, Nicholas Rattner, and Marta del Pozo
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | Writers Pearl Abraham and Hannah Tinti read their work


Abraham’s most recent book American Taliban was published recently. Hannah Tinti’s novel The Good Thief appeared in 2008.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Concert | Bryant Park Quartet performs Adams, Schubert and Beethoven


A luminous performance of works by John Adams, György Kurtág, Schubert, and Beethoven. The Quartet, in residence at Stony Brook University’s Community Music program, was a prizewinner in the 2010 Hugo Kauder International Music Competition and performs regularly throughout the United States.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Free

Master Class | Master Class: Christina Dahl, Piano


World-renowned performers and pedagogues coach the pianists of tomorrow.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:45 pm
Free

Concert | Distinguished Woodwind Faculty Concert


With: Esther Lamneck, Clarinet, and Matt Sullivan, Oboe. Acoustic Instruments in Electronic Music, NY premiere Michael Matthews; other works by Lars Graugaard, Robert Rowe, KyongMee Choi, Matt Sullivan.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 pm
Free

Concert | Student Recital - Theo Lebow, tenor


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.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 pm
Free

Concert | Chiwoniso, Zimbabwean Singer


Zimbabwe’s Chiwoniso performs entrancing and uplifting songs with ancient soul and modern spirit. Backed by the mesmerizing interlocking melodies of the mbira and the deep grooves of an all-star lineup featuring some of Zimbabwe and South Africa’s top musicians, Chiwoniso’s voice resounds with defiant strength and profound tenderness. With a sound that recalls the fire of Angelique Kidjo, the inspiration of Oliver Mtukudzi, the rebellion of Thomas Mapfumo, and the soul of India.Aire, Chiwoniso is one of the most exciting talents in African music today.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:30 pm
Free

Film | Bryan Poyser’s Lovers of Hate (2010): A New Indie Comedy


A dark comedy about two brothers who are in love with the same woman. 93 min.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 pm
$5

Performance | Soul Glo Comedy Show


Soul Glo is a variety show starring the all-African-American cast of "Nobody's Token" performing a completely improvised sitcom. The show also features multicultural stand-up and sketch comedy by some of the most talented underground comics in New York.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:30 pm
$5

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.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 pm
$5 cover, $5...

Performance | New Team Lunacy Comedy Show


All you need to do is show up. Don't have an improv group? We'll put you in one! Have a team then bring them down! Five teams get to play for ten minutes each, and everyone has fun. Work on your skills and meet some great new people. New Team Lunacy, hosted by Kelly Kreye and Chris O'Neil!
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 pm
Free
Complimentary Tickets

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Broadway | Broadway Show!

Regular Price: $101
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Concert | Christmas Concert

Regular Price: $55
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