free things to do in New York City
Free events for Friday, 11/17/23
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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 November 17, 2023?

59 free events take place on Friday, November 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 November 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 November . 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,
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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!

59 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Friday, November 17, 2023

All events are free unless otherwise noted.

Editor's Picks

free events nyc Mistress America (2015) with Greta Gerwig
free events nyc A Conversation with Five-Time Tony Award Winning Director and Choreographer
free events nyc Tisch Dance Works III: Student Choreography
More Editor's Picks for 11/17/23
        

Screening | Native Cinema Showcase 2023 (online thru Nov 24)


The National Museum of the American Indian’s Native Cinema Showcase is an annual celebration of the best in Native film. This year’s theme highlights films of Indigenous perseverance that inspire, uplift, and triumph against adversity—stories that prevail against the judicial system, generational trauma, and cultural appropriation through love and complex relationships, self-worth, and humor. The showcase provides a unique forum for engagement with Native filmmakers from Indigenous communities throughout the Western Hemisphere and Arctic.    All films available on demand:  Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun L'Inhumain The Legend of Molly Johnson Powerlands Rosie We Are Still Here Connections Shorts Program Future-Focused Shorts Program Inside Out Shorts Program Pacifika Shorts Program
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 am
Free

Workshop | Tai Chi


Improve balance, strength and focus through gentle exercises. The sights and sounds of the river provide a serene background for the ancient flowing postures.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:30 am
Free

Forum | Energy Opportunity


Over half of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa has no access to electricity. Hospitals in these regions struggle to provide healthcare, food, and vaccines get wasted due to lack of cooling, And businesses struggle to improve productivity. At the same time, a third of United States households experience energy insecurity - many forgo food or medicine to pay utility bills, live in unhealthy conditions, or face utility disconnections altogether. Governments, experts, and civil society have highlighted the urgency to accelerate the use of reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy for catalyzing overall well-being and development. How do we unleash this energy opportunity so individuals and communities across the world can realize their fullest life potential? The annual Energy Opportunity Forum brings together global leaders, champion practitioners, policymakers, and community leaders who are deploying innovative sustainable energy solutions to catalyze healthy and prosperous communities in the United States and emerging economies.  
   New York City, NY; NYC
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9:00 am
Free

Discussion | October 7th Survivor Amos Lavi in Conversation (in-person and online)


Amos Lavi, a native of Kibbutz Nirim in Israel, in conversation with Lee Moser, Batell Blash-Sultanik, Omer Granit and Lital Leshem of Brothers and Sisters for Israel for a crucial conversation about Lavi’s story as a survivor of October 7th. In the darkest hours of that terrible day, Hamas set Lavi’s home ablaze as he shielded his pregnant wife in the safety of a secure room. A survivor of a nearly unimaginable act of terrorism, Lavi shares his story to help us understand what it was like in Israel on the day of the atrocities — and to help us learn how to support families like his and Jews in Israel during a time of unspeakable grief.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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9:00 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 | Adult Zumba


Exercise in disguise! Join in on the fun featuring easy-to-follow Latin dance choreography while working on your balance, coordination and range of motion. Bring your friends and come prepared for enthusiastic instruction, a little strength training and a lot of fun.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:30 am
Free

Symposium | Tales of Time, Images of Memory: Archives, Evidence, Connections


In Latin America, we live in urgent times that require us to rethink our relationship with the past and with the remnants of multiple temporalities. Zones of extractivism, dispossession and specific violences--a violence of conquest, some authors would say--are mixed with recognition, cultural sovereignty and the proliferation of alterities in the context of the crisis of the nation-state. What is the shape of this Latin American "time" that defies the linear order of historical representation? What stories do the archives tell that we are unable to listen? We have long insisted that a "disobedient memory" is one capable of connecting what we have been forced to dissociate. What are the signs of these necessary connections and their multiple times? How can alternative/subaltern/queer archives be imagined not only as a kind of register, but in their potential for the future(s)?
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:30 am
Free

Book Discussion | Generations of Empire: Youth from Ottoman to Italian Rule


Author Andreas Guidi investigates the relationship between state and society in light of successive transformations of imperial rule, rethinking Italian colonialism as post-Ottoman history. Andreas Guidi explores how communal life in the town of Rhodes was affected by the transition between these regimes, from an autocratic to a constitutional empire in late Ottoman years to Italian military occupation to fascist annexation. Based on archival sources in five languages from seven different countries, the book investigates generational dynamics in the domains of political activism, the family, education, work and leisure, and mobility. Generations of Empire offers a vivid picture of how a local society navigated large-scale social and political transformations in the modern Mediterranean.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free

Slide Lecture | Arr Talk: The Complexities of African-American Life


Since the 1960’s, Hammons’s art explores and protests complexities of life and its impact on African Americans. Often depicting pop culture iconography and including found objects, he resists the limitations of galleries in favor of public art and performance. “Days End” in Chelsea references the extinct Hudson River Piers, their significance for the LGBTQ community, and previous work by Gordon Matta-Clark, which investigates urban development and its impact on existing communities.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free

Lecture | Beyond Nostalgia: How Russia Under Putin Has Imagined the Soviet Past


Nostalgia for the Soviet past has been a dominant discourse in the Russian public space, beginning in the 2000s and throughout the 2020s. Indeed, the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 seems to be a direct consequence of this universal infatuation with the past, which in its radical, militant shape resulted in the aggressive desire for the reconstruction of the Soviet borders. But was this reconstruction fantasy the only way of thinking about the past that Russian culture produced during the last two decades? This talk will focus on alternative ways of engaging Soviet history and discuss whether they bear any potential for taking us beyond nostalgia, in the direction of processing the demise of the Soviet project. We will look closely at the experimental project Dau presented by the film director Ilya Khrzhanovsky in 2019. Balancing on the border between observational documentary and feature film saga, the project involved non-professional actors who spent up to two years living in a functioning replica of a Soviet scientific institute. I examine how Khrzhanovsky's multimedia simulation of a Soviet reality presents a chance of critical engagement with the past, while offering participants and spectators an opportunity to build their own narrative through an affective engagement with Soviet history (an opportunity the context of the post-Soviet nostalgia has always promised but seldom delivered). Working across film, television, multimedia art, and fashion studies, speaker Tatiana Efremova explores the relationship between cultural memory and embodiment in contemporary Russian culture.
   New York City, NY; NYC
12:00 pm
Free

Discussion | CANCELLED***What Does Data "See"? Public Data, Biases, and Surveillance in NYC (in-person and online)***CANCELLED


This event explores public data, its potential biases, and the role of surveillance in shaping urban environments. Looking at data available for New York City, they will look at what types of data get collected or left out and how that impacts punishment and regulation.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Raj Tawney's Colorful Palate


A timely self-examination of the “mixed” American experience featuring exclusive recipes and photographs from the author’s multicultural family. As citizens continue to evolve and diversify within the United States, the ingredients that make up each flavorful household are waiting to be discovered and devoured. In Colorful Palate, author Raj Tawney shares his coming-of-age memoir as a young man born into an Indian, Puerto Rican, and Italian-American family, his struggles with understanding his own identity, and the mouthwatering flavors of the melting pot from within his own childhood kitchen. While the world outside can be cruel and unforgiving, it’s even more complicated for a mixed-race kid, unsure of his place in the world. Turning to his mother and grandmother for guidance, Tawney assists in the kitchen, providing intimate moments and candor as he listens to the tales behind each culinary delicacy and the women who perfected it. Each lovingly prepared meal offered another opportunity to learn more about his extraordinary heritage. The ability to create delicious fare with his family wasn’t just a duty for the grand ladies who raised him; it was a survival tactic for navigating new and unknown cultures, not always willing to accept them at first or even a hundredth glance. As Tawney examines both himself and his loved ones through the formative stages of his life, from boyhood through adulthood, he begins to realize, through all of the chaos and confusion, just how “American” he actually was. In this contemporary coming-of-age tale, Tawney tackles personal hot-button issues about race and identity through poignant, heartfelt moments centered on delicious meals. From succulent tandoori chicken to delectable arroz con habichuelas to scrumptious spaghetti and meatballs, Tawney shares his family recipes along with the intimate stories he overheard in the kitchen as he played sous chef to hundreds of recipes that not only span continents but also come with their own personal histories attached. Colorful Palate is a tale of the mixed experience, one of the millions that rarely get told, undefined by a single group or birthright, and unapologetic about its lack of classification. Raj Tawney is a writer and journalist whose work largely reflects his New York-area upbringing and sensibility. Raised in an Indian, Puerto Rican, and Italian-American household, Tawney has explored his own race and identity through stories published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, USA Today, Smithsonian Magazine, and many other outlets throughout the country. 
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free

Slide Lecture | The Power of Public Art (in-person and online)


Art historian and lecturer Sylvia Laudien-Meo gives a free talk about David Hammons’ compelling work and its impact on the art world.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free

Classical Music | Bach at Noon (In Person and Online)


Take a momentary respite from a busy day to enjoy a selection of organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach in an intimate venue.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:20 pm
Free

Gallery Talk | Spirit and Invention: Drawings by Giambattista and Domenico Tiepolo (online)


Docents guide you on an up-close and virtual exploration and discussion of several works in the Morgan’s temporary exhibition\. Look closely at some of the highlights from the exhibition, exploring Tiepolos’ process of drawing figures – both for independent works and in preparation for the monumental 18th century frescoes and ceiling paintings that still decorate palaces and churches throughout Italy and beyond.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:30 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Why Flying Is Miserable: And How to Fix It


In his upcoming book, Why Flying Is Miserable, Ganesh Sitaraman looks back at the hopeful origins and recent failures of airline deregulation to explain why everyone has a horror story about air travel–an unconscionably late flight, hours spent on the runway, reduced service, and lost luggage. Today, the industry is an oligopoly, with only four too-big-to-fail airlines that have received billions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts and still can’t offer reliable service. Miserable air travel is the perfect symbol of the type of unregulated capitalism that America has unleashed. But there are ways to fix airlines—and, by extension, many other sectors of industry—because, after a half-century run, people are sick and tired of the turbulence that deregulation has brought to our economy.
   New York City, NY; NYC
12:30 pm
Free

Book Discussion | A Field Guide to Indoor Urbanism: Spaces Between the Interior and the Exterior


Phu Hoang and Rachely Rotem, co-founders of MODU, present their book. Published by the interdisciplinary design studio MODU, this “field guide” explores threshold spaces between the interior and the exterior. What are experiences between architecture and the environment? Where can the boundaries between the interior and the urban be drawn? What role does the climate crisis play in this? For their research and design projects, Phu Hoang and Rachely Rotem look at three major cities on different continents: New York, Rome, and Tokyo. MODU leaves behind the binary idea of inside and outside and rather understands architecture as an extension of the environment. Thus, it imagines a hybrid of urban space, architecture, and interior space. The book explores the different geographic locations and presents their own design projects.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Film | Mistress America (2015) with Greta Gerwig


Tracy, a lonely college freshman in New York, is rescued from her solitude by her soon-to-be stepsister Brooke, an adventurous gal about town who entangles her in alluringly mad schemes. Mistress America is a comedy about dream-chasing, score-settling, makeshift families, and cat-stealing. Director: Noah Baumbach Cast: Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke Greta Gerwig is an American actress, writer, and director. Initially known for working on mumblecore films, she has since expanded from acting in and co-writing independent films to directing major studio films. Her latest directorial film, the fantasy comedy Barbie (2023), which she co-wrote with Noah Baumbach, became the first film from a solo female director to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
   New York City, NY; NYC
1:00 pm
Free

Film | The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) Starring Will Smith


Life is a struggle for single father Chris Gardner. Evicted from their apartment, he and his young son find themselves alone with no place to go. Even though Chris eventually lands a job as an intern at a prestigious brokerage firm, the position pays no money. The pair must live in shelters and endure many hardships, but Chris refuses to give in to despair as he struggles to create a better life for himself and his son. Director: Gabriele Muccino Cast: Will Smith, Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, James Lassiter, Steve Tisch, Devon Franklin Will Smith is an American actor, rapper and film producer. He has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and four Grammy Awards. As of 2023, his films have grossed over $9.3 billion globally, making him one of Hollywood's most bankable stars.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Jazz | Saxophone Performance


Jazz saxophonist, Andrew Yan and friends.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Discussion | Sisters in Crime: Modern Cozy Mystery Panel


Modern Mystery Panel Reading and Discussion With four unconventional sleuths and the acclaimed Sisters in Crime fiction writers who pen their stories: Samantha Hartford, Catherine Maiorisi, Sarah Burr, Vanessa Cuti. Moderated by Lori Robbins and Cathi Stoler
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Enjoy an afternoon of crafting and conversation


Bring your own project or choose something from a provided collection to work on during this freeform crafting workshop. The workshop will include materials for sewing, knitting, crochet, coloring, paper crafts, and puzzles.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:30 pm
Free

Film | Barbie (2023) with Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and More


Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans. Director: Greta Gerwig Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, Will Ferrell Margot Robbie is an Australian actress and producer. Known for her work in both blockbuster and independent films, she has received various awards and nominations, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and five British Academy Film Awards. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2017 and she was ranked as one of the world's highest-paid actresses by Forbes in 2019. Ryan Gosling is a Canadian actor. Prominent in both independent film and major studio features of varying genres, his films have accrued a worldwide box office gross of over 1.9 billion USD. He has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards and a BAFTA Award.
   New York City, NY; NYC
2:00 pm
Free

Film | Academy Award Winner Schindler's List (1993) Directed by Steven Spielberg, Starring Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, and Ralph Fiennes


Businessman Oskar Schindler arrives in Krakow in 1939, ready to make his fortune from World War II, which has just started. After joining the Nazi party primarily for political expediency, he staffs his factory with Jewish workers for similarly pragmatic reasons. When the SS begins exterminating Jews in the Krakow ghetto, Schindler arranges to have his workers protected to keep his factory in operation, but soon realizes that in so doing, he is also saving innocent lives. Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall, Embeth Davidtz Steven Spielberg is an American film director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and four Directors Guild of America Awards, as well as the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1995, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2006, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2009 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. Seven of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." Liam Neeson is a Northern Irish actor. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Tony Awards. He rose to prominence portraying Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's holocaust drama Schindler's List (1993) for which he earned an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination. He followed by starring in Nell (1994), Rob Roy (1995), Michael Collins (1996), and Les Miserables (1998). He took blockbuster roles portraying Qui-Gon Jinn in George Lucas' space opera Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins (2005) and Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy (2005-2010). Ben Kingsley is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2010, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ralph Fiennes is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has received various accolades including a BAFTA Award and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and an Emmy Award.
   New York City, NY; NYC
2:00 pm
Free

Lecture | Emma Lazarus: A Literary Life of Activism and Advocacy (online)


Esther Schor, author of Emma Lazarus, hosts a discussion on Lazarus’s vital life as an activist and prophet of the world we inhabit today. Born in 1849 to a wealthy Jewish family in New York City, Lazarus was an active member of the city’s literary circles: she wrote dramatic monologues, plays, and a novel on the life of Goethe.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Gallery Talk | Museum Highlights Tour


A highlights tour of these exhibitions: A Collection without Borders -- celebrates the art and culture of Spain, Portugal, Latin America, Goa and the Philippines. Includes a wide range of paintings and decorative arts. Featuring works by Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, Murillo, Tápies, Viladrich, Arrieta, and many more. Anatomy of a Fresco: Drawings of José Clemente Orozco from the Wornick Collection -- Anatomy of a Fresco features a rare group of figurative sketches for portraits and preparatory works for large-scale murals made during the Mexican Mural Movement. Sorolla's Vision of Spain -- The monumental series of 14 paintings known as Vision of Spain by the Valencian master Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida. A truly unique, immersive experience that captures the essence of turn-of-the-century rural Spain. Sculpture on the Audobon Terrace -- Immerse yourself in Penetrable, an interactive sculpture created by Jesús Rafael Soto, as well as Marta Chilindron’s Orange Cube 48, the inaugural selection for Art on the Audubon Terrace, a partnership with the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Park Walk | Forest Bathing


Reconnect with nature by participating in a guided Forest Bathing experience. Allow yourself to connect with the park in a way you never have before. The program includes a short, no more than a half-mile walk at a slow pace.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:30 pm
Free

Lecture | Engineering Race


This talk explores the work to be done in reshaping understandings of race in anglophone philosophy for the last half century, with these observations in mind. Speaker: Anthony Appiah
   New York City, NY; NYC
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3:30 pm
Free

Book Discussion | The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History


Ned Blackhawk's book is a sweeping and overdue retelling of U.S. history that recognizes that Native Americans are essential to understanding the evolution of modern America  
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:00 pm
Free

Master Class | Jazz Piano Master Class


Jazz Piano Master Class with Vardan Ovsepian.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:00 pm
Free

Master Class | Jazz Saxophone Master Class


A Jazz Saxophone Master Class with Caroline Davis
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:00 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Voice, Slavery, and Race in Seventeenth-Century Florence


Prof. Emily Wilbourne (Music Department) will speak about her new book. Grounded in new archival research documenting a significant presence of foreign and racially-marked individuals in Medici Florence, this book argues for the relevance of such individuals to the history of Western music and for the importance of sound-particularly musical and vocal sounds-to systems of racial and ethnic difference.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:30 pm
Free

Lecture | The World of Last Words: Ukrainian War Experience (in-person and online)


Prominent Ukrainian writer and history professor Olena Stiazhkina, exiled from Donetsk since the 2014 Russian occupation, will give a presentation on the occasion of the upcoming publication of her two books in the English language, the novel “Cecil the Lion Had to Die” and “Ukraine, War, Love: A Donetsk Diary”. In her talk she will share some episodes from Donetsk’s recent history that are entangled with her own experiences. She will speak about life in the world of the last words, about the Kennedy brothers who lived and worked in Donetsk region, about a referendum on Donetsk joining the United Kingdom, about a New York where few New Yorkers have ever been, about lectures given to rats in the Izolyatsia concentration camp, and about the choice to be Ukrainian as a choice of love and freedom.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Screening | Reel Taiwan: The Women Make Waves International Film Festival


This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Women Make Waves International Film Festival. For three decades, WMWIFF, the largest of its kind in Asia, has promoted and nourished countless women filmmakers from around the world including the Sinophone sphere. This special program (consisting of five fictional, experimental and documentary films) joins the celebrations taking place in Taipei, Paris and elsewhere this fall. 5:15pm Welcome and introductions by Yu-shan Huang, Jane Yu, Zhen Zhang 5:30pm Of East and West 高飛 (She-wei CHOU 周旭薇, 18 min, DCP, 1988) 5:50pm Spring Cactus 真情狂愛 (Yu-shan HUANG, 110 min, DCP, 1998) Followed by Q & A with the filmmaker 8:15 pm Reception and book launch Women FIlmmakers in Sinophone World Cinema by Zhen Zhang    
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:15 pm
Free

Lecture | Inhabiting Error: From "Last Christmas" to "Senior’s Last Hour"


This talk uses a pop song by Wham! and a reading of Marx's Das Kapital to explore the stakes of recreating and lingering in wrong ways of thinking. To linger in error is to run the risk of affectively deepening error, expanding the reach of its domain. This is especially the case in a world where truths are hidden by the social forms in which they are expressed, making error an unavoidable part of everyday perception. Yet when contradiction is a part of the world (as Marx and Hegel saw it) and not just an unfortunate tendency of how subjects understand it (as Kant saw it), error must be phenomenologically inhabited in order to be fully understood. Speaker Sianne Ngai is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of English at the University of Chicago.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:30 pm
Free

Opening Reception | David Diao: On Barnett Newman, 1991–2023


Over the past six decades, Diao has become a vital figure in the history of painting and a touchstone for fellow artists, crafting formally rigorous works that engage the modernist tradition by challenging its tenets from within. On Barnett Newman, 1991–2023 surveys Diao's abiding fascination with the Abstract Expressionist master, through sensuously hand-painted surfaces that tabulate the basic facts of the elder artist's oeuvre. Born in China's Sichuan Province in 1943, Diao fled with his family to Hong Kong before immigrating to the United States in 1955, and that experience of displacement has inflected his career-long reckoning with the levers of power that govern the art world. The Newman paintings thus serve as a fitting introduction to Diao's critical project as a whole: as acts of homage that also question the canon—who it admits and who is excluded. 
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Book Discussion | The Last Island by Adam Goodheart


Join bestselling historian Adam Goodheart with host of the TED Radio Hour Manoush Zomorodi as they discuss Goodheart's book The Last Island, and the web of modernity that is drawing ever closer to the shores of North Sentinel Island and its famously isolated inhabitants. The indigenous people of North Sentinel Island, one of the Andaman Islands, an Indian archipelago in the Bay of Bengal, want to be left alone and will shoot deadly arrows at anyone who tries to come ashore. In fact, in November 2018, a zealous American missionary was killed while attempting to visit North Sentinel Island, a place he called “Satan’s last stronghold.” Twenty years before the American missionary’s ill-fated visit, a young American historian and journalist named Adam Goodheart also traveled to the waters off North Sentinel Island. During his time in the Andaman Islands he witnessed another isolated tribe emerge into modernity for the first time. In The Last Island, Goodheart recounts his return to the Andamans and tells the stories of others drawn to North Sentinel’s mystery through the centuries. From imperial adventurers to an eccentric Victorian photographer to modern-day anthropologists, Goodheart narrates the tragic stories of other Andaman tribes’ encounters with the outside world and shows how the web of modernity is drawing ever closer to the shores of North Sentinel Island and its inhabitants.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Yuichiro Ukai: A Unique Visual Language 


The first solo exhibition in the United States of work by Japanese artist Yuichiro Ukai. Yuichiro Ukai is a celebrated self-taught artist, who lives and works in the Shiga prefecture of Japan. Following his graduation from high school in 2014, Ukai became a member of the distinguished Atelier Yamanami. Yamanami functions as a live-work facility that offers employment, training, and arts enrichment programs for individuals with neurodiversity or disabilities. Yamanami has provided the ideal environment and support required for Ukai’s art practice to flourish. Ukai’s compositions teem with activity. His unique visual language evokes both traditions of rather contemporary subculture such as manga and anime, and of the Japanese epic. Drawn on sequential sheets of brown paper, the incredibly dense images are built from memory to create a visual assemblage of seemingly eclectic characters. The artist incorporates a broad array of forms and figures from popular Japanese culture (samurai, yokai-monsters, Pokémon, and skeletons), but also includes his encyclopedic explorations of insects, dinosaurs, and popular icons into each frame.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Discussion | A Conversation with Five-Time Tony Award Winning Director and Choreographer


The League of Professional Theatre Women presents a conversation with director and choreographer Susan Stroman. Five-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer, Stroman's work has also been honored with Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel, and a record six Astaire Awards. Stroman will speak with actress and writer Sharon Washington. Registration required.
   New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
Free

Screening | Calvino and the Americas: Reading, Discussion and Screening


6:00pm If During a Winter Night Calvino Could Talk to a Fellow Writer A Conversation with Jhumpa Lahiri on Calvino's Lesson With Andrea Ciccarelli, Indiana University, Ragusa Foundation In this moderated conversation, Jhumpa Lahiri will talk about her own experience of reading Calvino in translation and in Italian; her own approach to Calvino's imagery and style, his language, his continuous shifting between imagination and reality, as well as his significance for today's literary and intellectual world. 6:45pm Book Presentation Lettere a Chichita, 1962-1963 (2023, Mondadori) The letters of Italo Calvino to his wife Chichita Edited by Giovanna Calvino Giovanna Calvino in conversation with Judith Thurman, author In ENGLISH 7:30pm Screening: Italo Calvino: The Writer on the Trees (2023, Documentary, Italy/France, 76 min.) In ITALIAN with ENGLISH subtitles Directed by Duccio Chiarini
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Discussion | Art & Activism: Celebrating the Art and Design of Hip-Hop


While the world has celebrated the music and culture of hip-hop during this year's 50th anniversary, this event is particularly interested in highlighting the unique art and design that defines the diverse community. From the early days of graffiti to street art to becoming an integral part of the art scene, hip-hop is embedded in our society. Enjoy a special evening and meet artist and designer, Eric Haze; documentary photographer, Janette Beckman; executive director and president of the Keith Haring Foundation, Gil Vazquez; and DJ Tokyo Rose, playing her vast collection of hip-hop music from the 70's to today.
   New York City, NY; NYC
6:30 pm
Free

Reading | 3 Movie Scripts Brought to Life


(Screen)Play Press is a New York-based company dedicated to publishing screenplays that have yet to be made into films. They believe screenplays have literary worth and do not just have to exist as blueprints for another medium, and we invite you to help us bring them to life. Incredible readers celebrate works of cinematic comedy, psychological drama, and the surreal. The evening’s scripts include: Numbers by Shari Berman: In a society where people have numbers instead of names, a young woman must gain the courage to go against the safety of her computerized world in order to rescue her long-lost brother and avoid losing her own humanity. Numbers is a humorous science fiction screenplay with an intricately crafted world, quirky characters and a thought provoking view of the future of civilization. Claudine Nineteen by Paul Rachman: Claudine is an au pair in 1980s New York City, who has been stuck in her mostly no-wage job for way too long. She dreams of traveling the world and approaches everything she does on her own unique terms. Seeing no other options to realize her dream, she crafts a high-end shoplifting scheme. Suddenly, Claudine is put in charge of Henry, a shy, awkward teenage boy who suffers from extreme anxiety and fainting spells, and recruits him into her secret criminal life. The events over their weekend together give Henry the confidence he's lacking, due to his absent and controlling mother, and Claudine the empathy she needs. The Fruit of Our Womb by Marina Shron: Christina is a love-starved teen raised by her junkie father to trade sex for love and protection. One night, she smothers him in his sleep with a pillow and embarks on a search for a new home. A twist of fate guides her to Lynn and Joe, an affluent Manhattan couple yearning to complete their family. Lynn, unable to conceive, forges an immediate bond with Christina and persuades her dutiful husband to bring the girl into their world. Christina revels in a newly found maternal love. But before long parental affection and sexual desire converge. As dreams and reality intertwine, the dynamic between the trio blossoms, but when Lynn devises a new, shrewd plan to fulfill her dream of a “perfect family,” the illusions shatter — forcing all three to reckon with the fleeting nature of unconditional love.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
$5

Poetry Reading | 3 New Poetry Collections


Her second poetry collection, Monica McClure's The Gone Thing excavates inheritances—historical, cultural, familial, and economic — as it alternates between magnified and microscopic views of American life. Blending ecopoetics, ghost story, and sci-fi thriller, The Sky Broke More — Garth Graeper's first full-length collection — imagines survival in a world where nature, time, and identity are unstable and predatory. At once a log of pandemic life in New York City and a meditation on selfhood, memory, and language, In Many Ways — Emily Simon's first book — is a lyrical and timely experiment in prose fragments.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Play | Mad Mad Mad: A Comedy of Nuclear Annihilation


A new devised play. Nukes, Cold War, the 80s in America and close calls with World Wide Nuclear Annihilation! Annnnd it’s a Comedy. MAD Mutually Assured Destruction! “What are you gonna do?” Find out what we are all so crazy about. Written by Michael F. Toomey.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Classical Music | American Works for Violin and Piano


Naho Parrini, violin; Marc Peloquin, piano. Program Ned Rorem (1923-2022), Sonata for Violin and Piano David Del Tredici (b. 1937), The Last Violin Paul Schoenfield (b. 1947), Four Souvenirs
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
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Dance Performance | Arbor: Nature-Inspired Dance


An evening of stunning, nature-inspired works by Jody Sperling and her Time Lapse Dance ensemble. The program features the world premiere of Arbor, a work dwelling on the nature of trees. The work is the latest outgrowth of the long climate-engaged collaboration between Sperling as choreographer and environmental composer Matthew Burtner. The music will be performed live for this one-night-only event by the composer himself and a string quartet of musicians from The Met Orchestra. The evening also features performances of other notable Sperling-Burtner collaborations. Wind Rose, which renders changing atmospheric patterns palpable to sight, sound, and touch, has been described as “a stunning, spinning white cloud that both moves and is moved by wind” (Karen Hildebrand, Fjord Review). Plastic Harvest creates a surreal spectacle of plastic proliferation. Collectively, the evening’s performances stir the senses and provoke contemplation about our relationship to the natural world.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Talk | Donna Reed and the American GI (online)


Historian Mary Owen discusses the correspondence and WWII efforts of the actress Donna Reed on behalf of American service members.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Classical Music | Music and Dance with a String Quartet from The Met Orchestra


An evening of nature-inspired works by Jody Sperling and her Time Lapse Dance ensemble. The program features the world premiere of Arbor, a work dwelling on the nature of trees. The work is the latest outgrowth of the long climate-engaged collaboration between Sperling as choreographer and environmental composer Matthew Burtner. The music will be performed live for this one-night-only event by the composer himself and a string quartet of musicians from The Met Orchestra. The evening also features performances of other notable Sperling-Burtner collaborations. Wind Rose, which renders changing atmospheric patterns palpable to sight, sound, and touch, has been described as “a stunning, spinning white cloud that both moves and is moved by wind” (Fjord Review). Plastic Harvest creates a surreal spectacle of plastic proliferation.  The performance will be followed by an artist talkback. TLD Dancers: Frances Barker, Anika Hunter, Maki Kitahara, Nicole Lemelin, Jody Sperling, Sarah Tracy & Rathi Varma
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Poetry Reading | Poets on Their Personal Bests (in-person and online)


Poets Jericho Brown, Mark Bibbins, and Cate Marvin celebrate the 50th anniversary of Copper Canyon Press.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Classical Music | Works by Debussy and More for Piano, Viola, Violin, Cello, Voice, and More


Vanessa May-lok Lee, piano; José Pietri-Coimbre, viola; Aimée Niemann, violin; Eric Eaton, cello; Matthew Jermiason, trombone; Scott Still, percussion; Veronica Mak, Joanie Brittingham, sopranos; Nox Chea, Emily Gehman, altos; Philip Sandager, Clayton Matthews, tenors; Benjamin Schott, Isaac Hall, bass, perform works by Debussy, Rebecca Clarke, Elaine Hagenberg, Dinuk Wijeratne, and Stephen Rush.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Play | Droplet, a Radio Play: A Sound-Based Exploration of a Home


Theater and Performance students present Droplet, a Radio Play facilitated by guest artists Domino Sound: Alexandra DiPalma and Kenya Denise. Droplet, A Radio Play is a sound-based exploration of a home, those within it, and what they leave behind A short Q & A will follow the podcast.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Free

Play | We Are Pussy Riot or Everything Is P.R.: The Greatest Piece of Performance Art in Russia's History


In 2012, on the eve of Putin becoming president again, a small group of activists had an idea to create “Pussy Riot”, an anonymous punk feminist protest performance group. They dress up in bright colors and balaclavas and perform punk songs encouraging attention to be paid to Putin’s crimes.  This is a play by Barbara Hammond that explores the young feminist activists, who call themselves Pussy Riot. They offered up a punk prayer in Moscow’s Orthodox Cathedral. They played and shouted for exactly 48 seconds before being dragged out of the church by security guards. That night they uploaded a video of their performance to YouTube becoming enemies of both the Church and the State.  The girls were arrested and put on trial. Through the internet and mass media the word got out the world hold of the story and turned Pussy Riot into the greatest piece of performance art in Russian history. This is their story.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Free

Concert | A Vibrant Voice in Contemporary Merengue


New Jersey native Freily eL F' is a vibrant and talented voice in contemporary merengue. Raised in a Dominican household, Freily began playing tamboras and congas when he was only five, instilling a deep and early love for traditional Caribbean rhythms. After joining his first band in his teens, Freily's ascent as a producer and performer has been steady, with featured collaborations alongside industry favorites like Toby Love and Mala Fe. Freily eL F' will be joined by a full band to celebrate the release of his 2023 album Unplugged Volume 1, featuring the hit single "La Guerra".
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Free

Classical Music | Piano Work


Nils Vigeland, Adrian Blanco, Fei-Fei, Nacho Ojeda, and Jing Yang, piano, perform Vigeland's Pale Fire.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Free

Dance Performance | Tisch Dance Works III: Student Choreography


Featuring the work of nine young choreographers.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:30 pm
Free

Opera | Two Short Chamber Operas: Mermaid in the Jar and L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Fantaisie lyrique en deux parties.


Two fantastical stories, written 100 years apart, about the imaginative power of children. Mermaid in the Jar A collaboration between Mannes Opera & Mannes Orchestra, Mermaid in the Jar, the first short chamber opera in the Peters and Vavrek’s Wild Beast of the Bungalow triptych (Mermaid in the Jar, Prairie Dogs, and Fine and Dandy), takes place entirely within an eleven-year-old girl’s bedroom as she overhears her parents’ volatile conversations. After the Girl captures a Mermaid, she is forced to confront what it means to care for others and to be cared for herself.  Music by Rachel J. Peters, libretto by Royce Vavrek Based on a short story by Sheila Heti Conductor: Christopher Allen Director: Rose Freeman Cast: Yohji Daquio, Brianna Dulock, Yu Shi, Dalis de la Mothe, Grace Bernard L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Fantaisie lyrique en deux parties Amidst the contemporary works is one French opera, the much loved L'enfant et les sortilèges: Fantaisie lyrique en deux parties (The Child and the Spells: A Lyric Fantasy in Two Parts). Written almost 100 years ago by the writer Collete and composer Ravel, L’Enfant et les sortilèges also explores the world of a discontented child and their vivid imaginary landscape. After a bout of bad behavior, the items in the Child’s nursery come to life to chastise, terrorize, and teach the Child the value of compassion.  Music by Ravel, libretto by Collette Cast: Claire Coven, Marcella Astore, Enes Pektas, Yixuan Li, Haojie jiang, Pedro Barros, Dallas Saxer, Haojin Mo, Maia Suwanameera, Melissa Hartman, Ping Gu, Himanshu Barot, Colin Safley, Marcella Astore, Yu Shi, Young Il Jeon, Brianna Dulock, Luna Park, Patricia Williams, Angela Shon, Claire Dai, Dmitri Mironov, Grace Bernard, Yu Shi, Hansol Oh, Qin Li, Yui Lee, Catherine McClure, Eliza Goldsteen, Christina Draper, Tiffany Ye, Josh Bowden, Nicholas Barrón, Haoran Deng, Haoming (Tim) Xia, Kore Adachi, Junze Gong. Julian Bailey
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Free

Play | Small Tragedy: Comedy About Staging a Sophocles Play


Backstage relationships and global politics unexpectedly collide during an amateur production of Oedipus Rex. This powerful, touching, and rich comedy from Craig Lucas insists, gently that the everyday tribulations and triumphs of contemporary life are worthy of staging in the same way as the celebrated works of Sophocles. As tensions among actors grow, reality indeed begins to emulate art in surprising ways. Written by Craig Lucas. A student production.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 pm
Free

Dance Performance | Dance Concert


The show will feature original choreography by faculty members in many different styles and genres of dance. Appropriate for all ages! Featuring Works by: Barry Blumenfeld, Michelle Cole, Deborah Damast, Careitha Davis, Douglas Dunn, Diane Duggan, Susan R. Koff, Allegra Romita, Anne Marie Robson Smock, and Afaliah Tribune.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 pm
Free

Classical Music | Violin Works by Mozart and Bartok (In Person AND Online)


Maya Kilburn, Violin. Program Mozart (1756-1791), Violin Sonata No. 18 in G Major, K. 301 Bartók (1881-1945), Violin Concerto No. 2, BB 117
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 pm
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Complimentary Tickets

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Broadway | Broadway Show!

Regular Price: $101
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Concert | Christmas Concert

Regular Price: $55
CFT Member Price: $0.00
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