this week in music

LITTLE ISLAND

Little Island is an urban oasis that juts out on Pier 55 in Hudson River Park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

LITTLE ISLAND
Pier 55, Hudson River Park at West Thirteenth St.
Open daily, 6:00 am – 1:00 am
Free timed tickets, noon – midnight
littleisland.org
little island slideshow

While billionaires Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk battle it out to see who can rocket to Mars first, New York socialite couple Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg have their feet firmly planted on the Earth. Ten years ago, the Diller-von Fürstenberg Family Foundation contributed $20 million to the construction of the High Line, a converted elevated railway that has become one of the most glorious parks in the world. And in 2015, they cemented their local legacy by donating $113 million to Little Island, a lovely new paradise built on the remnants of a ramshackle pier at West Thirteenth St., in the shadow of the Whitney and just down the street from David Hammons’s Day’s End, a 325-foot-long brushed-steel outline of an abandoned warehouse on Pier 52 where Gordon-Matta Clark carved holes in the walls in 1975, a ghostly homage to what — and who — is no longer there. (The Diller-von Fürstenberg Family Foundation was one of many donors who helped fund Hammons’s permanent installation.)

Concrete tulip pillars welcome visitors to Little Island (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Little Island is a warm and welcoming oasis rising more than 60 feet above the Hudson River, shaped like a large leaf, leading visitors from the land into water. It is bursting with more than 350 species of flowers, trees, and shrubs, a 687-seat amphitheater for live performances known as the Amph, the Play Ground plaza where you can get food and drink (sandwiches, salads, fried stuff, vegan options), and stage and lawn space called the Glade. More than 66,000 bulbs and 114 trees have been planted, taking into account the changing seasons and even the differences in light between morning, afternoon, and night. It all sits upon 132 concrete pillars of varying heights that resemble high heels or slightly warped tulip glasses.

Winding paths lead to fun surprises on Little Island (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

There are several sloping paths that take you through the greenery and up to lifted corners that offer spectacular views of Lower Manhattan and Jersey City across the river. Little Island was designed by Thomas Heatherwick of London-based Heatherwick Studio, with landscape design by Signe Nielsen of the New York City firm MNLA, offering unique surprises and sweet touches as you make your way across the stunning environment, including rusted cylindrical metal posts that evoke the pier’s eroding wooden piles, a small wooden stage, interactive dance chimes and an instrument sculpture (“Instrument for All”) by Alfons van Leggelo, and a pair of black-and-white optical spinners.

Little Island has unique architectural elements around every corner (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

In the middle of the Play Ground, an abstract-shaped floor plaque pronounces, “In this year of 2021 we dedicate Little Island to the people of New York and to visitors from around the world — for their everlasting enjoyment, for gamboling and cavorting, playing and ramping, repose and reflection — and with the hope that it fulfills that ambition with as much joy as it has brought to those that built it.”

The Amph will host free and ticketed live performances all summer long and into the fall (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

That joy continues with free year-round multidisciplinary programming that kicks off this month with such series as “Free Music in the Amph,” “Sunset Sounds,” “Little Library,” “Live! at Lunch,” “Late Night in the Play Ground,” “Weekend Wind Down,” “Savory Talks,” “New Victory LabWorks,” and “Creative Break: Music,” “Creative Break: Visual Art,” and “Creative Break: Dance.” Admission is first-come, first-served; however, entry to Little Island, which is open daily from 6:00 am to 1:00 am, requires advance reservations between noon and midnight. There will also be paid ticketed performances such as “Broadway Our Way” and “An Evening with American Ballet Theatre,” both of which sold out quickly, and free shows that must be reserved in advance, such as “Tina and Friends: BYOB (Bring Your Own Beautiful),” a Pride Month celebration on June 26 at 8:00 with award-winning playwright and director Tina Landau. Landau, tap dancer and choreographer Ayodele Casel, actor, singer, and music director Michael McElroy, and PigPen Theatre Co. are Little Island’s inaugural artists-in-residence; they will be curating and participating in numerous events in the next several months. Below is a list of upcoming ticketed shows.

Saturday, June 26, 8:00
Tina and Friends: BYOB (Bring Your Own Beautiful), with Tina Landau, the Amph, free tickets available June 16 at 2:00

Saturday, July 10, 2:00
Little Orchestra Society’s Things That Go Bang, the Amph, $25-$65

Saturday, July 24, and Sunday, July 25
Little Island Storytelling Festival, with Mahogany L Browne, Sarah Kay, Jon Sands, Shaina Taub, Broken Box Mine, Daniel Nayeri, Phil Kaye and the Westerlies, Michael Thurber, and others, the Amph, some shows require advance tickets available June 22

Friday, September 17, Saturday, September 18, and Sunday, September 19, 8:00
Little Island Dance Festival, with Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, Barkha Patel, Michela Marino Lerman, Tomoe Carr, Danni Gee, Andre Imanishi, and others, the Amph, tickets on sale June 22

BLOOMSDAY REVEL 2021

Who: Terry Donnelly, Fiona Walsh, Una Clancy, Ed Malone, Aidan Redmond, Fiona Walsh, Gina Costigan, Sarah Street, Alan Gogarty
What: In-person and livestreamed Bloomsday celebration
Where: Blooms Tavern, 208 East 58th St., and online
When: Sunday, June 13, $45, 3:00
Why: For nearly one hundred years, people have been celebrating Bloomsday, when James Joyce’s Ulysses takes place, June 16, 1904. Yes, the seven-hundred-plus-page novel about Leopold Bloom and Odysseus, Molly Bloom and Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus and Telemachus is set during one day in Dublin. On Sunday, June 13, at 3:00, Origin Theatre Company is presenting its eighth annual “Bloomsday Revel,” happening both live at Blooms Tavern on East Fifty-Eighth St. as well as online. The socially distanced afternoon features dramatic readings by such New York-based Irish actors as Terry Donnelly, Fiona Walsh, Una Clancy, Ed Malone, Aidan Redmond, Fiona Walsh, Gina Costigan, and Sarah Street, musical interludes from Alan Gogarty, and a juried costume contest. Tickets for the in-person show, cocurated by Paula Nance and Michael Mellamphy, are $45 and include Bloomsday-inspired hors d’oeuvres and an open bar. “Luckily we didn’t miss a year in 2020,” new Origin artistic director Mellamphy said in a statement. “We were fully virtual last year, in a program packed with great performances and heartfelt messages. But this year we are creating an all-new hybrid that celebrates the many ways we share experiences like this unique and important literary holiday. James Joyce after all was all about setting new rules in art. . . . We’re immensely pleased to continue that tradition in 2021.”

THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC IN BRYANT PARK

The New York Philharmonic will perform in front of a limited audience in Bryan Park June 9-12 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Who: The New York Philharmonic
What: Four live and livestreamed concerts
Where: Bryant Park Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
When: June 9-12, free, 7:00
Why: The New York Philharmonic is not yet ready to play live to an audience at its David Geffen Hall home at Lincoln Center, but the classical music company is continuing its outdoor pandemic appearances with four concerts in Bryant Park, June 9-12 at 7:00. The free tickets have all been scarfed up, but the shows will be streamed live over Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube so you can enjoy them from your own home. These picnic performances, with twenty-five members of the orchestra, will be conducted by Lina González-Granados in her NYPhil debut and will feature works by Mozart and Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, in addition to a new piece by NYPhil Very Young Composer Ilana Rahim-Braden. Upcoming shows in Bryant Park include New York City Opera on June 18 and July 2, New York Chinese Cultural Center on June 25, Joe’s Pub: Mykal Kilgore on June 26, Carnegie Hall Citywide: Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely on July 9, Spanish Harlem Orchestra on July 16, the Knights on July 23, Adrienne Warren & Friends on July 31, and Greenwich House Music School: Riley Mulherkar and Ella Bric on July 31. Free tickets become available for each show about ten days in advance.

CELEBRATING SERGE GAINSBOURG

Jane Birkin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Rebecca Marder will celebrate the life and legacy of Serge Gainsbourg in live FIAF event

Who: Jane Birkin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rebecca Marder, Michael Cooper
What: Virtual talk
Where: FIAF online
When: Thursday, June 10, free with RSVP, 6:30
Why: Thirty years ago this past March, French singer-songwriter, actor, filmmaker, and bon vivant Serge Gainsbourg died of a heart attack at the age of sixty-two, leaving behind a beloved legacy that has only grown since. On June 10 at 6:30, FIAF will host the live online discussion “Celebrating Serge Gainsbourg,” with the engaging model, actress, and singer-songwriter Jane Birkin, his personal and professional partner from 1968 to 1980; their daughter, actress and singer-songwriter Charlotte Gainsbourg; and actress and musician Rebecca Marder, one of six performers in the concert film La Comédie-Française chante Gainsbourg; the event will be moderated by New York Times deputy culture editor Michael Cooper. Admission is free with advance RSVP.

The hourlong film, adapted from Stéphane Varupenne and Sébastien Pouderoux’s Les Serge (Gainsbourg Point Barre), directed by Julien Condemine, and featuring Varupenne, Pouderoux, Marder, Benjamin Lavernhe, Noam Morgensztern, and Yoann Gasiorowski, will be streaming exclusively by FIAF from June 10 to 30; virtual tickets are $15.

THE NEXT FESTIVAL OF EMERGING ARTISTS: 2021 VIRTUAL FESTIVAL

Who: Seth Parker Woods, Gabriela Lena Frank, Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Jessica Meyer, Ashleigh Gordon, Aizuri Quartet, Chi-chi Nwanoku, David Radzynski, Jeff Scott, Trevor New, Lina Gonzalez-Granados, Donna Weng Friedman, Karin Fong, Derek Bermel, choreographer S. Ama Wray, Jonathan Alsberry, Darshan Singh Bhuller, Jamie Benson, Aaron Jay Kernis, Peter Askim, Brian Goldstein, Ross Karre, Elaine Grogan Luttrull
What: Multidisciplinary arts festival
Where: Next Fest online
When: Tuesdays – Thursdays, June 8 – July 1, free with RSVP
Why: Composer, conductor, and bassist Peter Askim founded the Next Festival of Emerging Artists in 2013, “committed to advancing contemporary concert music through performance, audience engagement, and the nurturing of emerging artists with a passion for 21st-century music.” The organization will be holding its 2021 festival online from June 8 to July 1, consisting of panel discussions, performances, keynote addresses, master classes, and more; admission to all events is free with advance RSVP, but tickets are limited. The 2021 edition focuses on “Business & Entrepreneurship” June 8-10, “Social Justice & Activism” June 15-17, “Artistry & Musicality” June 22-24, and “Multidisciplinary Collaboration” June 29 – July 1. Among the highlights are “A Performative Rebirth with Seth Parker Woods” on June 8 at 7:30, “Chi-chi Nwanoku and the Creation of Chineke!” on nJune 15 at noon, “Festival Fellows in Concert” June 24 at 7:30, and the “Festival Finale with the Aizuri Quartet, Aaron Jay Kernis, Trevor New, S. Ama Wray, Derek Bermel, and the 2021 Composer/Choreographer Workshop” July 1 at 7:30.

VIRTUAL MUSEUM MILE FESTIVAL 2021

Who: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Neue Galerie New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Jewish Museum, Museum of the City of New York, El Museo del Barrio, the Africa Center, and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
What: Virtual arts festival
Where: Online (a few in-person events)
When: Tuesday, June 8, free, 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Why: For more than forty years, on the second Tuesday of June, art lovers packed the cultural institutions on Fifth Ave., from the Met to El Museo del Barrio, filling the streets and lining up to experience special programs inside and outside for a few hours. With Covid-19 regulations still in place for theaters and museums, the 2021 Museum Mile Festival will be hybrid, with a few events happening in person but most accessible by streaming from home, over Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Everything is free, although some events require advance RSVP, but another bonus is that the festival lasts twelve hours, from nine in the morning to nine at night. Below are some of the highlights from each participating museum.

The Africa Center
“‘Home Is . . .” Series #2: Home Is Where Music Is,’” with Sampa the Great, Wunmi, Jupiter & Okwess, Daniel Dzidzonu, Georges Collinet, Eme Awa, noon
Discussion with Jessica B. Harris, curator of “African/American: Making the Nation’s Table,” and Pierre Thiam, executive chef and co-owner of Teranga, 5:00
Virtual contribution to the Legacy Quilt; child-friendly animation workshop led by artist Ezra Wube

Museum of the City of New York
“Photographing City Life: Live Session with Photographer Janette Beckman,” 4:40
“Curators from the Couch: Stettheimer Dollhouse Up Close,” with Sarah Henry and Simon Doonan, 5:30
“Your Hometown: A Virtual Conversation with Playwright Lynn Nottage,” 6:00
“When the Garden Was Eden: Remembering the 1970s New York Knicks,” with Bill Bradley, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Bill Murray, and Harvey Araton, 7:00

The Jewish Museum
Lawrence Weiner talks about his career and All the Stars in the Sky Have the Same Face, on the facade of the museum; Rachel Weisz recites Louise Bourgeois’s own words on audio guide for “Louise Bourgeois, Freud’s Daughter”; Edmund de Waal and Adam Gopnik discuss de Waal’s latest book, Letters to Camondo; videos of poet Douglas Ridloff responding to the Jewish Museum collection in ASL; panel discussion about public art and equity in museums; family-friendly performances by Aaron Nigel Smith and Joanie Leeds; an interview with Rachel Feinstein about the exhibition “Rachel Feinstein: Maiden, Mother, Crone”; discussion with artists Rachel Feinstein and Lisa Yuskavage, filmmaker Tamara Jenkins, and curator Kelly Taxter about storytelling, gender, and identity-based art making; family-friendly performance by the Paper Bag Players at Home

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
“Design at Home: Design a Repeating Pattern”; “Rebellion in Design: Developing a Blueprint for the Future,” with Virgil Abloh, James Wines, and Oana Stănescu; virtual tour of “Contemporary Muslim Fashions”; “Studio Series: Quilting,” with William Daniels, 4:00 (RSVP required)

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
“Summer Solstice” live virtual tour of works featuring the sun and light; an audio guide for “Off the Record” exhibition; “Spotlight” video series with Guggenheim Abu Dhabi collection artists; prerecorded conversation with curator Vivien Greene and scholar Maile Arvin as part of the Artwork Anthology series, about Gauguin’s In the Vanilla Grove, Man and Horse

Metropolitan Museum of Art
Drop-in Drawing — “How to Draw The Met Using Perspective Drawing”; Storytime with the Met — You Can’t Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum; Silent Gallery Tour — the Temple of Dendur in the Sackler Wing; Silent Gallery Tour — the Roof Garden Commission: Alex Da Corte, As Long as the Sun Lasts; MetTeens — “Little-Known Met”; #MetKids — “How Do You Dance in Armor?”; #MetKids — “How Did They Get All This Art into the Museum?”; Artist Interview — The Facade Commission: Carol Bove, The séances aren’t helping; “Conserving Degas,” with conservator Glenn Peterson

El Museo del Barrio
Virtual tour of “Estamos Bien — La Trienial 20/21” led by the curators; recorded interviews with participating artist Candida Alvarez; in-person outdoor performance by NYC-based Afro-Caribbean group San Simón at Central Park’s Harlem Meer at 6:00

Neue Galerie New York
Prerecorded lectures, virtual tours, and concerts

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS

Daphne Oram is one of the women pioneers of electronic music featured in Sisters with Transistors

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS (Lisa Rovner, 2020)
Metrograph Digital
June 3-9
metrograph.com
sisterswithtransistors.com

“This is the story of women who hear music in their heads, of radical sounds where there was once silence, of dreams enabled by technology,” Laurie Anderson says at the beginning of Lisa Rovner’s revelatory Sisters with Transistors, which is back by popular demand for a return engagement on Metrograph Digital. In the film, available June 3-9, Rovner highlights electronic musicians Clara Rockmore, Delia Derbyshire, Daphne Oram, Éliane Radigue, Maryanne Amacher, Bebe Barron, Suzanne Ciani, Pauline Oliveros, Laurie Spiegel, and Wendy Carlos, trailblazers who deserve more recognition for their ingenuity and their influence on the music of today while blasting through gender stereotypes of the mid-twentieth century and beyond. “Technology is a tremendous liberator,” Spiegel notes. “It blows up power structures.”

In her feature-length debut, writer, director, and coproducer Rovner (Constellations) uses archival footage of Rockmore playing the Theremin with a string quartet in 1934, Derbyshire and Oram explaining how they constructed their unique arrangement of tape reels and computers at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the 1950s and ’60s, Ciani twisting nobs on a wire-laden setup at the Bonino Gallery in New York City in 1974 (and later performing on The David Letterman Show), Radigue talking about how she employed the sounds of airplanes to develop her electronic compositions, Carlos developing her own software and adjusting the synthesizer in her West Side studio, and Barron and her husband using circuit boards to create scores for avant-garde films as well as Forbidden Planet and the Doctor Who theme.

Revolutionary, antiwar, and queer composer Oliveros searches for inner peace through music. Amacher utilizes complex science to make new sounds. Amacher is shown collaborating with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. “She wanted to develop an extremely rigorous approach to listening, to activating sites, to thinking outside of the composition as it’s known,” composer Nadia Botello says about Amacher. “She didn’t want to push around dead white men’s notes.”

Rovner speaks with several of the artists in addition to such musicians as Rhys Chatham, Kim Gordon, Morton Subotnick, Holly Herndon, Charles Amirkhanian, Jean-Michel Jarre, and others who sing the praises of these pioneers. The Metrograph website takes a deep dive into the history of these women with a Q&A with Rovner; the essay “Sounding Out Electronic Music’s Female Pioneers” by Margaret Barton-Fumo; an interview with Anderson; a “Sound of Liberation” panel with Rovner, Spiegel, Ciani, Arushi Jain, Moor Mother, Gavilán Rayna Russom, and Madame Gandhi, moderated by Geeta Dayal; and a conversation about women in tech with Emmy Parker, LaFrae Sci, Suzi Analogue, Stephi Duckula, and moderator Alissa DeRubeis. In the end, it is the women composers themselves who best sum it all up.

“Technology is a natural extension of man; man has always played with tools. Man has always developed tools,” Carlos says in an old interview. “The machine doesn’t write the music; you tell the machine what to do. The machine is an extension of you.” And Spiegel, shown feeding pigeons on Staple St. in 2018, elucidates, “We were, in a way, trying to make a bit of a revolution, but I don’t think we would have put it in such grandiose terms. We were trying to put music back in touch with itself.”