this week in music

TIBET HOUSE US BENEFIT CONCERT

tibet house concert 2018

Who: Artistic director Philip Glass, Carly Simon, Blood Orange (Dev Hynes), St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Rhiannon Giddens, Angel Olsen, Stephin Merritt, Resistance Revival Chorus, Techung, and Los Vega, with the Patti Smith Band and the Scorchio Quartet and an invocation by monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery, with honorary chairs Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Uma Thurman, and Arden Wohl
What: Thirty-first annual concert raising funds for the nonprofit Tibet House US, celebrating the Year of the Earth Dog and Tibetan New Year
Where: Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, 881 Seventh Ave. at 57th St., 212-247-7800
When: Saturday, March 3, $35-$200 (special packages with the concert, party, and more start at $500), 7:30
Why: Tibet House US was founded in 1987 at the request of the Dalai Lama, “dedicated to preserving Tibet’s unique culture at a time when it is confronted with extinction on its own soil”; the annual benefit concert is always one of the cultural highlights of the year in New York City, and this time the show will have a special focus on equality and human rights given what is currently happening in the United States as well as around the world.

JULIANNE SWARTZ’S “SINE BODY” WITH ESTELÍ GOMEZ

Julianne Swartz will activate her “Sine Body” installation at MAD with vocalist Estelí Gomez on February 11

Museum of Arts & Design
2 Columbus Circle at 58th St. & Eighth Ave.
Sunday, February 11, $20, 4:00
Exhibit continues through February 25, $12-$16 (pay-what-you-wish Fridays 6:00 – 9:00)
212-299-7777
madmuseum.org

On February 11, light, air, and sound artist Julianne Swartz will activate “Sine Body,” her contribution to the Museum of Arts & Design exhibition “Sonic Arcade: Shaping Space with Sound,” joined by Grammy-winning soprano Estelí Gomez. The installation on the fifth floor consists of a table occupied by translucent abstract vessels made of acoustically reflective ceramic and glass that use electronic feedback and air to emit sound with a mallet. For the forty-five-minute performance, the New York–based Swartz (“Digital Empathy” on the High Line, “The Sound of Light” at the Jewish Museum) will play the vessels like instruments, with Gomez (Roomful of Teeth) harmonizing with the resonant Sine tones to create unique frequencies emanating throughout the gallery. The exhibition continues through February 25; on February 10 at 7:00 ($10), as part of “At Play: Performing Artist-in-Residence Series,” Muscle Memory (Steven Reker and Matt Evans) will team up with Ka Baird and the trio War Bubble (Sarah Register, Christina Files, and Eli Lehrhoff) for “this / visitor,” an evening of new music inspired by “Sonic Arcade.”

BROOKLYN MUSEUM FIRST SATURDAY: BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1982. Acrylic, spray paint, and oilstick on canvas, Collection of Yusaku Maezawa. © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York

Jean-Michel Basquiat, “Untitled,” acrylic, spray paint, and oilstick on canvas, 1982 (Collection of Yusaku Maezawa. © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, February 3, free, 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum honors Black History Month with its free February First Saturday program, featuring live performances by Aaron Abernathy, the Skins, Brooklyn Dance Festival, Everyday People, Latasha Alcindor (presenting All a Dream: Intro to Latasha), and Urban Word NYC, including teen poets William Lohier, Shakeva Griswould, Roya Marsh, Jive Poetic, and Anthony McPherson, hosted by Shanelle Gabriel; a screening of Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis’s Whose Streets? followed by a discussion with Folayan and museum Teen Night Planning Committee senior member Elizabeth Rodriguez; pop-up gallery talks by teen apprentices in the “American Art” galleries; a community talk by Kleaver Cruz, founder of the Black Joy Project; a Black Joy photo booth with photographer Dominique Sindayiganza; a hands-on workshop inspired by the scratch and resist technique of Jean-Michel Basquiat; a curator talk by Eugenie Tsai on Basquiat’s “Untitled” (1982), part of the exhibition “One Basquiat”; and the community talk “Malcolm X in Brooklyn” by oral historian Zaheer Ali. In addition, the galleries will be open late so you can check out “One Basquiat,” “Roots of ‘The Dinner Party’: History in the Making,” ““Arts of Korea,” “Infinite Blue,” “Ahmed Mater: Mecca Journeys,” “Rodin at the Brooklyn Museum: The Body in Bronze,” “A Woman’s Afterlife: Gender Transformation in Ancient Egypt,” and more.

CONVERSATION WITH JANE BIRKIN

Jane Birkin will be at FIAF on January 29 to talk about her life and career (photo © Nico Bustos)

Who: Jane Birkin, Elia Einhorn
What: An evening with Jane Birkin
Where: French Institute Alliance Française, Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves., 212-355-6160
When: Monday, January 29, $35, 7:00
Why: In 2010, London-born French actress, model, and singer appeared at the French Institute Alliance Française for two concerts and a staged reading with Wajdi Mouawad. On January 29, she returns to FIAF for a conversation, Q&A, and book signing three days before her highly anticipated “Birkin Gainsbourg The Symphonic” show at Carnegie Hall with Wordless Music Orchestra, pianist Nobuyuki Nakajima, and special guest Rufus Wainwright. In 2013, Birkin told the Independent that she found it “very flattering to have the most beautiful songs, probably, in the French language written for one,” referring to Gainsbourg, who passed away in 1991 at the age of sixty-two, while also asking, “How much talent did I really have? Perhaps not that much.” Birkin first caught the public’s attention with roles in such films as Richard Lester’s The Knack . . . and How to Get It, Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blowup and Kaleidoscope, and Joe Massott’s Wonderwall. (She has also been in films by Jacques Rivette, James Ivory, and Hong Sang-soo.) Birkin is most famous for the ten-year relationship she had with Serge Gainsbourg, with whom she made several films and records, including the album and movie Je t’aime . . . moi non plus; they also had a child together, actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist, Melancholia). In addition, Birkin has children from her relationships with British composer John Barry and French director Jacques Doillon, as well as five grandchildren. The seventy-one-year-old philanthropist and two-time César nominee recently announced her retirement from acting after starring in the Oscar-winning short La femme et le TGV. Birkin’s achievements are many, but for the fashion-obsessed crowd, she’s probably most adored as the inspiration for the Hermés Birkin bag — one can barely type it without calling it “the iconic Birkin bag” — an incredibly expensive, instantly recognizable handbag from the high-end French accessories firm. The English-language conversation at FIAF, moderated by Pitchfork’s Elia Einhorn, will be followed by a signing of Birkin’s Attachments, her 2014 photo-essay collaboration with photographer Gabrielle Crawford.

SUNDAY SESSIONS: ANTI BODIES

Analisa Teachworth and Jonas Wendelin, Dependency Demographics, 2017; Photo: Hamburger Bahnhof Museum

Analisa Teachworth and Jonas Wendelin, seen above performing “Dependency Demographics” last year in Germany, will be at MoMA PS1 for “Anti Bodies” on January 28 (photo courtesy Hamburger Bahnhof Museum)

MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Ave. at 46th Ave.
Sunday, January 28, $15, 2:00 – 6:00
718-784-2084
www.moma.org
topicalcream.info

For the January 28 edition of its Sunday Sessions series held in the VW Dome, MoMA PS1 is teaming with Topical Cream, a self-described “New York-based platform [that] has supported a community of artists, writers, designers, and technologists through digital publishing and public programming initiatives.” From 2:00 to 6:00, there will be live performances, readings, film, and installations exploring how artists deal with self-preservation and resistance. The afternoon includes a performance by Analisa Teachworth with Jonas Wendelin, videos presented by Jacksonville-based artist Redeem Pettaway, live music by Zsela and Deli Girls, and a new piece by Julia Scher on surveillance and security. In addition, there will be video and poetry in the main museum building by Michelle Young Lee, Sara Hornbacher, Sarah Zapata, Maya Martinez, Rin Johnson, Sophia Le Fraga, and Natasha Stagg.

BRUCE OFF BROADWAY: A UKULELE TRIBUTE TO THE BOSS WITH JIM BOGGIA

bruce off broadway

Who: Jim Boggia
What: Ukulele tribute to the music of Bruce Springsteen
Where: Arlene’s Grocery, 95 Stanton St. at Orchard St.
When: Saturday, January 27, $10, 8:00
Why: Retro-pop nostalgia devotee Jim Boggia released three albums last decade, Fidelity Is the Enemy, Safe in Sound, and Misadventures in Stereo, and has also played with the Fab Faux and Mad Dogs & Dominos in addition to many, many others. On January 27, the vinyl-obsessed musician will be at Arlene’s Grocery, offering an alternative to the hottest show around, Springsteen on Broadway, with his own celebration, “Bruce Off Broadway: A Ukulele Tribute to the Boss.” Yes, Boggia, who was raised just outside Flint, Michigan, and is a longtime Philly dude, will be playing Springsteen songs on his ukulele, and, lo and behold, he’s pretty damn good at it, as evidenced by his videos for “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” “Thunder Road,” and “Growing Up.” It might not quite be the toughest ticket going, but get one while you still can to check out what should be a very different kind of Springsteen experience.

BAE UPRISING: POST-MARCH ACTIVATION

uprising

Town Stages
221 West Broadway
Saturday, January 20, $20 per session, $35 for both, 3:00 & 7:00
baeuprising.splashthat.com

Saturday’s Women’s March on New York City takes place from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, starting at 72nd St. & Central Park West and continuing to Sixth Ave. & Forty-Fifth St., to speak out for equality. “Over the past year, basic rights for women, immigrants, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, the religious and nonreligious, people of color and even Mother Earth have struggled to survive under the weight of the current administration,” the official march registration website explains. “America’s First Amendment has been challenged and healthcare for millions has been threatened. We must stand together to demand and defend our rights. Let your voice echo from the streets of New York City to the capital city. Show the world that red, white, and blue are colors of tolerance.” Immediately following the march, the collective BAE is hosting “Uprising” at Town Stages, consisting of two sessions of panel discussions (with community leaders, artivists, and change-makers), live art, music, healing modalities, food & drink, and more in support of the Women’s March Alliance. Session 001, “The Women’s Movement: Stages of Evolution,” runs from 3:00 to 7:00, while Session 002, “Cities, Spaces, Sex & Power: How We Evolve,” goes from 7:00 to 11:00. Tickets for each session are $20, or you can pay $35 for both, called “Double Impact.” BAE refers to itself as “a celebration of female creativity and divine feminine energy, before anything else. It is a gathering of our collective evolution and the vitality of tangible sacred spaces curated, produced, and performed by women, for ALL.”