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El Museo del Barrio presents
Touched
11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
El Café, 1230 Fifth Avenue (at 104th Street) New York, NY 10029
Cost: Free
Touched is an exhibition of portraiture by Delphine Fawundu-Buford examining the impact of HIV/AIDS on Latina and Black/African American women in NYC. The photographs will be on display as a digital slideshow in the museum café on December 1, 2011 in commemoration of World AIDS Day. In addition, information will be distributed in the museum lobby, and free and confidential HIV testing will be provided at El Museo from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. For questions regarding testing, call 212-367-1519. The portraits in the exhibition were taken by Delphine Fawundu-Buford, and depict women who have been infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS.The exhibit emphasizes the strength and resiliency of Black and Latina women, which in many ways, has the power to transform how we respond to HIV in communities. Women of color are among the most vulnerable populations affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States.

Caffè Lena presents
Lost Radio Rounders
With Opener Putnam Smith
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $15 advance / $17 at door (How to get tickets)
Carl Sandburg. Poet of the people, certainly, but few know that Sandburg was also one of the most important song collectors of the early 20th century. His “American Songbag,” published in 1927, remains a keystone of folk literature and a divining rod for musicians fascinated by the deep roots of American music. In fact, in 2004 popular family musician Dan Zanes recorded “Parades and Panoramas,” an entire album of songs culled from the book. With “Carl Sandburg’s American Songbag,” Lost Radio Rounders—Tom Lindsay and Michael Eck—bring their unique, witty acoustic duo stylings to popular Sandburg selections such as “The Midnight Special,” “John B. Sails” “Shenandoah” and “Turkey in the Straw.” Pete Seeger, whom Sandburg called “America’s tuning fork,” has given his blessing to Lost Radio Rounders, urging them to keep the old songs alive, saying, “It’s so important that you are doing this.”
Opener Putnam Smith, who hails from Portland, Maine, could be an old-world troubadour fresh from the 19th century. After all, he lives in a log cabin, plays his grandfather’s banjo, and has printed up the jackets of his new CD on a 1901 Pearl Letterpress (hand set type, pedal powered!). Yet this rootsy multi-instrumentalist songwriter (he also plays guitar, mandolin, and piano), steeped as he is in old-time Appalachian traditions, is very much a storyteller for the modern age.

St. Peter’s Community Arts Academy presents
Sounds of Christmas Concert with the St. Peter’s Community Arts Academy Choirs
7:30-8:45 p.m.
St. Peter’s Church, 149 Genesee Street, Geneva, NY
Celebrate the Christmas season with the choirs of the St. Peter’s Community Arts Academy. The choirs will present traditional Christmas music that is sure to brighten your holiday spirits. All proceeds benefit St. Peter’s Community Arts Academy.

Center for Traditional Music & Dance presents
CHORNOBYL SONGS PROJECT: Living Culture from a Lost World 7 p.m.
The Ukrainian Museum, 222 East 6th Street, New York, NY
Admission: $15, discounts for seniors/members. Tickets available online.
2011 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Chornobyl Disaster that irrevocably transformed the ecological and social dimensions of life in the Ukrainian and Belarusian regions now known as the “Chornobyl Zone.” Since 1986, the traditional communities of the Chornobyl zone have been largely dispersed and destroyed, and today, very few people remain in the region. Yet, a trace of the human spirit that used to populate this region remains, in the form of archival field recordings that document the ritual and quotidian aspects of daily life before the disaster. In the 1970s, ethnomusicologist and song collector Yevhen Yefremov conducted numerous field expeditions into the Chornobyl region. The foremost Ukrainian expert in polyphonic singing styles of Central and Northern Ukraine, Dr. Yefremov will lead New York-based Ensemble Hilka in reinterpreting traditional songs from the Chornobyl region; the ensemble features some of New York City’s leading East European folksingers. A pedagogue and a writer, Dr. Yefremov is also the founder of the important Ukrainian revival choir Drevo (tree). Curated by Dr. Yefremov and Ukrainian-American ethnomusicologist and singer Maria Sonevytsky, Ensemble Hilka’s performance will be accompanied by projected archival footage and photographs coordinated by director Virlana Tkacz and Yara Arts Group. A reception follows the concert.

The Blarney Star Concert Series:
Dylan Foley, Dan Gurney, Isaac Alderson, and Sean Ernest
9 p.m.
Glucksman Ireland House, New York University, 1 Washington Mews, New York, NY 10003
Free admission to Members of Glucksman Ireland House and to NYU students with a valid NYU I.D. card. For non-members: $15 donation at the door for the Blarney Star Concert Series.
Dylan Foley, Dan Gurney, Isaac Alderson, and Sean Ernest, four of the hottest young Irish instrumentalists in the New York area have united to form a real dream-team lineup. Dylan (fiddle), Dan (button accordion), Isaac (uilleann pipes and flute) and Sean (guitar and bouzouki) are all extremely talented individually. Collectively, they are definitely a band to be reckoned with!

Family Children’s Service of the Capital Region presents 2011 Capital Region FESTIVAL OF TREES Friday, December 2, 2-6 p.m. Saturday, December 3, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sunday, December 4, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. 650 Warren Street, Albany, NY 12208, 518/462-6531 Admission: $5 adults, $3 seniors and children over 10, children under 10 free Help us help those affected by Hurricane Irene. Monetary donations will be collected for Catholic Charities and pet supplies for Mohawk Humane Society. Photos with Santa & Mrs. Claus — Saturday, December 3, 12 p.m.

Stories for the Season with Joe (Alden) Doolittle
2 and 4 p.m.
New York Folklore Society Gallery, 129 Jay Street, Schenectady, New York, (518) 346-7008
December 3, 2011 is Schenectady’s Holiday Magic Celebration. Downtown Schenectady will be full of activity with carolers, crafts demonstrations, children’s activities, food, and horse-drawn carriage rides. As a special event for the New York Folklore Society, storyteller Joe (Alden) Doolittle will be in the Gallery, regaling you with tales for the Holiday Season.

The World Music Institute (WMI) presents
Cape Verde to Brooklyn Fantcha
8:00 p.m.
Roulette, 509 Atlantic Avenue (Corner of 3rd Avenue), Downtown Brooklyn, New York
Tickets: $25
Buy tickets online
Singing in a rich, sensuous voice in her native Creole, Cape Verdean songstress Fantcha performs mornas — the languid, bluesy ballads about love, loss and longing made famous by her mentor and homeland icon Cesaria Evora. To lift spirits, she offers her country’s playful up-tempo dance numbers, coladeiras. Fantcha and her band (acoustic guitar, cavaquinho, piano, drum, bass) conjure up the balmy, robust sounds of the 10-island archipelago, performing classics as well as original works from her new album Amor, Mar e Musica (Love, the Sea, and Music).

Caffè Lena presents
Wholesale Klezmer Band
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $16 advance / $18 at door (How to get tickets)
Each December this traditional klezmer ensemble squeezes onto the Caffè Lena stage to bring a little Yiddishkeit to the season with an emotionally uplifting performance of music, comedy and lessons. Each year their repertoire expands and deepens, from swinging, danceable songs in Yiddish and Ashkenazic Hebrew, to stories, humor, short theatrical pieces, and poems. They make everything accessible to a mixed audience with translations, cue cards, and that universal language that makes your toes tap. If you haven’t seen Wholesale Klezmer recently, it’s time to rediscover them.

Folk Music Society of New York/New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents
David Jones/Heather Wood House Concert
8 p.m.
Seating is strictly limited so register quickly for this house concert to be held in Brooklyn: Contact pfriedman246@yahoo.com, 917-592-7148
Suggested donation $15; Note: 2 cats are in residence
David and Heather (both English, but now U.S. citizens) sing English and American traditional folk songs and contemporary songs in the same idiom. Their harmonies “effortlessly combine the Copper and Carter families” (FRoots, U.K.). Both have been around forever, singing, individually or together, at festivals, concerts, and clubs all over the U.S., UK, and Canada. There will be humor (and humour), ballads, shanties, music hall, and plenty of chorus songs. David, described by the New York Times as “a polished craftsman with a warm glowing quality,” occasionally plays guitar and concertina. Heather, who plays no instruments, was a member of the Young Tradition. She occasionally writes songs. Both David and Heather believe that folk music should be enjoyed and not enshrined.

Museum at Eldridge Street presents a
Holiday Bazaar & The Jazz Singer
Bazaar 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
The Jazz Singer 4 p.m.
The Museum at Eldridge Street/Eldridge Street Synagogue, 12 Eldridge Street, New York, NY 10002
Cost: Bazaar is free. The Jazz Singer: $10 adults, $8 students/seniors, includes museum admission
RSVP: hgriff@eldridgestreet.org
Our Holiday Bazaar brings together artisans selling beautiful and unique crafts and jewelry, along with menorahs, dreidels, holiday books and other goodies from our gift shop. See a landmark film in our landmark site at 4:00 p.m. The Jazz Singer is a story that could have happened on Eldridge Street. Al Jolson plays Jakie Rabinowitz, son of a cantor who wants to be a jazz singer against the wishes of his observant father. This classic 1927 film was the first feature-length Hollywood talkie. Dr. Regina Stein, our 125th Anniversary scholar-in-residence provides context. Museum tours are offered hourly throughout the day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Caffè Lena presents
Matthew Carefully & Bailiwick
7 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $10 advance / $12 at door (How to get tickets)
Always inventive and seeking fresh collaborations, Matthew Carefully is well known to area audiences for his years as mandolinist with folk-rock band the Kamikaze Hearts. He has subsequently released two solo albums that feature rich, lush acoustic soundscapes with a feel of poignancy and thoughtfulness. He is mildly obsessed with marrying traditional instruments with modern technology and sounds. Known to utilize live on-the-fly looping, octave pedals, thick distortion and heavy reverb, Matthew delivers a unique, constantly evolving musical performance. Bailiwick is a Skidmore College based acoustic band with four members and ten instruments. Their influences are diverse, from the jangly folk-infused psychedelia of the mid-1960s to the sugary dementia of Animal Collective, and everything in between. This makes music which some people describe as “beautiful,” “intriguing,” and even “good.” Bailiwick delivers an energy and fullness that is seldom found in acoustic bands.

The Folk Music Society of N.Y., Inc/ N.Y. Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents Irish Traditional Music Session every Monday December 5, 12, 19 26, 2011 8-11 p.m. Landmark Tavern, 626 11th Avenue (on 46th St), Manhattan Free admission; food and drink are available. For more info 212-247-2562 Tenor banjo, harmonica and fiddle player Don Meade and friends get together every Monday night for an Irish traditional music session in the back room of this historic Hell’s Kitchen bar/restaurant. Musicians and singers welcome.

The Gotham Center presents a Fall 2011 History Forum:
Italian Folk: Vernacular Culture in Italian-American Lives
6:30 p.m.
Elebash Recital Hall, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street, New York, NY
Single tickets are $10; Members, $8. All Forums are $50; Members $40. No Surcharges. To purchase tickets, call 212-868-4444 or buy online
Join editor of folklorist Joseph Sciorra, Queens College; Kay Turner, Brooklyn Arts Council; Joseph J. Inguanti, Southern Connecticut State University and others as we explore the role of local knowledge and aesthetic practices as sources for creativity and meaning in the lives of Italian-Americans. Panelists will discuss everyday cultural practices in order to challenge stereotypes and superficial perceptions.

East Village Klezmer & Yiddish Culture Series at the new Center for Jewish Arts & Literacy Curated by Aaron Alexander Sixth Street Synagogue, 325 East 6th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues) in NYC’s East Village The series are co-sponsored by Workmen’s Circle/Arbeiter Ring of NY, Living Traditions/Klez Kamp, and Center for Traditional Music and Dance (CTMD). 6 – 7:30 p.m. Klezmer Workshop led by Aaron Alexander and various esteemed guests $25 7 – 7:50 p.m. Yiddish Class, led by Dmitri Slepovitch $20 8 – 9:15 p.m. Concert (see schedule below) $15 (includes a drink) 9:30 – 11 p.m. Klezmer Jam Session, led by Margot Leverett, Pete Rushevsky, Aaron Alexander and guests, with Yiddish dance instruction by Lisa Mayer and guests $5 Full evening pass $35 (includes Workshop or Yiddish Class, Concert, Jam Session and one drink) Generous discounts available for students, seniors and members of 6th St. Community Shul, Workmen’s Circle, CTMD, Klez Kamp and Klez Kanada attendees, and volunteers! Upcoming Concerts Sept. 13 – Jake Shulman-Ment Band Sept. 20 – Alicia Svigals Sept. 27 – Klezmerfest, with Greg Wall, Jordan Hirsch, Zev Zions, and Aaron Alexander Oct. 4 – Lisa Gutkin, trio with Pete Rushevsky and Remy Yulzari Oct. 11 – Joel Rubin and Pete Rushevsky Oct. 18 – Sukka Bash! Dmitri Slepovitch’s Litvakus Oct. 25 – Jim Guttman’s Bessarabian Breakdown Nov. 1 – Lisa, and Sruli’s Family Band, featuring Zach Mayer Nov. 8 – Eve Sicular & Isle of Klezbos Nov. 15 – Adrienne Cooper Ensemble (tentative) Nov. 22 – Pete Sokolow Nov. 29 – Matt Darriau𔄩s Shabbes Elevator Dec. 6 – Michael Winograd Trio Dec. 13 – Joanne Borts Dec. 20 – Khanike Party with Yale Strom’s Hot Pstromi, Aaron Alexander’s Midrash Mish Mosh

The Folk Music Society of N.Y., Inc/ N.Y. Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents
Folk Open Sing
7-10 p.m.
Info: Frank, 212-533-2139, or Laura, 718-788-7563
Ethical Culture Society, 53 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn (near 2nd St.)
Join us on the first Wednesday of each month for an open sing. Bring your voice, instruments, friends, neighbors, and children. Drop by for a couple of songs or the whole evening.

Irish Arts Center presents An Irish Christmas A Musical Solstice Celebration With Mick Moloney, Athena Tergis and Special Guests December 7-18 Wednesday–Sunday | 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Irish Arts Center, Donaghy Theatre, 553 West 51 Street, New York, NY 10019, 212/757-3318 Tickets: $50 general / $40 members Your entire family will enjoy our annual holiday tradition, featuring an eclectic mix of tunes and stories to warm the heart, hosted by the legendary Mick Moloney. Famed Filipino singer Grace Nono and jazz singer Tamar Korn join the Irish Christmas lineup, featuring fiddler Athena Tergis, button accordionist Billy McComiskey, pianist Brendan Dolan, fiddler and singer Liz Hanley, old time fiddler Rhys Jones and dancer Niall O’Leary. And you never know who will drop by to share their favorite party piece—past special guests have included Gabriel Byrne, Colum McCann, Ellen McCourt, Isaiah Sheffer, Peter Quinn, Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra and more. Whatever your holiday tradition, don’t miss this delightful celebration of the season!

Airneál na Nollag
7 p.m.
Glucksman Ireland House, New York University, 1 Washington Mews, New York, NY 10003
Free admission
In order to ensure a seat at events, please RSVP to 212-998-3950 (option 3) or email ireland.house@nyu.edu
A program of music and song to celebrate the holiday season hosted by Senior Irish Language Lecturer Pádraig Ó Cearúill and featuring Irish-language students in song and musicians sharing favorite traditional tunes, including perennial favorites The Washington Square Harp & Shamrock Orchestra.

Harlem Heritage Tourism and Cultural Center announces HARLEM HERITAGE TOURS Every Friday from 1-3 p.m. Harlem Heritage Tourism and Cultural Center, 104 Malcolm X Blvd. at 116th St., New York, NY, 212-280-7888 Cost: $25, Reservations required Relive the days of 1960s Harlem and feel what it was really like during a period when our country was in a state of struggling transformation as it is now.The multimedia Harlem Civil Rights Walking Tour pays homage to personalities and Harlem organizations that were on the scene during 1960s Harlem. Walk in the footsteps of Malcolm X, A. Philip Randolph (who won his battle against one kind of discrimination in the military, and who headed a march of 250,000 people on Washington under the slogan “Jobs and Freedom”) and Reverend Wyatt T. Walker (MLK’s Chief of Staff and an activist for social justice who also helped quell the Attica riots) as video and sound is presented at sites where history happened. Listen to Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech, so resonant still today: "Then came the buildup in Vietnam, and I watched this [anti-poverty] program broken and eviscerated, as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube.” Stand in the shadows of Riverside Church and watch Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. deliver a speech while standing at a statue that bears his name, showing him striding dramatically up an incline and based on his quote, “Press forward at all times, climbing forward toward that higher ground of the harmonious society that shapes the laws of man to the laws of God.”

Caffè Lena presents
The Long Memory: A Tribute to Utah Phillips
Featuring Duncan Phillips, Dan Schatz, Anke Summerhill, Doug Wintch and Paul Rasmussen
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $22 advance / $24 at door (How to get tickets)
“Yes, the long memory is the most radical idea in this country. It is the loss of that long memory which deprives our people of that connective flow of thoughts and events that clarifies our vision, not of where we’re going, but where we want to go.”—U. Utah Phillips
As the son of Bruce “Utah” Phillips, Duncan Phillips began traveling on the road with his father in the winter of 2000. Utah referred to Duncan as his “road manager,” but Duncan jokes that everyone knows his father couldn’t be managed. Utah was known as the Golden Voice of the Great Southwest, anarchist, organizer, humanitarian, teller of tall tales and outrageous stories...and so much more. Tonight we’ll follow his songs back to the wellspring that is Utah Phillips and find our history, our story, the community we share. Duncan and Utah made their final road trip together to play at Caffè Lena in 2008, shortly before Utah passed away. Coincidentally, Caffè Lena was the first place Phillips played as a professional folksinger following his flight from Utah in 1969. That Duncan should return to our stage to release this special tribute album seems especially fitting.

Ithaca Holiday Artists’ Market
11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Women’s Community Building, 100 W. Seneca Street (corner of Cayuga and Seneca), Ithaca, NY
An annual program of the Community Arts Partnership (CAP), the Market features about 25 local fine artists—all from Tompkins County—offering an array of original works at reasonable prices. Visitors to the market can choose from watercolors, oils, acrylics, color and black and white photographs, digital photographs, lithographs, etchings, collage and sculpture. The market provides an ideal excursion for holiday shoppers, art collectors, admirers of fine art, tourists, or fellow artists. Check the website for a list of participating artists.

The Harlem Chamber Players and Opus 118 Harlem School of Music present
Winter Holiday Concert
6:00 p.m.
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 521 W. 125th St. (bet. Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.), New York, NY
Cost: $15 general admission; $10 seniors/students. Tickets available at the door.
Harlem Chamber Players present their Winter Holiday Concert, a chamber music fete in collaboration with Opus 118 Harlem School of Music featuring Corelli’s Christmas Concerto, Christmas carols, and music by Bach, Telemann, and Schubert. Noted for bringing “high-caliber, affordable, and accessible live chamber music directly to the people of Harlem” by New York Amsterdam News, the group continues its 2012 series at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, providing a wonderful setting for this festive time of year.

Caffè Lena presents
Ladies Auxilliary Ukulele Orchestra
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $16 advance / $18 at door (How to get tickets)
The Ladies Auxiliary Ukulele Orchestra is a rare treat for irreverent unplugged fans across the country. Formed in 1994, the members now include songwriter and educator Bernice Lewis, composer and teacher Cathy Schane-Lydon, and artist Sarah McNair. Close-cropped harmonies and unrestrained ukulele strumming produce a highly original sound. Their sets boast something from every era, ranging from Mozart to Radiohead, all of which benefit from fresh arrangements and a vocal delivery with tongues buried firmly in cheeks. Nothing is sacred in the Ladies’ quest for suitable material. Their sets boast something from every era, with expected and surprising genres equally lavished with attention to harmony, humor and originality.

The Folk Music Society of N.Y., Inc/ N.Y. Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents
Utah Phillips Tribute Concert & CD Release
Duncan Phillips, Dan Schatz, Paul Rasmussen, Doug Wintch, Anke Summerhil
8 p.m.
Peoples’ Voice Cafe in Community Church of NY, 40 E. 35th Street between Park & Madison in Midtown Manhattan
General admission $15-$18. FMSNY & PVC members $10. TDF accepted.
For info call 212-787-3903.
Come celebrate the life of the late Bruce “Utah” Phillips, as well as the release of Long Gone, a regional recording by artists from, in, and around the state of Utah. This tribute concert will be led by Utah’s son Duncan Phillips, who will be playing his father’s old road-worn Guild guitar. Three of the other four performers traveled with Duncan all the way from Utah to participate.

Behold the Star: Annual Christmas Concert
Saturday, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, 3 p.m.
Carondelet Hospitality Center, 385 Watervliet-Shaker Road, Latham, NY
Cost: $35/$25, and students $10. On sale at www.albanypromusica.org or call 518-346-6204
Classic works, contemporary compositions, and popular Christmas favorites...this year’s holiday concerts center on the Christmas Star and will include a tribute to the late composer Robert H. Young. APM is asking concert attendees to bring a donation of canned goods for those who are still struggling with the aftermath of Hurricane Irene in Schoharie County.

The ARChive of Contemporary Music announces its annual
Holiday Record and CD Sale!
11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
ARC, 54 White St., New York, NY (3 short blocks south of Canal, between Broadway & Church in Tribeca), 212/226-6967
The world’s largest collection of popular music. We save and preserve two copies of every release issued, and when we get a third copy we sell it off to help support our work. Prices are good and the selection great. This is our major fundraiser, so come by and shop—books, CDs, LPs, singles, VHS, DVDs, sheet music, the great vintage flea market + more. If you join the ARC, you can attend two of our great parties we have before our sale, meet plenty of nice folks, have food and drinks and shop early. You can call to join (212) 226-6967 or you can join online.

CUMBE’ DANCE announces Afro-Colombian Dance Classes with Daniel Fetecua Soto Starting in December, Daniel, of Traditional Colombian Folklore & Modern Dance and Production Company, will start teaching at CUMBE’ DANCE, a brand new dance center in Brooklyn dedicated to the African Diaspora. There will be two introductory classes in December before the Grand Opening on January 7 and 8, when you’;ll be able to try, an infinite amount of classes of African-related dances from all over the world, with some of the best teachers in town. Register for Daniel's introductory classes onSATURDAY DECEMBER 10 and 17, from 3.00 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. THIS IS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO START A PROCESS OF TRAINING UNDER THE GUIDE OF DANIEL FETECUA ON COLOMBIAN TRADITIONAL DANCES from the Atlantic and the Pacific Coast of Colombia. Daniel’s classes and method involves principles of modern and contemporary dance, a warm up that helps to develop gentle knowledge of the body while learning to distinguish the variety of rhythms of the Afro-Colombian heritage.

Museum at Eldridge Street presents
The Kadya Project: Voices of the Yiddish Fidl
3 p.m.
The Museum at Eldridge Street/Eldridge Street Synagogue, 12 Eldridge Street, New York, NY 10002
Cost: $20 adults; $15 student and seniors
RSVP: hgriff@eldridgestreet.org
Three phenomenal women musicians join together in an original collaboration inspired by the music of great traditional Yiddish violinists and the poetry of acclaimed Yiddish writer Kadya Molodowsky (1894–1975). The Kadya Project weaves Molodowsky’s poetry with the eloquent Yiddish violin, erasing boundaries and creating a world where traditional musical materials are also an expression of women’s voices—lyrical, lively and thoroughly contemporary. Featuring Keryn Kleiman, Abigale Reiseman and Deborah Strauss, violins and readings. With special guest Jeff Warschauer, guitar, mandolin and voice.
This concert is sponsored by the Ethel K. & Sanford L. Solender Memorial Music Fund of UJA-Federation of New York.

Folk Music Society of New York/New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents a
Sea Music Concert: Susan McKeown
3-5 p.m.
John Street Church, 44 John St. (east of Broadway and one block parallel to and south of Fulton), New York, NY
Info: 212-957-8386
Donation, $5 (child, $2), pay at the door
Susan McKeown is a Grammy Award winning Irish singer who brings passion, power and grace to her stunning performances—a rare opportunity to hear a top class vocalist.

Folk Music Society of New York/New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents a
Fabulous Pub Sing in Brooklyn
7-10 p.m.
Bar 4, 444 7th Ave (corner of 15th St.), Brooklyn, 11215, 718-832-9800
More info: Jerry Epstein: 718-429-3437
Admission is free
Co-sponsored with the Park Slope Food Coop, we return for an informal gathering of friends we know and friends we haven’t met yet, who enjoy a pint or two and some good pub songs and stories. Good cheer, good sandwiches, good drink. Not a concert, all are welcome to participate. Bring a song, a poem, a recitation, especially things in which others can participate. Songs with choruses are especially welcome. Celebrate the Solstice season and the turning of the year – the warmth of community against the coming winter. Probably a lot of English Pub and seasonal songs will be heard, but all kinds are welcome. Instruments are welcome, and tunes as well as songs will be gladly received.

Caffè Lena presents
Susan Trump
3 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $15 advance / $17 at door (How to get tickets)
Enjoy a relaxing afternoon in the midst of the seasonal hustle and bustle. Susan Trump transports her audience to a place far from a busy world. It’s a place where music brings joy, peace, humor and fond memories of family, friends, and happy times. She sings and plays her way into our hearts with a gentle voice and inspirational, uplifting songs, both original and traditional. She is an in-demand teacher with outstanding instrumental skill on mountain dulcimer, guitar, and banjo. She has released four solo recordings, including Live at Caffè Lena which captures the excitement of one of her “sold-out” weekend performances.

The Conference on New York State History announces a CALL FOR PAPERS New York State Historical Association is now accepting proposals for individual presentations, full sessions, panel discussions, workshops, and other program suggestions for the 2012 conference to be held at Niagara University on June 14-16, 2012. Diverse theoretical perspectives and innovative methodological approaches are welcomed. Presentations may consider any aspect of the history of New York State over the past 400 years. We encourage presenters to take a dynamic approach to their presentations, including the use of visual and audio aids, audience participation, and panel discussions. Download proposal forms from the website E-mail completed proposal forms to Field Horne at conferencechair@nysha.org. Interested parties are also encouraged to discuss proposals and any conference related-ideas with Field. Proposal Deadline: December 31, 2011. The Program Committee will meet to consider proposals in mid-January. Applicants will be notified immediately thereafter. Qualified moderators and commentators for sessions are alsoneeded. Please indicate your willingness, with your areas of expertise, in an e-mail to the conference chair.

Center for Traditional Music and Dance presents a
Multi-Media Presentation & Tantshoyz Yiddish Dance Party
Keeper of the Klezmer Flame: The Musical Life & Legacy of German Goldenshteyn
featuring Michael Alpert and Alex Kontorovich
7:00 p.m.
Center for Jewish History, 15 W 16th Street in Manhattan
Cost: $15, CTMD/CJH Members $10
The arrival of Bessarabian-Jewish clarinetist German Goldenshteyn in Brooklyn in the mid-1990s was one of the most important developments in the international revival of klezmer music. Celebrated by young musicians here as a living treasure, Goldenshteyn brought with him an unprecedented collection of over 1000 handwritten transcriptions of Bessarabian klezmer music—a musical repository of an entire culture. Though Goldenshteyn died suddenly in 2006, his music continues to inspire klezmer musicians around the world. Join musicians/researchers Michael Alpert and Alex Kontorovich as they provide a multi-media narration of Goldenstheyn’s life, and explore his impact on today’s klezmer scene. After the lecture, please join us in the Great Hall for a Tantshoyz Yiddish Dance Party featuring Goldenshteyn’s music and a free reception.

Los Pleneros de la 21 announces The Bomba & Plena Community Workshops October 15, 2011 — June 2, 2012 11:00 a.m. — 1:45 p.m., ongoing Saturdays Julia de Burgos Center, 1680 Lexington Avenue, New York NY 10029 Los Pleneros de la 21, renowned Bomba and Plena Musical ensemble and staple East Harlem Nonprofit, is proud to announce the 23rd anniversary of the Bomba and Plena Community Workshops, New York’s only Community school dedicated to teaching Afro-Puerto Rican music, song, dance and cultural expressions. Classes, offered every Saturday are given in different age appropriate classes, for all skill levels and backgrounds. Classes run year round and welcome students from 2.5 years old to over 65.Prices vary, discounts are available. Spaces are limited, so contact LP21 today! Call 212-427-5221, or email pleneros21@gmail.com

The Arts Center presents
NUTS + BOLTS: Keeping Track of Your Finances
Free Workshop for Artists 7:00 p.m
The Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
Cost: Free. Reservations are required. To register call 518-273-0552.
Please join us for the second in our Nuts + Bolts series of free artists’ workshops. Led by Virginia Gokhale, we will discuss keeping track of your finances. Nuts + Bolts is an ongoing series of short workshops designed to help artists of all disciplines develop a better understanding of the business, planning and organizational skills that can help to further their craft.

Folk Music Society of New York/New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents an
Old-Time Music Jam
7:30-9:30 p.m.
Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain, 513 Henry St. (at Sackett St.) in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Info: alanfriend_music@mindspring.com. Donation, $5 (child, $2), pay at the door
Wanna JAM? Alan Friend will lead an old-time jam from every other Tuesday starting Dec. 13, 2011. Bring your fiddle, banjo, guitar, etc. and we’ll play old-time music at this warm, friendly venue. Acoustic instruments only—no electric ones. Buy some delicious desserts and socialize while you’re here, as well.

Philantrophy New York invites you to a
Special Screening of the documentary “My Perestroika”
with Wine and cheese reception and Q&A Discussion with the filmmakers
5:30-8:30 p.m.
The Paley Center for Media, 25 West 52nd Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues), New York, NY
Cost: Free
RSVP online
My Perestroika follows five ordinary Russians living in extraordinary times—from their sheltered Soviet childhood, to the collapse of the Soviet Union during their teenage years, to the constantly shifting political landscape of post-Soviet Russia. Together, these childhood classmates paint a complex picture of the dreams and disillusionment of those raised behind the Iron Curtain.

The Gotham Center presents a Fall 2011 History Forum:
Emma Goldman: Revolution as a Way of Life
6:30 p.m.
Elebash Recital Hall, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street, New York, NY
Free
Vivian Gornick’s new biography, Emma Goldman: Revolution as a Way of Life (Yale University Press) provides an intimate and empathetic portrait of a modern radical. By exploring Goldman’s psychological makeup, Gornick evokes the spirit of resistance and the philosophy of inner liberation that drove this most memorable champion of individual freedom.

Caffè Lena presents
Re-Emerging Artist Breakout: Featuring Bonnie Logan and Vito Mamone
7 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $5 at the door
Singer-song writer Bonnie Logan and keyboard player Vito Mamone mark their return to live performing with a showcase on Caffè Lena’s stage. Over the years, Bonnie’s distinctive alto voice has been heard in the Capital Region, Hudson Valley, Northern New York, and in New York City. Her original songs run the gamut from jazz, blues, and pop, to folk, inspirational, and gospel. Her work has been heard on PBS/Frontline, both here and abroad, in Hong Kong and throughout Southeast Asia, on the PolyGram/Universal label. Vito has a long and storied past as an accordionist and keyboard artist. He has played in venues across the country, as well as locally, at such well-known venues as The Palace in Albany and at the Van Dyke in Schenectady. His Vito Mamone Trio was, for many years, iconic in the area’s jazz and blues scene.

New York Foundation for the Arts announces 2012 Artists’ Fellowships Application is Now Open Artists’ Fellowships are $7,000 cash awards made to individual originating artists living and working in the state of New York for unrestricted use. Grants are awarded in 15 artistic disciplines, with applications accepted in five categories each year. Since the fellowship program’s inception in 1984, NYFA has awarded over $24 million to over 3,800 artists. 2012 Application deadlines: December 15, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. Painting including the Basil H. Alkazzi Award for Excellence in Painting Fiction December 16, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. Interdisciplinary Work Folk/Traditional Arts Video/Film Peer review panels select up to 100 Fellows each year based on artistic vision, the goal being to buy recipients creative time to continue making work. The Fellowship award is free for artists to apply!

The Arts Center presents
Doc Scanlon’s Yuletide Pajama Party Hop
7:00-11:30 p.m
The Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
Cost: $15 non-members, $12 members and those who come in their PJs. Special $10 rate for students
Tickets available in advance from the Arts Center website or by calling 518-273-0552 x231. Tickets also available at the door.
Come and jam in your “jammies” as we celebrate the holidays in swingin’ style. Dance lesson with Arts Center swing dance instructor Jason Fenton at 7 p.m., live music and dancing 8 p.m. - 11 p.m. Beer, wine and light fare from Nighthawks Kitchen available for purchase. Dance and “slumber fashion” contests and prizes.

Caffè Lena presents
Toby Walker
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $15 advance / $17 at door (How to get tickets)
Without a doubt, Toby Walker is one of the very finest acoustic blues guitarists working today. This outstanding musician won the Best Performer in all categories at the prestigious International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN. From the opening bars of his high-energy Piedmont style, it is easy to see why: start with the picking of David Bromberg, Merle Travis, and Robert Johnson. Then add the improvisational qualities of Buddy Guy and Mark Knopfler, and you have Toby Walker. He makes six strings sound like a thundering army of six hundred! He plays blues, rags, hot country picking, and coaxes more out of a guitar than you can imagine, but the originality doesn’t end there. He is also a skilled singer and songwriter who draws inspiration from traditional and contemporary music. Be ready for lots of laughs, great songs and entertaining stories as Toby tells the humorous and heartwarming tales of other masters, talks about his inspirations, and astounds with his authentic 1930 National Steel Guitar.

Church of the Assumption presents
A Candlelight Christmas Concert
7 p.m.
Church of the Assumption, First Street, Peekskill, NY 10566
For more information, 914-737-2071, 914-737-8872
Cost: $15 for adults; $13 for seniors; $7 under 17
A candlelight evening of glorious Christmas music featuring Mary Mancini, Mario Tacca, and the Victor Lionti String Quartet. Light refreshments will be served after the concert.

El Museo del Barrio presents
SUPER SABADO: SUPER HOLIDAYS!
11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue (at 104th Street) New York, NY 10029
Cost: Free
Add flair to your holiday line-up with us as we share Latino traditions to pass along for generations to come. Our Super Holiday inspired activities include maraca making, a sing-along of traditional Latino holiday repertoire, a Three Kings Photo Booth, spoken word workshop for teens and concert featuring world renowned harp virtuoso Celso Duarte.

El Museo del Barrio presents
Celso Duarte Ensemble
6:30-8:30 p.m.
El Teatro, 1230 Fifth Avenue (at 104th Street) New York, NY 10029
Cost: Free. RSVP suggested.
El Museo welcomes Celso Duarte and his powerhouse ensemble to the stage, comprised of traditional, classical, and jazz musicians. Their beauty lies in the electrifying execution of traditional music from baroque and African roots, to experimentation of fusion between jarocho rhythms and jazz. Well-known in world-music circles as a virtuoso of the Mexican and Paraguayan harps, Celso Duarte has been wowing audiences around the world since he was a boy. Born in Paraguay and raised in Mexico, Celso emerged from a rich musical tradition. He began harp and Latin-American music studies with his father, world-renowned Paraguayan harpist, and his mother, a Mexican singer and pianist. For the past several years, Celso has been a key member of Lila Downs’ band, La Misteriosa, on violin, guitar, jarana, charango and harp.

Caffè Lena presents
Annual Holiday Folk Show
With Addie & Olin, Linda Schrade & David Kiphuth, and John Kirk & Trish Miller CD Release Concert for “Peace & Goodwill for the Winter Holidays”
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $16 advance / $18 at door (How to get tickets)
CD release of Peace and Goodwill for the Winter Holidays featuring John Kirk, Trish Miller, Linda Schrade, David Kiphuth and Addie and Olin for the region’s only “Candlemas-Hanukkah-Ramadan-Solstice-Christmas-Kwanzaa-New Year-Boxing Day-Epiphany event!” This extravaganza is complete with exquisite singing on seasonal and sentimental holiday songs, humor, swanky decor and audience participation highlighted by stunningly beautiful vocals backed by stellar fiddle, guitar, mandolin, banjo, Dobjo, piccolo, concertina, flute and soprano saxophone.

YWCA Boulton Center for the Performing Arts invites you to
Celebrate the Holidays with AZTEC TWO STEP
8:00 p.m.
Boulton Center, 37 West Main Street, Bay Shore, NY, 631/969-1101
Cost: $45
In 1972, Aztec Two-Step, whose name comes from a poem by beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, burst upon the scene with their self-titled debut album on Elektra Records. Since then Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman have spent a lifetime making music together as the folk/rock duo Aztec Two-Step. Their first album, along with their subsequent albums for RCA Records were staples of progressive FM and college radio and helped to bring the music of the 1960s into the 70s. They’ll be performing their original ATS music, plus a few of their holiday favorites.

Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders presents
Posadas y Pastorelas
12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10029 Cost: Suggested contribution: $15 family, $9 adults, $5 children/seniors/students
Get into the holiday spirit a la mexicana. Join Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders for its ninth annual presentation of Posadas y Pastorelas, a holiday celebration promoting the popular traditions of the Mexican community of New York, featuring crafts, music, and food for families.

Los Pleneros de la 21 presents
La Gran Fiesta Navideña de Los Pleneros de la 21
3:00 p.m.-till ? Taino Towers Crystal Ballroom, 240 East 123rd Street and 2nd Avenue, New York, 10035
For information, please call 212-427-5221 or email pleneros21@gmail.com
Cost: $15 at the door, $12 before, email us for senior/special group discount rates
Come one, come all to this fun filled day with live music, food, beverages, arts and crafts appropriate for all ages and anyone interested in celebrating the Holidays, El Barrio and Puerto Rican-style! LP21’s annual Fiesta Navideña is a time tested and popular event (celebrated in 1989) that embraces the WARMTH of the holiday season in true Puerto Rican and community style complete with savory Puerto Rican food, refreshing beverages, and of course the swinging music that characterizes the lively celebrations of Puerto Rican Christmas, including live performances by Los Pleneros de la 21 and El Trío New York, both performing original and classic staples of the Bomba, Plena, Boleros and Aguinaldo repertoire. This great community and family oriented celebration is true gem of East Harlem, and is not to be missed! This event is part of LP21 “Cultural Legacy” Initiatives, and is brought to you by the LP21 Familia, and our sponsors: The New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the Offices of NYC Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito, District 8.

Folk Music Society of New York/New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents a
Nowell Sing We Clear
A Pageant of Mid-Winter Carols
3:30 p.m.
Norman Thomas H.S., E. 33 Street and Park Ave. S., New York, NY 10016
Information: 212-957-8386
Concert admission is $25; Full-time Students (under 23) $15. Tickets can be purchased at the door, or on line at: www.nowell.eventbrite.com
For information, call 212-957-8386.
This will be the thirty-seventh touring season of Nowell Sing We Clear with its unusual songs, carols, stories, and customs. Drawn mostly from English-language folk traditions, the songs tell both a version of the events and characters involved in the Christmas story and detail the customs which make up the twelve magical days following the return of the light at the winter solstice. Performers are John Roberts and Tony Barrand, widely known for their lively presentations of English folk songs, and Fred Breunig and Andy Davis, well known in New England as dance callers and musicians. While much of the singing is done in unaccompanied style, the pageant is also stamped with the energetic dance band sound of fiddle, button accordion, electric piano, drums, and concertina. The audience will be supplied with songsheets and encouraged to sing along.

Folk Music Society of New York/New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club presents
Shanty Sing
2-5 p.m.
Noble Gallery, Building D, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY
For further info, contact Bob Conroy at RConroy421@aol.com or 347-267-9394
Refreshments will be available, including beer and wine for sale.
We are co-sponsoring the Shanty Sing on the 3rd Sunday of every month, or the William Main Doerflinger Memorial Sea Shanty Sessions at the Noble Maritime Collection (to give the official title).

Seneca Singers Holiday Concert
4-5 p.m.
Seneca Falls Library, 47 Cayuga Street, Seneca Falls, NY
Cost: Free
Celebrate the season with when the Seneca Singers fill the Seneca Falls Library with holiday cheer! They’ll sing traditional carols, plus lots of other favorites. Spread good tidings by bringing a food item for the House of Concern (human) or Second Chance Dog Rescue (canine).

Caffè Lena presents
Nicole Peyrafitte and the Trojans
7 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $12 advance / $14 at door (How to get tickets)
Pyrenean-born, Brookly-based performance artist Nicole Peyrafitte draws on her eclectic identity to create an imaginative identity encorporating two continents and four languages. She employs multimedia stagings based on her visual art and writings, and sometimes even her cooking! She met Troy jazz guitarist George Muscatello and bassist Mike Bisio while living in the Capital District for fifteen years, and has toured frequently with them in the US and France. Both are featured on Nicole’s CDs, The Bi-Continental Chowder/La Garbure Transcontinentale and Whisk! Don’t Churn. Tonight their reunion will celebrate music, poetry and improvisation via selections of Peyrafitte’s recent Bi-Valve, a series of writings and paintings that address the feminine from pre-historic cave paintings to contemporary feminist theory and the concerns of ecology.

The Arts Center presents
BOOKMARKS READING: Family at the Holidays
7:00 p.m
The Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
Cost: Free and open to the public
Participants will read works of prose about family and the holidays. What more can we say? What a mix, right? Curated by Marion Roach Smith. BookMarks is part of The Memoir Project, a program of The Arts Center of the Capital Region, and features a series of group readings featuring writing that is grounded broadly in personal experience. To learn more about submitting to BookMarks readings, visit the website.

Caffè Lena presents
Jewmongous
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $18 advance / $20 at door (How to get tickets)
...And now for something completely different! Former Rockapella star Sean Altman’s comedy song concert JEWMONGOUS is “tuneful and sharply witty” (Los Angeles Times) and “bawdy with a wicked modern streak” (Washington Post), combining “the tunefulness of the Beatles and the spot-on wit of Tom Lehrer” (Boston Globe). Altman, who “writes hilarious and irreverent acoustic rock songs about his awakening Jewish awareness” (Jerusalem Post), founded Rockapella and led that group through its heyday years on the Emmy-winning PBS-TV series “Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?”, for which Altman co-wrote the famous theme song. All faiths welcome, especially Jews. Not appropriate for kids unless you’re training them to be sailors.

Museum at Eldridge Street presents
Klez for Kids Family Concert
1 p.m.
The Museum at Eldridge Street/Eldridge Street Synagogue, 12 Eldridge Street, New York, NY 10002
Cost: $12 adults; $8 students and seniors; $6 children under 12
RSVP: hgriff@eldridgestreet.org
Sing, dance and learn Yiddish at our annual family concert. Clarinetist Greg Wall and his band Klezmerfest lead a musical tour of Eastern European Jewish culture ending with a festive audience-enacted shtetl wedding.

Folk Music Society of New York/New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club invite you to join them for
Holiday Singing plus singing party and pot-luck
Meet at Center at 1:00 p.m.
Regal Heights Center, 70-05 35th Avenue (between 71st and 70th Streets), Jackson Heights, Queens
Information: 212-957-8386
Donation, $5 (child, $2), pay at the door
The holidays are a sad time if you can’t be at home with families and friends. Bring cheer by singing holiday songs at the Regal Heights Rehab Center, which is a nursing home and rehab center. Meet us at Regal Heights Center at 1 p.m.. We have song sheets with Christmas and Hanukkah songs. Bring instruments that travel easily and we will go around and help cheer the residents. Some of us have done this before, and it was a very moving experience. After the singing come to the home of Eileen Pentel and Don Wade, a short distance from Regal Heights, for a potluck, singing party. If you have food that needs refrigeration, you can come before 12:45 p.m. and drop it off there. Otherwise, just bring it with you. December 26th is still Hanukkah, so we will be lighting candles later on. Please call 718-672-6399 to let us know if you are coming (and for address of pot luck) and/or if you have any questions.

Caffè Lena presents
Racquette River Rounders
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $12 advance / $14 at door (How to get tickets)
Guitarist Danny Gotham and singer songwriter John Kribs (aka the Racquette River Rounders) began their partnership late in 1978 when along with bassist Michael Hadfield they formed The Racquette River Rounders; an eclectic string band performing everything from traditional reels and jigs to Fats Waller, Elvis Presley and their own original music. The band traveled extensively and made two records before “officially” disbanding in 1982. All these years later they still find time to perform together several times each year. This “not quite Boxing Day” show at Lena’s has become an annual event. Danny now lives in Chapel Hill North Carolina, teaches guitar and tours with internationally known mandolinist Peter Ostroushko. John makes his home in the southern Adirondacks and performs both solo and with several local and regional groups. He also chairs the Southern Adirondack Musicians Fund. They will be joined on fiddle by Doug Moody of the McKrells, bassist/guitarist Orion Kribs from Black Mountain Symphony, and Kevin Maul of the Burns Sisters and countless other top bands on dobro.

Caffè Lena presents
Jo Henley
8 p.m.
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Cost: $15 advance / $17 at door (How to get tickets)
Boston-based quartet Jo Henley performs a modern mix of folk, rock, bluegrass, and country that their fans like to call “new roots.” They’re known for fun, rollicking sets filled with well-crafted original songs that often stretch out into boot-stompin’ bluegrass territory and even jazzy improv jams. This is a crowd-pleasing ensemble, as evidenced by their winning (by a mile!) the Audience Choice Award at Caffè Lena’s 50th Anniversary festival. The inside scoop is that Jo Henley is not a person. Rather, the ensemble consists of longtime musical collaborators Andy Campolieto and Ben Lee, along with drummer Mike Dingley and bassist Kent Stephens.

Caffè Lena presents
Saratoga First Night: Caffè Lena will host Gathering Time and Fairview Avenue Bluegrass
6 p.m.-Midnight
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022
Requires First Night badge
Gathering Time offers delicious, three-part vocal blends backed by fine acoustic, electric and bass guitar creating a wall of harmonious sound and wave of memories. With a stylistic breadth ranging from the dyed-in-the-wool folk sound of Peter, Paul & Mary to the folk-rock harmonic complexity of Crosby, Stills & Nash, Gathering Time is a trio that’s “getting a whole beehive-full of buzz” on the national folk scene right now. Albany’s own Fairview Avenue features bluegrass harmonies from two-part to four-part, passionate instrumental picking, original tunes from every member’s pen, and a fun stage presence. They also play some non-bluegrass songs in decidedly bluegrass fashion with tons of enthusiasm and energy.

A once-in-200 years opportunity A War of 1812 Commemorative Bicentennial Quilting Challenge Sponsored by The Seaway Trail Foundation We invite you to make an authenic 1812 reproduction quilt for the 2012 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt show. Quilting is a popular cultural and arts heritage, even nature, travel theme for the Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway that has clusters of both traditional and modern day quilt makers Trailwide. The Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show is held annually at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY. For more information, Call: 315-646-1000 x202 or x203 or email lynette@seawaytrail.com. Respond by January 15, 2012 if you intend to participate and receive a registration packet. Guidelines are available online. Visit the blog at www.1812quiltchallenge.blogspot.com to see new fabric collections and links from the 1812 era and other tidbits of interesting information for the quilt project!

El Museo del Barrio presents
El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files 2011 Takes to the Streets
6th Latino, Caribbean, and Latin American Biennial will showcase 75 emerging artists at 6 venues throughout New York City
Press Preview: Tuesday, June 14, 2011, 10:00 a.m.
RSVP: 212.660.7102 or iaslan@elmuseo.org
El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street, New York, NY 10029
Curators Rocío Aranda-Alvarado, Trinidad Fombella, Elvis Fuentes, and guest curator Juanita Bermúdez have chosen the street as focal point of this year’s biennial deliberately, to call attention to the direct effect of economic and political crises in art production. “Social tensions as well as economic limitations have historically pushed artists to employ their urban environment as creative setting as well as a source for materials,” explains Fuentes. “The (S) Files 2011 foregrounds both Latino artists who have been involved in New York street art movements like graffiti since the 1970s and others who due to current circumstances are taking on the street for the first time to produce their art.”

It is in this context that this year’s biennial aims to expand the definition of contemporary Latino and Latin American art by taking on a broad exploration of the aesthetics, events, and visual energy of the street. The exhibition will feature works in all media, including murals and graffiti as well as non-traditional presentations in fashion and music. “The (S) Files 2011 explores how the boundaries between public/private and personal/universal are blurred by urban culture, and examines the street as catalyst for change in mainstream culture,” says Aranda-Alvarado. “We are interested in how these social borders mix and dissolve in urban environments, and how artists use these social alterations as points of creative departure.”

Among the themes developed in the exhibition are the influence of early New York street art movements, which were led by Latino artists; popular aesthetics and urban styles of the neo-baroque; and the creation of art works from urban debris. “What stands out is the variety of issues that artists address—from daily life situations, to social behaviors, to economic distress,” points out Fombella. “Some focus on poignant narratives to undermine false notions of comfort and security in times of anxiety, while others revisit past events or appropriate materials to recreate them in a way that is conceptual, edgy, and playful.” While El Museo will exhibit a wide variety of works, the satellite venues will feature art objects grouped by specific themes and/or media. BRIC Rotunda Gallery will showcase video and photo documentation of performance art and other politically motivated works, Lehman College Galleries will focus on animation and illustration, Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance will show graffiti works and art objects made of recycled materials, Socrates Sculpture Park will present large scale works made of materials found in urban landscapes, and Times Square Alliance will display a selection of outdoor sculptures on the street. El Museo will produce a map/brochure including information about all venues, works, and artists featured at each location, as well as an illustrated catalogue including essays by Aranda-Alvarado, Bermudez, Fombella, and Fuentes. The artists featured in The (S) Files 2011, whose backgrounds span almost every Latin American country, hail from multiple neighborhoods across New York City including Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx.

June 14, 2011 —January 8, 2012

Outsider FolkArt Gallery presents
Interface: Expressions from the Collection
Opening Reception: September 9, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Outsider FolkArt Gallery, 201 Washington Street, Suite 504, Reading, PA 19601 (5th Floor, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts), 610.939.1737
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Interface: Expressions from the Collection will feature many important works from the George & Sue Viener Collection. The exhibit, which includes paintings, drawings, ceramic works, sculpture, and mixed media works on wood, paper, and other materials is curated by Emily Branch, Gallery Director, who joined the Outsider Folk Art Gallery this June. Not merely a selection of portraits, Interface dives into various methods and reason for expression spanning Folk Art, Self-Taught and Visionary Art. Comparing and contrasting methodology revolving around historical and personal accounts, this exhibit challenges the viewer to analyze perceptions of “seeing” and individual artist intention.

September 9, 2011 —December 9, 2011

John D. Calandra Italian American Institute presents the exhibition:
Graces Received: Painted and Metal Ex-votos from Italy
John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor, New York, New York 10036, (Between 5th and 6th Avenues)
Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Free and open to the public. Please call (212) 642-2094 to pre-register with the Calandra Institute. Be prepared to show a photo ID to the building’s concierge.
The works featured in the exhibition date from 1865 to 1959 and are from the collection of Professor Leonard Norman Primiano of Cabrini College. Within Catholicism, ex-votos are votive objects offered in thanks for heavenly intercession with a misfortune such as an accident or illness. Historically, objects in Italy included metal ex-votos that took the shape of persons (e.g., a soldier, a swaddled infant), afflicted body parts, or hearts representing the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In addition, painted narrative tablets (tavolette), usually on wood, often depicted the dramatic moment of crisis for which intercession was requested. Ex-votos were an important part of the Italian-American religious practices in New York City in the first half of the twentieth century.

September 16, 2011 —January 6, 2012

Philadelphia Folklore Project presents the exhibition:
Cultural Change
Opening: September 16, 2011, 6:00-8:00 p.m., free
Philadelphia Folklore Project, 735 South 50th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19143
Exhibition Hours: Tuesdays and Tursday, 10-6 p.m.
Call 215.726.1106 for more details
Four vanguard cultural workers fill PFP’s gallery with folk arts from the African Diaspora, made and gathered over 40+ years. This new PFP exhibition features Rashie Abdul Samad and Sharif Abdur-Rahim (African Cultural Arts Forum), Frito Bastien, and Isaac Maefield. Folk arts have been resources for these men and sources of value. Cultural Exchange recognizes the significance of their labors, takes inspiration from their 40+ years of diligent and dedicated service, and honors their efforts to shape a future for others (especially others who have been written off, or sacrificed as collateral damage). In making, trading, and re-circulating folk arts, and in constant devotion to others, Rashie Abdul Samad and Sharif Abdur-Rahim, Frito Bastien, and Isaac Maefield have forged ways forward. Humbly and with consistent ethical principles, they have regenerated value, community, beauty, integrity, and resistance. Examples of their work trace community-based movements in formative stages. The exhibition can be experienced in many ways: one way is to take it as a reminder that revolutions begin in everyday actions. Rashie Abdul Samad says: “If anything is going to change, it will come from exchange with each other.” Cultural Exchange aims to create temporary ground for conversational exchange, for considering what we know and what we need to know from one another. You are invited to attend the exhibition and to amplify the stories that can be told about the people, works, and issues represented, and about the future we want to shape together.

September 16, 2011 —December 16, 2011

The Folklife Center of Crandall Public Library presents the exhibition:
Glens Falls Hospital Guild: Over a Century of Community Service
Reception with light refreshments on Wednesday, October 5, 2011, 4 to 6 p.m.
Monday-Wednesday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday-Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 to 5 p.m.
Crandall Public Library, 251 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY
For more information, call 518/792-6508 or email degarmo@crandalllibrary.org
Cost: Free
This original Folklife Gallery exhibition celebrates the establishment of the Guild’s institutional archives at Crandall Public Library, October as NYS Archives Month, and 25 years of Folklife at Crandall, 1986—2011.

October, 2011 —December, 2011

Albany Institute of History & Art presents the exhibition:
Kids Stuff: Great Toys from Our Childhood
Albany Institute of History & Art, 125 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12210
Museum Hours: Wednesday–Saturday: 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. and Sunday: Noon–5:00 p.m.
Call 518.463.4478 for more details
Admission: Adults: $10; Seniors: $8; Students w/ID: $8; Children 6-12: $6; Children under 6: Free. Members are always Free
Slinkys, Wooly Willys, Whee-los, Magic Eight Balls, Magic Yo-Yos, Etch-A-Sketch®, Spirographs, Colorforms, Matchbox® Cars, PEZ Dispensers, LEGO®s, Erector sets, Lionel Trains, Tonkas, Hot Wheels, Frisbee®s, G.I. Joes, Barbie dolls, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, and Mr. Potato Head brought hours of fun and entertainment to kids throughout the 1950s and 60s. Many of these toys from the past still appear on store shelves today, holding their own against the onslaught of computerized games and robotic pets. Kid Stuff, an interactive exhibition based on the book by David Hoffman, takes us back to the age of tailfins and vinyl records with more than 40 vintage toys, which reveal a fascinating look at invention and innovation, social history and industrial growth, play and entertainment. Visitors of all ages will be able to see vintage toys with original packaging and promotional material and have the opportunity to play and interact with contemporary versions. Additional materials such as photos of toy factory interiors, images of children at play, video presentations, and interpretive texts explore the toys’ invention and evolution, how they work, and their significance in American culture. The exhibition was designed by Amy Reichert of Architecture+Design with graphic design and art direction by Winstanley Associates. Kid Stuff will occupy nearly 5,000 square feet in the second floor galleries at the Albany Institute.

October 1, 2011 —March 4, 2012

The Folklife Center of Crandall Public Library presents the exhibition:
Dreaming Cows
Opening reception on Tuesday, November 8, 2011, 5 to 7 p.m.
Monday-Wednesday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday-Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 to 5 p.m.
Crandall Public Library, 251 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY
For more information, call 518/792-6508 or email degarmo@crandalllibrary.org
Cost: Free
This Folklife Gallery exhibition features the paintings, murals and drawings of Betty LaDuke, inspired by the work of Heifer International.

November 8, 2011 —December, 2011

The Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre presents
GOLEM
La MaMa/Ellen Stewart Theatre, 66 East 4th Street, NYC
Special Benefit Performance and Reception: Friday November 18 For tickets ($50 min. donation)
Buy tickets online for all other performances or call 212-475-7110; Tickets: $25 adults, $20 seniors/students
Clay and wood come to life in a marionette musical play based on the Jewish legend of GOLEM, a medieval robot that runs amok in an attempt to protect the Prague Ghetto. Life-size four-foot wooden marionettes interact with puppeteers, dancers and musicians. Written and directed by Vit Horejs. Music by Frank London (of the Klezmatics). Choreography by Naomi Goldberg-Haas. Marionettes by Jakub (Kuba) Krejci. Set Design by Roman Hladik. Costumes by Boris Caksiran. Lighting by Federico Restrepo. PERFORMERS: Janelle Barry, Deborah Beshaw, Fang Du, Scott Crawford, Alan Barnes Netherton, Steven Ryan, Alex Megan Schell, Bridget Struthers, Ronny Wasserstrom. The GOLEM Band: Frank London, trumpet; Jonathan Singer, Xylophone/Percussion; Steven Whipple, Bass; Peter Cancura, winds.

November 17, 2011 — December 4, 2011

Albany Institute of History & Art presents the exhibition:
Temple of Fancy: Pease’s Great Variety Store
Albany Institute of History & Art, 125 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12210
Museum Hours: Wednesday–Saturday: 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. and Sunday: Noon–5:00 p.m.
Call 518.463.4478 for more details
Admission: Adults: $10; Seniors: $8; Students w/ID: $8; Children 6-12: $6; Children under 6: Free. Members are always Free
Before F. W. Woolworths’, or Whitney’s, or even Macy’s department store in Albany, there was Pease Great Variety Store located in the Temple of Fancy at 518 Broadway. From the 1840s to the 1860s Pease’s store was something of an upscale “Five and Dime,” where Albany families could purchase fancy goods, toys, household items, children’s books, and games. The building still stands at the corner of Broadway and Pine Street. Richard H. Pease, and later Harry E. Pease, were proprietors of the store and also noted printers. They printed the first Christmas card in America in 1851 (only one of which exists at the Manchester Metropolitan Museum in England) and they also produced the hand-colored lithographs of fruit for Ebenezer Emmons’ Agriculture of New York published between 1846 and 1854. The exhibit will draw from the collections of the Albany Institute and include photographs, prints, children’s books, card games, and puzzles.

November 19, 2011—March 25, 2012

Outsider Folk Art Gallery presents
RAW EDGES: Jim Bloom and Purvis Young
Opening Reception December 2, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Outsider Folk Art Gallery, 201 Washington Street, Suite 504, Reading, PA 19601 (GoggleWorks Center for the Arts)
The Outsider Folk Art Gallery, located on the fifth floor of the Goggleworks Center for the Arts, is pleased to host a new exhibition showcasing artwork from the George and Sue Viener Collection of Folk, Self-Taught, and Visionary Art. The exhibit includes paintings, drawings, and mixed media works on wood, paper, and other materials and is curated by Emily A. Branch, Gallery Director, who joined the Outsider Folk Art Gallery in 2011. The exhibit will feature work by Jim Bloom (b. 1965) and the late Purvis Young. Both Bloom and Young represent the largest holdings in the Viener collection totaling close to four-thousand active works. This exhibit parallels themes and techniques of each artist, both of whom never met, creating works that are diaries of their physical and psychological environments. Both artists also used uncommon art materials in the traditional sense, often choosing whatever materials they could find or create. This exhibit has been in the thoughts of the Viener’s for many years and is now coming to fruition as the gallery is due to close in 2012.

December 2, 2011—February 17, 2002

The Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre presents
A Christmas Carol, Oy! Hanukkah, Merry Kwanzaa (Happy Ramadan)
Adapted, directed and performed by Vit Horejs
The ClockWorks Puppet Theatre, 196 Columbia Street (Between Sackett and DeGraw), Brooklyn, NY
Tickets: Adults $20, Students with ID/Seniors over 65 $15, Kids $12
The show is an adaptation of Dickens’ classic with Old World accents and New World inclusiveness. It features over 30 puppets by Milos Kasal and holiday songs in Czech, English, Hebrew, and Swahili. Into the familiar story are woven a surprising and delightful blend of English, Jewish, African, American and Czech winter rituals, customs and holiday songs, all performed by over three dozen marionettes ranging in size from four to twenty-four inches as well as found objects and toys. Mr. Horejs operates the whole cast of puppets, backed up by a live chorus: Czech, English, Hebrew, and Swahili songs are performed by The Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre’s a cappella choir.

December 15, — January 1, 2012

El Museo del Barrio presents
VOCES Y VISIONES: Gran Caribe
Rocío Aranda-Alvarado, Curator
Las Galerias, El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street, New York, NY 10029
This exhibition features works that explore the vast diversity and complexity of the Caribbean basin, as an accompaniment to El Museo’s upcoming exhibition, Caribbean: Crossroads of the World, presented in collaboration with Studio Museum in Harlem and Queens Museum of Art. The Caribbean has been both a subject and a source for visual expression prior to its relationship with Europe. This history, marked by a constant flow of people, objects, ideas, and images into and out of the region, has affected artistic development and practices in the Caribbean basin as well as in its counterparts in the Diaspora. This installation of Permanent Collection objects takes a narrative approach to some of the themes developed in the larger exhibition, exploring the connections between personal experiences and visual expressions. The works seen here explore the human need to move from one place to another, the urge to make epic narratives from personal stories, and the desire to share one’s love for a homeland with others. As the title implies, the islands, the coastlines and the waters that unite them are all part of this study. The exhibition explores four related themes that focus on the connections between spirituality and daily life, the shifting of people into and out of urban spaces, the persistence of abstraction as a visual language, and the constant presence of the water. Among the featured works is a large-scale painting on hand-made paper by Puerto Rican artist Rossana Martinez. This work considers islands: small, golden, irregularly shaped forms that cover the rich cobalt blue of an endless sea. Other featured objects include a selection of Haitian paintings, featuring a work by Prefet Duffaut; Puerto Rican and Guatemalan masks; sculptures by Charles Juhasz -Alvarado and Federico Ruiz; photographs by Ana Mendieta and a trio of En Foco artists, Charles Biasiny Rivera, Roger Cabán and Felipe Dante; and a costume worn by Coco Fusco in a performance as Queen Isabella, created by Pepón Osorio.

December 20, 2011 —December 9, 2012

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