By Sherry Sung and Daniel Arimborgo
There's no need to cross the river to Manhattan to get a good helping of arts and culture in the next few weeks. Here's a sampling of what's right here in Queens:
The Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts presents an array of musical events from March through April at Flushing Town Hall, Northern Boulevard at Linden Place.
A quartet of leading singers from the New York Grand Opera Company will perform “Exploring Rigoletto” at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 25, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi's death.
As part of the fourth and final “Operalog,” a series of informal matinees, La Selva will discuss the background of an opera, the life of its composer, and its place in musical history, with piano accompaniment.
Tickets are $20, $18 for seniors and students, and may be purchased at the Flushing Town Hall box office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays, or 90 minutes prior to the event. Order by phone with credit card at 463-7700, ext. 222.
The Con Brio Ensemble presents a 19th-century “Viennese Hausmusik” concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 1, performing two Beethoven sonatas, E-flat and C-major, and the E-flat Major Schubert Piano Trio.
Tickets are $10, $5 for children and $15 for groups of four. 463-7700, ext. 222.
Haitian band Tabou Combo and Trinidad group Tribal Legacy will perform African-rooted Caribbean rhythms as part of the “Jazz and World Music” series at 8 p.m. Friday, April 6.
The music of Tabou Combo, a 12-man band from Petion-Ville, combines merengue, rara and voudon rhythms, where intertwined guitar lines and Creole French vocals are punctuated by interjections of the horns and detached percussion sounds. Tribal Legacy, a trio from St. Vincent and Guyana, will present classic reggae, including music by the late Bob Marley, who introduced Jamaican reggae to North America.
For ticket information call 463-7700, ext. 222.
Anne-Marie Hudley, a former music director for the city public school system is celebrating her 50th year as a musician in a jubilee recital at Calvary Baptist Church at 111-10 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. on Saturday, March 31 at 5:30 p.m.
For ticket information, call Sylvia Pou at 800-299-1116.
Sculptor Dore Poris and painter George Hunter, both of Queens, will exhibit their artwork at Queens Library branches this spring. They are two of the finalists in the 18th Annual Individual Artists Showcase, a juried competition sponsored buy the Queens Borough Public Library and the Alliance of Queens Artists.
Sculptures of Poris, a resident of Floral Park, will be exhibited at the North Hills Branch at 57-04 Marathon Parkway in Little Neck from April 4 to May 2.
Hunter's paintings will be on display at the Queensboro Hill Branch at 60-05 Main St. from April 11 to May 9. Born in Birmingham, Ala., Hunter is a self-taught painter.
Other finalists' shows will be scheduled later in the year at Queens libraries throughout the borough. Admission to all exhibits is free. For more information about Queens library events, visit the website at www.Queenslibrary.org, or call 990-0700.
Kids who want to produce their own cartoons and animation sketches can learn how at the Forest Hills Community House Beacon Program at JHS 190, 68-17 Austin St., Yellowstone Boulevard and Austin Street in Forest Hills. Free classes are on Wednesdays from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., until May 3. Call 898-7461.
