The Queens Historical Society will present a free concert, Songs and Costumes of Colonial Times in historic Weeping Beech Park on Sunday at 3 p.m. The park is located at 143-35 37th Ave., just west of Parsons Blvd. in Flushing.
Free, off-street parking is available near the intersection of Roosevelt Avenue and Parsons Boulevard in the Temple Gates of Prayer parking lot.
Bob and Eva Gabriel, in 18th century costumes and accompanied by Ed Brown and Annmarie Lambiase on guitar, will return for their third year to Flushing’s Weeping Beech Park to perform songs from the era when Kingsland Homestead was new.
Historic Kingsland Homestead was built around 1785. Now the home of the Queens Historical Society, it was moved to Weeping Beech Park in 1968 to save it from demolition.
“We are delighted to offer the people of Queens this free concert, which will enliven the setting of the historic homestead with the music that people enjoyed over 200 years ago,” Eva Gabriel said.
The Gabriels have been performing at historical sites and other venues for well over a decade. Soprano Eva Lazar Gabriel is a voice and music teacher and has been a featured soloist in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall, and the New Jersey Garden State Arts Center. Bass-baritone, Bob Gabriel has an extensive background in theater, television, voice-overs and print advertising. Guitarist, Ed Brown has been on the faculty of Wagner College for over 20 years and is the founder and director of the Wagner College Guitar and Lute Ensemble.
The concert is part of a series of programs offered by the historical society to accompany its current exhibition, “Queens Jewels: A History of Queens Parks.” The exhibition is on view in Kingsland Homestead through Sept. 21. The concert is a celebration of Weeping Beech Park, site of America’s first weeping beech tree planted in 1847. Today, seven direct descendants of that landmark tree continue to shade their namesake park.
A lawn chair is suggested for the concert. In the event of rain, the concert will be performed inside Kingsland Homestead. For more information call 718-939-0647, Ext. 17. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
