Queens is known for the cultural and artistic vitality of its diverse communities. The borough’s creative spirit and unwavering strength can still be felt here despite the many challenges of the last couple of years.
Kupferberg Center for the Arts (KCA) at Queens College, the largest multi-disciplinary cultural complex in Queens, embodies that spirit of resiliency. KCA’s jam-packed fall/winter 2022 season is in full swing, with world-class live concerts, dance, theater and family performances, visual arts, and thought-provoking writer conversations.
Highlights include Día de Muertos: Mexican Myth, Legend & Ancestry (Nov. 6-7), Action Songs/Protest Dances (Nov. 12-13), Queens College Choral Society: Handel’s Messiah (Dec. 10), and Queens Symphony Orchestra (Dec. 11). Major new events include a return of the schooltime performance series, “Revelations,” a world premiere of the inaugural Kupferberg Arts Incubator performances, and newly launched Queens College’s School of Arts inaugural season.
“KCA is thrilled to welcome audiences back to the Queens College campus for a fall season of diverse performances and cultural events,” said KCA Director Jon Yanofsky.” We invite you to be a part of the excitement as we tour the world through the arts right here in Queens!”
Celebrate Día De Muertos, Day of the Dead, with family-friendly performances of “Día De Muertos: Mexican Myth, Legend & Ancestry” – performed by Mexico Beyond Mariachi. KCA invites kids, families, students, and educators to this bilingual, interactive multimedia show that interweaves traditional Mexican music and dance with stories, myths, and legends. KCA is resuming their “Revelations” schooltime performance series and welcoming students and educators back to its venues for the first time since March 2020. For more than thirty years, this arts education program has featured world-renowned music, dance, and theatre performances for kids in grades Pre-K – 12. Scheduled schooltime performances include “Día De Muertos: Mexican Myth, Legend & Ancestry” (Nov. 7), “Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company: Celebrating the Lunar New Year of the Water Rabbit” (Feb. 6, 2023), and “Literature to Life: The Latehomecomer” (May 5, 2023).
On Saturday, Nov. 12 and Sunday, Nov. 13, experience a world premiere event: “Action Songs/Protest Dances,” a live music and dance performance by choreographer Edisa Weeks, created through the Kupferberg Arts Incubator program. Inspired by civil rights activist James Forman (1928-2005), this new work features original songs composed by Taina Asili, Spirit McIntyre, and Martha Redbone.
Together with the newly launched Queens College’s School of Arts, don’t miss KCA’s theater performances of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” – now through Nov. 13; dance performances of “AGRAVITY” on Dec. 1-4; and nearly 40 concerts including recitals, orchestra, choir, ensembles, new music, and opera productions. One of the music highlights will be Queens College Choral Society’s concert of Handel’s “Messiah” on Saturday, Dec. 10.
Enjoy another unique experience: a reading with audience participation, by award-winning writer Manuel Muñoz (Nov. 15). He’s one of three writers featured in a monthly series that started in September, which builds on the former Evening Readings program founded in 1976 by Queens College Professor Joseph Cuomo. Past writers include Arthur Miller, Doris Lessing, Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, Edward Albee, E.L Doctorow, Colum McCann, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jhumpa Lahiri, John Cheever, Mona Simpson, Zadie Smith, Susan Sontag, Jonathan Safran Foer, Junot Diaz, and Tom Wolfe, among many other prominent authors.
Queens Symphony Orchestra will return to KCA’s stage with a special free holiday concert to celebrate this holiday season, on Sunday, Dec. 11. Queens’ only professional orchestra was founded in 1953 by David Katz and led by Maestro Martin Majkut.
For tickets and more information, please visit www.kupferbergcenter.org or call (718) 793-8080.
