FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shawn Choi, Director of Marketing; Shawn.choi@qc.cuny.edu; (718) 570-0935
Kupferberg Center for the Arts announces Fall 2022 Season featuring music, theater, dance, literature, and visual arts.
(New York, NY. September 19, 2022) Kupferberg Center for the Arts (KCA) at Queens College, the largest multi-disciplinary cultural complex in Queens, announces its fall 2022 season, presented with major support from New York Community Bank.
“New York Community Bank is unwavering in its commitment to the artistic and cultural vitality of our shared communities. Kupferberg Center for the Arts is an essential part of the fabric of life in Queens and beyond. We salute their resilience and accomplishments – especially during the past few challenging years, and we are excited to continue our partnership in support of their 2022-23 season of programs”
– Robert Wann, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, New York Community Bank
KCA will offer world-class live concerts, family performances, dance, theater, visual arts, and writer conversations. Fall season highlights include Victor Manuelle (October 22), Día de Muertos: Mexican Myth, Legend & Ancestry (November 6-7), Actions Songs/Protest Dances (November 12-13), Queens College Choral Society: Handel’s Messiah (December 10), and Queens Symphony Orchestra (December 11). Major new highlights 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. We invite you to be a part of the excitement as we tour the world through the arts right here in Queens!”
– Jon Yanofsky, Director, Kupferberg Center for the Arts
This year’s fall season kicks off on Tuesday, September 20 with Off the Page: Conversations with Writers, a monthly series featuring three award-winning writers, Crystal Hana Kim (September 20, 2022), Daphne Palasi Andreades (October 18), and Manuel Muñoz (November 15). This series builds on the former Evening Readings program, which was founded in 1976 by Queens College Professor Joseph Cuomo and has featured award-winning authors on campus for readings and moderated discussion and Q&As with audiences. 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. Off the Page is a Queens College series produced by Kupferberg Center for the Arts, the Department of English, the Provost’s Office, and the Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities. Additional support is provided by the MFA Program in Creative Writing and Literary Translation, and the Latin American and Latino Studies program.
On Friday, September 23, KCA will host a free outdoor event: Queens Live! Concert Series featuring DJ REKHA presented by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards in the heart of Jackson Heights at Travers Park. DJ Rekha, née Rekha Malhotra, pioneered the merging of Bhangra and Bollywood sounds with contemporary electronic dance music. Rooted in hip-hop and dub their DJ sets range from Brazilian Baile Funk to Balkan Beats and everything in between. She was named “Ambassador of Bhangra” by the New York Times as well as “one of the most influential South Asians in the United States” by Newsweek.
On Wednesday, September 28, Godwin-Ternbach Museum—the only museum in the CUNY system—will introduce their new exhibition “Understatements: Lost and Found in Asian America”. Curated by Herb Hoi Chun Tam of Museum of Chinese in America, these artists explore Asian American identity today from a multitude of artistic perspectives. Artists include: Mika Agari, Emmy Catedral, Xingjian Ding, Kiani Ferris, Megan Mi-Ai Lee, Jeremy Yuto Nakamura, Sharmistha Ray, and Yu-Wen Wu. Opening reception is on Wednesday, September 28 at 6pm, and it is free with online rsvp and open to the public. The exhibition will run until January 6, 2023.
On Saturday, October 22, KCA will continue to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy nominee, the Bronx-born Victor Manuelle. Known by fans as El Sonero de la Juventud (“The Singer Of Youths”), and widely regarded as among the top salsa performers year after year, Victor Manuelle will bring an evening of high-energy salsa music to KCA’s 2,100-seat Colden Auditorium.
On Sunday, November 6 and Monday, November 7, KCA invites kids, families, students, and educators to 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, this bilingual, family friendly, interactive multimedia performance interweaves traditional Mexican music and dance with stories, myths, and legends. For the first time since March 2020, KCA is resuming their Revelations, schooltime performance series with and welcoming students and educators back to its venues. For more than thirty years, KCA’s Revelations arts education program has showcased world-renowned music, dance, and theatre performances for students in grades PreK-12. Scheduled schooltime performances include Día De Muertos: Mexican Myth, Legend & Ancestry(November 7, 2022), Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company: Celebrating the Lunar New Year of the Water Rabbit (February 6, 2023), and Literature to Life: The Latehomecomer (May 5, 2023).
On Saturday, November 12 and Sunday, November 13, KCA will present the world premiere of Action Songs/Protest Dances, a live music and dance performance by choreographer Edisa Weeks that was created through the inaugural Kupferberg Arts Incubator program. The new work features original songs composed by Taina Asili, Spirit McIntyre, and Martha Redbone. Inspired by civil rights activist James Forman (1928-2005), the work serves as a call to action, protest against injustice, and demand that America become a more just, equitable, inclusive and truly great nation.
Launched in 2020, the Kupferberg Arts Incubator is an artist residency initiative that supports the work by artists of color who are active contributors to the cultural landscape of New York City and the nation. The Kupferberg Arts Incubator will consist of two-year collaborative residencies by two artists—one from the Queens College community and one external—which will result in the creation of new original works that will involve Queens College students and faculty. Queens College professor and choreographer Edisa Weeks has led the inaugural project (culminating in the November performances), and Queens College professor and multiform conceptual artist, Chloë Bass is developing the Kupferberg Arts Incubator’s second project, scheduled for completion in 2024.
Together with the newly launched Queens College’s School of Arts, KCA will presents theater performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on November 3-13; dance performances of AGRAVITY on December 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, December 10.
To celebrate the holiday season on Sunday, December 11, Queens Symphony Orchestra will return to KCA’s stage with a free holiday concert. Founded in 1953 by David Katz and led by Maestro Martin Majkut, Queens Symphony Orchestra is the borough’s only professional orchestra.
For tickets and more information, please visit www.kupferbergcenter.org or call (718) 793-8080.
Selected high resolution images are HERE.
FOR EVENT LISTINGS:
SEPTEMBER
Off the Page: Crystal Hana Kim in Conversation with Dana Calvet
TUE, SEP 20, 7 PM
Aaron Copland School of Music – CHORAL ROOM 264
Tickets: FREE w/ Online RSVP
Join us for a reading, conversation, and book signing with the author. Books will be available for purchase at the event from our partner Kew & Willow bookstore. Crystal Hana Kim is the author of If You Leave Me, which was a Booklist Editor’s Choice title and named a best book of 2018 by over a dozen publications. A recipient of the 2022 National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Award and a 2017 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize winner, her work has been published in Elle Magazine, The Paris Review, Guernica, and elsewhere. She is a contributing editor at Apogee Journal.
MORE INFO: https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/off-the-page-a-conversation-with-crystal-hana-kim/
Queens Live! Concert Series featuring DJ REKHA presented by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards
FRI, SEP 23, 6 PM
Travers Park, 76-9 34th Avenue Queens, NY 11372
Tickets: FREE
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards presents a FREE outdoor concert featuring DJ Rekha, who the New York Times called “Ambassador of Bhangra” in the heart of Jackson Heights at Travers Park. No RSVP needed. Just show up! DJ Rekha, née Rekha Malhotra, pioneered the merging of Bhangra and Bollywood sounds with contemporary electronic dance music. Rooted in hip-hop and dub their DJ sets range from Brazilian Baile Funk to Balkan Beats and everything in between. She was named “Ambassador of Bhangra” by the New York Times as well as “one of the most influential South Asians in the United States” by Newsweek.
MORE INFO: https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/qbp-donovan-richards-presents-dj-rekha/
Understatements: Lost and Found in Asian America
SEP 28, 2022 – JAN 6, 2023
OPENING RECEPTION: WED, SEP 28, 6 PM
Godwin Ternbach Museum
Tickets: FREE w/ Online RSVP
Understatements: Lost and Found in Asian America runs from September 28, 2022 – January 6, 2023 at Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College. Curated by Herb Hoi Chun Tam of Museum of Chinese in America, these artists explore Asian American identity today from a multitude of artistic perspectives. Artists include: Mika Agari, Emmy Catedral, Xingjian Ding, Kiani Ferris, Megan Mi-Ai Lee, Jeremy Yuto Nakamura, Sharmistha Ray, and Yu-Wen Wu.
MORE INFO: https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/exhibition-understatements-lost-and-found-in-asian-america/
OCTOBER
Off the Page: A Conversation with Daphne Palasi Andreades
TUE, OCT 18, 7 PM
Aaron Copland School of Music – CHORAL ROOM 264
Tickets: FREE w/ Online RSVP
Join us for a reading, conversation, and book signing with the author. Books will be available for purchase at the event from our partner Kew & Willow bookstore. Daphne Palasi Andreades was born and raised in Queens, New York. Her debut novel, BROWN GIRLS, was published January 2022 by Random House, and was selected as a New York Times Editor’s Choice, an Indies Next Pick, and featured on ‘Most Anticipated’ lists in major outlets such as The Guardian, Chicago Review of Books, Electric Lit, and more.
MORE INFO: https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/off-the-page-a-conversation-with-daphne-palasi-andreades/
Víctor Manuelle
SAT, OCT 22, 8 PM
Colden Auditorium
Tickets: $59-109
Victor Manuelle returns to the Kupferberg Center for the Arts for an evening of high-energy music. A multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy nominee, the Bronx-born Manuelle is known by fans as El Sonero de la Juventud (“The Singer Of Youths”), and is widely regarded as among the top salsa performers year after year.
MORE INFO: https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/victor-manuelle/
NOVEMBER
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
NOV 3-13; THU-SAT at 7 PM & SUN at 3 PM
The Performance Space at M-11
Tickets: $15/$10 QC Students/$5 for All on Friday
Presented by Department of Drama, Theatre & Dance at Queens College. In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, lovers’ lives are complicated by city law, feuding fairy royalty, and… love. The quarreling King and Queen of the forest meddle with four runaway lovers and a troupe of actors rehearsing a play. Chaos ensues, love triangles abound, and transformations take hold… with hilarious, but dark consequences. Grab a friend or a lover, buckle up, and join us for a trip to The Forest.
MORE INFO: https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/a-midsummer-nights-dream/
Día De Muertos: Mexican Myth, Legend & Ancestry
SUN, NOV 6, 3 PM
Colden Auditorium
Tickets: $15 for all
Celebrate Día de Muertos, Day of the Dead at the Kupferberg Center for the Arts! Performed by Mexico Beyond Mariachi, this bilingual, family friendly, interactive multimedia performance interweaves traditional Mexican music and dance with stories, myths, and legends.
MORE INFO: https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/dia-de-muertos-mexican-myth-legend-and-ancestry/
SCHOOLTIME PERFORMANCE on MON, NOV 7, 10:30 AM: https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/school-dia-de-muertos/
Action Songs/Protest Dances
SAT, NOV 12, 8 PM & SUN, NOV 13, 3 PM
LeFrak Concert Hall
Tickets: $20 for all
Kupferberg Center for the Arts presents the world premiere of Action Songs/Protest Dances, a live music and dance performance by choreographer Edisa Weeks that was created through the inaugural Kupferberg Arts Incubator program. The new work features original songs composed by Taina Asili, Spirit McIntyre, and Martha Redbone. Inspired by civil rights activist James Forman (1928-2005), the work serves as a call to action, protest against injustice, and demand that America become a more just, equitable, inclusive and truly great nation.
MORE INFO: https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/action-songs-protest-dances/
Off the Page: A Conversation with Manuel Muñoz
TUE, NOV 15, 7 PM
Aaron Copland School of Music – CHORAL ROOM 264
Tickets: FREE w/ Online RSVP
Join us for a reading, conversation, and book signing with the author. Books will be available for purchase at the event from our partner Kew & Willow bookstore. Manuel Muñoz is the author of two previous collections and a novel. He is the recipient of a Whiting Writers Award, three O. Henry Awards, and has appeared in Best American Short Stories. A native of Dinuba, California, he lives in Tucson, Arizona.
MORE INFO: https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/off-the-page-a-conversation-with-manuel-munoz/
DECEMBER
AGRAVITY
THU-SAT, DEC 1-3 at 7 PM & SUN, DEC 4 at 3 PM
Goldstein Theatre
Tickets: $15/$10 QC Students/$5 for All on Friday
Presented by Department of Drama, Theatre & Dance at Queens College. 2022 annual celebration of faculty choreography takes a look at the things that keep us tethered to the ground, and the things that help us fly away. Featuring works by Marshall Davis, Guanglei Hui and Yin Mei.
MORE INFO: https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/agravity/
Queens College Choral Society: Handel’s Messiah
SAT, DEC 10, 7:30 PM
Colden Auditorium
Tickets: $5-20
Queens College Choral Society presents its 82nd annual winter concert. Composed in only 24 days during the summer of 1741 and premiered in Dublin the following year, Handel’s Messiah is perhaps the most popular and beloved choral work of all time. Join the Queens College Choral Society to ring in the holidays with one of the greatest masterworks ever written!
MORE INFO: http://kupferbergcenter.org/event/queens-college-choral-society-82nd-annual-winter-concert/
Queens Symphony Orchestra: The Glorious Sounds of the Season
SUN, DEC 11, 3 PM
LeFrak Concert Hall
Tickets: FREE w/ Online RSVP
Join the Queens Symphony Orchestra, conducted and directed by Martin Majkut as we celebrate the holiday season. Founded in 1953 by David Katz, Queens Symphony Orchestra (QSO) is the borough’s only professional orchestra. Maestro Martin Majkut was appointed its Music Director in 2017. Since then, the orchestra has been enjoying a period of growth and expansion under his leadership.
MORE INFO: http://kupferbergcenter.org/event/queens-symphony-orchestra-the-glorious-sounds-of-the-season/
About Kupferberg Center for the Arts
Kupferberg Center for the Arts (KCA) at Queens College was created in 2006 to honor alumnus Max Kupferberg for his $10 million gift to the College in support of the arts. KCA is charged with marketing cultural events, developing cross-disciplinary collaborations among Queens College’s arts units and between the arts units and off-campus partners, raising funds, and working with an Arts Advisory Board comprised of academic and community stakeholders.
The overall mission of Kupferberg Center is to provide high quality accessible and affordable cultural attractions to the Queens College community and the borough’s 2.2 million residents. The largest multi-disciplinary arts entity in the borough, KCA features world-class artists and performances at its main stage campus venues, and showcases the talents of emerging and regional artists in off-site, neighborhood settings. A leader in the cultural renaissance of Queens, KCA connects residents of the most ethnically diverse region of the nation to their unique cultural heritages, showcasing these arts to a broader audience and validating the contributions each makes to the distinct nature of our campus and community.
Kupferberg Center for the Arts’ 2022-2023 Season is sponsored by New York Community Bank – Queens County Savings Bank Division. Major support is provided by the Max and Selma Kupferberg Family Foundation and the Howard Gilman Foundation. Additional funding is provided by Resorts World NYC. Kupferberg Center’s presenting and outreach programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the NY City Council.
