This week, there are lots of free events on the Upper West Side, including the Metropolitan Opera’s outdoor screenings of some of its most popular operas in HD. The operas will show right in the middle of Lincoln Center every night this week, and are preceded by lectures you can attend on the 6th Floor of the Samuel B. & David Rose Building, at West 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues. Also, this week marks the beginning of Human Chess in Riverside Park, where you can dress up as a chess piece every Thursday and play as a team on a massive board. Slightly nerdy, but kind of awesome too.
We’ve posted the full slate of this week’s free and cheap neighborhood events below, and you can also get to them by clicking on This Week’s Events in the upper right corner. Email us at “info at westsiderag dot com” to tell us about any upcoming events, or events we’ve missed. We may update the events list throughout the week as we learn more.
Monday
8 p.m.
D’Ambrose Boyd & David Pearl Present Singers Space Come to Singers Space at Thalia Café, hosted by D’Ambrose Boyd with David Pearl at the piano. Where New York’s finest professional and aspiring singers go to sing their favorites and hear their peers perform before an intimate audience. The café offers cocktails, wine & beer, soups, salads, wraps and desserts. There’s no cover and no minimum. At Symphony Space. FREE.
8:30 p.m.
Outdoor screening of the Metropolitan Opera: Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauridev Susan Graham and Plácido Domingo reprise their starring roles in Gluck’s nuanced and elegant interpretation of this classic Greek myth. Tenor Paul Groves also returns to Stephen Wadsworth’s production, first seen in 2007. Patrick Summers conducts. In the central plaza at Lincoln Center. FREE.
Tuesday
2:30 p.m.
Screening of The Mirror Crack’d (1980) Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Angela Lansbury, Rock Hudson, Kim Novak, and Tony Curtis At NYPL for the Performing Arts. FREE.
6:30 p.m.
Pilates – Mat Class This total body workout is a great way to develop superior core muscle power and tone, all with a beautiful view of the Hudson. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing and bring your own mat. At the Plaza in Riverside Park @ 66th St. FREE.
8 p.m.
The Matt Giella Quartet As an outlet for his own compositions, and overall new musical ideas, the Matt Giella Quartet, consisting of Matt Giella on trumpet, Leonardo Freire on drums, Joel Pixley-Fink on bass and Alex DeZenzo on piano, seeks to remain true to past musical ideals regarding a traditional jazz quartet, while simultaneously taking a modern, more approachable route. At Symphony Space. FREE.
8 p.m.
Outdoor screening of the Metropolitan Opera: Puccini’s La Rondine
Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna take on the leading roles in Puccini’s rarely heard opera, which returned to the Met for the first time in more than 70 years on New Year’s Eve 2008. Samuel Ramey co-stars as Rambaldo in Nicolas Joël’s atmospheric production, which places the action at the time of the opera’s premiere in the 1920s. In the central plaza at Lincoln Center. FREE.
10 p.m.
Ronnie Long Ronnie Long is an actor, comedian, writer and producer. He’s been in such films as America Gangsta with Russel Crowe and Denzel Washington and in Hot Tomale with Carmen Electra. Some of his TV appearances include Def Comedy Jam and Comic View. He has also been the opening act for DL Hugley, Chris Rock, LL Cool J, Anita Baker and others. At Symphony Space. FREE.
Wednesday
9 a.m.
Walk NYC Walk NYC is a program that encourages New Yorkers of all ages to get fit while enjoying the outdoors. Parks will staff locations throughout the city with trained walking instructors to lead one-hour walks. Meet at 83rd Street & Riverside Drive. FREE.
12 p.m.
Free Summer Concert Series at Richard Tucker Park – R&B at a Fish Fry Grab your lunch and some friends and hit this lively oasis at Broadway and 66th Street. In Richard Tucker Square. FREE.
2 p.m.
Guitar Afternoon Enjoy free live music performed by jazz guitarist Bill Wurtzel and guest musicians each Wednesday from 2 to 3 pm. Folk Art Museum. FREE.
6:30 p.m.
The Scene @ Tavern: Live Music 6:30 pm: Alex Sugerman – Energetic, exciting Jazz that’s a blend of old and new sounds 7:30 pm: Dexter Scott – Post-pop singer-songwriter. At Tavern on the Green. FREE.
6:30 p.m.
Yoga-Evening Salute to the Sun End your day with relaxing Hatha yoga in a beautiful sunset setting. Suitable for all fitness levels. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing and bring your own mat. In Riverside Park at the plaza around 66th Street. FREE.
7:45 p.m.
Outdoor screening of the Metropolitan Opera: Adams’ Nixon in China John Adams conducts the Met premiere of his groundbreaking 1987 work, in a production by longtime collaborator Peter Sellars, in his Met debut. The opera explores the human truths behind the headlines surrounding President Nixon’s historic 1972 encounter with Communist China. Baritone James Maddalena stars in the title role. In the central plaza at Lincoln Center. FREE.
8:30 p.m.
Bar Trivia TriviaTryst was founded in NYC in 2009 by Bryce Galen after realizing that pub quizzes were fun, but there was potential for a new type of trivia night with music, energy and popular appeal! At Symphony Space’s BAR Thalia. FREE.
Thursday
3 p.m.
Human Chess Be your favorite game piece as you navigate the chess board from inside the Human chess game, where chess becomes a team sport. All levels welcome! Please email zhen.heinemann@nyc.parks.gov or call 212.408.0219 to sign up. West 89th Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. FREE.
7 p.m.
Jaclyn Katz A graduate of the Calhoun School and a Stagedoor Manor alum, Jaclyn was a featured soloist in her school’s chorus for seven years and has graced the stages of Don’t Tell Mama and The Rum House. At Symphony Space. FREE.
7:45 p.m.
Outdoor screening of the Metropolitan Opera: Bizet’s Carmen This Live in HD presentation of Bizet’s masterpiece, starring Elīna Garanča as the seductive gypsy of the title, drew a record audience for its original transmission. Roberto Alagna is Don José in Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre’s hit production, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts in his acclaimed Met debut. In the central plaza at Lincoln Center. FREE.
8:30 p.m.
Charles Yang Charles Yang has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall to the Forbidden City in Beijing. Being a composer and songwriter, violinist, electric violinist, guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist, Yang has won numerous awards, including first prize of the Lennox International Young Artist Competition, first place of the junior bowed instrument division of the Kingsville International Young Performers competition, and winner of the Academy Violin Competition at the Aspen Music Festival and School. And on June 9, 2005, the Mayor of Austin, Texas presented Yang with his own Charles Yang Day. At the David Rubenstein Atrium. FREE.
9:30 p.m.
Lee Singer/rapper/songwriter/poet/musician Lee ranks among the most original popular artists on the current musical scene. Few artists draw upon so many traditions, weaving different styles of music into one organic, unique form of musical expression. At Symphony Space. FREE.
Friday
8 a.m.
Walk NYC Walk NYC is a program that encourages New Yorkers of all ages to get fit while enjoying the outdoors. Parks will staff locations throughout the city with trained walking instructors to lead one-hour walks. Meet at 83rd Street & Riverside Drive. FREE.
8 a.m. (until 1 p.m.)
Green Market Choose from fresh produce & dairy, artisanal breads, baked goods, meats & poultry, honey, eggs. Clothing/textile recycling bin on-site. 97th Street and Columbus.
7 p.m.
Ethics in Film – Time After Time Notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper (David Warner) is back to continue his ghastly reign of terror. But this time, he’s found his way from Victorian times to the late 1970s, and he’s intent on taking care of unfinished business. Using a time machine to pursue Jack into the future, H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) meets Amy (Mary Steenburgen), a bank clerk who teaches Wells about life in the ’70s while helping him hunt for Jack. At Society for Ethical Culture. $5 suggested donation (includes snacks).
8 p.m.
Outdoor screening of the Metropolitan Opera: Puccini’s La Fanciulla Del West All-American diva Deborah Voigt sings the title role of the “girl of the golden West” in this centennial run of Puccini’s opera, which had its world premiere at the Met in 1910. Marcello Giordani is bandit-turned lover Dick Johnson, Lucio Gallo sings sheriff Jack Rance, and Nicola Luisotti conducts. In the central plaza at Lincoln Center. FREE.
8 p.m.
Jonesy Jonesy began telling jokes on the stages of comedy clubs in his hometown of Boston in the summer of 2002. Since then, he has spit up a storm at colleges and clubs over the Northeast, Los Angeles, New Orleans and San Francisco. He has participated in numerous Comedy Festivals including the Boston Comedy Fest, Rhode Island Comedy Fest, Los Angeles Comedy Fest, and the New York City Underground Comedy Fest. At Symphony Space. FREE.
Saturday
10 a.m. (until 5)
Kayaking on the Hudson Join the Downtown Boathouse for 20-minute instructional paddles, and explore the Hudson River first hand. Please wear a bathing suit or shorts and a t-shirt, and know how to swim. 72nd St. & the Hudson River. FREE.
11 a.m.
African Entertainment Seminar NEA Awards will engage entertainment industry executives to discuss the value of African content and its distribution in North America. This seminar will explore the available avenues to distribute African content to the marketplace. At Symphony Space. FREE.
11 a.m.
Storytelling at Hans Christian Andersen Each Saturday at 11 am, from June through September, storytellers tell folk and fairy tales from many countries and especially the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. The majority of the audience is adults who know that a good story sustains one throughout the week and often throughout a lifetime. Children over five years old are welcome. 72nd Street and 5th Avenue inside Central Park. FREE.
2 p.m.
Tavern and its Green Tour Discover the sheepfold that became a world famous restaurant, a parade ground that became the Sheep Meadow, the Children’s District, The Mall including its statues and American Elm Trees, and much more. North side of the Tavern on the Green, inside the Park at 67th Street and CPW. FREE.
6 p.m.
RCTA Sunset Concert Series: Jazz This week’s performer: Bob Kindred/Anne Phillips. An evening of cool jazz performed by the Bob Kindred Ensemble with vocalist Anne Phillips. On the lawn north of the 96th St. Clay courts. FREE.
7:15 p.m.
Outdoor screening of the Metropolitan Opera: Mussogorsky’s Boris Gudunov René Pape takes on one of the greatest bass roles in Stephen Wadsworth’s new production. Valery Gergiev conducts Mussorgsky’s epic spectacle that captures the suffering and ambition of a nation, with Aleksandrs Antonenko, Vladimir Ognovenko, and Ekaterina Semenchuk leading the huge cast. In the central plaza at Lincoln Center. FREE.
10 p.m.
Less Magnetic Brooklyn/New Jersey based Less Magnetic began in the summer of 2010 as a quintet who’s goal was to thoroughly explore the art of free improvisation. After performing at a few venues and adding a 6th member, Less Magnetic soon started to take another shape. Instead of focusing purely on the act of improvisation, the group became a collective that concentrated on its members compositions whch fuse elements of Free and Modal jazz, hip hop/RnB, and traditional eastern music. At Symphony Space. FREE.
Sunday
10 a.m. (until 5)
Kayaking on the Hudson Join the Downtown Boathouse for 20-minute instructional paddles, and explore the Hudson River first hand. Please wear a bathing suit or shorts and a t-shirt, and know how to swim. 72nd St. & the Hudson River. FREE.
10:15 a.m.
Sunday Meeting – American Labor Unions 2011: Have We Been Here Before? A talk by Irwin Yellowitz. At Society for Ethical Culture. FREE.
1 p.m.
Board Game Night at the Cafe Relax on Sunday with live music and a classic board game. Choose from a variety of games behind the bar including Cranium, Guess Who?, Jenga, UNO, Operation, and more! At Symphony Space’s Thalia Cafe. FREE.
2 p.m.
Meer Festival: The Pedrito Martinez Group (Afro-Cuban Percussion) Enjoy live lakeside music by The Pedrito Martinez Group (Afro-Cuban Percussion) in the Park’s beautiful northern end at the Central Park Conservancy’s weekly Harlem Meer Performance Festival concert. Charles A. Dana Discovery Center (Inside the Park on 110th Street between Fifth and Lenox Avenues). FREE.
4 and 5:30 p.m.
Time In Transit Comprised of some of the best musicians from their homelands of Phoenix, Washington DC, Denmark, and Ukraine, New York City-based quartet Time in Transit is a melting pot of backgrounds and influences as wide and varied as its members. Having individually performed with artists as multifarious as Steve Lacy, Jamie Baum, Jeff Hirshfield, Pat Metheny, Art Lande, Joe Lovano, George Garzone, and John Tchicai, members of this thrilling ensemble have performed at small clubs (including performances at the Blue Note and the Guggenheim Museum), large arenas, and viewed on television by millions. At Symphony Space. FREE.
8 p.m.
Outdoor screening of the Metropolitan Opera: Donizaetti’s Lucia do Lammermoor Natalie Dessay triumphed as the fragile title heroine of Donizetti’s masterpiece when Mary Zimmerman’s hit production premiered on Opening Night 2007. This past season, she returned to the role of the innocent young woman driven to madness, opposite Joseph Calleja as her lover, Edgardo. In the central plaza at Lincoln Center. FREE.
Ongoing Events
Lincoln Center: American Ballet Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Society, NYC Ballet, War Horse
NYPL for the Performing Arts: Residue: Installation by Eiko & Koma, Marlboro Music at 60
American Museum of Natural History: Ongoing Exhibits