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We are pleased to welcome the community, including family members, local schoolchildren, alumni and friends, to athletic and cultural events on campus. All events are free and open to the public. Please register in advance at events.hofstra.edu.
The Joseph G. Astman Cultural Events are presented in loving memory of Dr. Joseph G. Astman, founder of the Hofstra Cultural Center. Dr. Astman was a humanist, a cultural comparatist, and an international scholar. These concerts are made possible with the support of Dr. Astman's family.
See our Virtual Events Calendar for the most up-to-date information.
For More Information
Call the Hofstra Cultural Center at 516-463-5669, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., or visit events.hofstra.edu for the most up-to-date information. Programs subject to change.
Spring 2024
BLACK HISTORY MONTH CONCERT
MY MUSIC SPEAKS: A FUSION OF AFROCENTRIC MUSIC AND JAZZ
Thursday, February 22, 6:30 p.m.
MY MUSIC SPEAKS is a pilot program held annually to galvanize talents around the world to create a music genre with Afrocentric tunes. This interactive lecture performance will comprise Afrocentric Drumming and recitation plus a brief history on African Drumming infused with Jazz featuring percussionists George kwasi Barima Asante Owel, a native of the Akan tribe of Ghana, Senam Ayiku, from the GA tribe of West Africa Ghana, Hempstead resident, Everton Bailey on trumpet and Uniondale resident, Nigel Innis on saxophone, with the Wuza-Wuza Music and Dance Ensemble led by Yawuza Alhassan.
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GEORGE KWASI BARIMA ASANTE OWEL, a native of the Akan tribe of Ghana and a resident in Westchester NY is a Business Entrepreneur. George is the CEO of HINGI & ASSOCIATES, a consulting firm. George is a musician and his love for his culture and Jazz led him to start Jazz & Hat an, Afrocentric Jazz movement, based in Cambria Heights Queens NY. George is an educator and a history researcher.
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SENAM AYIKU is a skilled drummer and a percussionist with impeccable cultural and modern story telling ability. He is the founder of MY MUSIC SPEAKS and hails from the GA Tribe of West Africa Ghana where Drumming and Dancing is a cultural way of life. Senam had shared stage with great musicians like Richard Bono, benefit concert with Stevie Wonder for a Polio/Malaria awareness, R&B great Irene Logan and Hugh Masekela the Jazz great.
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EVERTON BAILEY, a British Jamaican and Hempstead resident, is the founder of Trumpet Academy in Hempstead, and ISOP (Instrumental Sound Of Praise). Bailey has been featured in numerous stage plays and movies like Cadillac Records and The Inside Man, in addition to such TV shows as The Good Wife and 30 Rock. His unique trumpet sounds is comparable to the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Myles Davis.
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NIGEL INNIS is a saxophonist/educator/composer specializing in jazz performances. He is a graduate from the New York School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. A native of Uniondale, New York, Nigel has shared the stage with many great musicians like Warren Smith, Charlie Persip, Alvin Atkinson, and Donnie McClurkin.
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WUZA-WUZA AFRICAN MUSIC AND DANCE ENSEMBLE based in Bronx, NY is a music and dance performance company featuring Ghanaian artists deeply invested in the expression of African traditions and cultures. Wuza Wuza translates best as “you and us together as one,” and the name is a combination of the Akan word wu, or “you,” and the Dagbani word zaa, or “together as one.” Additionally, the group’s name references the dance company’s founder, cultural and artistic director, composer, choreographer and performer Yawuza Alhassan, one of Ghana’s most internationally recognized dancers and choreographers
The Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue, South Campus
Presented by the Hofstra Cultural Center in collaboration with the Africana Studies Program.
Funding for this program has been provided by the Joseph G. Astman Family Fund
for the Hofstra Cultural Center.
Past Events
Spring 2023
Forces of Nature Dance Theatre
Friday, February 10, 7 p.m.
Join Hofstra University as we kick off Black History Month with a performance by the Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, founded in 1981 by co-founders Executive Artistic Director/Choreographer Abdel R. Salaam and Executive Managing Director Olabamidele Husbands, the company, along with founding company member and principal soloist Hofstra professor Dyane Harvey, have produced and presented programs throughout the world for over 42 years.
Forces of Nature cultural matrix is centered in an African and an American intelligence that is global and environmental. The Company utilizes a unique blend of performing arts, which includes contemporary modern dance, traditional West African dance, Afro-beat, Fusion, Contemporary ballet, house and hip-hop forms as well as live and recorded music and the martial arts. Forces of Nature Dance Theatre has performed and toured widely throughout the U.S. and abroad in addition to numerous television appearances – the Emmy Award winning three-part PBS Great Performances documentary on the history of Black dance in the 20th Century entitled, Free to Dance; in a film project with the National Association of Black Museums on the influence of African American dance in Western culture entitled, When the Spirit Moves, culminating in an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC; in the dance films Dawnfeather Rising (2020) and the Nguzo Saba (2021) for the Apollo Theater; and 2021 in the film Earthborn as part of the 44th Annual Dance Africa Celebration at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Forces of Nature Dance Theatre Spirit Walkers returns to the Brooklyn Academy of Music for the 46th Annual 2023 Dance Africa Celebration.
Funding for this program has been provided by the Joseph G.Astman Family Fund for the Hofstra Cultural Center. The performance is held in collaboration with the Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice; the Africana Studies Program and the Department of Drama and Dance.
Toni and Martin Sosnoff Theater, John Cranford Adams Playhouse, South Campus
Program Details Choreography, Costume and Set Design: Abdel R. Salaam Light Design: William H. Grant II Musical Composition: Michael Wimberly, Abdel R. Salaam
A Salute to Molly Picon:
Legendary Star of Yiddish Stage and Screen
Wednesday, March 8, 6:30-8 p.m.
A Concert Lecture
Performed by Diane Cypkin, PhD
Accompanied by Lena Panfilova on piano.
Molly Picon (1898-1992) was the First Lady of the Yiddish Stage during its heyday in the 1920s and 1930s. In this hour-long presentation, part cabaret, part classroom, Diane Cypkin will trace the highlights of Molly’s lengthy career from the Yiddish stage to English-language films through songs popularized by Ms. Picon.
Diane Cypkin is a Professor Emerita at Pace University, presently an adjunct Professor at Hofstra University, and a seasoned performer.
An expert on Molly Picon and the Yiddish stage, Dr. Cypkin curated a well-received exhibition at Lincoln Center on Molly Picon entitled, "Molly Picon: Yiddish Star, American Star."
Ms. Panfilova is a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, performing in Russia, across Europe and in America.
Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center Theater, Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library, South Campus
Luminous Rāgas: Nature, Light, and Sound in South Asian Music A Bansuri Recital by Steve Gorn
HOFSTRA CULTURAL CENTER
Joseph G. Astman International Concerts
presents a concert series
in commemoration of Women's History Month
Thursday, March 30, 7 p.m.
Far more than entertainment, music is a portal for mind-body synchronization, a conduit for engagement in ritual, group catharsis, and entrainment, and a holder of mythology and history. In this recital, renowned player of the Indian flute bansuri, Steve Gorn will explore the relationship between Nature, Well-Being, and Sound in South Asian Music.
Mr. Gorn will be accompanied by Mir Naqibulislam on Tabla.
The Helene Fortunoff Theater
Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue, South Campus
Presented in collaboration with the Department of Music.
Fall 2022
No Pants in Tucson
Thursday, November 10, 4:30 p.m.
It’s 1883 and an ordinance prohibiting women from wearing pants has been passed in Tucson. Hailed "a potent, tremendously entertaining mixture" (Thinking Theater NYC), The Anthropologists’ subversive new comedy, dares to calculate the cost of gender oppression today.
Devised by The Anthropologists
Director/Script Melissa Moschitto
Lead Deviser Mariah Freda
Ensemble: April J. Barber, Nazlah Black, Mariah Freda, Jalissa Fulton
Production Dramaturgy Linnea Valdivia
Costume and Scenic Design Irina Kuraeva
Sound Design Erica Huang
The Fortunoff Theater Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue, South Campus
Monday, November 14, 2022, at 6:30 p.m.
VINCE TEMPERA - FROM FELLINI TO TARANTINO
Music, stories and legends of Italian cinema
After the Americans, the Italians are the composers who have received the most Oscars in music in the world.
This is the common thread of the show, through which the public will be able to listen to the melodies of the authors who have made Italy great in the world.
The Helene Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue, South Campus
Spring 2022
An Interactive Evening of Traditional West African Drumming, Singing and Dancing
Tuesday, March 15, 6:30 p.m.
featuring the Montclair State University West African Drumming and Dance Ensemble
directed by Robert Levin
with Special Guests
Emmanuel Agbeli, Master drummer from Kopeyia and
Ghana Vida Mawufemor, dancer from Accra, Ghana
Come and feel the experiential insight into West African culture. In West Africa, there is no audience when music is performed, everyone participates. The group will present a number of traditional pieces, with drumming, singing and dancing, and will play Gahu, Kinka, Agbekor, Bamaaya, Echauffment, Kpanlogo and more. The performers will invite and instruct you how to join in the music during a few of our recreational dances.
This is a great chance to hear and to participate in the music.
Co-sponsored by the Hofstra Cultural Center and the Department of Music.
The Fortunoff Theater
Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue, South Campus
CELEBRATE: Women and Freedom Music with Vienna Carroll and The Folk
Wednesday March 30, 6:30-8 .p.m.
Vienna Carroll and The Folk will join us for a performance and talk back as she walks down memory lane inviting us all into forgotten history, weaving personal and found stories with rousing song and images. Ms. Carroll will be joined by band members Keith Johnston, guitar and backing vocals; Stanley Banks, bass; and Newman Taylor Baker on washboard.
Vienna Carroll’s rich soulful sound takes you back to her Black church roots. Her passion and masterful storytelling light a fire in your soul. She interweaves old songs and forgotten stories of Black heroes to serve up Black history with a Serious Groove. Vienna formalized her studies of early Black music at Yale University with a BA in African American Studies. Her influences are Ray Charles, Dinah Washington, Nina Simone and her early church experiences.
“Vienna Carroll...a unique story of America, sung by an incredible voice. Simply stunning. ” — Woody Lewis, Musician
Presented by the Hofstra Cultural Center in collaboration with the Department of English and the Africana Studies Program.
Funding for this program has been provided by the Joseph G. Astman Family Fund for the Hofstra Cultural Center.
The Fortunoff Theater
Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue, South Campus
Hevreh Ensemble: Exploring Spirituality in the Context of World Music
Original Works by Jeff Adler
Friday, April 1, 6:30 p.m.
Join us for an exciting performance exploring spirituality, environmental sustainability and tolerance through Hevreh Ensemble's music. The performance features compositions that include classical, jazz and world music elements performed by composer Jeff Adler: Bass Clarinet, Native American Flutes; Keyboardist Adam Morrison; Hofstra Professor of Clarinet Laurie Friedman: Native American Flutee, Clarinet and Shofar; Hofstra Professor of Oboe Judith Dansker: English Horn, and Native American Flute; and special guest artist, renowned Tabla player, Naren Budhaker,.
“Hevreh” is a Hebrew word meaning “Circle of Friends.” Friendship, relationship, and connection make up the DNA of Hevreh Ensemble, formed and cultivated by a group of friends, both new and lifelong performing innovative and groundbreaking World Chamber together.
Co-sponsored by the Hofstra Cultural Center and the Department of Music.
The Fortunoff Theater
Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue, South Campus
Baroque Virtuosity
Thursday, April 21, 6:30 p.m.
Baroque Virtuosity features three prominent musicians on period instruments: Kinga Augustyn on baroque violin, Rebecca Pechefsky on harpsichord, and Christopher Morrongiello on archlute, baroque guitar, and lute. The artists will perform a varied program of virtuosic music by European composers spanning close to 200 years, from the early Baroque period to the late Baroque or early Classic period. Their program features masterworks by J.S. Bach, Arcangelo Corelli, Christophe Moyreau, Jean Marie Leclair, and Diomedes Cato. Renowned luthier Lukas Wronski will give a pre-concert talk on the history of string instrument making and answer questions after the concert about the design, repair, and maintenance of string instruments. In the concert, Kinga Augustyn will play on Mr. Wronski’s unconventionally shaped baroque violin named “Venus,” inspired by the famous ancient Greek statue the “Venus de Milo.”
Presented by the Hofstra Cultural Center In collaboration with the Department of Music. Funding has been provided by the Joseph G. Astman Family Fund for the Hofstra Cultural Center.
The Fortunoff Theater
Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue, South Campus
Dancing with the Indian Art. Expressions of Devotion through Visual Arts, Music and Dance
Thursday, April 28, 6:30 p.m.
Visual and performance artist Kuldeep Singh brings an immersive interdisciplinary experience weaving Odissi dance with 18th century Indian miniatures, and early medieval texts on music and dramaturgy, which collectively celebrate and embody expressions of devotion. Mr. Singh will be accompanied on the Indian drum pakhawaj by Michael Shoureas
Co-sponsored by the Hofstra Cultural Center and the Department of Music.
Funding for this program has been provided by the Joseph G. Astman Family Fund for the Hofstra Cultural Center, the Alice Sawyer Award and the Rabinowitz Honors College.
The Fortunoff Theater
Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue, South Campus
Fall 2021
CELEBRATING THE HOLYDAYS
Friday, December 10, 2021 • 7 p.m.
Come celebrate with the Hofstra Cultural Center and the Hofstra Black Student Union in this end of semester Kwanzaa celebration presenting Sweet Honey In The Rock® in concert .... a rare fusion of traditional American holiday spiritual songs and hymns, as well as songs from other cultures and religions ranging from Africa to Israel. This show is a seasonal presentation that also offers songs from the group's extensive repertoire including, We Are, Let There Be Peace, The Women Gather and Come Ye.
SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK® will feature core members Louise Robinson, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil, Carol Maillard and American Sign Language interpreter Barbara Hunt. The ensemble also includes bass player Romeir Mendez.
Sweet Honey in the Rock® is a performance ensemble rooted in African American history and culture. The ensemble educates, entertains, and empowers its audience and community through the dynamic vehicles of a cappella singing and American Sign Language interpretation for members of the deaf and hard of hearing communities.
Funding for this program has been provided by the Joseph G. Astman Family Fund for the Hofstra Cultural Center; the Stuart and Nancy Rabinowitz Honors College; the Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice; and the NOAH Scholars Program.
Toni and Martin Sosnoff Theater, John Cranford Adams Playhouse, South Campus
Sounds From the Silk Road with Eurasia Consort
Songs and Instruments From Europe, Middle East and East Asia
Thursday, October 28, 7 p.m.
Like a multicolored thread, this concert connects classical music traditions from Europe, the Middle East, and Eastern Asia in a fascinating journey that educates the audience about cultural diversity. A highlight of this concert will be a new work by Alice Shields, The Wind in the Pines, a tale of climate catastrophe.
This work is presented with support from Chamber Music America.
The Fortunoff Theater
Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue
South Campus
Spring 2021
Memories from an Internment Camp: Paul Chihara, the Japanese American Internment, and his Music
Tuesday, February 23, 4:20-5:45 p.m.
Paul Chihara, a renowned Japanese American composer, will share his childhood memories from an internment camp in Minidoka, Idaho, and his journey to pursue his career in music. Born and raised in Seattle, Professor Chihara was one of those 120,000 Japanese Americans who were forcibly relocated into internment camps in desolate desert areas inland during World War II. His talk is accompanied by music pieces he composed remembering his years in the camp. Music, along with other activities such as sports, or art and craft making, was an important part of camp life and a source of inspiration for people who endured their long, unjust incarceration.
Co-sponsored: The Asian Studies program and the Hofstra Cultural Center by the departments of history and music.
Funding for these programs has been provided, in part, by the Joseph G. Astman Family for the Hofstra Cultural Center.
Spring 2020
What Happens? Musings and Meditations on Life
A Tribute to Langston Hughes in Verse and Song by Tayo Aluko with live jazz band accompaniment featuring Everton Bailey, trumpet and Dennis Nelson, piano
Langston Hughes was one of the most important writers and thinkers that celebrated black life and culture. Hughes's creative genius was influenced by his life in New York City's Harlem, the birthplace of the Harlem Renaissance. His literary works helped shape American literature and politics. Through his poetry, novels, plays, essays, and children's books, he promoted equality, condemned racism and injustice, and celebrated African American culture, humor, and spirituality.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
Faculty Cello Recital
Her Music in Our Time:
The Musical Works of Female Composers in the Era of Women’s Suffrage
In the era of the women's suffrage movement, there were talented female composers struggling for the respect and opportunities afforded their male counterparts. Despite receiving honors for their compositions, these women and their musical works are largely unknown to musicians and audiences of today. Hofstra cello professor, Tomoko Fujita, with members of the New York Chamber Music Co-Op (Lisa Tipton, violin, Adria Benjamin, viola, and Adrienne Kim, piano), and guest violinist Shannon Thomas of Florida State University, will celebrate and give voice to the music of Dame Ethel Smyth, Nadia Boulanger, Rebecca Clarke, Florence Price, and Germaine Tailleferre.
Co-sponsored by the Department of Music.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
Fall 2019
Unheard Voices
Conceived by Judy Tate
Tuesday, September 17, 6:30 p.m.
Unheard Voices is an original monologue piece, with singing and drumming, by the award-winning writers of the American Slavery Project. Up to 30,000 men, women, and children from New York’s Colonial era are buried in the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan. Based on specific burials, each monologue gives one of them voice and honors those African descendants – enslaved and free – who were buried without their names.
In collaboration with the Women's Studies Program, the Center for Civic Engagement, and the Center for"Race," Culture and Social Justice.
Toni and Martin Sosnoff Theater, John Cranford Adams Playhouse
Kyōgen Demonstration and Workshop
with Members of the Yamamoto Tojiro Kyōgen Company
Tuesday, November 12, 11:15 a.m.-12:40 p.m.
Members of the Yamamoto Tojiro Kyōgen Company will perform a demonstration of kyōgen, the traditional comic theater of Japan. The Yamamoto Kyōgen Company carries on the ancient tradition of performance for samurai clans established by the Tokugawa Shogun. The current head has been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun with Gold and Silver Rays by the Emperor of Japan (2012) and designated an Intangible Cultural Asset.
This event is made possible by Japan Society, New York, NY in conjunction with their Taiten: Noh and Kyogen (https://www.japansociety.org/event/taiten-noh-and-kyogen) program on November 14-16, 2019.
In collaboration with the Hofstra Cultural Center and the Peter A. Teleha Memorial Fund, Hofstra University Honors College.
Additional sponsors include the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan through the Japan Arts Council, Hofstra University’s Asian Studies Program, Office of the Provost, Departments of Comparative Literature, Languages, and Linguistics,Drama and Dance, History, Religion, Anthropology, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Hofstra University Honors College, and the Joseph G. Astman Fund for the Hofstra Cultural Center.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
Hevreh Ensemble and Native American Flute Maker Daniel Bigay
Thursday, November 14, 6:30 p.m.
Hevreh is a Hebrew word meaning “circle of friends." Hevreh’s essence is the thread of intention and imagination that connects a Cherokee flute to a shofar. Hevreh’s aesthetic is the double-image evoked by the intertwining of distinct musical languages, delivered with the respect of exacting classical technique, the playful joy of jazz improvisation, and the intense warmth, humor, and empathy that only a close-knit chamber ensemble can offer.
Hevreh is excited to welcome master artist, musician, and Native American flute maker Daniel Bigay to its circle of friends. Bigay belongs to the Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama and is of Cherokee, Choctaw, Taino, and Scot/Irish descent.
In commemoration of Indigenous Peoples Month, this collaboration includes commentary on the loss of indigenous language in Native American culture, demonstrations of the beautiful flutes that Bigay creates, opportunities to try playing a Native American flute, and a performance that includes solo works for Native American flute and works played together with the Hevreh Ensemble.
Lowenfeld Exhibition Hall, Axinn Library, 10th Floor
Spring 2019
Dramatic Performance and Talk Back
Down the Rabbit Hole
by Liza Jessie Peterson
Wednesday, February 27, 6:30 p.m.
Straight from her sold-out 2018 New York tour of The Peculiar Patriot, artist Liza Jessie Peterson has done it again with her new play, Down The Rabbit Hole. The play is the story of Peterson’s journey into the prison system over two decades and how this starry-eyed actress tumbled down the rabbit hole of mass incarceration to find great purpose teaching incarcerated teenagers at Rikers Island while fighting to keep her dream of being an artist alive. A funny thing happens when purpose meets passion in prison and this artist has the hilarious and harrowing receipts. With striking clarity, sharp humor and heart-felt insight, Liza’s journey unfolds as her depth of inquiry reveals a shockingly entrenched system unique to the USA.
In collaboration with ongoing exhibition, Hidden in Sight: Photographing Incarceration
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
A World Music Duo From Hungary
Tuesday, March 12, 6:30 p.m.
A World Music Duo From Hungary
Flora Tandi, vocals
Robert Sinha, guitar
This is a concert program based on multicultural diversity in music featuring traditional Hungarian folk songs uniquely arranged by Robert Sinha, with the use of rhythmic and harmonic patterns from flamenco, bossa nova, tango, and jazz. One of the songs in the duo’s repertoire, titled Szól a kakas már, is the symbol of the multicultural musical fusion they work on: It is a Hungarian- Jewish folk song originating from Transylvania that Sinha arranged with the use of Spanish flamenco. Apart from the songs based on Hungarian folk music, the duo will perform songs in French, which serves as a good example of cooperation between different nationals through arts.
In collaboration with the Department of Global Studies and Geography. Co-sponsored by the National Cultural Fund of Hungary.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
Artemisia's Intent
Tuesday, March 26, 6:30 p.m.
Dramatic Performance and Talk Back
Artemisia’s Intent delivers a captivating physical performance to unearth the life, work, and words of 17th century painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Inspired by every proclamation of Me Too, The Anthropologists craft a startling portrait of a woman caught at the intersection of power, assault, and art.
In collaboration with the Women’s Studies, Department of Drama and Dance, Department of English, and Hofstra University Honors College.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
Spring 2018
JOSEPH G. ASTMAN CONCERT
Friday, February 16, 7 p.m.
I Entered the Garden of Love – Classical Turkish Music Recital
featuring Ahmet Erdogdular, vocal and Daf (frame drum); Dr. Adem Birson, oud (lute)
This concert showcases Ottoman art songs of the 19th century based on mystic Sufi poetry.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
For more information, please call the Hofstra Cultural Center at 516-463-5669 or visit hofstra.edu/culture.
Fall 2017
JOSEPH G. ASTMAN CONCERT
The Hevreh Ensemble
Thursday, October 26, 8 p.m.
The Hevreh Ensemble presents original compositions by group member and composer Jeff Adler on dozens of instruments from around the globe as a way to help promote cultural identity, exploration, spirituality, tolerance and world peace. The works include elements from classical, jazz and world music. Since its founding in 2004, Hevreh has toured throughout the United States and Europe, meeting with audience and critical acclaim for its passionate performances and inspiring programming. Recent highlights of the ensemble’s U.S. touring include performances at Hofstra University, Hudson River Museum, Museum of Tolerance New York, Newport Music Festival and Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, while a grant from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation allowed the group to tour Massachusetts’ Pioneer Valley. Abroad, the ensemble has appeared in Austria (Vienna), the Czech Republic (Prague), Germany (Berlin, Bonn, Hamburg, Munich), the Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Poland (Krakow). For this performance, Hevreh is honored to welcome two distinguished guest artists: George Farmer, double bass, and Yousif Sheronick, percussion.
Guthart Cultural Center Theater, Axinn Library
Related Event:
Thursday and Friday, October 26 and 27
Conference: Culture and Identity Configurations: Reflections on the 21st Century
For more information, please visit hofstra.edu/identitysym.
MASTER CLASS WORKSHOP
Friday, November 10, 2:55-5 p.m.
Exploring Giuseppe Verdi’s Enduring Legacy: Through Spoken Word, Music and Film Screening: In the Mouth of the Wolf (In Bocca al Lupo) Unseen for over 50 years
August Ventura, author and filmmaker, explores the world of traditional opera in articles and lectures and through the medium of documentary film. An ardent devotee of the life and works of Giuseppe Verdi, he has trained his sights on this “enduring legacy,” which, in the words of Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz, “remains a mighty force for continuing good.” To investigate how the composer’s 27 operas have served as an agent of social and political change, Ventura created an initiative he calls “27” The Verdi Documentary Film Project, with particular emphasis on the community of Parma, Italy – known for its fierce connection to the art form – where Verdi is rightly venerated.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
Spring 2017
JOSEPH G. ASTMAN CULTURAL PERFORMANCES
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Tuesday, February 28, 7 p.m.
Call Mr. Robeson: A Life, With Songs
Written and performed by Tayo Aluko, with live piano accompaniment by Hofstra alumnus Dennis Nelson, Class of 1986
Paul Robeson is a world-famous actor, singer and civil rights campaigner. When over the years he gets progressively too radical and outspoken for the establishment's liking, he is branded a traitor to his country, harassed, and denied opportunities to perform or travel. Just as physical, emotional and mental stress threaten to push him over the fine line between genius and madness, he is summoned to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee, to give the most difficult and important performance of his career.
This roller-coaster journey through Robeson's remarkable and eventful life highlights how his pioneering and heroic (but largely forgotten) political activism led many to describe him as the forerunner of the civil rights movement. It features much fiery oratory and some of his famous songs, including a dramatic rendition of "Ol' Man River." Tayo Aluko revives one of the 20th century's most impressive but overlooked figures in this powerful, compelling tour de force.
This event is FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Limit two tickets per person. Tickets are available through the Hofstra Box Office by calling 516-463-6644, Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-3:45 p.m.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
Presented in conjunction with the symposium Performing Politics: Embodying Advocacy.
JOSEPH G. ASTMAN CONCERT
Monday, May 1, 7 p.m.
The Bronx Opera Company
Michael Spierman, artistic director presents
Opera-in-Concert
A partially staged production of
Falstaff
By Giuseppe Verdi
In his 80th year, Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) wrote his comic masterpiece, Falstaff, along with librettist Arrigo Boito. The opera is based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, with scenes from Henry IV, Parts I and II. Sir John Falstaff, the chubby, cowardly, bawdy, bragging, sack-drinking, lying, licentious yet loveable everyman, attempts to solve his monetary problems by romancing two married women to gain access to their husbands’ wealth. Watch as the female characters band together to outsmart Sir John and others who stand in the way of a happy ending.
The Bronx Opera Company, under the direction of Maestro Michael Spierman, brings Falstaff to life in this opera-in-concert performance sung in English outstanding professional singers, with piano accompaniment.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
For more information, please contact the John Cranford Adams Playhouse Box Office at 516-463-6644, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m.-3:45 p.m.
or hofstratickets.com
Fall 2016
Thursday, November 3, 6:30 p.m.
Singing at the Guru’s Court: Sacred Hymns From the Sikh Tradition
Dr. Francesca Cassio, Sardarni Harbans Kaur Chair in Sikh Musicology at Hofstra University, will perform sacred hymns from the Sikh tradition (late 15th-early 18th century). On this occasion Dr. Cassio will be accompanied by Parminder Singh Bhamra and Nirvair Kaur Khalsa, who will respectively play medieval instruments such as the drum pakhawaj and the bowed taus.
Concert presented in conjunction with Traditions in Transition: Intangible Heritage in South and Southeast Asia symposium.
For more information on symposium, please contact the Hofstra Cultural Center at 516-463-5669
Friday, November 18, 2:55 p.m.
The Music of Brazil Concert
Directed by Alejandro Avilés and Shawn Lovato, Department of Music, Hofstra University.
Explore the unique and original musical history of Brazil with a multicultural concert featuring a panorama of musical groups, native instruments and repertoires from the Brazilian, Indian, and Jazz music traditions.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
Related Event:
Wednesdays, September 14-November 16, 4-5 p.m.
The Music of Brazil Workshops
The workshops are FREE and open to all students and members of the community.
All instruments and all levels welcome.
Room 020 New Academic Building
Spring 2016
Joseph G. Astman International Concert Series
Spring 2016
Sunday, February 21, 3 p.m.
Songs of Resistance:
Protest Music and Dance From Around the World
Join Hofstra's Department of Music and the Hofstra Cultural Center as we explore songs and dances that have inspired, motivated and brought together individuals to fight injustice, to rally around a cause, or to demand a better life. The performance features Hofstra student dancers and musicians, ensembles from Hempstead High School and invited internationally acclaimed South African a cappella vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
… From enslaved Africans' cries for freedom to the struggles for civil rights in the Americas, in Apartheid South Africa and in Tiananmen Square; … from oppressed workers' demand for better wages and working conditions to immigrants' longing for economic and social justice; … from these silenced souls pour forth SONGS; these shackled bodies erupt into DANCE. This concert celebrates their voices.
This performance is made possible by a generous grant from the D'Addario Music Foundation (D'Addario Music Appreciation Initiative), Hofstra University Department of Music and the Hofstra Cultural Center.
John Cranford Adams Playhouse
Tickets are $12 general admission, $10 senior citizen (over 65) or matriculated non-Hofstra student with ID. Students under 16 receive one free ticket. Group rates are available. Members of the Hofstra community receive two free tickets upon presentation of a current HofstraCard.
For tickets and more information, visit HofstraTickets.com or call the Hofstra Box Office at (516) 463-6644, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m.-3:45 p.m.
Thursday, April 14, 7 p.m.
The Blooming Garden of Beauty
Experience a full immersion into the world of classical Japanese dance and music, with a Kabuki performance by Sachiyo Ito and Dancejapan. The performance will be followed by a Q&A on women in Japanese arts, with participants Francesca Cassio, PhD, Hofstra University, and Patricia Welch, PhD, Hofstra University.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
Wednesday, May 4, 8 p.m.
The Bronx Opera Company
Michael Spierman, artistic director presents
Opera-in-Concert
Cinderella (La Cenerentola)
by Gioachino Rossini
This delightful comic opera will be performed in English.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
Tickets are $15 general admission; $12 senior citizen (over 65) or matriculated non-Hofstra student; $10 group rate (10 or more); One free ticket for student under 16 (with ID); Two free tickets for Hofstra faculty/staff/student (must pick up ticket(s) and present current HofstraCard at Box Office) For tickets call the Hofstra Box Office at 516-463-6644 Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-3:45 p.m. or purchase online at Hofstratickets.com. If available, tickets will also be sold at the door by cash or check only, starting 60 minutes prior to show time.
For more information, please contact the Hofstra Cultural Center at 516-463-5669.
Fall 2015
MASTER CLASSES
Audience interaction for both Master Classes is limited to Hofstra students.
Friday, October 16, 2:55 p.m.
Hevreh Ensemble
The ensemble performs original contemporary American compositions by group member and composer Jeff Adler. The works are often inspired by themes of religious and racial tolerance, World peace and environmental sustainability, and combine classical, jazz and world music elements. The wide and varied instrumentation includes the innovative use of Native American flutes, along with oboe, oboe d’amore, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, world percussion, piano, keyboard and shofar. The ensemble has performed widely throughout North America and has also presented concerts in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. Most recently, the ensemble performed for the Newport Chamber Music Festival in Rhode Island and toured the Netherlands and Germany. This master class features Hofstra adjunct music professors Judith Dansker and Laurie Friedman-Adler.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
For more information, please contact the Department of Music at 516-463-5444.
Wednesday, November 11, 5 :30 p.m.
Italian American Experience Lecture Series Hofstra Celebrates Sinatra with Jerry Bruno Interview
Master Class with Jerry Bruno, bass D’Addario Foundation Visiting Artist and legendary musician who played and toured with Frank Sinatra.
For more information, please contact the Hofstra Cultural Center at 516-463-5669
Spring 2015
Joseph G. Astman International Concert Series
Presents the
The Bronx Opera Company with Michael Spierman, artistic director performing concert excerpts from The Marriage of Figaro
Wednesday, April 15, 8 p.m.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
This insightful and lively comedic opera was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . It premiered in Vienna in 1786.
$12 General Admission
$10 senior citizen (over 65) or matriculated non-Hofstra student with ID
Students under 16 recieve one free ticket; $8 group rate (15+)
Two free tickets with current faculty/student/student HofstraCard
For tickets and information please contact the John Cranford Adams Playhouse Box Office at 516-463-5669
Fall 2014
Joseph G. Astman International Concert Series
Music From Around the World
The Taiko Masala Drum Ensemble*
Friday, September 19 at 12:30 p.m.
Founded by master drummer Hiro Kurashima, the ensemble combines the training and discipline of Japanese martial arts with the precision and power of complex drumming.
*Presented in conjunction with the Hofstra Cultural Center conference Asia Transforming: Old Values and New Presences
Main Dining Room, Mack Student Center
Tuesday, November 11, 7 p.m.
Lecture and Demonstration: Women in India: Music and Culture
Professor Rita Ganguly, New Delhi, India Professor Rita Ganguly is an authority in the fieldvof semiclassical Indian music, with particular reference to the romantic repertoire performed by female artists. She is the foremost disciple of the legendary Ghazal singer Begum Akhtar, and she will be at Hofstra to share her memories and her music.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
Friday, November 14, 7 p.m.
Gamelan Kusuma Laras performing The Spirit of Gamelan
Gamelan Kusuma Laras is a classical Javanese gamelan orchestra based in New York City that performs music, dance and theater from the classical repertoire of the courts of Central Java. The orchestra was formed 30 years agoto study and present Indonesian performing arts to American audiences. Kusuma Laras has entranced music and dance lovers in the United States and in Indonesia with its authentic performances on instruments created especially for the Indonesia Pavilion at the World's Fair of 1964-65 in New York.
Tickets: $10 general admission; $8 senior citizen (over 65) or matriculated non-Hofstra student with ID.
Tickets on sale beginning October 14, 2014
For more information and to purchase tickets, please contact the John Cranford Adams Playhouse Box Office at 516-463-6644, Monday-Friday, 11a .m.-3:45 p.m.
Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
Monday, November 17, 7 p.m.
Lecture: Sacred and Secular in the Sikh Musical Tradition
Dr. Virinder S. Kalra, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Manchester, UK
How does the sacred/secular opposition explain itself in the context of musical production? Through the deconstruction of the sacred/secular opposition, Dr. Kalra explores the relationship of religion and music to wider questions of religion and politics. Its postcolonial approach brings Asia into the Western sacred/secular opposition, and provides a set of analytical tools — a language and range of theories — to allow further exploration of non-Western religious music.
Presented in collaboration with the Sardarni Harbans Kaur Chair in Sikh Musicology at Hofstra University
Guthart Cultural Center Theater, Axinn Library
For more information, please email Francesca.Cassio@hofstra.edu.