92nd Street Y 2009-2010 Concerts Season Preview Video
The 92nd Street Y 2009/2010 Concert Season is now available for purchase. For more on our upcoming season, watch the video above which features archival footage, interviews with musicians, staff and faculty, and clips from recent concerts.
The Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y was called “the best concert space in New York” by New York Magazine, with the New York Times hailing the “superb” sound. We invite you to browse the programming this season, and encourage you to attend an event. If you are familiar with our concert programming, we know we will see you again. And if you haven’t been to a concert here yet, we feel confident you will wonder why you ever waited.
All we hear all day long at school is how great Facebook is at this, or how wonderful Facebook did that! Facebook, Facebook, Facebook! (BTW, are we Facebook friends?) Everyone is on Facebook. (We’re on it right now. Shh!) Though many people appreciate and enjoy Facebook, just as many seem to have mixed feelings about it. Peggy Orenstein, writing in the New York Times last week, penned a piece exploring the sudden awkwardness of your past by way of connecting with “friends” from nursery school who find you on Facebook. That seems cute compared to finding out your significant other has left you by way of a status update on their page. Just remember, those experiences build character.
Sheryl Sandberg (pictured) is the COO of Facebook and will be visiting 92YTribeca next month for our Captains of Industry series. We imagine she’ll have lots to say about social relationships in the age of Facebook, their new redesign which has been suggested is a response to a perceived threat from Twitter (BTW, do you Twitter?) as well as the recent brouhaha over a recent change to Facebook’s privacy agreement—then rescinded under protest from users.
Facebook, Facebook, Facebook! It really is all we hear.
When Hannah Takes the Stairs opened in 2007, New York magazine called director Joe Swanberg “a filmmaking machine” and cautioned readers, “Try not to be depressed that [he] is only 26.” Flavorwire recently interviewed “the indie film great” in advance of the world premiere of his latest flick, Alexander the Last, at the always swinging South By Southwest Festival in Austin, TX last Saturday. Here’s an excerpt:
Flavorwire: Real actors portraying actors rehearsing for a play is hard to pull off. In your film, these scenes felt like a voyeuristic look into a real rehearsal. Ditto for the scenes in You Wont Miss Me, which you cameo’ed in. What’s your secret for pulling this off?
Joe Swanberg: David Lowery and I wrote a real play and let the actors actually rehearse it. Jane was free to direct them, because she was playing the director of the play, and Josh was free to interject or contribute thoughts because he was the playwright. It moved very quickly and was a lot of fun. I had specific ideas that I wanted to get across, so I gave some general notes before each take, but then I let everyone go. Of course we had to move much faster than a true theater production, because we only had a few days, so we had to let each rehearsal scene in the film stand in for what would have been a week or two of actual rehearsal.
FW: We loved the scene where the director tells Alex that it’s OK to be falling for her hunky love interest in the play. Have you witnessed actors falling in love on set? You and your wife have collaborated on projects. How did you meet?
JS: I don’t know if I would recognize other people falling in love on set. I’m usually too wrapped up in my own thoughts. But I have certainly recognized my own emotions being very heightened while working. Personally I’m more susceptible to falling in love with footage. There’s something about the way it never changes and my ability to edit it that appeals to my own control freak personality.
Having said that, I met my wife at college and I fell in love with her before we worked on any projects together. She told me her favorite movie was Raising Arizona and I fell into a swoon. We generally tend to bicker and disagree when we work together, so our relationship works a lot better away from movie sets.
We turned to journalist/blogger Philip Weiss for a preview of Monday’s talk - “Why We Need a Liberal Israel Lobby: What It Means for Israel and American Jews” - so let’s return for his recap:
I begin with my alienation because it helps to politically frame the event I went to last night, called “Why We Need a Liberal Israel Lobby,” at the 92d Street Y, which is a Jewish space. There were five Jews on the stage, most of them on “the left,” and yet I felt my views were only partially represented. The person who voiced my views most was Jeremy Ben-Ami of J Street, and the lesson of this story is what a difficult job J Street will have if it confines its efforts to Jewish communal life. It can’t, and it won’t; and last night demonstrates why it can’t do so.
The hall was crowded with about 300 people, and the discussion was remarkable for three statements. One, Ben-Ami’s sense of isolation from the organized Jewish community. Two, Eric Alterman’s profession of dual loyalty. And three, the panel’s agreement that the Chas Freeman case has had a large effect.
One. The speakers were liberal lobby supporters Alterman of the Nation, Ben-Ami of J Street, and Michelle Goldberg, a writer on religious themes. Their opposition came from Rabbi Steve Gutow, who was representing the ancien lobby, as the director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. The panel was moderated by Jane Eisner of the Forward, who I found to be largely supportive of Gutow, though this may have reflected her responsibility as moderator; in general, though, I was surprised that she seemed blindered to the spiritual crisis that Israel is in today.
The general thrust of the night was that liberals are deeply disturbed by the new face of Israel and feel unrepresented by American Jewish organizations, meaning AIPAC. In a word: We want peace, and they support the Israeli right wing. Goldberg summed this up best. She identified herself as a Zionist and said she is horrified by what is happening to Israel. “This is the last chance to save Israel.” The left’s “invidious” claim that Israel is South Africa may become “apt” in years to come, she said, because you can’t reconcile democracy with a government comprising Avigdor Lieberman. And if American Jews had only spoken out more forcefully against Lieberman, they would have had an effect.
Right on the heels of this discussion, the Y is hosting a talk with award-winning documentary filmmaker Oren Rudavsky; Abe Foxman, the executive director of the Anti-Defamation League; Wall Street Journal editor Bret Stephens; and moderator Thane Rosenbaum, Fordham Law School professor, to discuss “Why Zionism Has Become a Dirty Word” on March 24.
Film: For the Next 7 Generations: The Grandmothers Speak. Followed by an interactive discussion with filmmaker, Carole Hart, audience & invited activists.
Comedy Below Canal: An Evening of Entertainment from the Witness Protection Program Featuring “Jon” from Adult Swim’s Delocated with “Bo Ra Flengo” and more.
Fri, Mar 20
Relationship Reconstruction: Consider how your primary relationship will change and what you need to do to keep it happy. Includes lunch.
Terre Roche’s Spring Song Sing Along: An indoor family-friendly preview of Terre’s acclaimed Battery Park “Sunset Singing Circle” (Songbooks provided, blankets optional)
Program Notes: Zukerman ChamberPlayers and Yefim Bronfman, piano
The following are program notes for the concert with the Zukerman ChamberPlayers and pianist Yefim Bronfman (pictured) at the 92nd Street Y on March 22, 2009.
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Born Salzburg, Austria, January 27, 1756; died Vienna, December 5, 1791
Quartet for Piano and Strings in E-flat Major, K. 493 Composed in 1786; 27 minutes
On June 3, 1786, one month after the triumphant premiere in Vienna of The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart put the finishing touches on the second of his two great quartets for piano and strings. Its predecessor, in the characteristically “tragic” key of G minor, had been criticized by the publisher as excessively difficult to play, and hence to sell to the music-buying public. Franz Anton Hoffmeister reportedly advised the composer to “write in a more popular vein, otherwise I shan’t be able to publish and pay for any more of your works.” To which Mozart is said to have retorted, “In that case I shan’t earn any more and shall starve, but I don’t care.” Although the story is probably apocryphal, it may contain a nugget of truth: Mozart was hard up at the time and approached Hoffmeister for a loan. In any case, he apparently responded to his publisher’s ultimatum by wiggling out of his contract (he had originally agreed to supply several piano quartets for the burgeoning amateur market) and placing the E-flat Major Quartet, K. 493 in more appreciative hands.
Despite its sunnier disposition, K. 493 makes no more concession to amateur-grade technique than the G minor Quartet, at least as far as the keyboard part is concerned. The two outer movements—marked Allegro and Allegretto, respectively—sport long stretches of bracing duple-time passagework designed to show off both the pianist’s accuracy and agility. (That pianist was, of course, Mozart himself.) Departing from the conventional 18th-century continuo model, Mozart makes the pianist a full-fledged partner in the ensemble. Indeed, the original publication was advertised as being scored “for harpsichord or piano with violin, viola and cello accompaniment,” no doubt to avoid scaring off less-proficient string players. Much of the keyboard writing is mercilessly exposed, the lack of harmonic “filler” giving the music an extra measure of transparency.
Tom Davis and the Early Days of Saturday Night Live
Video: New York Post covers the book launch party for Tom Davis’s memoir on the early years of Saturday Night Live
Flavorwire interviews legendary Saturday Night Live writer and performer Tom Davis who reveals how he dealt with writer’s block, or just writing in general.
Flavorwire: Thanks for answering the phone, Tom. Let’s just start with what everyone always wants to know. How much of those first years of SNL were written on loads of mind-shattering drugs?
Tom Davis: My heroes are Laurel & Hardy and Bob & Ray, so obviously those guys weren’t high when they wrote their best stuff. But then again Ken Kesey and Jack Kerouac were on speed, Bill Burroughs was on heroin, and I thought, maybe I should try that! And the Grateful Dead — which as you know is a huge influence on me and my work — they’d be blazing, the audience would be turned on, and there would be this amazing exchange with the band and their fans.
FW: I think the same thing happened with SNL, except through the TV screen.
TD: Yes! One day I took LSD and tried to do one of my hand-written drafts, political satire. My hand-writing was illegible. That was the biggest problem. The material was usable, but the process was less productive. Now, I do my best writing in the morning, really around 1 to 2 p.m., by 3 p.m. I’ve started cooking and drinking and then the day is shot.
FW: It’s hard to write drunk, I agree, or even hungover.
TD: Hungover people are people, too. They’ve fought in every war and served in the Congress of the United States, in both Houses. As for what I call WUI (Writing Under the Influence), good writing whenever, however it happens is a blessing, whether you’re on drugs, straight, or hung-over, good is still good. I remember one time, it was during Watergate and Nixon’s final days in office, and we were desperate to find the material, but we just couldn’t get through this writer’s block. We had one last chance, so we took LSD and as the sun was coming up, it just kind of wrote itself. Of course, I never got a thank you. The main thing if you’re going to write a television show and be on drugs, is to have at least three dealers, because, you know, drug dealers are flaky and you can’t keep your colleagues waiting when there’s work to do — that’d be irresponsible. So you have back-ups.
Tom will be joined by comedian Mark Malkoff on March 26 at 92YTribeca to discuss his career in comedy and his new book, Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss: The Early Days of SNL from Someone Who Was There. Davis will talk about everything from coming up with the idea for the Coneheads with Dan Aykroyd, to bar-hopping around Manhattan with Bill Murray and Paul Shaffer creating the Nick the Lounge Singer sketches, to his twenty year relationship with comedy partner Al Franken, to creating The Continental sketches for Christopher Walken and so much more.
If Jacques Torres Has His Way, New York City Will Soon Have One More Ice Cream Truck
World renowned pastry chef/chocolatier Jacques Torres made a visit to 92Y last night for a talk on chocolate and wine, and Jane Levere from the Huffington Postwas present to report all the sweet details. During his talk, Jacques let a few ideas out of the bag that will surely excite New Yorkers. Jane writes that he is considering opening an ice cream store this summer in Brooklyn next to his original store in DUMBO. But it gets better, much better:
“Torres, whose three New York shops already sell ice cream sandwiches during the summer, said ice cream in the proposed store would incorporate chocolate trimmed from candy during the manufacturing process. ‘Imagine ice cream with chocolate and passion fruit, raspberry, peanut butter, banana,’ he said. Torres also said he was exploring the purchase of an ice cream truck. ‘How cool will it be to serve ice cream on a truck in New York City in the summer?’ he asked.”
How cool indeed. And we have a suggestion for the ice cream truck. Perhaps it could incorporate a Twitter or Foursquare account, letting followers know it’s location in New York City throughout the day?
Upcoming Food Events:
Rachael Ray in Conversation with Kim Severson: Mar 26
Wine and Cheese Pairing with Meg Staloff and Martin Johnson: Apr 1
Check out the The Jewish Channel‘s Week in Review video above and pay extra attention around the 2:40 mark when they highlight last week’s Purim Spiel at 92YTribeca. Comedian Seth Herzog breaks it all down for you.
92Y Video: Jeremy Nelson & Luis Lara Malvacías’ Sooner Than You Think
The 92Y Harkness Dance Festival continues apace. Premiering this Wednesday is Jeremy Nelson & Luis Lara Malvacías: Sooner Than You Think. The video above features an exclusive sneak peek at the upcoming performance, as Jeremy and Luis graciously allowed us into their workspace in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to shoot footage of a rehearsal.
As well, in celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Harkness Dance Center, Thirteen New York WNET aired a special documentary on its history. You can view highlights here.
And don’t forget, in celebration and support of dance in New York City, the Harkness Dance Center continues to invite the community to attend affordable and free performances at our Sundays at Three Dance Previews, where you can see performances of new and reconstructed works by emerging and established choreographers, and the free Fridays at Noon showings, mixed-bill events focusing on the process of creating choreography where three to four choreographers show finished or in-progress choreography with audience discussion following each work.
From last Thursday’s monthly comedy gig hosted by Paul F. Tompkins and Janeane Garofalo, here is everyone in a compact collage (clockwise from top left): Tompkins, Morgan Murphy, Jon Benjamin, Garofalo, Larry Murphy, Kurt Braunohler and Wayne Federman.
Upcoming Comedy Events:
An Evening of Entertainment from the Witness Protection Program Featuring “Jon” from Adult Swim’s Delocated with “Bo Ra Flengo” (yes, that’s Yo La Tengo) and More: Mar 19
A Conversation with SNL Writer and Comedian Tom Davis: Mar 26
Comedy Below Canal hosted by Stuckey and Murray, with Joe Mande, Amy Schumer, Bryan Tucker and Surprise Guests: Mar 26
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin on Living Jewish Ethics: Join one of today’s premier scholars on Jewish tradition and thought, for an extraordinary look at how to practice “loving they neighbor as thyself.”
Wed, Mar 18
Africa: Conversations with a Continent: Egypt. Copresented with the Museum for African Art.
I would emphasize that Schumer’s investment is not unusual: Virtually every Jew in America with any communal life at all has been inculcated to some degree with Zionist ideas—the “secular religion,” per Dershowitz; to be anti-Zionist is to be anti-Semitic, says the American Jewish Committee—and has either gone along with it, in the great majority of cases, or agonized and had to form a reasoned opposition or criticism of it, as I have. I bet that Rahm Emanuel, the gameplayer nonpareil, has never thought twice about his Zionism, which was as natural to him as the fact that his father was a member of the Israeli terrorist organization the Irgun; and so when Israel was under attack in 1991, Rahm ran over there to serve on a civilian base, in uniform. And while most American Jews have never been to Israel, a majority of us say that Jerusalem must never be divided: again, a nationalist-religious belief, which they have not examined, or been forced to examine.
There are many Jews in our public life who have struggled to reconcile Zionist ideals with Israel’s behavior. Eric Alterman is a good example. He’s a liberal Jew who is also a Zionist. And he is, to his great credit, upfront about his investment; he is doing a forum on an alternative Jewish Israel lobby on Monday night. Now I disgree with Alterman on many issues around Israel; but at least he says, I’m a Zionist, the Jewish state is important to me.
The forum he is referring to is at the Y and is titled, Why We Need a Liberal Israel Lobby: What It Means for Israel and American Jews. In addition to Alterman, the panel features Jeremy Ben-Ami (executive director of J Street), Rabbi Steve Gutow (executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs), Michelle Goldberg (author of the New York Times bestseller Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism) and Jane Eisner (Forward editor).
Soon after, on March 24 at the Y, award-winning documentary filmmaker Oren Rudavsky; Abraham Foxman, the executive director of the Anti-Defamation League; Wall Street Journal editor Bret Stephens; and moderator Thane Rosenbaum, Fordham Law School professor, will discuss Why Zionism Has Become a Dirty Word. It seems Weiss’s position on that is pretty clear.
The Zagat Survey is the world’s leading provider of consumer survey-based information on “where to eat, drink, stay and play” worldwide, with ratings and reviews based on the opinions of more than 325,000 surveyors around the globe. Now celebrating the 30th anniversary of their first guidebook, Tim and Nina Zagat recently discussed turning their passion into a business that changed the way we make dining decisions and the revolution that has taken place in the restaurant industry with Joan Hamburg, host of The Joan Hamburg Show on WOR Radio, at the 92nd Street Y on March 10. You can watch the full program above.
Upcoming Food Programs:
Up Close and Personal with Mr. Chocolate, Jacques Torres: Mar 16
World Premiere of Perestroika with post-screening discussion featuring internationally award wining director of Liquid Sky, Slava Tsukerman, Academy-Award winner F. Murray Abraham and acclaimed actress Ally Sheedy: Mar 19
The Screening Room: Last Jews of Libya (Mar 15), The Fire Within: Jews in the Amazonian Rainforest (Mar 30), Hothouse (Apr 2)
All we hear all day long at school is how great Facebook is at this, or how wonderful Facebook did that! 
The following are program notes for the concert with the Zukerman ChamberPlayers and pianist Yefim Bronfman (pictured) 
World renowned pastry chef/chocolatier Jacques Torres made a visit to 92Y last night for a talk on chocolate and wine, and Jane Levere from the Huffington Post 
Journalist Philip Weiss (pictured) writes about American-Israeli relations, American Jewish life, and the role of the Israel lobby in American political and cultural life on his blog, 
