MEDIA ADVISORY FOR JUNE 27, 7 PM
RSVP to Linda.Pacheco@qc.cuny.edu
Contact:
Shawn Choi Maria Matteo
Kupferberg Center for the Arts Queens College
Shawn.Choi@qc.cuny.edu Maria.Matteo@qc.cuny.edu
QUEENS COLLEGE AND NYC PARKS LAUNCH BOROUGH-WIDE COLLABORATIVE OFFERING FREE CULTURAL EVENTS THROUGH OCTOBER
—Initiative will provide access to the Inaugural Kupferberg Center for the Arts-sponsored Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series and feature emerging and professional artists from the Queens College School of Arts—
WHAT: A free and open-to-the-public launch event to announce a transformative partnership between Queens College of the City University of New York and NYC Parks to promote cultural vibrancy through free performances and interactive workshops focused on music, dance, and the visual arts in multiple locations across the borough through October. The NYC Parks-supported initiative will include access to performances in the inaugural Kupferberg Center for the Arts-sponsored Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series and feature emerging and professional artists from the Queens College School of Arts.
Among the initiative highlights are the Beach Opening Ceremony at Rockaway Beach and Saturday music concerts at Dinkins’ Circle in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Art and nature walks will be offered in collaboration with the college’s Godwin-Ternbach Museum, the only museum in the borough with a collection that spans antiquity to the present day. Events will also take place in Alley Pond Park, Crocheron Park, Forest Park, Highland Park, and parks in southeast Queens and the Rockaways. A continually updated events listing is available on the Queens College School of Arts website HERE.
WHO: Invited speakers include Jacqueline Langsam, Queens Borough commissioner, NYC Parks; Frank H. Wu, president, Queens College; Ellen Kodadek, executive director, Flushing Town Hall; Simone Yearwood, interim dean of Arts and Humanities, Queens College; and local elected officials.
The Queens College Aaron Copland School of Music Jazz Trio and the Antonio Hart Quartet will perform. Emmy-nominated saxophonist Hart is a professor of jazz studies in the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College.
WHERE: Archie Spigner Park (Great Lawn area) | 169 Street, Merrick Boulevard, and Marne Place between Linden Boulevard, Sayres Avenue and 111 Road, Jamaica, New York | Directions
Background
Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College (KCA) is the largest multidisciplinary arts complex in Queens, offering performances by world-class artists in on-campus venues; regional and local talent in off-site neighborhood performances; and professionally produced shows by Queens College students and faculty. Its mission is to provide high quality, accessible and affordable cultural attractions to the Queens College community and the borough’s 2.3 million residents.
Queens College School of Arts offers the most comprehensive, multidisciplinary arts education within the City University of New York (CUNY) system. Founded in 2022, it houses renowned programs in theatre, dance, fashion, studio art, and design as well as the Aaron Copland School of Music, Media Studies, and the MFA in Creative Writing and Literary Translation.
NYC Parks is the steward of more than 30,000 acres of land—14 percent of New York City—including more than 5,000 individual properties ranging from Coney Island Beach and Central Park to community gardens and Greenstreets. It operates more than 800 athletic fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds, 1,800 basketball courts, 550 tennis courts, 65 public pools, 51 recreational facilities, 15 nature centers, 14 golf courses, and 14 miles of beaches. It cares for 1,200 monuments and 23 historic house museums. It looks after 666,000 street trees, and five million more in parks. It is New York City’s principal provider of recreational and athletic facilities and programs. It is home to free concerts, world-class sports events, and cultural festivals.
Flushing Town Hall (FTH) and the Louis Armstrong House Museum (LAHM) are presenting partners of the Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series. FTH created the Queens Jazz Trail Map in the 1990s to illustrate the expansive community of jazz artists who at one point in their lives called Queens home. Such global jazz icons as Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, John Coltrane, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne and scores of others all resided in the World’s Borough. The Queens Jazz Trail Map masterfully brings this rich history to life.
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Queens College produces more education graduates who become principals, teachers, and counselors for the city’s public schools than any other college in the metropolitan area. The college contributes to the local talent pool as a powerful economic engine and a leader in tech education. Students from across the country and around the world are attracted to study at the Aaron Copland School of Music. Its renowned faculty and alumni include nationally recognized composers, conductors, and performers who have received over 100 Grammy Awards and nominations.
Queens College enjoys a national reputation for its liberal arts and sciences and pre-professional programs. With its graduate and undergraduate degrees, honors programs, and research and internship opportunities, the college helps its more than 20,000 students realize their potential in countless ways, assisted by an accessible, award-winning faculty. Located on a beautiful, 80-acre campus in Flushing, the college has been cited by Princeton Review as one of America’s Best Value Colleges for four consecutive years, as well as being ranked a U.S. News and World Report Best College and Forbes Magazine Best Value College thanks to its outstanding academics, generous financial aid packages, and relatively low costs. Visit our homepage to learn. more.