Concerts in the Parks by the New York Philharmonic are a June tradition in Central Park, Prospect Park, Van Cortlandt Park, Cunningham Park, and on Staten Island.
Go 2-3 hours early because these concerts are very popular. There are opening acts.
Concerts in the Parks 2017
Alan Gilbert conducts. These are some of his last performances as conductor of the New York Philharmonic.
2017 Program
The Staten Island program is different.
Antonín Dvořák ~ Symphony No. 9, From the New World (1893)
Dvořák, a Czech composer, is famous for his compositions based on the folk music of his native Bohemia (Prague) and Moravia.
While visiting the United States from 1892 to 1895, he was inspired by the melodies of Black and Native Americans.
Leonard Bernstein ~ Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (1957)
The Broadway musical and movie is set in the old Puerto Rican neighborhood where Lincoln Center is now.
George Gershwin (1898-1937) ~ An American in Paris (1928)
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is New York City’s Classical/Jazz theme. His next piece was An American in Paris which Gershwin wrote while studying with composer Maurice Ravel in Paris in 1928, the height of the Jazz Age.
2017 Concerts
Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx
Tuesday, June 13 at 8pm
6:30pm performance by Bronx drum collective BombaYo
The concert is north of the baseball fields.
Enter the park from Broadway, near West 251st Street.
Central Park
Wednesday, June 14 at 8pm
6pm performance by Black bluegrass band The Ebony Hillbillies
6:30pm performance by Armenian folk group Zulal
The concert is on the Great Lawn.
Enter on the Westside from Central Park West at West 81st or 86th Streets.
Enter on the Eastside from Fifth Avenue at East 79th or 85th Streets.
Cunningham Park, Queens
Thursday, June 15 at 8pm
6pm performance by Swing band The Queens Cartoonists
6:30pm performance by Spanish gaita band Slum Suit
The concert is at 193rd Street Field.
Enter at 193rd Street, near 81st Avenue or Union Turnpike.
Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Friday, June 16 at 8pm
6:30 performance by Saxophone 4tet The Side Project
Snug Harbor Cultural Center Music Hall, Staten Island
Sunday, June 18 at 3pm
Accordionist Guy Klucevesk performs at 2pm.
(indoors)
This free concert requires tickets.
https://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/1617/concerts-in-the-parks-june-18
Mozart/Arrangement Triebensee ~ “Madamina, il catalogo è questo” and “Là ci darem la mano” from Don Giovanni
Mozart ~ Wind Serenade in C minor
Schubert ~ Piano Quintet, Trout