Memorial Day weekend doesn't have to just be for beaches and barbecues – with an extra day off, there's time to catch a concert too, whether you want to be outside or indoors, honoring the holiday with patriotic tunes or hearing an orchestra. It's also a day full of free music. Here are a few options for your listening in New Jersey and New York.
The New York Philharmonic offers its annual free Memorial Day concert on Monday at 8 p.m. Music director Alan Gilbert will lead performances of Shostakovich's weighty Symphony No. 10 and Beethoven's "Egmont" Overture at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Ave., in New York. Tickets will be distributed at the venue at 6 p.m., but you won't necessarily miss out if you don't snag one – if weather permits, the music will be broadcast onto the Pulpit Green outside the church. For more information, visit nyphil.org.
The Cape May Music Festival opens with an appropriately themed free concert on Sunday. Under Salvatore Scarpa, the Atlantic Brass Band will perform traditional American music at 8 p.m. on Sunday at the Rotary Bandstand on Lyle Lane in Cape May. More information is available at capemaymac.org.
A different kind of American classic takes the stage at 54 Below on Monday. Nick Spangler of Broadway's recent "It Shoulda Been You" will sing from Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical hits, including tunes such as "If I Loved You," "Edelweiss," "You Are Never Away," and "All At Once You Love Her." The concert begins at 7 p.m. and doors open at 5:15 p.m. The venue is located at 254 W. 54th St., New York. Tickets are $30-$75 in advance and an additional $5 at the door, plus a $25 food and drink minimum. Call (646) 476-3551 or visit 54below.com.
Ocean Grove will feature the Atlantic Wind Ensemble gratis in popular marches and patriotic anthems at the Great Auditorium tomorrow at 8 p.m. The performance, titled "We the People – A Concert of Patriotic Music," will include works by Gustav Holst, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and John Philip Sousa. The venue is located at Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways, Ocean Grove, with more information at oceangrove.org.
Ocean Grove will feature the Atlantic Wind Ensemble gratis in popular marches and patriotic anthems at the Great Auditorium tomorrow at 8 p.m. The performance, titled "We the People – A Concert of Patriotic Music," will include works by Gustav Holst, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and John Philip Sousa. The venue is located at Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways, Ocean Grove, with more information at oceangrove.org.
Former local fixture Father Alphonse Stephenson returns to New Jersey to lead the Orchestra of St. Peter By the Sea at the Algonquin Arts Center in the lively popular classics "Rhapsody in Blue" by Gershwin and "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky tomorrow at 3 p.m. The multimedia-augmented concert is a benefit for the Cecilia Foundation, which provides students in Ocean and Monmouth counties with musical instruments. Tickets are $43-$51 with student and senior discounts. Call (732) 258-9211 or visit algonquinarts.org.
This weekend happens to be time for one of Carnegie Hall's free Neighborhood Concerts, this one, featuring fast-rising soprano Julia Bullock. Accompanied by Renate Rohlfing, she will sing songs by Samuel Barber, Mussorgsky, Poulenc, Richard Strauss and John Cage as well as spirituals. The concert takes place tomorrow at 5 p.m. at St. Michael's Church, 225 W. 99th St., New York, (212) 222-2700 orsaintmichaelschurch.org
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Spend some time hearing chamber music on a boat this weekend with the Bargemusic Masterworks series. Violinist Mark Peskanov heads a quintet of performers who will play music by Mozart, Schubert, Bizet and Brahms tomorrow at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. Bargemusic is at Fulton Ferry Landing near the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn. Tickets are $40, $35 for seniors and $20 students. Call (800) 838-3006
