NYC Events Picks for April 2011

Family Entertainment: Thunderbird Dancers

With elaborate period costumes, rich storytelling, and a variety of tribal dances, the Thunderbird Dancers will entertain and educate in the traditions of the American Indian peoples on Saturday, April 16. In existence for over 25 years, the Thunderbird Dancers specialize in the songs and dances of the tribes of the Northwest Coast, Woodlands (Iroquois and Winnebago), Plains (Sioux), and the Southwest (Hopi and Santo Domingo). Their repertoire includes the traditional Fancy Dance and Hoop Dance.

Nonmember tickets for kids are $14, adults are $20. For more information visit: www.symphonyspace.org

Calder Quartet at Brooklyn Public Library

With a background that seems both hip and classical, Calder Quartet will perform works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Janacek at the Dr. S. Stevan Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture at the Brooklyn Public Library on Sunday April 17. The Calder Quartet has worked with modern composers Terry Riley, Christopher Rouse, and Thomas Adès as well as indie rock bands The Airborne Toxic Event, Vampire Weekend and party rocker Andrew WK.

This is a free event. For more information visit: www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/dweck/

Earth Day Hike at Pelham Bay Park

Though it’s a full week before Earth Day, the parks department will host an extended hike through Pelham Bay Park, New York City’s largest public park, on Sunday April 17. Inspiring spring scenery is expected in abundance, including returning birds, emergent buds, and blooming wildflowers.

This event is free. Pelham Bay Park is located in the northeast corner of the Bronx. For more information visit: www.nycgovparks.org.

Acclaimed Vocalists Come Together

Soprano Sylvia Schwartz, mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink, tenor Michael Schade, and bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff are all acclaimed in their own right, but will join forces at Carnegie Hall on Monday April 25. The four will each display their skills before joining together to perform Brahms’s two brilliant sets of vocal quartets with unique two-piano accompaniment.

Tickets: $15.50–$92. For more information visit: www.carnegiehall.org.

Mezzo-Soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano

Twenty-six-year-old American mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, winner of the 2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and a fast-rising star at the Metropolitan Opera, makes her New York recital debut on Monday, May 2 at Merkin Concert Hall on the Upper West Side. Accompanied by a pianist, she will perform a great range of works by Porpora, Mahler, Ravel, and Argento. Dutch harpist Gwyneth Wentink will also join the Ravel work.

Tickets: $10–$40. For more information visit kaufman-center.org/merkin-concert-hall