Hudson River Museum Announces 2019 Summer Amphitheater Series and Free Evening Hours

YONKERS, NY, June 27, 2019 — The Hudson River Museum is pleased to announce the 2019 Centennial Summer Amphitheater Series, featuring a dynamic mix of performances on Friday and Saturday evenings from July 5–August 16. The HRM Amphitheater presents artists of the highest quality across multiple disciplines and genres, with a focus on both iconic and emerging performers who give memorable shows every season.

Now in its seventh year, the season kicks off with FJK Dance (July 5) and Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival’s Julius Caesar (July 6). There is also a diverse selection of entertainment in various genres, including Spanglish Fly (August 9), the opera The Consul (August 10), and we’ll be inviting audience participation during Tango Night (July 13) and Crash Course Karaoke (July 20).

All performances are FREE and begin at 8pm, with doors open at 7pm. The 400-seat outdoor Amphitheater boasts a stunning view of the Hudson River and the Palisades. The Museum will also offer free admission Friday and Saturdays from 5–8pm and free Planetarium shows at 7pm, from July 5 through August 31. Free parking is available.

The 2019 Summer Amphitheater Series is sponsored in part by Barbara and John Eager (July 20), SAX LLC (July 27), Mercy College (August 16), with additional support provided by the Henry E. Niles Foundation.

New This Year: Happy Hour!
This summer, the HRM is pleased to announce two Happy Hours on Saturday, July 13 and Friday, August 16, from 6–8pm. Visitors are invited to enjoy happy-hour priced wine, beer, and snacks in our Courtyard oasis, and explore the Museum’s exhibitions during our free evening hours.

The 2019 Centennial Summer Amphitheater Series is featured on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter using the hashtag #HRMAmphitheater #HRM100

Pennylick Ice Cream will be on site for all performances and the Dumpling Wagon food truck will be on site July 12, August 3, and August 16.

Full Schedule

Friday, July 5, 8pm
FJK Dance
Contemporary dance company FJK Dance will perform an exciting jazz program in honor of the Museum’s exhibition Can I Get a Witness: Photographs by Herb Snitzer. FJK is dedicated to presenting a unique fusion of dance genres—modern, jazz, classical ballet and traditional folkloric—in a language that expresses our fundamental, shared capacity to create.

Saturday, July 6, 8pm
Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival: Julius Caesar
The critically acclaimed Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (HVSF) presents an immersive theatrical experience about a charismatic war hero. On the brink of kingship, he is celebrated by the people of Rome but mistrusted by some of his closest friends who fear his popularity will throw the country into chaos. This immersive, 90-minute production of Shakespeare’s classic and timely tragedy encourages the audience to participate in the power play of politics and asks, “Whose side are you on?”

Friday, July 12, 8pm
Kaira and Friends
This New-York based musician and power band perform a concert inspired by the evolution of music in African American culture from gospel and jazz to R&B and hip hop, with a special tribute Ella Fitzgerald, who grew up in Yonkers.

Saturday, July 13, 8pm
Tango Night
Latin Grammy Award–winning bassist and composer Pedro Giraudo is among the most compelling tango artists today. After two decades performing with the most important interpreters of tango, Giraudo debuted his own Tango Orchestra at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing in 2015 and since then has become an active cultural ambassador of this passionate music of his native Argentina. Join these virtuoso musicians, the singer, and dancers for a short tango lesson and performance with the band!

Friday, July 19, 8pm
Big Mamou
Big Mamou was formed in what could be described as a cosmic Cajun and country collision when married couple Jim and Julianne Fenhagen met accordion player John Sherman. Their sound is a mashup of Cajun, zydeco, and country music.

Saturday, July 20, 8pm
Crash Course Karaoke
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing with Crash Course Karaoke, a rocking live-band karaoke group and a stellar list of popular moon-and space-themed songs spanning musical genres and eras. Mark your calendars for lift off for the ultimate interactive entertainment experience. This program is sponsored by Barbara and John Eager.

Friday, July 26, 8pm
Charlie Lagond and Friends: Peace, Love & Other Grooves
World-class musician and woodwind player Charlie Lagond has performed around the world with his own bands as well as alongside renowned artists Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, The Jackson Five, the Temptations, Natalie Cole, and Kid Creole & the Coconuts. Charlie and his band will perform soulful arrangements from inspirational songs of changing times a la Marvin Gaye, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Earth Wind and Fire, and more.

Saturday, July 27, 8pm
Benjamin Levy: Magic & Mind Reading
Benjamin Levy is a unique, multi-talented magician, memory expert, and speaker, who is the favorite of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and who has performed for the likes of President Obama and Muhammad Ali. His programs are memorable, entertaining, audience involving, highly personalized, sophisticated, and filled with humor and a very special charm. This program is sponsored by SAX LLC.

Friday, August 2
Firey String Sistas! 
This highly intuitive and energetic ensemble pushes the limits of string, ensemble playing, and improvisation. Their compelling performance incorporates aspects of women’s culture, original compositions, American songbook standards, world music, and jazz. Firey String Sistas! will also feature selections from their latest album, That’s What She Said.

Saturday, August 3
NY Neo-Futurists: The Infinite Wrench
A new way to experience theater. The Infinite Wrench is a barrage of 30 original plays performed in random order—a theatrical race against an onstage clock set for one hour. Each play offers something different, be it funny, profound, elegant, disgusting, topical, irrelevant, terrifying, or a song; all are truthful and tackle the here-and-now, inspired by the lived experiences of the performers. The Infinite Wrench is the Neo-Futurists’ ongoing and ever-changing attempt to shift the conventions of live performance and speak to audiences including those unreached or unmoved by traditional theater.

Friday, August 9
Spanglish Fly
Boogaloo! That mix of Latin and soul/R&B that emerged from the clubs, the street corners, the transistor radios, and the pool halls of 1960s Spanish Harlem, “El Barrio.” Inspired by Latin boogaloo, or bugalú, Spanglish Fly plays irresistible grooves that blend Afro-Caribbean rhythms with the fervor, the feeling, and the harmonics of 60s soul.

Saturday, August 10
The Consul
Do not miss this interpretation of famed American composer Gian Carlo Menotti’s 1950 powerful and universal opera, The Consul, directed by acclaimed soprano Yolanda F. Johnson and renowned opera director Nancy Rhodes. When the opera premiered in 1950, The New York Times hailed it as “a smash hit” and “an opera of eloquence, momentousness, and intensity of expression.” It is the story of John Sorel and his wife, Magda, and how he flees the secret police in an unnamed country to gain freedom in a new land. Nearly 70 years later, the words and music of The Consul ring just as true.

Friday, August 16
Diverse Concert Artists: This is America
Diverse Concert Artists are committed to changing the face of classical and crossover music through diversity. Featuring works of American classical composers and pop artists, this exceptional group draws inspiration from American folk, culture, and landscape. They have collaborated with major artists including Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Mark Ronson, Solange, Tony Bennett, and Bebe Rexha, and have performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Royal Opera House of Muscat, Merkin Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and many more.

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