Radio Jarocho from Vera Cruz, México.
Queens Botanical Garden is gearing up for summer with a weekend of unique performances and family activities, celebrating the beginning of summer and our good friends – the birds.
On Saturday July 14, 2012, Queens Botanical Garden will continue its ongoing Music in the Garden summer performance series with an outdoor concert featuring musical group Radio Jarocho.
The five-member ensemble will perform a unique blend of Afro-Caribbean and Mexican styles called “son Jarocho,” from Vera Cruz, Mexico, with roots in Spanish folk music. “Son Jarocho is a very fun music to play,” says band member Gabriel Guzman. “It’s also very inclusive. We all love it because everyone can dance, sing or play.” The versatile musical group will perform works from their just-released CD, Café Café!, playing traditional instruments like the ten-stringed jarana and four stringed requinto that have origins in 17th Century Spain.
Sponsored by Astoria Federal Savings, the free Saturday concert is just one in a series of performances hosted by the Garden this summer that will invite audiences to experience a wide range of musical styles and traditions. “We have such a wealth of creative, diverse talent right here in our beloved borough of Queens. We at QBG are delighted to offer these musical experiences to the public and extend Garden hours so that people can enjoy the garden on a summer evening,” notes Darcy Hector, QBG’s Director of Marketing & Development. The program on the 14th will be preceded at 4:30pm by a Spanish-language tour of the Garden and at 5:30pm by authentic Mexican food for purchase from local restaurant Nixtamal.
Visitors to the garden will be admitted to the outdoor concert free with garden admission. The performance will begin at 6pm on the Garden’s Oak Allee. For more information about Radio Jarocho and the July 14th concert at Queens Botanical Garden, please contact Darcy Hector at 718-886-3800, ext. 330 or dhector@queensbotanical.org.
At 6pm on Saturday June 16th, contemporary dance troupe BodyArt will present their roving outdoor performance “Anatomy of Lost.” The dramatic dance show will be set in several locations within the Garden, traveling from site to site against a floral summer backdrop and the New York City skyline. Following the performance, the dancers will be available for a question and answer session with the audience on the Terrace.
Sunday June 17th at the Garden will be an ideal bird-themed day for children, families, and nature lovers. Activities will begin at the Visitor & Administration Center lobby with an 11am bird and nature walk led by QBG staffer and avian enthusiast Shari Romar. From 1 to 4pm, the Children’s Activity Table, sponsored by TD Bank, will be available to children for various crafts projects, including making their own birdfeeders.
Storyteller Bobby Gonzalez will perform at 1pm, sharing a delightful collection of Native American folktales about our feathered friends. Flora the QBG mascot will also make appearances at the event. Sunday’s musical entertainment will be a woodwind concert performed by the world-touring Quintet of the Americas at 2:30pm in the auditorium of the Visitor & Administration Building. The concert “Birds in the Garden” is a lively series of pieces inspired by the music of Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil.
For more information about “Summer Solstice Weekend” at Queens Botanical Garden, please contact Darcy Hector at 718-886-3800, ext. 330 or dhector@queensbotanical.org.
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Queens Botanical Garden is an urban oasis where people, plants and cultures are celebrated through inspiring gardens, innovative educational programs and demonstrations of environmental stewardship. Located at 43-50 Main Street in Flushing, Queens Botanical Garden is easily accessible by car, train, or bus. For travel directions and more information visit www.queensbotanical.org or call (718) 886-3800. Queens Botanical Garden is located on property owned by the City of New York, and its operation is made possible in part by public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
