Summer is in full swing, and the arts are everywhere – indoors, outdoors, and online; in the big city and in your own small town. Get out there and enjoy!
Jazz Forum Arts presents Free Outdoor Summer Concerts
Enjoy live jazz in your neighborhood park! Jazz Forum Arts has been presenting free outdoor summer concerts since 1985 and will present 32 concerts this July and August at five Hudson River locations: Dobbs Ferry Waterfront Park, Lyndhurst and Pierson Park in Tarrytown, Horan’s Landing in Sleepy Hollow and Henry Gourdine Park in Ossining.
Visit the Jazz Forum Arts website for a full schedule of events.
Westchester Choral Society and Memorial United Methodist Church present
45th Season of Summer Sings
Tuesdays from 7- 9pm
Memorial United Methodist Church, 250 Bryant Avenue, White Plains, NY
Admission includes refreshments and use of score.
Tuesday, July 8: Haydn: The Creation (in English)
Tuesday, July 15: Mozart: Requiem
Visit the Westchester Choral Society website for more details.
Hudson Valley Shakespeare presents The Matchmaker
(In repertoire with Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors)
Through August 3
Hudson Valley Shakespeare, 2015 Route 9, Garrison, NY
Set between a sleepy Hudson River town and the bustling metropolis of 1880’s New York City, Thornton Wilder’s comic masterpiece is a delightful exploration of love, adventure, and the pursuit of happiness. Don’t miss the play that inspired the musical Hello, Dolly! in a big boisterous production featuring HVS favorites Nance Williamson and Kurt Rhoads as Dolly Levi and Horace Vandergelder.
Tickets are available on the HVS website.
The 92Y presents Midsummer MusicFest
Bell-Isserlis-Denk Trio & Friends – Fauré I and II
Wednesday, July 9, at 7:30pm and Saturday, July 12, at 7:30pm
Kaufmann Concert Hall, The 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, New York
The concerts will also be streamed online.
Featuring: Joshua Bell, violin; Steven Isserlis, cello; Jeremy Denk, piano; Irène Duval, violin; Blythe Teh Engstroem, viola
This chamber music dream team gives their first NYC performance in six years, performing two different evenings of gorgeous music by Gabriel Fauré. The artists perform a selection of the composer’s most exquisite works in multiple configurations: quintet, quartet, trio, duo, and solo.
Get tickets and see program details for Fauré I July 9 on the 92Y website
Get tickets and see program details for Fauré II July 12 on the 92Y website
The Run AMOC* Festival at Lincoln Center presents Music for New Bodies
Thursday, July 10 – Saturday, July 12, at 8pm
David Geffen Hall, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY
Experience the New York premiere and first collaboration between AMOC* Co-Founder Matthew Aucoin and director Peter Sellars, Music for New Bodies. This major new work is a “vocal symphony” with music by Aucoin, directed by Sellars, and a libretto based on poems by Jorie Graham, collaboratively assembled by Aucoin and Sellars.
Music for New Bodies premieres at Lincoln Center as part of Summer for the City’s Run AMOC* Festival, following orchestral performances with DACAMERA/Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and Aspen Music Festival and School. It was developed through an Artistic Innovators Residency at Brown Arts Institute in Fall 2024; technical rehearsals took place this spring right here at The Purchase PAC.
Learn more and get tickets on the AMOC* website.
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts presents
Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor, with Twelfth Night
Saturday, July 12, at 7:30pm
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, 149 Girdle Ridge Road, Katonah, NY
Join acclaimed countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo in an evening of arias by Handel and Vivaldi, accompanied by historical performance specialists Twelfth Night. One of today’s biggest opera stars, Costanzo recently produced and starred in The Comet/Poppea at Lincoln Center in June. His debut solo album, Glass/Handel, paired the two iconic composers and was subsequently toured as an innovative, live multi-media spectacle.
Learn more and get tickets on the Caramoor website.
Untermyer Gardens Conservancy Minnie Untermyer Series presents
Westchester Philharmonic Brass Quintet: Leaves of Brass
Sunday, July 13, at 5pm
Untermyer Gardens Amphitheater, 945 North Broadway, Yonkers, NY
Featuring: Wayne du Maine, trumpet; Dovas Lietuvninkas, trumpet; Shelagh Abate, horn; Sara Jaovino, trombone; Marcus Rojas, tuba
Amid the botanical splendor of Untermyer Gardens, the Westchester Philharmonic’s brass quintet perform their inspiring blend of classical, jazz, and popular styles, from Gabrielli to Bach to Shostakovich to Duke Ellington, all illuminated by trumpeter Wayne du Maine’s signature “guided tour” to the music.
For tickets, visit the Untermyer Gardens website.
The Metropolitan Opera in association with PBS and The WNET Group presents
Great Performances at the Met: Fidelio
Premieres Sunday, July 13
Great Performances at the Met returns with Fidelio, Beethoven’s only opera, starring Lise Davidsen as Leonore, a faithful wife who risks everything to save her husband from the clutches of tyranny. Susanna Mälkki conducts the production which finds modern-day parallels in Beethoven’s eulogy to freedom. David Butt Philip is the political prisoner Florestan, sharing the stage with Tomasz Konieczny as the villainous Don Pizarro, René Pape as the jailer Rocco, and Ying Fang as Marzelline.
Learn more and check local listings on PBS.org
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents
CMS Summer Season at Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Spa Little Theatre, 19 Roosevelt Drive, Saratoga Springs, NY
Sundays, July 13 and July 20, at 3pm.
Doors open at 2pm, the house opens at 2:30pm.
July concerts are “Mendelssohn’s String Quintet in A Major” (July 13), and “Beethoven’s Quintet for Piano and Winds” (July 20).
Visit the Saratoga Performing Arts Center website for more information.
CMS Summer Evenings at Alice Tully Hall
Tuesdays and Saturdays through Saturday, July 26
1941 Broadway at W 65th St, New York, NY
Experience world-class chamber music performances in the cool and comfortable atmosphere of Alice Tully Hall, and stay after the performance and get to know the artists in the lobby with a complimentary glass of wine. A select number of complimentary seats are available for each performance through a partnership with TodayTix. Lotteries open two weeks before each performance.
Enter the ticket lottery on the CMS website
Purchase Digital Encore access
In Concert with CMS
Can’t make it to either location? View WNET’s All Arts series In Concert with CMS, hosted by CMS artist Kristin Lee.
Tune in to the ALL ARTS broadcast channel to view individual episodes.
The Neuberger Museum presents
Drop-In Tour: Proscenium and Light Art
Wednesday, July 16, 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY
Stephen Antonakos: Proscenium is a monumental neon installation that transforms the Museum’s Theater Gallery into a radiant environment of light, color, and form. Created in 2000 by pioneering light artist Stephen Antonakos, Proscenium invites visitors to experience space as both physical and spiritual—connecting with light in real, immediate, and kinetic ways. Led by Rem Ribeiro, Curatorial Assistant, this tour will delve into the stories and ideas behind Antonakos’s luminous abstraction and its relationship to performance, perception, and presence.
Reserve your spot for the tour on the Purchase College website
Wellness Wednesday: Meditative Drawing
Wednesday, July 16, 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Meditative drawing begins following the Drop-In Tour for Stephen Antonakos: Proscenium and From Your Collection: Light Art. Ease into a quiet moment of creativity. During this open sketch hour, we provide the space, paper, pencils, stools, and drawing boards—no instructors, no expectations, just you and the art.
Learn more about Meditative Drawing at the Neuberger Museum of Art
Upstate Art Weekend
Thursday, July 17, through Monday, July 21
This annual event celebrates the cultural vibrancy of upstate New York through events and open exhibitions. UAW launched in 2020 with 23 organizations and expanding to more 155 participants in 2025. Participants are local arts organizations, galleries, museums, residencies and creative projects, mixed with temporary exhibitions and events staged especially for UAW. With its official participants and partners, UAW creates a program of public and private events, plus maps, itineraries and tours for the thousands of visitors each year.
Learn more about Upstate Art Weekend on the event website
The RBF Culpeper Arts & Culture Program, Ken Peplowski, and the National Jazz Museum present
One-Day Jazz Festival at the Pocantico Center The Sound of Jazz: Music for Our Time
Saturday, July 19, from 3-6pm
David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center at Pocantico, 200 Lake Rd, Tarrytown, NY
Legendary jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist Ken Peplowski will present a one-day concert celebrating the spirit and rich history of jazz. In partnership with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Peplowski will bring together a talented lineup of local and national musicians. Performers will honor the timeless brilliance of legendary artists with sets featuring Brazilian jazz, music from the swing and big band era, contemporary jazz, and music by Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman. Presented as part of Upstate Art Weekend.
Learn more on the Pocantino Center’s website.
Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute presents
National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America
Every summer, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute brings together dazzling up-and-coming musicians at Purchase College for its trio of youth ensembles: the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA), NYO2, and NYO Jazz. This summer’s stats are impressive—the 208 young participants hail from 40 states plus the District of Columbia and Guam. Following their concerts at Carnegie Hall (NYO-USA on July 20, NYO Jazz on July 26, and NYO2 on July 27), the groups embark on overseas tours, including inaugural visits by NYO-USA to Japan as part of a larger tour to Asia, NYO2 to Europe, and NYO Jazz to Latin America.
Learn more about NYO-USA
Listen to NYO Concerts live on WQXR
The Katonah Museum of Art presents
Drop-in Drawing
Saturday, July 26, at noon
Katonah Museum of Art, 134 Jay Street, Katonah, NY
Whether you’re an experienced artist or want to learn, drop in for an inspiring session of gallery sketching. KMAA artist and Purchase PAC staff member Monique Ford will be on hand to offer tips and techniques. Basic supplies are provided. Open to adults and free with admission.
Drop-In Drawing will also be offered in August and September.
Learn more about Drop-In Drawing on the Katonah Museum of Art website
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts presents
The Bang on a Can Festival Ensemble: Terry Riley’s In C
Sunday, July 27, at 4pm
Pre-concert conversation with members of Bang on a Can at 3pm.
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, 149 Girdle Ridge Road, Katonah, NY
A specially-chosen ensemble of players from Bang on a Can visit Caramoor for a celebration of legendary composer Terry Riley’s 90th birthday with a dynamic spatial-specific performance of Riley’s minimalist classic In C, a magical music adventure designed for the grounds of Caramoor.
Register for this free event on the Caramoor website
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Culture Picks celebrates the performing arts. In each post, PAC staff member Coni Guhl shines the spotlight on work by artists that you know and love from their appearances at The Purchase PAC, and offers recommendations about other performing arts events that you really should not miss. Experience them all!
All times are EDT unless otherwise noted.
Pictured: Westchester Philharmonic Brass Quintet at Untermyer. Photo courtesy of the artist.
