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The Queens New Music Festival headlines a jam-packed week of entertainment in Queens. Choose between comedy, lectures, Japanese films, performance art, book-making, outdoor art and free trees. Here’s the rundown.

May 14, John Luther Adams: The Immeasurable Space of Tones, 8 pm. The Lost Dog New Music Ensemble presents works by the 2014 Pulitzer-prize winning composer John Luther Adams. $25/$20 for students and seniors with a $5 discount if purchased online in advance. The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City.

May 14, Temple of Comedy, 7 pm. Featured comedians are Aaron Berg (Mr. Manners), Jessica Kirson (The Tonight Show) and ONI Perez (Gotham Live). This is a fundraiser for the historic, 90-year-old Astoria Center of Israel. $25/$35 at the door. The synagogue’s sanctuary, 27-35 Crescent Street, Astoria.

May 14, No Road for Me to Africa, 6 pm. Barbara Rothman discusses her book, a compilation of 19 letters, postcards, and notes translated from Yiddish and Polish. They document the Berman family, Jewish tailors in Warsaw during World War II. Four died during the Holocaust. Kupferberg Holocaust Center, 222-05 56th Avenue, Bayside.

May 15, RAM, Iktus Percussion and Julia Den Boer: Realms of Darkness and Light, 8 pm.In this program of music for drums, metals, mallets, electronics, and piano, the Random Access Music composers team up with Iktus Percussion and pianist Julia Den Boer to present new works that delve into the concepts, sounds, and energies of light and dark. $20. The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City.

May 15, Samurai Rebellion, 7 pm. This film is shown as part of the series Portraying the Human Condition: The Films of Masaki Kobayashi and Tatsuya Nakadai. It’s a samurai classic set in the 18th century. Elite swordsmen are driven to a final conflict by a social system that demands absolute loyalty. $12/$9 for seniors and students. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Kaufman Arts District.

May 15 & 16, Take Root with Thomas/Ortiz Dance and Indah Walsh Dance Company, 8 pm. Thomas/Ortiz presents two new dances inspired by social interactions. The first deals with the vices of human beings and how we deal, coexist, defeat, or surrender to demons. The second is set in the 1960s, depicting the similarities and differences of first dates in different cultures. $15. Green Space, 37-24 24th Street, Long Island City.

May 16, Golda’s Balcony Starring Tovah Feldshuh, 8 pm (and May 17 at 2 pm). Four-time Tony-nominee Tovah Feldshuh recreates her award-winning performance as Golda Meir. $35-$42. Goldstein Theatre, Queens College, 65-23 Kissena Boulevard, Flushing.

May 16, Maifest in the Garden, 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. An annual German tradition that includes music by Norman Curtis, food (beet and herring salad, spaetzle, bratwurst), and maibowle, a wine punch made with sweet woodruff. $30. Voelker Orth Museum, 149-19 38th Avenue, Flushing.

May 16, Hands-on History: Rufus’s Library, noon to 3 pm. Rufus King loved to read and owned more than 3,500 books. Take a tour of the museum to see his library. Create a book, decorate it using a popular 19th century technique called “paper marbleizing” and design a bookplate. Free. King Manor Museum, 150-3 Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica.

May 16, Eco-Music Big Band, 3 pm. This group presents a cross-section of its most dynamic repertoire, a fusion of the traditional and the antique. $20. The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City.

May 16, Giacomo Baldelli with OOOPStudio: Nidra, 5 pm.This 60-minute performance for electric guitar and video is a multi-sensory meditation on the dichotomies of internal and external, the subconscious and conscious, dreams and reality. $20. The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City.

May 16, Percussia: Twang & Bang, 8 pm. This local ensemble for percussion, flute, harp, and viola presents contemporary music incorporating a variety of stylistic influences ranging from video games to world music. $20. The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City.

May 16, Venus and Uranus, 7:30 pm. Explore the night sky with professor/astronomer Mark Freilich. Highlights might include: Venus, which shines highest this month; Jupiter, the largest planet with four Galilean moons; and the Virgo galaxy cluster. $15. Alley Pond Environmental Center, 228-06 Northern Boulevard, Douglaston.

May 16, It’s a Gift, 1 pm. On this day in 1929, the first Academy Awards were handed out in California. Even though it won no awards that year, the WC Fields classic It’s a Gift is regarded as his best and funniest picture. Free. Greater Astoria Historical Society, Quinn Building, 35-20 Broadway, Fourth Floor, Long Island City.

May 16, The Human Condition Part I: No Greater Love, 1 pm; Part II: Road to Eternity, 6 pm. This film is shown as part of the series Portraying the Human Condition: The Films of Masaki Kobayashi and Tatsuya Nakadai. The first part of this epic begins with self-righteous leftist Kaji taking a job at a steel mine in Japanese-controlled Manchuria. When his conscience is upset by the inhuman treatment of Chinese workers and he resists the casual brutality of the military police, he is drafted to fight for Japan. As the second episode of Kobayashi’s trilogy begins, Kaji enters the Kwantung Army, stationed in mainland China. The movie illustrates the dehumanizing effects of boot camp and Kaji’s transformation from idealism to pragmatism. $15. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Kaufman Arts District.

May 17, Sculpture Exhibitions, 3 pm. Socrates Sculpture Park opens individual projects that have transformed the green space’s natural landscape, stretching and striking its earth, plant life and trees to create connections between the social, scientific, and artificial. As part of the opening, artist Agnes Denes and Socrates invite the public to become part of her grand vision by sowing and planting The Living Pyramid to begin its evolution as a living artwork. Free. SSP, 31-01 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City.

May 17, Lord Nelson Mass, 4 pm. The Oratorio Society of Queens and the Orchestral Arts Ensemble of Queens perform Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, a celebration of spring’s promise of renewal and rebirth. The group plans to sing other choral masterpieces and solo selections. 35/$30 for seniors (62+) and students with ID/$10 for children (12 and under). Queensborough Performing Arts Center, 222-05 56th Avenue, Bayside.

May 17, Ensemble 365, 3 pm. This ensemble presents Eastern Currents: Contemporary Music of Asia, a program featuring chamber and solo works by composers who hail from Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Japan, and Taiwan. $20. The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City.

May 17, Bird and Nature Walk, 11 am. Springtime birds, flowers, and other treats provided by Mother Nature. Free with admission. Queens Botanical Garden, 43-50 Main Street, Flushing.

May 17, ISSA Sonus Ensemble: DVIRAAG, 5 pm. This evocative program includes works mostly for duets for flute with viola or cello that bridge music traditions with underlying hues of Eastern and Middle Eastern soundscapes. $20. The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City.

May 17, Música Ocular and Big Time: My Doodled Diary, 3 pm. The monthly Queer series Cinemarosa presents Música Ocular, a film about a Mexican village, where young deaf students strive to make a movie. Big Time revolves around the personal diary of a 13-year old girl dealing with puberty, pop culture, and her parents getting divorced. Queens Museum, NYC Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

May 17, The Human Condition Part III: A Soldier’s Prayer, 1 pm; Black River, 5 pm. This film is shown as part of the series Portraying the Human Condition: The Films of Masaki Kobayashi and Tatsuya Nakadai. The lead character is reduced to desolation, wandering a devastated landscape and fighting for his very survival, caught between Chinese partisans, the Japanese army, and Red Russia. In Black River, a young gangster who will do anything to turn a buck stars in this indictment of the lawlessness engendered by the presence of U.S. military bases. $15. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Kaufman Arts District.

May 17, Fertile Ground New Works Showcase, 7 pm. This monthly new works showcase for emerging and established artists produces the work of more than 50 choreographers a year. The non-curated performance event features five or six choreographers each evening and includes a post-performance discussion with wine and cheese. $10. Green Space, 37-24 24th Street, Long Island City.

May 17, Tree Giveaway, 1 pm. Choose from 200 small potted trees. MacDonald Park, Queens Boulevard and 70th Avenue, Forest Hills.

May 17, Becoming Soviet Jews: The Bolshevik Experiment in Minsk, 1 pm. Queens College professor Elissa Bemporad discusses her book on the ways in which Minsk Jews acculturated to Soviet society in the 1920s and 1930s while remaining committed to patterns of Jewish identity, such as Yiddish culture, circumcision, and kosher slaughter. Free. Kupferberg Holocaust Center, 222-05 56th Avenue, Bayside.

May 18, Jerusalem Day: Women Pioneers, 12:30 pm. The screening of a film about early Jewish feminists in Palestine in the 1920s, followed by discussion with critic Jan Lisa Huttner. $8 requested donation. Central Queens Y, 67-09 108th Street, Forest Hills.

May 19, Taste of Sunnyside, 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. This annual outdoor festival showcases Sunnyside’s restaurants. $60, VIP early entry at 5:30 pm, and $35, general admission 6:30 pm. Queens Boulevard between 45th and 46th streets, under the elevated 7 train.

May 20, North Beach, 7 pm. The Greater Astoria Historical Society hosts a lecture/slide presentation on North Beach, a summer resort where LaGuardia Airport is now. $10. QED Astoria, 27-16 23rd Avenue, Astoria.

May 20-23, Rebecca Patek, 8 pm. This NYC-based choreographer and performance artist synthesizes dance, theater, and comedy. This performance is loosely based on “The Crime of the Century” or the 1924 murder of Bobby Franks by Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. $15. The Chocolate Factory, 5-49 49th Avenue, LIC.

Photo by Maria Giancoli


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