Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts Archives - Ƶ /tag/leonard-claire-tow-center-for-the-performing-arts/ The Spirit of Brooklyn Tue, 31 Mar 2026 20:25:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 Powerful Puppet Theater Series “Layer the Walls” Comes to Ƶ /bc-brief/powerful-puppet-theater-series-layer-the-walls-comes-to-brooklyn-college/ Fri, 16 Jan 2026 20:53:59 +0000 /?p=121183 Experience history, storytelling, and artistry woven together through unforgettable puppet performances that bring New York City’s immigration history to life for all ages.

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Step inside New York City’s past through a breathtaking fusion of history, storytelling, and visual artistry. “” an acclaimed puppet theater production by Grand Pistachio, arrives at Ƶ for two unforgettable performances that bring the city’s immigration stories vividly to life for audiences of all ages.

On January 25 and 31, the Claire Tow Theater at Ƶ’s Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts will transform into a Lower East Side tenement apartment, where generations of immigrant families once lived, dreamed, and persevered. Through stunning puppetry and deeply human narratives, “Layer the Walls” reveals the true stories embedded within these walls.

Having already captivated more than 50,000 young people and families nationwide, this powerful series underscores Ƶ’s role as a vibrant anchor for the arts in Brooklyn and beyond.

“Layer the Walls exemplifies the kind of daring, imaginative work we are proud to present at the Leonard and Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts,” said the Tow Center’s new Director Eveline Chang. “By blending visual storytelling, movement, and unexpected perspectives, this series invites Ƶ audiences to experience puppetry as a powerful contemporary art form, one that breaks boundaries, sparks curiosity, and brings people together across disciplines.”

About the shows:

Set in a Lower East Side tenement apartment, “Layer the Walls” explores the true stories of immigrant families who once lived within its walls. Part I and Part II are stand-alone performances and may be enjoyed in any order, allowing audiences to choose the stories that resonate most with them.

All performances are 60 minutes and include a free post-show workshop. Tickets are $10.

Performance details:

“Layer the Walls Part” I (Ideal for ages 8 and up)
Turn of the Century (1870–1909)
Sunday, January 25 at 2 p.m.

  • An Irish father finds work building the Brooklyn Bridge.
  • Italian brothers survive the Great Blizzard of 1888.
  • Russian Jewish girls join the 1909 Garment Workers’ Strike.

Tickets:

(For Ƶ community, please, include discount code LAYER5 for discounted $5 tickets.

Watch trailer (Part I)

“Layer the Walls” Part II (Ideal for ages 9 and up)
Midcentury (1930–1970)
Saturday, January 31 at 2 p.m.

  • A Chinese father swims the Hudson River to save his family.
  • A teen Holocaust survivor finds refuge in New York City.
  • Puerto Rican cousins join the Young Lords’ fight for healthcare justice.

Watch trailer (Part II)

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Grand Pistachio: Layer the Walls /event/grand-pistachio-layer-the-walls/ Sat, 31 Jan 2026 19:00:00 +0000 /?post_type=tribe_events&p=121010 Using puppetry, masks, and live action, Layer the Walls tells the incredible stories held within each layer of a Lower East Side tenement. Each part has three unique stories that can be viewed in any order.

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Using puppetry, masks, and live action, Layer the Walls tells the incredible stories held within each layer of a Lower East Side tenement. Each part has three unique stories that can be viewed in any order.

Part I — Turn of the Century (1870–1909)

Sunday, Jan. 25, 2 p.m.
An Irish father builds the Brooklyn Bridge, Italian brothers endure the Blizzard of 1888, and Jewish girls face the 1909 Garment Strike.

Part II — Midcentury (1930–1970)

Saturday, Jan. 31, 2 p.m.

A Chinese father swims the Hudson, a Holocaust survivor finds refuge, and Puerto Rican cousins join the Young Lords’ fight for healthcare justice.

The post Grand Pistachio: Layer the Walls appeared first on Ƶ.

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Grand Pistachio: Layer the Walls /event/grand-pistachio-layer-the-walls-2/ Sun, 25 Jan 2026 19:00:00 +0000 /?post_type=tribe_events&p=121008 Using puppetry, masks, and live action, Layer the Walls tells the incredible stories held within each layer of a Lower East Side tenement. Each part has three unique stories that can be viewed in any order.

The post Grand Pistachio: Layer the Walls appeared first on Ƶ.

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Using puppetry, masks, and live action, Layer the Walls tells the incredible stories held within each layer of a Lower East Side tenement. Each part has three unique stories that can be viewed in any order.

Part I — Turn of the Century (1870–1909)

Sunday, Jan. 25, 2 p.m.
An Irish father builds the Brooklyn Bridge, Italian brothers endure the Blizzard of 1888, and Jewish girls face the 1909 Garment Strike.

Part II — Midcentury (1930–1970)

Saturday, Jan. 31, 2 p.m.

A Chinese father swims the Hudson, a Holocaust survivor finds refuge, and Puerto Rican cousins join the Young Lords’ fight for healthcare justice.

The post Grand Pistachio: Layer the Walls appeared first on Ƶ.

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Reconstructing by the TEAM /event/reconstructing-by-the-team-5/ Sun, 11 Jan 2026 22:00:00 +0000 /?post_type=tribe_events&p=119792 Onstage is a two-story house. From one angle, it’s mucked out after a flood. From another, it’s a new development wrapped in Tyvek. And from another, it’s “Tara” from Gone with the Wind being transformed into an Airbnb. The piano can’t be tuned. Someone is quilting in the corner. Come in.

The post Reconstructing by the TEAM appeared first on Ƶ.

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Created byThe TEAM (Artistic Director Rachel Chavkin; Producing Director Emma Orme)
Directed byRachel Chavkin & Zhailon Levingston
Presented byThe TEAM and The Tow Center for the Performing Arts at Ƶ
As part ofUnder the Radar Festival® /

Dates:Jan 9-11, 2026
Runtime:approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes,with no intermission.
Late seating policy:limited late seating is available
Ticketsrange from $20-$55


Onstage is a two-story house. From one angle, it’s mucked out after a flood. From another, it’s a new development wrapped in Tyvek. And from another, it’s “Tara” from Gone with the Wind being transformed into an Airbnb. The piano can’t be tuned. Someone is quilting in the corner. Come in.

Co-written by 21 Black-, POC-, and white-identifying artists ranging in age from 29 to 99, RECONSTRUCTING is a new work by internationally-renowned theater collective the TEAM that wrestles with how, in the aftermath of slavery, we might move through history together. Propelled by a quilt-like score, this “complex and combustible project” (Sarah Holdren, Vulture) slips between fact and fiction and performance and ritual to tell a story of historical figures and fictional characters seeking and fleeing intimacy—and us as makers doing the same.

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Reconstructing by the TEAM /event/reconstructing-by-the-team-4/ Sun, 11 Jan 2026 17:00:00 +0000 /?post_type=tribe_events&p=119791 Onstage is a two-story house. From one angle, it’s mucked out after a flood. From another, it’s a new development wrapped in Tyvek. And from another, it’s “Tara” from Gone with the Wind being transformed into an Airbnb. The piano can’t be tuned. Someone is quilting in the corner. Come in.

The post Reconstructing by the TEAM appeared first on Ƶ.

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Created byThe TEAM (Artistic Director Rachel Chavkin; Producing Director Emma Orme)
Directed byRachel Chavkin & Zhailon Levingston
Presented byThe TEAM and The Tow Center for the Performing Arts at Ƶ
As part ofUnder the Radar Festival® /

Dates:Jan 9-11, 2026
Runtime:approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes,with no intermission.
Late seating policy:limited late seating is available
Ticketsrange from $20-$55


Onstage is a two-story house. From one angle, it’s mucked out after a flood. From another, it’s a new development wrapped in Tyvek. And from another, it’s “Tara” from Gone with the Wind being transformed into an Airbnb. The piano can’t be tuned. Someone is quilting in the corner. Come in.

Co-written by 21 Black-, POC-, and white-identifying artists ranging in age from 29 to 99, RECONSTRUCTING is a new work by internationally-renowned theater collective the TEAM that wrestles with how, in the aftermath of slavery, we might move through history together. Propelled by a quilt-like score, this “complex and combustible project” (Sarah Holdren, Vulture) slips between fact and fiction and performance and ritual to tell a story of historical figures and fictional characters seeking and fleeing intimacy—and us as makers doing the same.

The post Reconstructing by the TEAM appeared first on Ƶ.

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Reconstructing by the TEAM /event/reconstructing-by-the-team-3/ Sun, 11 Jan 2026 00:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=tribe_events&p=119790 Onstage is a two-story house. From one angle, it’s mucked out after a flood. From another, it’s a new development wrapped in Tyvek. And from another, it’s “Tara” from Gone with the Wind being transformed into an Airbnb. The piano can’t be tuned. Someone is quilting in the corner. Come in.

The post Reconstructing by the TEAM appeared first on Ƶ.

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Created byThe TEAM (Artistic Director Rachel Chavkin; Producing Director Emma Orme)
Directed byRachel Chavkin & Zhailon Levingston
Presented byThe TEAM and The Tow Center for the Performing Arts at Ƶ
As part ofUnder the Radar Festival® /

Dates:Jan 9-11, 2026
Runtime:approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes,with no intermission.
Late seating policy:limited late seating is available
Ticketsrange from $20-$55


Onstage is a two-story house. From one angle, it’s mucked out after a flood. From another, it’s a new development wrapped in Tyvek. And from another, it’s “Tara” from Gone with the Wind being transformed into an Airbnb. The piano can’t be tuned. Someone is quilting in the corner. Come in.

Co-written by 21 Black-, POC-, and white-identifying artists ranging in age from 29 to 99, RECONSTRUCTING is a new work by internationally-renowned theater collective the TEAM that wrestles with how, in the aftermath of slavery, we might move through history together. Propelled by a quilt-like score, this “complex and combustible project” (Sarah Holdren, Vulture) slips between fact and fiction and performance and ritual to tell a story of historical figures and fictional characters seeking and fleeing intimacy—and us as makers doing the same.

The post Reconstructing by the TEAM appeared first on Ƶ.

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Reconstructing by the TEAM /event/reconstructing-by-the-team-2/ Sat, 10 Jan 2026 19:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=tribe_events&p=119789 Onstage is a two-story house. From one angle, it’s mucked out after a flood. From another, it’s a new development wrapped in Tyvek. And from another, it’s “Tara” from Gone with the Wind being transformed into an Airbnb. The piano can’t be tuned. Someone is quilting in the corner. Come in.

The post Reconstructing by the TEAM appeared first on Ƶ.

]]>
Created byThe TEAM (Artistic Director Rachel Chavkin; Producing Director Emma Orme)
Directed byRachel Chavkin & Zhailon Levingston
Presented byThe TEAM and The Tow Center for the Performing Arts at Ƶ
As part ofUnder the Radar Festival® /

Dates:Jan 9-11, 2026
Runtime:approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes,with no intermission.
Late seating policy:limited late seating is available
Ticketsrange from $20-$55


Onstage is a two-story house. From one angle, it’s mucked out after a flood. From another, it’s a new development wrapped in Tyvek. And from another, it’s “Tara” from Gone with the Wind being transformed into an Airbnb. The piano can’t be tuned. Someone is quilting in the corner. Come in.

Co-written by 21 Black-, POC-, and white-identifying artists ranging in age from 29 to 99, RECONSTRUCTING is a new work by internationally-renowned theater collective the TEAM that wrestles with how, in the aftermath of slavery, we might move through history together. Propelled by a quilt-like score, this “complex and combustible project” (Sarah Holdren, Vulture) slips between fact and fiction and performance and ritual to tell a story of historical figures and fictional characters seeking and fleeing intimacy—and us as makers doing the same.

The post Reconstructing by the TEAM appeared first on Ƶ.

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Reconstructing by the TEAM /event/reconstructing-by-the-team/ Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=tribe_events&p=119786 Onstage is a two-story house. From one angle, it’s mucked out after a flood. From another, it’s a new development wrapped in Tyvek. And from another, it’s “Tara” from Gone with the Wind being transformed into an Airbnb. The piano can’t be tuned. Someone is quilting in the corner. Come in.

The post Reconstructing by the TEAM appeared first on Ƶ.

]]>
Created byThe TEAM (Artistic Director Rachel Chavkin; Producing Director Emma Orme)
Directed byRachel Chavkin & Zhailon Levingston
Presented byThe TEAM and The Tow Center for the Performing Arts at Ƶ
As part ofUnder the Radar Festival® /

Dates:Jan 9-11, 2026
Runtime:approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes,with no intermission.
Late seating policy:limited late seating is available
Ticketsrange from $20-$55


Onstage is a two-story house. From one angle, it’s mucked out after a flood. From another, it’s a new development wrapped in Tyvek. And from another, it’s “Tara” from Gone with the Wind being transformed into an Airbnb. The piano can’t be tuned. Someone is quilting in the corner. Come in.

Co-written by 21 Black-, POC-, and white-identifying artists ranging in age from 29 to 99, RECONSTRUCTING is a new work by internationally-renowned theater collective the TEAM that wrestles with how, in the aftermath of slavery, we might move through history together. Propelled by a quilt-like score, this “complex and combustible project” (Sarah Holdren, Vulture) slips between fact and fiction and performance and ritual to tell a story of historical figures and fictional characters seeking and fleeing intimacy—and us as makers doing the same.

The post Reconstructing by the TEAM appeared first on Ƶ.

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Ƶ to Welcome Celebrated Pianist Mikhail Voskresensky /bc-brief/brooklyn-college-to-welcome-celebrated-pianist-mikhail-voskresensky/ Thu, 14 Nov 2024 16:39:17 +0000 /?p=107331 The Russian master emigrated to the United States in 2022 in response to the invasion of Ukraine and is currently an artist-in-residence at the Juilliard School in New York.

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Ƶ will host celebrated pianist Mikhail Voskresensky for a special master class that is free and open to the public on Dec. 6, 6–8 p.m., in the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts.

Born in Berdyansk, Ukraine, Voskresensky emigrated to the United States in 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and is currently an artist-in-residence at the Juilliard School in New York. Since his arrival in the United States, he has seen overwhelming support and interest from the media and the music community.

Watch Voskresensky discuss leaving Russia after invasion of Ukraine .

Voskresensky won first prizes at the Van Cliburn and Schumann international competitions, among others, and has appeared as a soloist with some of the world’s finest orchestras. The longtime head of the piano faculty at the prestigious Moscow Conservatory, his alma mater, his students have won 120 top prizes at the world’s major international competitions.

Voskresensky’s recent and future engagements include concerts and master classes at the Aspen, PianoTexas, and Northern Lights festivals, Eastman School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Georgia, University of Washington, and abroad at the Royal College of Music in London, Barcelona Conservatory, Amsterdam Conservatory, and Hamburg Hochschule of Music.

You can read more about his illustrious career .

Master class with Mikhail Voskresensky
When: Dec. 6, 6–8 p.m.
Where: Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts, Don Buchwald Theater
This event is free and open to the public.

 

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Conservatory of Music’s Jesse Mills and Rieko Aizawa Making International Waves /bc-brief/conservatory-of-musics-jesse-mills-and-rieko-aizawa-making-international-waves/ Tue, 26 Sep 2023 17:42:32 +0000 /?p=87014 Adjunct professors Jesse Mills (violin) and Rieko Aizawa (piano) from Ƶ’s Conservatory of Music are members of the internationally recognized Horszowski Trio, which has made quite a splash in

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Adjunct professors Jesse Mills (violin) and Rieko Aizawa (piano) from Ƶ’s Conservatory of Music are members of the internationally recognized Horszowski Trio, which has made quite a splash in recent years through their incredible dynamic performances.

During this season, they will be ensemble-in-residence at the conservatory, where they will perform on November 28 in the Don Buchwald Theater in the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts, as well as record new original works of conservatory composers and give a masterclass. In addition to Ƶ, they will be visiting Rice University, the University of Michigan, Temple University, East Carolina University, and Longy School of Music.

Individually, Mills recently received the Achievement Award from the Chamber Music Center of New York, presented by Fred Sherry (cellist/former Artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center) on April 23, 2023. During the 2022-23 season, he was invited to judge the concerto competitions at the New England Conservatory and the Mannes School of Music.

For Aizawa, during the 2022-23 season, she was invited to judge at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the University of Michigan. She will also give a masterclass lecture with chamber music coaching at the Colburn School in Los Angeles in November 2023.

Some other Horszowski Trio notable news:

  • In the 2022-23 season, the trio gave the world premiere of works composed for the Horszowski Trio written by Derek Bermel, Paul Chihara, David Fulmer, and Kenji Bunch;
  • The trio will give the world premiere of Stewart Goodyear’s work commissioned by the Gardner Museum in Boston on February 4, 2024;
  • In the 2022-23 season, they performed and gave a class at many schools including Yale School of Music (CT), Northwestern University (IL), Eastman School of Music (NY), Princeton University (NJ), Bard College (NY), University of Buffalo (NY), and Boise State University (ID);
  • In 2023, the “Horszowski Trio Prize” was created by the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition to award piano trio winners.

 

 

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