What to Do in New York City in April

Published April 3, 2025 Updated April 10, 2025, 7:00 a.m. ET

Adam Tendler rehearsing at Bargemusic’s Brooklyn Bridge Boathouse, where he will perform on Saturday and Sunday.

Classical

Adam Tendler

April 12-13 at 2 and 4 p.m. at Brooklyn Bridge Boathouse, Pier 5; bargemusic.org.

“If you can flow with it, and stop wanting something dramatic to happen, it can be extremely rich,” Tom Johnson said in 1972 when describing the “minimal, slow-motion” music that was taking over the scene in downtown Manhattan. But these words might also be taken as advice for living. Minimalism invites listeners to slow down and sink in.

Those in need of a pause can journey to the Brooklyn Bridge Boathouse this weekend to hear the daring pianist Adam Tendler play two extended minimalist works: The first is John Adams’s “Phrygian Gates,” an early crystallization of the composer’s style, with musical cells replicating, expanding and tightening. The second is Johnson’s own “An Hour for Piano,” which starts with a crunch before settling into a pensive tenderness, the piano recalling faraway bells.

Each work gets its own performance with Adams’s piece presented first at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and Johnson’s at 4. You can pick just one concert, or attend both and enjoy the time in between watching the East River flow. Admission is free. Gabrielle Ferrari

The Boathouse is a ten-minute walk from Pier 1, the former site of Bargemusic. Walk south through the Park toward Pier 5. The Boathouse overlooks the river, opposite the Picnic Pier at Pier 5.

Notes from the Captain’s Log

Dear Bargemusic Family,

After presenting concerts for nearly 50 years in a floating concert hall at Pier 1, Bargemusic is now on land at the Boathouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park at Pier 5.

All Concerts Now Admission Free

We’re very excited about the new venue, just a ten-minute stroll from the Barge’s old location. We’re looking forward to seeing you all at The Boathouse at Pier 5 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Cheers!

Mark Peskanov and everyone at Bargemusic

Concerts resume April 5! Click HERE for dates and program information.

Bargemusic (the Barge) at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse

Mark Peskanov trying the sound at Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse (photograph: Margo Shohl)

“As Peskanov stated in his note to supporters, concerts under the Bargemusic banner will continue at a new site…the Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse, where programming is planned to resume on April 5.

‘To have this new, incredible place for the musicians and the whole community, it’s a great miracle and evolution,’ Peskanov wrote in a message.

‘We are very grateful to Eric Landau, the President of Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, and his great team at the Brooklyn Bridge Park.’

Peskanov further credits singer and composer DeBorge Pinnington, a Bargemusic board member, with the ‘amazing, impossible hard work and wisdom’ that made possible what he terms a ‘miraculous transformation’ as the Bargemusic concert series comes ashore for the time being.

The search for a new boat, he added, has already begun. Still, the last voyage of faithful EL 375 truly marks the end of an era.”

–Read the whole article by Steve Smith in “Night after Night” here

“Bargemusic, one of New York City’s most beloved musical venues, sails into the sunset.”

–Steve Smith, “Night after Night”

EL 375, the vessel that long housed Bargemusic, was unmoored and towed away late Monday afternoon. (Photograph: Bill Orme)

“…An observer named Bill Orme documented the barge’s departure yesterday, with poignant photos and a brief note on Instagram:

ormebill Beloved #bargemusic barge being tugged away into the sunset tonight, extracted from the #oldfultonlanding berth where the city’s only small floating impeccably programmed classical music venue has graced the Brooklyn waterfront for decades, since before #dumbo was ‘Dumbo’ and before there was a #brooklynbridgepark – the tug/barge crew hauling it away…”

WQXR Features Bargemusic in a Musical Tour of Brooklyn, with host John Schaefer

Listen Here

Bargemusic Presents Concerts at the Boathouse

All Concerts Now Admission Free

Beginning April 5, Bargemusic will be hosting its concerts at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse. The Boathouse, an architectural jewel at Pier 5, boasts gorgeous floor-to-ceiling views of the river and lower Manhattan. Nestled below a grassy earthworks crescent that shelters the Boathouse from traffic noise, the wood-paneled hall yields a warm and vibrant sound for chamber music. Full service restroom facilities are to the right of the entrance to the Boathouse. We look forward to seeing you soon!