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
Click here for some tips on getting to the Boathouse.
Notes from the Captain’s Log
Dear Bargemusic Family,
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…”
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!
After half a century on the water, Bargemusic has come ashore.
On April 5, the org christened its terrestrial new home, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse, with some classical music — arrangements by Felix Mendelssohn and Beethoven, played by Bargemusic artistic director and violinist Mark Peskanov, cellist Edward Arron, and pianist Jeewon Park.
Peskanov wasn’t expecting all that much. The weather was dreary that day, not ideal for a waterfront concert, and it was the first time Bargemusic was performing somewhere other than its namesake barge since 1977. But fans old and new made their way to the boathouse and filled it to capacity.
“I couldn’t believe it, you know, the first concert — a full house,” Peskanov exclaimed. “That was very nice to see.”
The April 5 concerts were the start of a jam-packed season. At least two concerts a day are scheduled every Saturday and Sunday through the end of May, with more to come…
All of those concerts, Peskanov said, will be free. Bargemusic used to offer occasional free admission, and is now taking that one step further.
“Bargemusic’s mission from the beginning was to serve the community,” he said. “Right now, like every year before, it’s the single mission. There’s really nothing else.”
He hopes that free admission will mean more people can come see live music — including families with children and people who ordinarily wouldn’t be able to afford tickets…
Upcoming concerts
Select a performance for program information.
2pm: Violin and Piano Recital with Mark Peskanov and Doris Stevenson
4pm: Violin and Piano Recital with Mark Peskanov and Doris Stevenson
2pm: Pianist Jerome Lowenthal Plays Tchaikovsky’s Seasons
4pm: Pianist Ursula Oppens Plays Rzewski’s The People United…
2pm: “Great Scott!”: Scott Joplin with Pianist Richard Dowling
4pm: “Great Scott!” Scott Joplin with Pianist Richard Dowling
photograph: Etienne Frossard
