Holiday Happenings

• Kick off the holiday season with the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony, sponsored by Borough President Adolfo Carrion and Community Board 7, on Dec. 13 at 6 p.m. on Bainbridge Avenue at Mosholu Parkway.

 

• Join the tree lighting at Poe Park on the Grand Concourse at East 192nd Street and East Kingsbridge Road, Dec. 13 at 6 p.m., hosted by Bronx Parks.

 

• Lehman College’s Center for the Performing Arts hosts the Messiah, featuring members of the Bronx Opera Chorus and the Orchestra of the Bronx, conducted by Michael Spierman, as well as text readings by Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Jr., Bronx historian Lloyd Ultan, and Bronx community members, Dec. 16 at 3 p.m. (tickets are from $10 to $25; $10 for ages 12 and under). Immediately following this event, ticket holders can partake in A Taste of the Bronx Food Show, courtesy of the Bronx Tourism Council, where visitors can sample the cuisine of some of the Bronx’s top restaurants. Lehman is located at 250 Bedford Park Blvd. W. For more information, call (718) 960-8833.

• A free Holiday Spectacular, concert featuring a mix of holiday music is brought to the Bronx by the Lehman College Community Band, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. in Lehman’s Lovinger Theatre, located at 250 Bedford Park Blvd. W. For more information, call (718) 960-8247.

 

• The Church of the Holy Nativity, at 3061 Bainbridge Ave., presents a Christmas Concert, Dec. 22 at 4 p.m. Tickets are $10 and $7 for ages 10 and under. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call (718) 652-5853.

 

• A Ceremony of Carols, performed by the Riverdale Choral Society, will be held at Christ Church Riverdale at 252nd Street and Henry Hudson Parkway East, Dec. 16 at 4 p.m. Tickets are $15 and $13 with the Bronx Cultural Card. For more information, call (718) 543-2219.

 

• The Bronx Museum, 1040 Grand Concourse at 165th Street, presents its Family Affair Holiday Party, Dec. 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. Festivities include art making, food, and guided tours of the Quisqueya Henriquez: The World Outside exhibit (see listing under “Exhibits”). For more information, call (718) 681-6000 ext. 120.

 

• Los Nutcrackers: A Christmas Carajo, a Latino comedic Christmas play about a gay couple, interweaving the stories of “The Nutcracker” and “A Christmas Carol,” will be at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance on Dec. 13 to 15, at 8 p.m. BAAD is located at 841 Barretto St. in the south Bronx. Tickets are $15. For reservations, call (718) 842-5223.

 

• The New York Botanical Garden is full of holiday cheer through Jan. 13, with the yearly Holiday Train Show in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory with city and suburban scenes all made of plant parts and large-gauge model railway trains and trolleys. Holiday Nights at the Garden, from 6 to 9 p.m. on Dec. 15, 22, and 26-31, includes lights, caroling performances, cider, hot chocolate and gingerbread. In addition, children can have Gingerbread Adventures in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden where they can smell, touch, and taste the ingredients of a gingerbread recipe and decorate their own gingersnap cookies, followed by Winter Wonderland of Gingerbread Houses, a display of elaborate gingerbread creations by renowned bakers. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

 

• The Bronx Library Center, 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. off Fordham Road, presents a Holiday Concert, featuring Mary Pearson’s YES/NO NET Jazz Band, Dec. 15 at 2:30 p.m.; Spanish Holiday Concert, featuring Teodoro Colon and Marilyn Rivera, Dec. 15 at 6 p.m.; and A Christmas Carol, for children, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. For a detailed schedule, call (718) 579-4244/46 or visit www.nypl.org.

Onstage

• “The Little Engine That Could,” in puppets, joins the host of holiday activities at the New York Botanical Garden in the Arthur and Janet Ross Lecture Hall Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 23 and daily Dec. 26 through 31 at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

Events

• Seasonal Tastings will be offered at Wave Hill’s Shop in the Perkins Visitor Center from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekends throughout the holiday season. Try zesty tangerine tea and marmalade, Dec. 14 through 16 and discover the flavors of orange cranberry tea and marmalade, Dec. 21 though 23. Wave Hill is located at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue in Riverdale. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 ext. 385 or visit www.wavehill.org.

Exhibits

• Lehman College’s Art Gallery hosts Beatrice Coron: The Secret Life of Cities, through Jan. 11 in the Edith Altschul Lehman Wing. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 250 Bedford Park Blvd. W. For more information, call (718) 960-8731.

 

• Ornamental Instincts, a show of seasonal, nature-inspired installations that bring into focus the ornamental genius of nature’s varied habitats, will be on exhibit through Feb. 10, 2008 at the Wave Hill House located at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue in Riverdale. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 or visit www.wavehill.org.

 

• The Bronx Museum of the Arts hosts Quisqueya Henríquez: Outside Traditional Art in the artist’s first major appearance in the United States, through Jan. 27, 2008. The exhibition is a selection of her work examining the sensory qualities of urban life, including a daily visual dispatch from Santo Domingo, where she currently lives. The museum, located at 1040 Grand Concourse at West 165th Street, is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., except for Friday, when it is open until 8 p.m. Suggested admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students and seniors and is free on Fridays for members and for children under 12. For more information, call (718) 681-6000 or visit www.bronxmuseum.org.

 

• The Longwood Arts Project, the contemporary art center of the Bronx Council on the Arts, presents Material Culture at the Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos Community College, 450 Grand Concourse at 149th Street, through Feb. 7. The artists in this exhibit present works in a selection of wood, clay, metal, glass, fiber works and mixed media art, rather than simply paint and canvas. For more information, call (718) 931-9500 ext. 21 or (718) 518-6728.

Learning

• Wave Hill presents two family art projects: It’s A Wrap, Dec. 15 and 16, to make one-of-a-kind wrapping paper by printing repeating patterns inspired by nature; and Collage the Colors of Winter, Dec. 22 and 23, to collect a variety of plant materials, then combine them with a variety of papers in collage creations that capture the tones and textures of the season. Both are in Wave Hill’s Kerlin Learning Center from 1 to 4 p.m. Wave Hill is at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue in Riverdale. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 or visit wavehill.org.

 

• The Bronx Library Center has events for all ages:

For children, there’s a video on Dec. 19 at 4 p.m.; Family Time for preschoolers and school-aged children, Dec. 15 at 11 a.m. Also for school-aged children, there’s: Stories and Songs of Latin America, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m.; Stories and Tales from Around the World, Dec. 17 at 4 p.m.; and Holiday Magnet Making, Dec. 20 at 4 p.m.

Young adults can Play Chess! in a workshop with Ramon A. Hernandez, Dec. 18 at 4 p.m.; join Anything Goes!, a clay workshop, Dec. 14 at 4:30 p.m.; and Make Your Own Kwanzaa Ornament, Dec. 20 at 4 p.m.
Adults can attend Make Crochet Gifts for the Holidays, a workshop on Dec. 17 and 19 at 4 p.m.;
The Center is located at 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. off Fordham Road. For a detailed schedule, call (718) 579-4244/46 or visit www.nypl.org.

• A special children’s program, Gadgets and Gizmos: Gears, to assemble your own see-through clock to understand how its mechanisms work, will be held at the Mosholu Library, 285 E. 205th St., Dec. 18 at 4 p.m. For more information, call (718) 882-8239.

 

• Folk Tales from Around the World, will be presented for ages 5 to 12, at the Jerome Library, 118 Eames Place, on Dec.18 at 4 p.m. For more information, call (718) 549-5200.

A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HEALTHY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR READERS!

NOTE: Items for consideration should be received in our office by Dec. 17 for the next publication date of Dec. 27.