Montclair Library To Host 3 Free Concerts: Baptista, ‘Art Songs,’ String Quartet

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair Public Library will host three live performances this September in the Main Library auditorium. All concerts are free and open to the public. For more information, visit montclairlibrary.org/calendar or call 973-744-0500 ext. 2235.

Cyro Baptista and Banquet of the Spirits concert

Friday, September 8 at 6:30 p.m. - Brazilian-born Montclair resident and two-time Grammy winner Cyro Baptista is one of the world’s pre-eminent percussionists, a master showman and an inveterate tinkerer who invents many of his instruments. Baptista has collaborated with everyone from Herbie Hancock, Yo-Yo Ma, Sting and Wynton Marsalis to Caetano Veloso, Brian Eno and Fred Frith. His group Banquet of the Spirits is an Afro-Brazilian improvisational jazz futurist juggernaut. Or thereabouts. There is nothing like it on the planet.

Beloved Art Songs: A Cornucopia for Voice and Guitar

Friday, September 22 at 12 p.m. - The program will feature art songs by Henry Purcell, W.A. Mozart, Franz Schubert, Federico Moretti, and Joaquin Rodrigo. Performers include: Lori McCann, soprano, and Darren O'Neill, classical guitar.

This performance is part of the On That Note music series, a collaboration between Montclair Public Library and Montclair State University’s John J. Cali School of Music. Hosted in the library’s auditorium, the series provides a venue for university students and staff to perform off campus. Registration recommended.

New Muse 4tet concert

Thursday, September 28 at 7 p.m. - Founded in 2015 by violinist/composer and Detroit native Gwen Laster, New MUSE 4tet is an improvising string quartet offering 20th and 21st Century works and original compositions as a vehicle for social activism. Laster’s commissioned work “Black Lives Matter Suite” premiered shortly after the group’s inception and continues to draw large audiences and critical acclaim. The 4tet sheds new interpretive light on familiar works and introduces audiences to the voices of the now.

This performance will include the Suite and works by modern improvisational masters Leroy Jenkins and Billy Bang, among others, and a post-concert discussion touching on the Suite, art and activism, and the creative process. Registration recommended.

Don’t forget to visit the Patch Montclair Facebook page here.

Send local news tips, photos and press releases to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Patch file photo

Want to post your next neighborhood event on the Patch? We do too! No matter how big or small it may be, if it's local, it has a place on the Patch calendar.

Posting an event is as simple as 1, 2, 3. Here's how to do it:

1. Create a Patch account and sign up to post your own local content on Patch, totally free. It's probably the easiest thing you'll do all day.
2. Make a Calendar Event and fill it with all the awesome info that people need to add it to their list of things to do in their neighborhood. Choose a fun image to upload and most importantly - have fun with it! It's your event, and the possibilities are endless.
3. Post it on Patch! That's it. Get ready for RSVPs.

You can share your event for free to three Patches, or if you really want to get the community's attention, you can pay $20 to feature your event. When an event is featured, it receives priority placement on the local calendar as well as on the homepage, article pages and in the daily newsletter (if available) the week before the event.