MoMA Nights and Summergarden Concerts Highlight Summer 2012

This summer, live music performances return to The Museum of Modern Art's Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden with MoMA Nights on Thursdays in July and August and Summergarden concerts on four Sundays in July. In addition, MoMA will extend its hours by opening from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays (June 26 through September 25), a day the Museum is usually closed, and until 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays (July 5 through August 30), providing the public with more opportunities to enjoy the Museum's renowned collection and special exhibitions.

MoMA Nights will feature live music at 6:30 p.m., in the Sculpture Garden (weather permitting).

MoMA Nights concerts are free with Museum admission and feature an international and innovative selection of live music. In addition to an evening of Brazilian music in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Premiere Brazil!, MoMA's annual collaboration with the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival, audiences can expect African Soukous music, Colombian traditional folkloric Cumbia, Bubu music of Sierra Leone, virtuosic American guitar, an arresting experimental-pop singer/songwriter, and a concert of John Cage's percussion music commemorating the 2012 John Cage centenary.
Further concert details will be available in late-May. The MoMA Nights music series is organized in collaboration with Olivier Conan, programmer and co-owner of Barbe's performance space in Brooklyn.

During MoMA Nights, there will be a cash bar (specialty cocktails, draft beer, wine, and nonalcoholic beverages) and seasonal tapas for purchase in the Sculpture Garden. The Garden Bar will sell local gelati and sorbetti, ice cream sandwiches, and cookies, as well as wine, beer, and specialty coffees. Terrace 5, on the fifth floor of the Museum, will offer wines and salumi in an "urban picnic" in addition to the regular ala carte menu presented by Chef Lynn Bound.

On Sundays, July 8 through 29, the Museum's free Summergarden series once again welcomes the participation of two constituents from Lincoln Center-The Juilliard School and Jazz at Lincoln Center-with concerts in the Sculpture Garden (weather permitting). New Music for New York presents four evenings of adventurous contemporary music, with premieres each night. Members of The New Juilliard Ensemble, under the artistic direction of Joel Sachs, perform on July 8 and 22 and will offer two distinctive programs of contemporary compositions, all of which are enjoying their New York, United States, Western Hemisphere, or world premieres. Jazz at Lincoln Center has selected two leading jazz groups whose concerts on July 15 and 29 emphasize original works, each with one world premiere.

During Summergarden, the Garden Bar will sell gelati and seasonal sorbetti from il laboratorio del gelato, homemade cookies, and Cafe? 2's signature ice cream sandwich. Wine, champagne, American craft beer, specialty coffees, and bottled water are also available for purchase.

In addition to the Museum's collection, special exhibitions on view this summer include Ecstatic Alphabets/Heaps of Language (May 6–August 27), Alighiero Boetti: Game Plan (July 1– October 1), Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900–2000 (July 29–November 5), and Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist's Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets (August 12, 2012–January 7, 2013).

MoMA SUMMER HOURS:
Mondays: 10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Tuesdays: OPEN 10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. (June 26 through September 5)
Wednesdays: 10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Thursdays: 10:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. (July 5 through August 30)
Fridays: 10:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Target Free Friday Nights begin at 4:00 p.m.*
Saturdays: 10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Sundays: 10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

MoMA NIGHTS:
Thursdays, July 5, 12, 19, 26, and August 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Live music set at 6:30 p.m. , The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden (weather permitting) Regular admission applies. In the event of rain, the Sculpture Garden will close, and music will take place indoors. Sculpture Garden and indoor seating are limited and on a first-come, first- served basis.

SUMMERGARDEN:
July 8-Juilliard concert 1 – New Music for Large Ensembles
July 15 -Jazz at Lincoln Center concert 1 - Yosvany Terry Quintet
July 22 -Juilliard concert 2 – New Music for String Quartet
July 29 -Jazz at Lincoln Center concert 2 - Vijay Iyer Trio
8:00 p.m., The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden (weather permitting)