NYC concerts December 14-20

Mariah Carey, Zach Bryan, French synthpop, Tubas, and more

We are in the thick of a NYC holiday season, my friends. While you won’t find a Nutcracker or Messiah on this week’s concert guide, I promise there are plenty of events to get you in the spirit: House DJ Kaskade and country artist Brett Eldredge both have Christmas shows in the family-friendly setting of the Brooklyn Paramount and Beacon Theaters; Mariah Carey comes to Brooklyn; Gospel legend Cece Winans performs at NJPAC in Newark; and I even phoned a friend to tell me about TUBACHRISTMAS!. There are a handful of non-holiday related concerts too, including some French synth-pop from an indie singer who performed at the Paris Olympics, country superstar Zach Bryan at Barclays Center, and more.

As always, let me know if there are any upcoming events you think I should include in forthcoming newsletters. And if you went to anything I want to hear from you!

Saturday, December 14

Kaskade Christmas, 2 pm & 7 pm
Brooklyn Paramount (385 Flatbush Ave Ext, Downtown Brooklyn)

Kaskade brings me back to elementary school when I thought all dance music sounded the same. That was the era of Aviici, Kaskade, deadmau5, and Kygo (who I saw earlier this year). Here the superstar House DJ performs his new Christmas album at the stunning Brooklyn Paramount for a seated theatre concert. Resale tickets, especially for the 7 pm show, are cheap.

Free
Joy Guidry in response to ‘Lorna Simpson. Earth & Sky’, 3 pm
Hauser & Wirth 22nd St (542 W 22nd St, 1st Floor, Chelsea)

Experimental bassoonist Joy Guidry performs a solo show taking inspiration from different forms of Black music, such as jazz, gospel, zydeco and ambient music, mixing her instrument with electronics. The 45-minute set at the Chelsea gallery Hauser and Wirth is a response to the exhibition ‘Lorna Simpson. Earth & Sky.’

Free
Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night, 6 pm
The Arch at Washington Square Park (1 Fifth Ave., Greenwich Village)

A longstanding NYC tradition, Unsilent Night is an immersive experience where you make the sounds. Phil Kline has composed a couple of tracks, and audiences are encouraged to bring their own boomboxes and Bluetooth speakers to simultaneously play the tracks while walking through the East Village with a bunch of likeminded strangers. It’s quite beautiful, in the dark of the night.

Brett Eldredge’s “GLOW: Welcome to the Family” tour, 8 pm
Beacon Theater (2124 Broadway, Upper West Side)

In a similar vein to Kaskade, country singer Brett Eldrege, who broke out in the early aughts, is performing a handful of Christmas shows in a theater this weekend. I’d expect some horns, maybe even a big band, a la Michael Buble. Everything about this screams safe/traditional/good-old-days values, but resale tickets are quite cheap and I’m sure it’ll provide all the feel-good Christmas vibes if that’s what you’re looking for.

Zaho de Sagazan, 8 pm (repeats 12/15 & 12/16)
Music Hall of Williamsburg (66 North 6th Street, Williamsburg)

French indie artist Zaho de Sagazan only has one album out but she’s already performed at the Olympics and is on a U.S. tour. After a quick listen to her stuff, I’m immediately sold on the high energy synth-pop mixed with some chanson. Don’t let her visually pared down set fool you - this looks like a high energy blast of a show. If you can’t make it tonight, she performs Sunday and Monday (same time and venue).

Sunday, December 15

Free
The Orchestra Now, 3 pm
Julia Richman Education Complex (317 East 67th St, Lenox Hill)

Classical orchestral music with a program of familiar favorites: Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, the lively Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, the two movements from Holst’s The Planets that you’d recognize, and more. Overall a lovely program for a Sunday afternoon during the holidays.

Free
TUBACHRISTMAS!, 3:30 pm
The tree at Rockefeller Plaza (45 Rockefeller Plaza, Midtown)

Everyone has their own Christmas traditions. You can see The Messiah or The Nutcracker. Maybe A Child’s Christmas in Wales is more up your ally. Then there’s also TUBACHRISTMAS!, which happens at cities across the country each year. “It’s an utterly dorky delight,” says my friend Gwen, who makes the pilgrimage to the Kennedy Center, which hosts the DC version of this event, each year. “Tuba Christmas is absolutely one of my favorite events. It’s exactly what it sounds like: tubas and euphoniums booming out holiday tunes. The hundreds of volunteer players range from students to professionals, and they festoon their brass with garlands and twinkling lights. You can even buy merch!”

Well, there you have it. If you haven’t seen the Rockefeller tree yet, why not see it with hundreds of tuba players blasting some carols at you?

Monday, December 16

Free
Danielle Ponder, 7 pm
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (515 Malcolm X Blvd, Harlem)

A singer with a great voice performing a free concert as part of Carnegie Hall’s Citywide program. Soul, R&B, blues, rock & trip-hop are the some of the genres frequently attached to her, but I’ll leave the video below to speak for itself.

Free
Imani Winds, 7:30 pm
Advent Lutheran Church (2504 Broadway, Upper West Side)

One of the great classical wind quintets of our time come to the Upper West Side’s free Music Monday series. Their “The French Connection” program features Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring alongside a handful of other contemporary works from the French diaspora. And there’s a free reception after the show! Tickets are sold out, but join the standby line early and you’ll likely get in.

Tuesday, December 17

Mariah Carey Christmas, 7:30 pm
Barclays Center (620 Atlantic Ave, Prospect Heights)

The Queen of Christmas comes to NYC. Two shows in the region were canceled earlier this week due to the flu, so we’re blessed that the Brooklyn show is still on the books. Her vocals are excellent, and with her budget I bet the tour will have plenty of spectacle to enjoy.

And hey, resale tickets aren’t too bad right now! (Remember to look again immediately before the show and tickets will likely have gone down.)

Wednesday, December 18

Zach Bryan, 7:30 pm (repeats 12/19)
Barclays Center (620 Atlantic Ave, Prospect Heights)

Singer-songwriter, country superstar Zach Bryan brings his band back around to Barclays. I saw this tour in the spring and never before have I seen so many young white men sing along with an artist so passionately, word for word, song for song, as if they were a teenage girl at a Taylor Swift show. That experience sounds awful, but it’s really powerful, and Bryan’s songs shred live. Last time Bruce Springsteen and Maggie Rogers both came on for a few numbers as surprise guests, so you never know who will pop through on these upcoming shows.

Musica Sacra - Classics for Christmas: Mozart, Bach & Beethoven, 7:30 pm
Carnegie Hall (881 7th Ave, Midtown Manhattan)

Tickets are surprisingly cheap for this Carnegie Hall show with some big name soloists (pianist Simone Dinnerstein and soprano Susanna Phillips). This program is abound in feel-good orchestral and vocal music from Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart. Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy is an epic piece for piano solo, orchestra, and choir (you’ll recognize an early version of the “Ode to Joy” melody within the work). Bach’s Christmas Oratorio is one of his massive choral works, clocking in at around 2 hours and 30 minutes, but don’t worry this performance is just selections of the work. And to end, Phillips sings Mozart’s soaring Exsultate, jubilate.

Thursday, December 19

45th Annual A City Singing at Christmas Concert, 7 pm
St. Patrick’s Cathedral" (5th Ave between 50th/51st Streets, Midtown)

Choirs, organs, and brass ensembles, oh my! Sounds like a Christmas concert to me. Plus it’s at the massive St. Patrick’s Cathedral, right by Rockefeller Center.

Friday, December 20

Christmas with Cece Winans Live in Concert, 8 pm (repeats 12/21)
New Jersey Performing Arts Center (1 Center St, Newark, NJ)

I’d go see Cece Winans in any format, but of all the Christmas shows I’ve listed this week, Gospel is the most acceptable genre to do a Christmas show in. Some of the best singing I’ve heard this year have come from the great Gospel singers, and this is a perfect opportunity to see another one legend.