Weekend Update: Princeton's Calendar Features Music, World Music, Classical Music, and the Sweet Sound of an Ice Cream Reception

Princeton, NJ – Music is a staple of this weekend’s events calendar. There’s the usual live music at venues like the Nassau Inn and Ivy Inn on Friday night, July 19, and at Small World Coffee and the Green at Palmer Square on Saturday, and the jazz brunch at Lillipies at the Princeton Shopping Center and the carillon concert at the Graduate College on Sunday. In addition to that, Princeton Summer Theater presents the final weekend of performances of its critically acclaimed musical play, The Last Five Years , Friday through Sunday at the Hamilton Murray Theater on the Princeton University campus.

In addition to the usual, there are some unusual musical offerings. Both are Saturday night, July 20. The first is at 7 p.m. at the Princeton High School Performing Arts Center. It’s the second Blue Curtain concert of the summer, following the nonprofit presenter’s world music theme. The headline act is the father-son Afro-Brazilian duo, Nanny & Dani Asiss.

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In the program notes, Nanny Assis is described as a “singer and percussion master,” who has performed with artists such as Vinicius Cantauria, Eumeir Deodato, and John Patitucci, and is “a master of the many styles of Brazilian music, including samba, the music of Bahia, Brazilian Jazz, Afro-Brazilian music and other popular and folkloric sounds from his homeland.” His son, Dani, is the winner of the prestigious 2024 Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition

The opening act, the Ampersand Jazz Quartet, features a hometown musician, bassist Kai Gibson, who has no doubt appeared many times before on the Princeton High School’s mainstage as a member of the school’s Studio Band. Gibson, a 2017 graduate of Princeton High School, then studied at the Berklee College of Music inn Boston.

The Ampersand Jazz Quartet also was the opening act for Blue Curtain’s first concert featuring African pop star and Grammy Award-winner Dobet Gnahoré.

An hour later and a few blocks away at Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University campus, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra invites the audience to “witness the future of classical music in-the-making” as it presents the work of four emerging composers selected for the Edward T. Cone Composition Institute, celebrating its 10th anniversary.

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Institute Director Steven Mackey hosts the concert, and Christopher Rountree takes the podium.

The featured composers are Leigha Amick, Santiago Beis, Paul Cosme, and Jessie Leov. For details of their eclectic backgrounds, visit the New Jersey Symphony website .

If you can’t make up your mind between world music, or classical music in the making, we will offer one more piece of information about the New Jersey Symphony event at Richardson Auditorium. The Symphony invites the audience to a post-concert reception to meet the composers and enjoy a special Cone-inspired ice cream flavor crafted for the occasion by Bent Spoon ice cream.

About parking . In case you or someone you know is driving into town this weekend, here’s a link to downtown parking sites , including locations of parking lots and parking garages. If the graphic seems a little cluttered, that’s because there really is a lot of parking in and around downtown Princeton – contrary to some common perceptions.

Friday, July 19

9:45 a.m. to noon: Job Seekers: Generative AI and the Future of Work. Princeton Public Library, Community Room, 65 Witherspoon Street. George Pace presents.

Noon and 2:15 p.m.: Summer Cream Tea Service with the Secret Tea Room. Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street. www.morven.org. Sold out, see website for updates.

5 to 8 p.m.: Music at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road, Terhuneorchards.com. Music by Mark Miklos.

6 to 9 p.m.: Live Music on the Patio, the Nassau Inn, Palmer Square, nassauinn.com. Performer Jack Landis.

7 to 10 p.m.: Dancing Under the Stars. Hinds Plaza, Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street. www.princetonlibrary.org.

7 to 8:30 p.m.: Opening reception for “Throwback Summer,” an exhibition about summers past. 952 Alexander Road, Princeton Junction. Westwindsorarts.org. Food, drinks, and activities, presented by West Windsor Arts. Free.

8 p.m.: Princeton Summer Theater, Hamilton Murray Theater, Princeton University campus, www.princetonsummertheater.org. The Last Five Years.

8 p.m.: Vishnu Vaka, Catch A Rising Star, Hyatt Regency Princeton, 102 Carnegie Center, 781-568-1471. www.catcharisingstar.com. Comedy.

8 p.m.: Princeton Folk Dance, Suzanne Patterson Center, 45 Stockton Street. www.princetonfolkdance.org. Lesson followed by open dancing. No partner necessary.

8:30 to 10 p.m.: Movie Nights on the Green – Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. The Green at Palmer Square. palmersquare.com/events-calendar/.

9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.: DJ at the Ivy Inn, 248 Nassau Street, ivyinnprinceton.com. DJ Iron Mike.

Saturday, July 20

8:30 a.m.: Third annual Axiom REACH 5K to Fight Cancer. Turning Basin Park, Alexander Road. Proceeds support cancer patients in the area. Registration required .

9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: West Windsor Farmers Market. Vaughn lot, Princeton Junction train station. Wwcfm.org.

9 to 11 a.m. and Noon to 2 p.m.: Land Stewardship Volunteer Event. Friends Of Princeton Open Space, Princeton. Fopos.org. Help perform riparian and forest restoration, invasive species removal, and plant native species in the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve. Two sessions.

10 a.m.: Princeton Canal Walkers, Turning Basin Park, Alexander Road. 3 mile walk on the towpath, weather permitting. Register to dsubber@gmail.com

10 to 10:30 a.m.: Story time with Jeff. Princeton Shopping Center, 301 North Harrison Street.

10:30 to 11 a.m.: Saturday Storytime, Princeton Public Library, Story Room, 65 Witherspoon Street. www. princetonlibrary.org.

11 a.m. to Noon: Gratitude Yoga at Herrontown Woods, 452 Herrontown Road, www.herrontownwoods.org/events. Donation-based yoga on the grounds next to Veblen House, with Gemma Farrell. Open to all levels of yoga practice.

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Community Quilt Workshop. Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street, www.artscouncilofprinceton.org. Sewers are invited to join artist-in-residence Ronah Harris to create a quilt depicting the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood.

Noon to 2 p.m.: Music on the Palmer Square Green, Palmersquare.com. Ess Gees performs.

1 to 4:30 p.m.: A staged reading of “Hamlet.” Princeton Public Library, Community Room, 65 Witherspoon Street. www.princetonlibrary.org.

1 to 1:30 p.m.: Japanese Storytime. Princeton Public Library, Story Room, 65 Witherspoon Street. www.princetonlibrary.org.

2 to 5 p.m.: Music at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road, Terhuneorchards.com. Brian Bortnick.

2 and 8 p.m.: Princeton Summer Theater, Hamilton Murray Theater, Princeton University campus, www.princetonsummertheater.org. The Last Five Years.

3:30 to 5 p.m.: Youth: Drop-In Chess Sessions. Princeton Public Library, Story Room, 65 Witherspoon Street. www. princetonlibrary.org.

4 to 6 p.m.: History/Nature Hike at Institute Woods with the Historical Society of Princeton. Meeting at Princeton Battlefield parking lot, 500 Mercer Street. Hike through the Institute Woods to explore bits of history. Bookings are closed, check link for availability .

5 p.m.: Outdoor Sculpture Tour: Residential Colleges Neighborhood, Princeton University Art Museum, artmuseum.princeton.edu. Meet at Ai Wei-wei’s Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads on University Place. Art Museum guide leads walking tour of the campus collections.

7 p.m.: Music at Small World Coffee, 14 Witherspoon Street. www.smallworldcoffee.com. Jefferson Berry & The UAC perform.

7 p.m.: Brazilian Jazz with Nanny & Dani Asiss, Blue Curtain . Princeton High School Performing Arts Center, Franklin Avenue and Walnut Lane. E-mail info@bluecurtain.org for information. The Ampersand Jazz Quartet, featuring Princeton High School graduate bassist Kai Gibson, opens the concert.

7 to 11 p.m.: Central Jersey Dance Society. Suzanne Patterson Center, 45 Stockton Street. www.centraljerseydance.org. West Coast Swing lesson followed by open dancing.

7:30 p.m.: Vishnu Vaka, Catch A Rising Star, Hyatt Regency Princeton, 102 Carnegie Center, 781-568-1471. www.catcharisingstar.com.

8 p.m.: New Scores: The Cone Composition Institute Concert. Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University. www.njsymphony.org. The New Jersey Symphony performs works by four emerging composers selected for the Edward T. Cone Composition Institute, celebrating its 10th anniversary.

9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.: DJ at the Ivy Inn, 248 Nassau Street, ivyinnprinceton.com. DJ Slick.

Sunday, July 21

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Lillipies Jazz Brunch. Lillipies, Princeton Shopping Center. Kevin Huang.

11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Summer Markets with Brilliant Conversations. Princeton Shopping Center, 301 North Harrison Street. Over 60 vendors of handmade goods, artisanal crafts, and speciality items.

1 p.m.: Film: Star Wars: A New Hope. Princeton Garden Theater, 160 Nassau Street. www.thegardentheatre.com.

1 p.m.: Carillon concert, outdoors at the Princeton University Graduate School, 88 College Road West, Arts.princeton.edu. Rain or shine. James Ratcliffe performs.

2 p.m.: Princeton Summer Theater, Hamilton Murray Theater, Princeton University campus, www.princetonsummertheater.org. Show The Last Five Years, final performance.

2 to 4 p.m.: Princeton History Walking Tour, starting in the courtyard of the Princeton Battle Monument, 1 Monument Drive. Learn about historic sites as you walk around downtown Princeton and the University campus. Tickets required .

2 to 5 p.m.: Music at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road, Terhuneorchards.com. Music by Mike & Laura.

5 p.m.: Outdoor Sculpture Tour: Main campus, Princeton University Art Museum, artmuseum.princeton.edu. Meet at Nassau Hall. Art Museum guide leads walking tour of the campus collections. Rain or shine, stair free.

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