Combining art with history, students gain an understanding of history while improving their visual art skills. During the program, students have open discussions about how the artifacts reflect that time, and the techniques and elements of the art. In addition, they create projects in relation to what they have learned. For instance, they made three-dimensional sculptures after observing different art pieces that the Native Americans used.

St. Gregory the Great Elementary School on the Upper West Side is joining the program, said Principal Donna Gabella, who added that many students, teachers and parents involved at her school are very enthusiastic. “They loved learning about the Lenape Native Americans and have just finished creating their own village,” she said.

“I don’t think we had anything like this when I was in elementary school,” said Nathalie Casthely, parent of a fourth grader and member of the Parent Association. “I love that our kids are having this kind of experience. You can see in their eyes how engaged and interested they are. This is exactly the kind of enrichment program for which our Parent Association works so hard at fundraising.”
The New York Historical Society started the Art of History pilot program during the 2011-12 school year. Gabella announced that the school will offer it again next year and will expand to other grade levels.

“We live in NYC, which is such a vital, dynamic place, and we are fortunate to have so many diverse cultural and educational resources close by and we want to share these opportunities with our students,” she said.

TIBET HOUSE ART EXHIBIT
Tibet House U.S. is opening the free multimedia art exhibit Sacred Vision, Separate Views: Contemporary Perspectives in Buddhist Art on Dec. 6. Be sure to find your way to the Tibet House, located at 22 W. 15th St., to capture firsthand the “installations, live performance art, video, sculpture, paintings and drawings from six NYC-based contemporary emerging artists.”

The artists, James Walton Fox, Valley Burke Fox, Shigeru Oyatani, E. Elizabeth Peters, Wesley Simon and Jayoung Yoon, promise a spiritual journey through Buddhist tradition with modern interpretations. The opening ceremony, which will be held Dec. 6 from 6-8 p.m., features a special performance called “Clearing the Mind,” a Zen-like artistic meditation involving art and thought. On Dec. 7 from 4-9 p.m., Wesley Simon and Valley Burke Fox will present “A Line in Space,” which is billed as a contemporary interpretation of traditional Tibetan sand drawing aiming to demonstrate the fine “sand made” line between creation and destruction.

SYMPHONY SPACE CO-FOUNDER SHEFFER DIES AT 76
Symphony Space co-founder Isaiah Sheffer died Nov. 9 after a celebrated theatrical career. The 76-year-old Bronx native was best known for masterminding “Selected Shorts,” a nationally syndicated radio program in which actors read short stories at the Broadway and West 96th Street performance space, and “Bloomsday on Broadway,” an annual reading of Ulysses by James Joyce.

When Sheffer first booked Symphony Space in 1978 to stage a marathon Bach concert with conductor Allan Miller, it was a derelict movie theater. He and Miller spent the next decade raising money and fighting for ownership to transform it into a multi-theater performance venue.

“He took a crummy building in a crummy neighborhood and turned it into a vibrant center for the arts,” Symphony Space President and CEO Cynthia Elliott, whom Sheffer called “a partner in crime,” told West Side Spirit. “He welcomed not only the community, but audiences far and wide.”

Sheffer recruited a great variety of performers throughout his 32 years as artistic director, an eclecticism that Elliott said demonstrated his broad interests and passion for sharing them. “Isaiah was a huge intellectual without being stuffy or condescending or academic,” she explained. “Symphony Space reflects that real depth of intelligence, but also warmth and a welcoming atmosphere.”

Elliott noted that Sheffer also had a killer wit. In one bit, during a routine pitch for donations in the intermission between the theater’s selected shorts, he promised the audience, “For the right amount of money, we’d be happy to rename a staff member for you.”

“He was very funny, very mischievous,” Elliott said. “Symphony Space has always had a bit of an offbeat edge to it because of him.”

Sheffer died of complications of a stroke, his wife told the New York Times. A memorial service at Symphony Space will be held for him on Dec. 17 from 5-7 p.m., with tickets available to the public on Dec. 10.

Beethoven and Bernstein—as in Ludwig van and Leonard—aren’t a bad place to start for an aspiring young classical musician who wants to study conducting. Those two musical giants were Cynthia Elliott’s idols as a Stanford freshman and prospective music major.

There was also Seiji Ozawa, who headed the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra just 30 miles to the north. Elliott had the privilege of performing under maestro Ozawa’s direction with the Stanford Choir. After a summer at Tanglewood, when she rubbed elbows with a coterie of high-powered international prospects, she reflected on her own ambitions and decided to go into arts management.

“I realized I had neither the talent nor the fire in the belly required to pursue a peripatetic career as a conductor,” she said. “Plus, I also had the third strike against me—my gender. Unfortunately, that is still true to a large extent in the business.”

Fast forward about a quarter century, and we find Elliott, now mature and at mid-career, a VP for new media and editorial services at Sony Classical at a time when the record industry was imploding. “I said to myself, I’d really like to get back to the stage, where the art is being created, and to the nonprofit world, which seemed more stable [ironic chuckle].”

The Upper West Side and Symphony Space have these twists of fate to thank for sending Elliott their way and roping in a passionate, driven and extremely capable director for the tantalizing and eclectic program at this distinguished neighborhood performing arts center. Elliott, 59, has been with the organization for nine years, as executive director until 2010 and now as president and CEO, ultimately responsible for putting on 350 original shows per year.

The satisfaction of tackling the job and her joy at its thrills remain unabated: “I love all the arts so it’s ideal for me because I can go from music to theater to dance to film to literature,” she said. “And the music itself encompasses everything from classical to jazz to Broadway to rock ’n’ roll and world music.

“I found out that what I wasn’t so good at as an artist, I was quite good at from a business standpoint, which is to approach problem-solving from a strategic point of view. I enjoy that kind of chess game.

“What I like most about my job is being able to go downstairs and attend any performance or any rehearsal and hang out with the artists. The most challenging part is putting the finances together because there’s never enough money, and there’s always increasing demand.”

Elliott grew up on the Upper East Side, attended the Chapin School and then Ethel Walker in Connecticut. She currently lives in Soho with her husband Douglas Rice, a painter whose day job is running his own high-end residential construction firm; Rice is also chairman of the board of the Bronx Museum. “In my personal life, I’m actually in a very fortunate position right now in that my kids are grown up and I don’t have to worry anymore about getting home every night for dinner,” said Elliott. “I have a husband who likes to go out at night.”

Ulysses tells the story of hero Leopold Bloom’s journey through Dublin back to his wife, Molly Bloom. Every year on June 16, the date on which the novel is set in 1904, literature lovers honor Joyce’s life and work with readings of Ulysses. This year’s “Bloomsday on Broadway” was inspired to highlight the musical elements of the tale.

“Joyce was a poet of sound; he wasn’t a visual person,” said organizer, curator and narrator Isaiah Sheffer. “It’s meant to be read aloud. The big discovery is that it’s funny.”

The evening will include a reading of the entire text of the “Sirens” episode, along with musical selections from within the novel curated by musical director Lanny Meyers and soprano Lisa Flanagan.

Fionnula Flanagan, who played Gerty MacDowell in the 1967 British-American film version of Ulysses, will read the final sexually charged “Penelope” episode as Molly Bloom.

This year’s performers also include Broadway star David Margulies, who will read as Leopold Bloom, and performance artist Adam Harvey, who will read the first three pages of the “Sirens” episode.

Tickets are $25 or $15 for those under 30. The event will also be streamed live on symphonyspace.org.

LOCAL HEALTH FAIR
The Cathedral Community Cares seventh annual health fair will take place Saturday, June 23 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine at 1047 Amsterdam Ave. from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The fair will host free screenings for HIV, hepatitis C, prostate cancer, cholesterol and blood pressure, along with informational booths for community supported agriculture, low-cost and free health clinics, food benefits access and other services in the city. For more information, visit bit.ly/Lt5ZHd.

OVER $375,000 RAISED AT SPIRIT OF THE CITY GALA
On Wednesday, May 30, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine raised over $375,000 at its 32nd annual Spirit of the City Gala. With more than 350 guests, the event honored philanthropists Ellen and James Marcus, Prema and Wallace Mathai-Davis and Zarin Mehta, who have constantly dedicated their efforts to the city. Singer and actress KT Sullivan performed hits by Cole Porter. The funds raised at the event will help outreach programs, civic forums and cultural events, as well as the care and maintenance of St. John the Divine Cathedral.

Cornell Campus at West Side HQ
The CornellNYC Tech campus slated for Roosevelt Island has found itself one heck of an incubator. Earlier this week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Google CEO Larry Page and Cornell President David Skorton announced that Google will be lending, free of charge, 22,000 square feet of their Chelsea headquarters to the fledgling tech school for the next five and a half years, with the option to expand to 58,000 square feet as it grows.
The first classes at the school are set to begin this fall, and the first phase of the construction of the permanent campus on Roosevelt Island is scheduled to be completed in 2017. The Google placement can’t be a bad move for the new tech school, which is sure to attract a slew of students hoping to land jobs with their beneficent officemates, and Google will gain from its proximity to the next crop of tech geniuses. In the words of Council Member Jessica Lappin, it’s “a match made in heaven,” and all the similarly warm, fuzzy things that elected officials had to say about the move.

Choreographers Show Their Stuff
Next Saturday, 11 fledgling choreographers will put their best dance moves onstage for the Young Choreographer’s Festival. The performance highlights the work of choreographers between the ages of 18 and 25 in the genres of ballet, contemporary, modern, jazz, street jazz and tap. There will be a talkback panel featuring festival choreographers from 2010 through the present selection. June 2, 8 p.m., Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at symphonyspace.org.

Upper West Jazz Fest
Fans of jazz can get their fill of one of the greats this summer on the Upper West Side. The Smoke Jazz and Supper Club-Lounge, at 2751 Broadway, is holding its monthlong Miles Davis Festival, beginning May 25 and running through June 30.
Alumni from Davis’ band will play alongside top-notch trumpeters, with different ensembles paying tribute to his music each night. On Monday, June 4 at 6:30 p.m., an original play written by the club’s co-owner, Frank Christopher, and inspired by Davis, Beyond Blue Light, will premiere, with a three-course dinner included in the ticket price.
The festival kicks off this weekend with a celebration of Davis’ birthday, which would have been his 86th, with Jeremy Pelt on trumpet, George Cables on piano, Buster Williams on bass and Louis Hayes on drums. For more information, visit smokejazz.com.

Meet Christopher Ziemba, jazz pianist at Juilliard

“There are no mistakes in jazz,” the old saying goes, and Christopher Ziemba is no exception. A pianist in Juilliard’s prestigious Artists Diploma Ensemble, he arrived on the Upper West Side last fall from Rochester.
The 25-year-old is already fully immersed in the musical scene that is New York City. A typical week for him could include performances at Dizzy’s Club, the Central Park Boathouse and David Letterman’s birthday party. Since he doesn’t have a piano in his apartment, he spends much of his day at Juilliard, ready to compose music on their Fazioli grand piano.

West Side Spirit: When did you start playing?
Christopher Ziemba: From what my parents tell me, we had an old family upright, and as soon as I could reach the keys, I started playing. I used to play nursery rhymes that I had picked up from ear. I grew up in a musical environment; my father is a percussionist in the Buffalo Philharmonic orchestra.

How did you come to specialize in jazz?
I had taken classical piano lessons for 10 years. When I got to high school, they needed a pianist for the jazz band. There, it was either sink or swim—for the first year, it was mostly sink. I went on to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester for my undergraduate and master’s degrees. I was a double major in jazz piano performance and music education. My master’s is in jazz piano.

So then you went to Julliard?
When I finished school, I expected to move to New York, but it wasn’t going to be in the context of school. Then I took a lesson from Frank Kimbro, who is part of the piano faculty at Juilliard, to prepare for a competition. At the end of the session, he said, “We have an opening in our Arts Diploma Ensemble.” Normally, auditions are held in February, but this was already mid-May.

How did you end up mastering jazz?
My mother tells me that I really didn’t like it in the beginning. Having been trained classically, it was frustrating. With classical music, you’re given a piece and you learn the notes on the page. In jazz, you have to read chords. You’re responsible for improvising, making up whatever chords you want to play. It’s like its own language. The only way to get really good at it is to spend time listening to and analyzing records.

What’s the biggest compliment ever given to you?
Recently, I was playing at the Thalia Cafe at Symphony Space. There was an older man and his caretaker watching. Whenever we performed a familiar standard, he would sing along, even though we were mostly a background attraction. After we finished, I went over to say hello. He introduced himself as the cousin of drummer Roy Haynes, a jazz legend who had played with many of my past heroes and still plays around town in his eighties. He told me I sounded just like pianist Bud Powell, with whom Roy once played. Powell is considered one of the most important figures in the history of jazz piano.

For a list of Ziemba’s upcoming performances, visit www.chrisziemba.com.

Symphony Space, at Broadway and West 95th Street, will celebrate American composer and musician David Amram’s birthday Thur., Nov. 11. David Amram: The First 80 Years will cover the prolific musician’s work, from a concert performance of his film scores such as 1962’s The Manchurian Candidate to the premiere of Amram’s “Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie,” introduced by Guthrie’s daughter Nora.

Filmed birthday wishes from Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Willie Nelson will be played.

The event begins at 7:30. Tickets range from $35 to $75. For more information on the event and purchasing tickets, go to www.symphonyspace.org.

Dissident Arts Festival—Progressive artists speak out for social justice in the fifth annual festival. Nov. 6, The Brecht Forum, 451 West St., 212-242-4201; 3 p.m., $6+.

Coleridge and Patti Smith—Patti Smith’s eighth concert at the Metropolitan Museum devotes a program to the world of Khubilai Khan and the poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave., 212-535-7710; 7 p.m., $40+.

Symphony Space Thalia—The Pocket Opera Players presents Space in the Heart, A Jazzopera. Following the one-act opera, the cast and instrumentalists will perform a set of original songs and jazz standards. Symphony Space Thalia, 2537 Broadway, 212-864-5400; 7:30, $25+.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7

American Ballet Theatre—ABT offers a sneak peek of The Nutcracker by Alexei Ratmansky, prior to its world premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Peter B. Lewis Theater, 1071 5th Ave., 212-423-3587; 7:30, $10+.

IFPDA Print Fair—The International Fine Print Dealers Association celebrates the 20th edition of its art fair. Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Ave., www.printfair.com; $10+.

Matthew Bourne—Bourne’s Swan Lake returns to New York with a blend of dance, humor and spectacle. New York City Center, 131 W. 55th St., 212-581-1212; times vary, $25+.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8

Repertorio Español—Legendary flamenco and Spanish dancer Pilar Rioja presents her new dance, Habanera, with musical accompaniment by Cuban composer and singer Guillermo Portabales. Gramercy Arts Theater, 138 E. 27th St., 212-225-9999; $25+.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9

Notes From Underground—Theatre for a New Audience presents Yale Repertory Theatre’s production of the revolutionary novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Jerome Robbins Theater, Baryshnikov Arts Center, 450 W. 37th St., 212-868-4444.

A new 60-seat café and bar is opening up in Symphony Space Nov. 9. But the Thalia Café will offer more than food and cocktails. It will feature comedy nights, jazz performances, wine tasting and art. The first exhibition will be pictures from art photographer Steve Sherman’s new book on composer Leonard Bernstein.

Thalia Café, located in Symphony Space at 2537 Broadway and West 95th Street, will be open daily from 4 p.m. to midnight.

West Side movie buffs can scratch their itch for independent films at the Manhattan Film Festival, taking place July 21 to 25. The festival will showcase the works of nearly 75 indie films, many of them shown at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space on 2537 Broadway and West 95th Street during the festival’s week-long run.

A full line-up with times and dates can be found at www.manhattanfilmfestival.org.

Symphony Space is known for presenting music marathons that are unforgettable for any culture vulture. May 15, the 12-hour “Wall to Wall Behind the Wall” will include world and U.S. premieres, along with rare works by world-renowned and emerging composers from the Soviet Union and Communist-era Eastern Europe. It’s the brainchild of Symphony Space’s associate artistic director Laura Kaminsky, who will become the institutions’ director July 1. We caught up with Kaminsky, who grew up on West 79th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues, to find out why Russia, why now.

Q: You’re known for tackling big, scary political themes. Do you think Symphony Space patrons are ready for that?
A: The way I think about this is that we chose to do “Wall to Wall Behind the Wall” to celebrate a great body of music. It’s not so much a political analysis as a cultural journey, and I think people are totally ready.

Q: Who do you think should be going to this? What kind of people will find this music appealing?
A: I think everybody will. There’s symphonic music, chamber music, solo music, there’s jazz music, there’s folk music. It’s a pretty broad spectrum and it’s all great stuff, so I think people who are curious and culture-loving are going to have a great time.

Q: Why Russia? Why Berlin? Why this now?
A: I was looking at histories of Wall to Walls. Most are by composer, but some are thematic. Last year we did “Wall to Wall Broadway.” It’s got to be something that I’m passionate about. I though about doing Shostakovich, but that’s not as interesting as his entire context, where he lived. I lived in Eastern Europe. “Wall to Wall Behind the Wall” stuck in my head. I thought I could make a great program out of this. I really had a sense of the wealth and richness of all of this music. I thought of all the music that I wanted New Yorkers to hear. It would be a 100-hour festival if we did all the pieces I want to play. It was my passion for the music and my desire for Symphony Space to look broadly at cultural differences—I thought this was a great way to do that.

Q: Why a marathon? Do you think it’s trying to take arts to a “competitive level,” or is it just less intimidating for people so they can come in and out and not feel strapped down?
A: I guess the history of Symphony Space is that we were founded with a Wall to Wall marathon. We’ve been doing this for 32 years. It’s absolutely not competitive. It’s a warm embrace of our community. It’s absolutely about community and the joy of sharing good music. Yes, I hope it is less intimidating.

Q: There’s a U.S. premiere of Shostakovich war songs included in the program. Can you explain why these haven’t made it here before?
A: One of my many finds last summer, as I was doing research, was an original manuscript written by Shostakovich in his original hand, in lavender ink. It was 20 songs that he had arranged for the soldiers on the front line. They were for voice, violin and cello, because they’re all portable. I asked for a copy and asked if it had been disseminated. I think this is the only score that exists in this county.

Q: What do you have in store for us next? Is there a new direction for Symphony Space that we should expect?
A: A commitment to new work, nurturing emerging artists, commissioning work—giving people the opportunity to express themselves. We want to make music and contemporary work in all disciplines—make all this new stuff accessible. We have pre-concert conversations, which are really great, and make the audience more familiar with the music.

Q: Are you hoping to make Symphony Space more of a destination with provocative programming, as other high-profile institutions have done recently?
A: Our program’s been thought of as being fairly provocative and current. I would like to be thought of as a place that inspires people’s curiosity. Yes, I want to invite people to participate and be part of an exciting cultural hub here.

Q: Jennifer Higdon won the Pulitzer for composition. It seems like a big, important year for female composers. As one yourself, do you have any advice for people starting down that path?
A: I was happy for Jennifer, we had a nice email exchange. [My advice would be] write regularly. Write honestly. Be open. Hone your craft. Engage with ideas and engage with other musicians.

Q: I have a perception that classical music is very much an old-boys club. Is that true?
A: I’m not even sure how to answer that. I mean, the Vienna Philharmonic still doesn’t really have women in the orchestra. That was a big legal issue about 10 years ago because they barred women. But because they received state funding, they were told they had to have equal opportunity hiring. I think it’s less and less true, at least in this country. When you look at the larger classical music institutions, I think you see a much larger mix of personnel, both of men and women, and also an international array of artists.

Q: When did you know you wanted to be a composer? Was that something you always thought of growing up?
A: I guess I started making up music in a formal, thoughtful way as about a 10- or 11-year-old. I didn’t know that I would do it as my primary passionate life endeavor until later. I wasn’t a music major in college, but I did go to graduate school for music. I went to the Music and Arts High School, which was one of the public schools, not LaGuardia. At that time, I was fortunate to be able to be exposed to some of those talented young musicians, most of whom I still know and work with. But I was writing music pretty furiously then.

Q: What was your major in college?
A: Psychology.

Q: Does that ever come into play in your work at all?
A: Every day.

Transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity. With additional reporting by Charlotte Eichna.