Town Hall

November 30, 2025 at the Town Hall https://www.thetownhall.org/event/an-evening-of-persian-classical-music-kayhan-kalhor One of today's most beloved Iranian artists, KAYHAN KALHOR returns to New York City for a rare concert appearance. A Grammy-winning, internationally-acclaimed virtuoso of the kamancheh (spiked fiddle), Kalhor is a visionary force on the global music scene and has been influential in popularizing Persian music around the world. Kalhor is renowned for his musical collaborations that have helped re-shape global perceptions of Persian music and culture, including with Masters of Persian Music, Dastan Ensemble, Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, Indian sitar maestro Shujaat Husain Khan, famed string quartet Brooklyn Rider, Turkish baglama virtuoso Erdal Erzincan, and Malian kora master Toumani Diabate. Kalhor has performed a celebrated NPR Tiny Desk Concert, scored for film and television, and composed music for legendary vocalist M.R. Shajarian. His most recent commission, Venus in the Mirror, a double concerto for kamancheh and cello, premiered in July 2025 with Yo-Yo Ma at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. For his Town Hall concert, Kalhor will be joined by Iranian musicians KIYA TABASSIAN on setar, and percussionist BEHROUZ JAMALI on tombak

Civic Discourse features visionaries and thinkers who explore some of the nation’s most complex challenges—and offer thought-provoking ideas that can help solve them. Panel discussions are followed by lively Q&As from the audience in the hall and those viewing the livestream. The Town Hall is convening a thoughtful panel discussion: Dismantling the Stigmas Around Mental Health. The 90-minute program, held in person and livestreamed, will feature a moderated conversation followed by a Q&A. Laura J. Downey, an Executive Editor at WebMD, will moderate the discussion with distinguished panelists including Maggie Hureau, Director of Social Impact at Mammoth Brands; Darcy Gruttadaro, Chief Innovation Officer at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); and Dr. Wenhua Lu, Associate Medical Professor at the CUNY School of Medicine. Together, they will examine why stigmas persist, how they differ across communities, and what it takes to change narratives and dismantle barriers to mental health care. The Civic Discourse 2025-2026 season is supported by partners The Center for Community Engaged Learning at Fordham University, The Aspen Forum for Community Solutions, and the Streisand Foundation. Dismantling the Stigmas Around Mental Health is supported by Bring Change to Mind, Mammoth Brands/Portfolio Company Harry’s, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), The IV Fund, and WebMD.

Every year, the Town Hall invites students from the greater New York City area to participate (performers or audience members) in the annual Black History Month program. Over the past 3 years, the theme of our program has centered around the spoken word (poetry) featuring seven middle school students from NYC. Last year, we had over 1,200 students in attendance. The Town Hall Black History Month Choral Festival will feature choirs from several local schools, with each group presenting a selection of songs that honor the legacy of Black history, music, and artistry. We would be honored to have your students join us in this celebration. The festival will also serve as a tool for students to learn the importance and contributions of Black and African American music traditions and their contributions to the musical history and legacy of the United States.

A Return to Civic Discourse returns with Revisiting the "American Dream" 60 Years Later. This session will be moderated by distinguished novelist, poet and MacArthur Fellow, Edwidge Danticat. Panelists will include: • Nicholas Buccola, PhD award-winning author of The Fire Is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate Over Race in America. • Dr. Brenda M. Greene, author and literary activist, founder and executive director of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. • Matt Brim, PhD, Professor of Queer Studies at the College of Staten Island, author of James Baldwin and the Queer Imagination. • Dr. Frank Leon Roberts, Founding Executive Director of The Baldwin/Hansberry Project, English and Black Studies Professor at Amherst College.

Experience Whitney Houston's voice as Never-Before-Heard with the Pops of Color Symphonic Orchestra, Conducted by Sean Mayes Sat Feb 15, 2025 Tickets: https://bit.ly/VoiceOfWhitneyYT An Immersive Visual Experience on the Town Hall Stage Where Whitney Debuted in 1978 On February 15, 1978, Whitney Houston joined her mother, the legendary Cissy Houston to perform at The Town Hall in New York City, where the young vocalist made her debut performance at the historic concert hall singing the popular show tune, “Tomorrow” from the popular Broadway musical, Annie. Next year marks the 47th anniversary of her Town Hall debut performance and the 40th anniversary of the release of her groundbreaking self-titled debut album, Whitney Houston. On Saturday, February 15, 2025, The Town Hall will celebrate Houston and the premiere of The Voice of Whitney: A Symphonic Celebration, conducted by internationally renowned conductor and music director Sean Mayes, featuring Pops of Color, who will be making their world premiere. Pops of Color is New York City’s first Pops orchestra composed exclusively of musicians of color, performing the music of musical icons of color. This concert series follows the successful, sold-out premieres at the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Philharmonic, conducted by Sean Mayes (August 30th) and The Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Steven Reineke (November 8th). Presented by The Town Hall in collaboration with Park Avenue Artists, The Estate of Whitney E. Houston, and Primary Wave Music, The Voice Of Whitney: A Symphonic Celebration features the original master and remastered recordings of Whitney’s vocals set to new arrangements in a unique and one-of-a-kind reinterpretation of her classic hit songs including “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “I Will Always Love You” “Higher Love,” and countless other of her classics and landmark songs, accompanied by never-before-seen video footage and interviews, along with some of her memorable performances and more. This concert event will include two new arrangements commissioned specifically for The Town Hall program. From the 1985 release of Whitney Houston’s self-titled debut album, she is the only artist to date, to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits (“Saving All My Love For You,” “How Will I Know,” “Greatest Love Of All,” “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional,” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”); she’s the first female artist to enter the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 1. She is also the first African American recording artist to receive three RIAA Diamond-certified albums. For more information on Whitney Houston, click here. Hailing from Toronto and based in New York City, Sean Mayes enjoys a varied career internationally as a conductor, music supervisor, orchestrator and composer between Broadway, theater, opera, classical, and Pops worlds. He is the Incoming Worldwide Music Supervisor of Disney’s THE LION KING and Music Supervisor and Co-Orchestrator for the Broadway bound ALI: The Musical, based on the life of Muhammad Ali, composed by conductor Teddy Abrams and hip-hop music legend Q-Tip. His new opera, Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White made its world premiere with the Canadian Opera Company in June 2024. For more information on Sean Mayes, click here.

🔥10 MORE DAYS🔥 Dec 6 at The Town Hall in NYC! Don't miss your 2 favorite gals @daniellecarolan & @brookemiccio of @GalsOnTheGoPodcast! Grab your tickets 🎫 at TheTownHall.org!