Classes in Honor of Women's History Month

Donne al Centro, Muses Behind the Great Classical Composers

Enjoy an annotated recital featuring composers' poems and excerpts of letters and writings along with their music. Celebrated Italian pianist and composer Cristiana Pegoraro demonstrates her deep passion for classical music in an innovative format that combines live piano performances and stimulating conversation about the composers’ lives, impact, artistry, and muses. The concert features works by Beethoven, Chopin, Rossini, Schumann, Rossini, and Pegoraro herself.

CRISTIANA PEGORARO is an Italian pianist and composer. Called “an artist of the highest caliber” by the New York Times, she has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House and other international venues and has recorded many CDs. She regularly conducts master classes across the United States (including at the Juilliard School), and in Italy, Portugal and the Middle East. She is the author of a series of children’s books based on Italian operas.

Wednesday, March 15 • 7:00pm-8:30pm • Scarsdale High School •

Course 11788 • $30

Art and Beauty: La Toilette

Inspired by "La Toilette, the Invention of Privacy," a 2015 exhibit in Paris at the Musée Marmottan Monet, this class explores the topic of female intimate space and the ritual of washing as depicted in art.

HELEN LEE is an independent art educator, conducting research and crafting personal, customizable, in-person and virtual gallery experiences for adults and children at several museums. She studied art history as an undergraduate and graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with areas of concentration in Asian Art and Modern Art.

Wednesday, March 15 • 11:00am-12:00pm • Online • Course 11711 • $25

BookTalk with Harriet Sobol:

River Sing Me Home (2023)

by Eleanor Shearer

BookTalk introduces readers to a carefully chosen, provocative selection of novels for reading and informal discussion, considering the author’s writing techniques and the character’s personal journeys. This moving debut novel tells the redemptive story of a mother’s quest across the Caribbean to find her stolen children in the aftermath of slavery.

HARRIET LANGSAM SOBOL is a teacher and author of books for children and young adults. She has written essays for the New York Times and other publications, and directs writing workshops. She has led this popular book discussion class for many years.

Wednesday, March 15 • 1:00pm-2:30pm • Online • Course 11643 • $30

Three Vanderbilt Women

The name Vanderbilt calls to mind men of wealth, power, and greed. However, the women of the family were also instrumental in making their own mark in politics, art, and fashion. Examine the contributions of Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont, a Gilded Age suffragette, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, an artist and founder of the Whitney Museum, and Gloria Vanderbilt, the fashion icon and designer.

GINNY POLEMAN is a graduate of Cornell University, a trained docent for the Municipal Art Society’s official Grand Central Terminal tour, as well as a trained educational guide for 4th through 12th graders at Manhattan’s largest art museum.

Thursday, March 16 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Online • Course 11625 • $25

Book Chat with Anna Katsavos:

Lucy by the Sea (2022) by Elizabeth Strout

The fourth book in the series can be read as a stand alone or as the next installment after My Name Is Lucy Barton (2016), Anything Is Possible (2018), and Oh, William! (2022), which was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. Follow protagonist Lucy through the early days of the pandemic as she isolates in Maine with her ex-husband William.

ANNA KATSAVOS, PhD, is an experienced book group facilitator. A SUNY Professor Emerita of English Literature and Women’s Studies, she has received numerous awards for teaching, and her scholarship has been published in a variety of literary journals. She has interviewed many best-selling authors and has presented interactive programs focusing on a wide range of women’s issues. Additionally, she conducts writing, editing and publishing workshops.

Tuesday, March 21 • 10:00am-12:00pm • Online • Course 11718 • $30

Walking Tour:

Wangechi Mutu: Intertwined

at the New Museum

The twenty-five year career of Wangechi Mutu (b. 1972, Nairobi) encompasses painting, collage, drawing, sculpture, film, and performance, all of which are represented in this major solo exhibition running from March 2, 2023 through June 4, 2023 at the New Museum. Mutu first gained acclaim exploring camouflage, transformation, and mutation through collage. She extends these strategies to her work across various media, developing hybrid, fantastical forms that fuse mythical and folkloric narratives with layered sociohistorical references. The exhibit traces connections between the artist’s work and themes of colonialism, globalization, and African and diasporic cultural traditions.

HELEN LEE is an independent art educator, conducting research and crafting personal, customizable, in-person and virtual gallery experiences for adults and children at several museums. She studied art history as an undergraduate and graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with areas of concentration in Asian Art and Modern Art.

Wednesday, March 22 • 11:15am-12:45pm • TBD in NYC • Course 11712 • $75