ART

EAST AND WEST Chuang Che’s bold abstract paintings combine Western and Eastern painting techniques. He first worked with the director of David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, Louis Newman, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Selections include an untitled work from 2003, above. Through Saturday, April 28, Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m., David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, 41 E. 57th St. at Madison Avenue, suite 1120, 212-486-7660, free.

BIG PAPER The Pratt Institute’s printmaking department presents its third annual “Big Damn Prints” outdoor workshop with more than 40 artists, dozens of students, and local residents who print huge 4-foot-by-8-foot woodblock prints with a giant industrial streetpaving steamroller. Live music and on-site T-shirt printing are also offered. The project was conceived by a professor of fine arts at Pratt, Dennis McNett, as a way of pushing printmaking students outside the usual boundaries of the medium. Today, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Pratt Institute, 200 Willoughby Ave., between Emerson and Hall streets, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, 201-892-6850, free.

DANCE

‘AILEY HIGHLIGHTS’ The junior ensemble of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, begins a two-week season tonight. The program includes “Ailey Highlights,” a selection of excerpts of classic works choreographed by Alvin Ailey such as “Blues Suite,” “Escapades,” and “Isba,” and other works such as Darrell Grand Moultrie’s “Celestial Landscape,” which uses Karl Jenkins’s 21st-century classical compositions to create this three-part dance. Each section of the dance deals with a different aspect of the grieving process, including living, coping, and confronting emotion. Tonight, 8 p.m., through Sunday, April 22, dates and times vary, the Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 W. 55th St. at Ninth Avenue, 212-868-4444, $40. For complete information, go to alvinailey.org.

FAMILY

COMPUTERS FOR ALL Samsung’s Hope for Education program is designed to minimize the technology gap in the education system through a partnership with Microsoft Corp. The program donates more than $2 million worth of technology and software to schools across the country. Teenage musicians Aly and AJ perform a concert to celebrate the program’s launch. Tomorrow, 2 p.m., Time Warner Center, Samsung Experience, 10 Columbus Circle at Eighth Avenue, free.

MUSIC

THE GIRL WENT SOLO The singing half of the neo-soul duo Floetry, Marsha Ambrosius, performs a concert of selections from her forthcoming solo album. Ms. Ambrosius, whose silky vocals enhanced songs such as “Superstar,” was recently compelled to abandon the Grammy-nominated group she formed with a longtime friend, spoken word artist Natalie Stewart, after super-producer Dr. Dre came calling. Featured guests include musician St. Juste, and the band J Davey. Tonight 8 p.m., S.O.B.’s, 204 Varick St. at Houston Street, 212-243-4940, $18–$22.

IVORIES AND STRINGS The 92nd Street Y’s “Distinguished Artist in Recital” series presents cellist Miklós Perényi and pianist András Schiff in two concerts. The first program includes Beethoven’s Sonata for Piano and Cello in F Major. The second program features the composer’s Variations in E-flat Major on “Bei Männern, welche Lie be fühlen” from “The Magic Flute.” Tonight and tomorrow, 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd Street, 212-415-5500, $45.

MONK DAY The Tribeca Performing Arts Center of the Borough of Manhattan Community College presents a 90th birthday celebration honoring the late Thelonious Monk. Headlining the celebration is jazz pianist Kenny Barron, drummer Ben Riley, and his Monk Legacy Septet, including alto saxophonist Bruce Williams, tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffrey, and baritone saxophonist Jay Brandford. Tomorrow, 8 p.m., BMCC, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers St., between Greenwich Street and the West Side Highway, 212-220-1460, $30 general, $27.50 students.

THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA The New York Pops presents “Broadway Then and Now,” a concert to celebrate the musical magic of the Great White Way. The program features selections that reflect stylistic changes to the genre, from the bold and brassy sound of Jule Styne’s “Funny Girl” to the lush music of Jerome Kern’s “Show Boat.” Pianist and conductor Rob Fisher leads the orchestra, and vocalist Kelli O’Hara, of “The Light in the Piazza” and “The Pajama Game,” is a featured performer. The New York Pops, founded by Skitch Henderson in 1983, is the only symphonic orchestra in New York City specializing in popular American music. Friday, 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium, 54 W. 57th St. at Seventh Avenue, 212-247-7800, $27–$98.

POETRY

FESTIVAL OF VERSE The Poetry Society of America celebrates National Poetry Month with a twonight Festival of New American Poets, featuring readings and talks. Poets include Tyehimba Jess, Richard Siken, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and Tony Tost. Also featured are members of the PSA’s 2005 and 2006 Chapbook Fellows, including Dan Chelotti and Jessica Fjeld. Tomorrow and Thursday, 7 p.m., the New School, Tishman Auditorium, 66 W. 12th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-254-9628, $10 general for both nights, $7 for each night, $7 for both nights for members and students, $5 for each night for members and students.

READINGS

THE PERFECT CHEF The James Beard Foundation’s “Beard on Books” series features Laura Shapiro, author of “Julia Child” (Penguin). Ms. Shapiro discusses Child’s larger-than-life personality and her seamless transition from writing cookbooks to hosting public broadcasting cooking shows in the 1960s. Today, noon, James Beard House, 167 W. 12th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-627-2308, $20 general, free for students.

TALKS

WAITING FOR BECKETT As part of its Artists, Poets, and Writers Lecture Series, the Frick Collection presents “Beckett’s Last Words,” a talk given by writer John Banville about the Irish poet and dramatist’s love of painting, as well as a discussion of Beckett’s final four texts, written between 1973 and 1988. Although Beckett did not publish art criticism, his letters as a young man to friends, in particular the director of the National Gallery in Dublin, Thomas Mac-Greevy, proved him to be a gifted critic. Mr. Banville is a book critic and novelist and the former longtime literary editor of the Irish Times. Tonight, 6 p.m., the Frick Collection, Oval Room, 1 E. 70 St., between Madison and Fifth Avenue, 212-288-0700, free.

MODERN MOVES The Richard York Memorial Lecture at the National Academy presents “John Marin and American Modernism,” a talk by a curator at the Whitney Museum of Art, Barbara Haskell. York founded an eponymous gallery in 1981, supporting modern American painters. Tonight, 6:30 p.m., National Academy Museum, Huntington Library, 1083 Fifth Ave. at 89th Street, 212-369-4880 ext. 300, free, reservations required.

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