MUSIC

MISSING TONIC Arts for Art and the Vision Music Festival presents Vision Tonic, a series of concerts featuring artists whose shows were canceled when the Lower East Side avant-garde jazz venue Tonic closed. Guitarist Marc Ribot performs with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Chad Taylor. During a later set, drummer Andrew Barker performs with trumpeter Daniel Carter and reedist Sabir Mateen. Tonight, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Clemente Solo Velez, 107 Suffolk St., between Rivington and Delancey streets, 212-696-6681, $10 per set.

ON THE MIC British singer and violinist Patrick Wolf began making music at age 11 on four-track machines, and formed his first band at 16. The 24-year-old singer performs a solo headlining show at the Bowery Ballroom, taking a break from his supporting role touring with British chanteuse Amy Winehouse. He sings from his latest album “The Magic Position.” Tonight, 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St. at the Bowery, 212-260-4700, $15.

POETRY

VERSES, VERSES The third annual Word for Word Reading Series in Bryant Park kicks off its summer season with readings by Christian Hawkey, Cathy Park Hong, and Rachel Zucker. Mr. Hawkey is an assistant professor of English and creative writing at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Ms. Hong teaches at Sarah Lawrence College, and Ms. Zucker is the poet-in-residence at Fordham University. Tonight, 6:30 p.m., Bryant Park Reading Room, between 40th and 42nd streets and Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-274-0343, free.

READINGS

MEAN GIRLS AND COOL CHICKS The author of “It Chicks” (Jump at the Sun/Hyperion), Tia Williams, reads and signs copies of her debut novel, the first in her series of young adult fiction. The It Chicks is a group of African-American adolescents enrolled at a fictional New York City performing arts high school, Louis B. Armstrong. The talented girls come of age amid backstabbing friends, absent parents, and the familiar trappings of life in Manhattan, as they strive to achieve success as ballerinas, singers, and musicians in the entertainment industry. Ms. Williams is a beauty editor who has contributed to such magazines as Teen People, Elle, Lucky, and Glamour. Today, 3 p.m., Hue-Man Bookstore, 2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd., between 124th and 125th streets, 212-665-7400, free.

CITY PLANNING Robert A.M. Stern reads from and discusses his book “New York 2000: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Bicentennial and the Millennium” (Monacelli), which he co-wrote with David Fishman and Jacob Tilove. The book is the final in a five-volume series that that focuses on the city’s architecture and urbanism, and documents milestones in the city’s architectural history over the past 30 years. Mr. Stern is the dean of the Yale School of Architecture. Tonight, 6:30 p.m., Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave. at 103rd Street, 212-534-1672, free.

TALKS

THE MAN’S A GENIUS Sylvia Nasar, author of “A Beautiful Mind” (Simon & Schuster), and Matt Ridley, author of “Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code” (HarperCollins), discuss writing biographies and the lives of their subjects. Ms. Nasar’s biography documented the life of economist John Nash. Today, 4 p.m., New York University, Bobst Library, Fales Collection, third floor, 70 Washington Square South at LaGuardia Place, 212-992-9018, free.

ROOSEVELT’S BEGINNING The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History presents “The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope,” featuring a columnist and senior editor at Newsweek, Jonathan Alter, and a professor of American history and the provost of Columbia University, Alan Brinkley. Tonight, 5:30 p.m., New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West at 77th Street, 212-868-4444, $15 general, $10 students and seniors, $8 members.

HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS The Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America presents “”Aesthetic Evangelists,” American Women and the Artistic Home,” an illustrated lecture given by Karen Zukowski. Ms. Zukowski is the au thor of “Creating the Artful Home the Aesthetic Movement” (Gibbs Smith), about the history of a move ment that emphasized “art for art’s sake” and the influence it had on home decor. The Aesthetic Move ment in America is considered to have spanned just a few decades 1870–1900, and served mainly as a bridge between the high Victorian sensibility and the radical shift to the Arts & Crafts style. The movement developed among artists who used opulent color, decorative patterning and expensive materials for the out ward effects they could evoke. Tonight, 6 p.m., Donnell Library Auditorium, New York Public Library 20 W. 53rd St., between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, 212-886-3742, free.

CELEBRATING SINGSPIEL “From Darkness to Light: German Opera Discovered,” a lecture on the devel opment of German opera, is given by Jasmin Cowin. Ms. Cowin is a trained harpist and a professor at Marymount Manhattan College where she teaches the history of German opera. She discusses in particular Mozart’s “Magic Flute,” Weber’s romantic opera “Freis chuetz,” and Beethoven’s rescue opera “Fidelio.” Live performances of selections from the discussion are featured. Baritone Alexander Hajek and soprano Jacquelyn Familant are featured performers and pianist Rita Antoine accompa nies on piano. A reception follows. Tonight, 6 p.m., Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany 871 United Nations Plz., between First Avenue and 49th Street, 212 610-9759, free general admission $10 for reception only, reservation required.

SCULPTURE

CITY PRODUCT “Lorrie Goulet: Sixty Years of Sculpting” is a retrospective of works by the New York City-based artist. She first exhibited at the Clay Club, which is now the Sculpture Center, in 1948. Ms. Goulet is pictured above in her Greene Street studio in 1955. Through Saturday, May 26, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m., David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, 41 E. 57th St. at Madison Avenue, 212-486-7660, free.

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