QMA Offers Free Admission To ‘First Thursday’ Party

Peggy Cone and her Gentlemen perform swing jazz classics at the Queens Museum of Art First Thursday event Sept. 7th.

The Queens Museum of Art "swings" into fall with a free First Thursday Sept. 7th from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. This latest installment in the museum’s popular series offers a hot night of cool jazz vocals, courtesy of Peggy Cone and her Gentlemen. The public is invited to spend a culture-filled evening with live music, dance, refreshments, games, give-aways, and of course, art. The QMA is currently displaying "Art at Work: Forty Years of the Chase Manhattan Collection," a magnificent collection of 120 masterpieces of the 20th Century.

Peggy Cone and her Gentlemen perform in the swing style of jazz, singing the classics of Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. Cone has received critical acclaim for her frequent performances at Manhattan’s most popular venues, which include Windows on the World, Swing 46, Birdland, and the Rainbow Room. Guests will jump and stomp to the group’s hot sounds and slick rhythms in the museum’s spacious galleries overlooking the famed Unisphere. Weather permitting, portions of the event will take place out of doors.

First Thursday is an after-hours, open house gala, held the first Thursday of every month at the Queens Museum of Art. For more information, call (718) 592-9700 ext. 223.

The Queens Museum of Art is located in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, adjacent to the Unisphere. To visit the museum by subway, take the number 7 Flushing IRT to the Willets Point/Shea Stadium stop. A free trolley shuttle will be available to escort First Thursday attendees from the subway station to the Queens Museum of Art. To arrive by car, take the Grand Central Parkway to the Shea Stadium exit, and follow the signs to the museum. Convenient free parking is available.

The September First Thursday event is sponsored by the Seagram Spirits and Wine Group and RCN.