Angel’s Share: Spring, Strings, and Tasty Things

Rain Date: May 25, 2024

After three years of alliterative magnificence, beginning with the legendary Burgers, Bourbon & Beethoven Festival, we've decided that we should stop limiting ourselves to just one choice of food, drink, and musical repertoire. This year, we open our hearts, minds, and gullets, to take in a smorgasbord of sounds, sips, and sumptuous victuals.

The evening begins with a wondrous bit of wandering across Green-Wood’s historic landscape – the perfect backdrop to enjoy a variety of food (snacks included in ticket price, with heartier fare available for purchase), spirit tastings, and chamber music performances. Then, the insanely talented members of Ruckus, one of the finest Baroque bands playing today, will offer a lesson in old-school social line dancing, to anyone who wishes to shake it like they did in 1799... THEN, just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Ruckus will close the evening with a performance of Handel's majestic "Water Music" suite. We'll send you home with a happy heart, a full belly, and a spring in your step.

Say hello to the warm season at Green-Wood, with a night of Baroque Strings and Tasty Things... it's one of our favorite events of the year, so don't miss it!

Now in its sixth season, the Angel’s Share presents intimate classical classical music concerts, with repertoire ranging from medieval through to contemporary works, specifically chosen to highlight the unique presence and acoustic power of Green-Wood’s Catacombs, and the singular character of the Cemetery grounds. The series is curated and directed by Death of Classical Founder Andrew Ousley, in partnership with the Cemetery. Each Angel’s Share concert features a pre-show spirits tasting, included in the ticket price, and the series takes its name from the distiller’s term for whiskey that evaporates while maturing in the barrel, thus going to the angels. Concerts have been praised in major cultural press throughout the country, with Vogue Magazine describing it as “one of the most riveting and unusual chamber music performances of my lifetime,” and The New York Times saying “In a Cemetery, music lives.”

Ruckus is a shapeshifting, collaborative baroque band with a visceral and playful approach to early music. The ensemble debuted in Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo in a production directed by Christopher Alden featuring Anthony Roth Costanzo, Ambur Braid and Davóne Tines at National Sawdust. The band’s playing earned widespread critical acclaim: “achingly delicate one moment, incisive and punchy the next” (New York Times); “superb” (Opera News).

Ruckus’s core is a continuo group, the baroque equivalent of a jazz rhythm section: guitars, keyboards, cello, bassoon and bass. Other members include soloists of the violin, flute and oboe. The ensemble aims to fuse the early-music movement’s questing, creative spirit with the grit, groove and jangle of American roots music, creating a unique sound of “rough-edged intensity” (New Yorker). Its members are assembled from among the most creative and virtuosic performers in North American early music, and is based in New York City.

• Tasting is for attendees 21 years of age or older with proof of ID.
• Drinks and Food: Spirits tasting, water, and some light snacks are free. There will be food from a variety of vendors for sale. Picnics and outside food are not permitted.
• Be On Time: Check-in begins at 6:30pm. No early admittance. No admittance after 8:30pm.
• Where To Go: Check-in ONLY takes place at the Main Entrance on Fifth Avenue and 25th Street (500 25th Street). There are no paper or e-tickets! Attendees will be checked in by name.
• For Your Comfort and Safety: This event will take place along hilly and uneven terrain. We strongly encourage attendees to wear suitable footwear.
• Refunds and exchanges: Ticket sales are final. No exchanges or refunds. In case of inclement weather, tickets will ONLY be honored on the rain date Saturday, May 25th.
• Attendees must follow ALL instructions and guidance from Cemetery staff and ambassadors.
• Feeling Sick? Stay home if you are feeling sick or running a fever.

Photo Credit: Kevin Condon

Host or Publisher The Green-Wood Historic Fund