Annual Lincoln Center Festival Continues with Ermon & Ramona, Edgard Varèse, et al. Thru 7/25

Nigel Redden, Director of the Lincoln Center Festival, which runs from July 7 through July 25, 2010, today announced the Festival's line-up, which includes ten North American, U.S., and New York premieres, and debuts. The Festival will unfold in seven venues on and off the Lincoln Center campus, including two major theater events on Governors Island-the North American premiere of Peter Stein's 12-hour marathon production of Dostoyevsky's The Demons (also known as The Possessed) and the North American premiere of Toneelgroep Amsterdam's production of Pier Paolo Pasolini's searing Teorema, adapted and staged by Ivo van Hove.

A Festival highlight will be performances of the complete works of Edgard Varèse by Maestro Alan Gilbert and The New York Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), led by Steven Schick, and other musicians and singers. The Festival also boasts the U.S. premiere of Yukio Ninagawa's lavish production, Musashi (which opens the Festival on July 7), based on a legendary samurai story, and the New York premiere of Complicite's Olivier Award-winning A Disappearing Number, conceived and directed by Simon McBurney, in the David H. Koch Theater. In all there will be 45 performances by artists and ensembles from 12 countries.

Said Mr. Redden, "Over the years the Festival has earned a reputation for introducing audiences to performances they would not be able to see under normal circumstances in New York. This year, we are working in an exciting space uniquely suited for Peter Stein's adaptation of The Demons and Ivo van Hove's searing adaptation of Teorema-an industrial warehouse on Governors Island, only ten minutes from Lower Manhattan but, in feeling, a world apart and one that captures the imagination. It is also extremely gratifying to work once again with our Lincoln Center colleagues the New York Philharmonic, this time with Maestro Alan Gilbert, on the Varèse series."

The Festival continues its tradition of presenting outstanding theater from around the world, this year with productions from The Republic of Georgia, Great Britain, Holland, Italy, and Japan:

July 7: Opening the Festival will be the U.S. premiere of Hisashi Inoue's Musashi in a new production at the David H. Koch Theater by legendary Japanese theater director Yukio Ninagawa, who made his Festival debut in 2005 with his production of Mishima's Modern Noh Plays. Musashi is a Noh-inspired play that depicts a ruthless hunt for revenge circa 1600 between two samurai, combining intense drama and riotous comedy, starring Tatsuya Fujiwara and Ryo Katsuji. Musashi continues through July 10, for four performances. Performed in Japanese, with English supertitles.

July 10 and 11: the Festival moves to Governors Island for the first time for the North American premiere of Peter Stein's 12-hour marathon production of The Demons, his own adaptation of Dostoyevsky's prophetic 1872 novel inspired by a vision of Russia collapsing under the weight of conflicting ideologies. Performed in Italian (with English supertitles) by a cast of 26 actors, the action of The Demons explores the consequences of a plot by a group of young revolutionaries to murder one of their own comrades.

July 15-19: Performances on Governors Island continue with the North American premiere of Teorema by Toneelgroep Amsterdam-an adaptation of Pier Paolo Pasolini's shocking and ambiguous novel and film that follow the unraveling of a middle-class family after a mysterious stranger visits and changes their lives forever. Adapted and directed by Ivo van Hove, Teorema will be performed in Italian with English supertitles.

July 15-18: Simon McBurney and Complicite return for their fourth Festival visit with their Olivier Award-winning A Disappearing Number, a meditation on what is permanent and what disappears forever, inspired by the collaboration of two of the 20th century's most important pure mathematicians, G.H. Hardy and Srinivasa Ramanujan, in the David H. Koch Theater.

July 20-25: Rezo Gabriadze and his magical Georgian puppet theater return to the Festival with Ermon and Ramona, the story of an improbable love affair between a locomotive and a shunting engine in Soviet Russia. Ermon and Ramona will be presented at the Clark Studio Theater. Performed in Georgian with English supertitles.

The diverse group of music presentations for Lincoln Center Festival 2010 ranges from voodoo/funk from the African nation of Benin and a celebration of The Blind Boys of Alabama, to Serbian rock/punk, the complete works of Varèse, and a new opera by Salvatore Sciarrino.

July 11: U.S. debut of the Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, the voodoo/funk sensation from the African nation of Benin that has wowed audiences throughout Europe with its Afro-infused psychedelia and James Brown-influenced rhythms, in the Gerald W. Lynch Theater.

July 12, 14 and 16: a three-night series in Alice Tully Hall curated by the seminal group The Blind Boys of Alabama, soul gospel veterans who have been deeply influential across many popular genres. The Blind Boys will perform at all three events, starting with an opening night concert with artists who are associated more with rock than gospel: Yo La Tengo, Lambchop and Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket. On July 14, the focus shifts to country music, with performances by Yonder Mountain String Band, Ralph Stanley, Ray Benson and Jason Roberts of Asleep at the Wheel. The final evening, The Blind Boys Family Revival, will feature songs from all of the group's Grammy Award-winning albums and include duets with Aaron Neville, Joan Osborne, Hot 8 Brass Band, Dan Zanes, John Hammond, and Charlie Musselwhite, among others.

July 14: At Avery Fisher Hall, Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra, the Serbian rock/punk group that attracts enthusiastic audiences all over the world to its infectious, energetic live performances, makes its first stateside tour. Inspired by the Sex Pistols and The Clash, The No Smoking Orchestra plays its own unique blend of rock, folk, gypsy, and world music, mixed with political satire and surrealist comedy.

July 19 and 20: The Festival presents the complete works of composer Edgard Varèse, "the father of electronic music," over two nights-July 19 in Alice Tully Hall; July 20 in Avery Fisher Hall-featuring the New York Philharmonic led by its Music Director, Alan Gilbert; International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), led by Steven Schick, So Percussion; bass-baritone Alan Held; soprano Anu Komsi; Musica Sacra and the Oratorio Society (Kent Tritle, Chorus Master); and others.

July 20: The North American premiere of La porta della legge, an opera based on a story by Franz Kafka by leading Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino (who returns to the Festival for the third time), performed by Wuppertal Opera and Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal, will be presented at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater. Performed in Italian with English supertitles.

Three acclaimed dancer/choreographers return to the Festival:

July 9-11: Groundbreaking dancer-choreographer Saburo Teshigawara, who last appeared at the Festival with his mesmerizing Bones in Pages in 2006, presents his newest solo work, Miroku, in the Rose Theater.

July 15-17: Choreographer Bill T. Jones' nationally-acclaimed Fondly Do We Hope... Fervently Do We Pray, performed by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. This full-evening company work, a Lincoln Center 50th Anniversary co-commission, investigates the many meanings of Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, the U.S. President and the man. It will be performed at the Rose Theater.

July 24-25: Thailand's Pichet Klunchun Dance Company performs Chui Chai, an exquisite dance work that showcases choreographer Pichet Klunchun's distinctive merging of traditional Thai classical dance and contemporary movement. Klunchun previously appeared in Festival 2006, dancing in, and choreographing Ramakien: A Rak Opera. Chui Chai will be performed at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater.

Festival related events (programs and schedules to be announced at a later date) will once again offer in-depth conversations with participating artists and scholars about the summer's featured works.

Tickets for Lincoln Center Festival 2010 go on sale on March 10 to Friends of Lincoln Center and to the general public on March 12, via CenterCharge 212-721-6500, online at www.LincolnCenterFestival.org and at the Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall Box Offices, 65th Street and Broadway.

For more information, visit www.LincolnCenterFestival.org and register for "My Lincoln Center" to receive a Festival brochure, updates, and special offers or call Lincoln Center Customer Service at 212-875-5456.

Lincoln Center Festival 2010 is sponsored by American Express Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts. Corporate support is provided by The Bank of New York Mellon. Endowment support is provided by UBS. Movado is an Official Sponsor of Lincoln Center, Inc. WNBC/WNJU are Official Broadcast Partners of Lincoln Center, Inc. Continental Airlines is the Official Airline of Lincoln Center, Inc. MetLife is the National Sponsor of Lincoln Center, Inc. Summer at Lincoln Center is sponsored Diet Pepsi and The Wall Street Journal.

Lincoln Center Festival is a presentation of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. (LCPA), which serves three primary roles: presenter of superb artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. As a presenter of over 400 events annually, LCPA's programs include American Songbook, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and Live From Lincoln Center. In addition, LCPA is leading a series of major capital projects on behalf of the resident organizations across the campus.

For more information, visit www.lincolncenter.org.