The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced the 2011-2012 seasons for the Kennedy Center, National Symphony Orchestra and Washington National Opera. In wide-ranging programming that covers theater, dance, classical music, jazz, and productions for young people, the Kennedy Center continues its commitment, as the nation's center for the performing arts, to producing and presenting the best of national and international arts.
Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein stated, -The Kennedy Center's 41st season will provide audiences with more access than ever before in a wide breadth of creative programming. The Center will present an international festival focused on the music of Budapest, Prague, and Vienna; the incomparable ballet season will host a multitude of world-class companies; and the ever-busy jazz season will include a festival of swing music. An entirely free street arts festival will feature performances throughout the city and Washington audiences will see a continuation of the remarkable relationship between the National Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Christoph Eschenbach. We also welcome the wonderful talents of Steven Reineke, the new National Symphony Orchestra Principal Pops Conductor and the first affiliated season for Washington National Opera.
The Kennedy Center also announced today a five-year, $10 million pledge from David M. Rubenstein. The donation will help support programming, education and outreach at the Kennedy Center. Further information about this generous donation may be found in the supporting season announcement materials.
Highlights of the 2011-2012 season include:
- Funded by Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein, the Rubenstein Arts Access Program expands the Center's efforts to make the arts accessible to children, young adults and to people who have little or limited ability to attend and enjoy the performing arts. At the heart of this Center-wide effort is programming that excites and engages the 18- to 30- year-old demographic, including free and ticketed performances by mainstream and popular artists such as John Legend and The Roots; edgy and quirky performances including those on the Millennium Stage Lab; artists that are of their own generation such as Nellie McKay; performances in unique and non-traditional settings as in Look Both Ways: Street Arts Across America; and interactive participation, whether in-person or by digital means, like the KC Dance Hall for Swing, Swing, Swing. The Center's MY-TIX initiative is designed to increase access to performances for young people, the underserved, and members of the armed services. MY-TIX kicks off with a major free ticket giveaway September 10, 2011 in celebration of the Center's 40th birthday.
- From February 25 to March 29, 2012, the Kennedy Center will present The Music of Budapest, Prague, and Vienna, a one-month festival that highlights the rich musical heritage of three European cities whose contributions to the arts world have been appreciated for centuries. The festival will debut with Washington National Opera's Così fan tutte and will include the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, presented by Washington Performing Arts Society in conjunction with the Kennedy Center, the Prague Philharmonia conducted by Ji?í B?lohlávek, six programs by the National Symphony Orchestra, several offerings from the Fortas chamber series, a chamber music marathon by the Center's Conservatory Project and a theater production by Hungary's Katona Józef Theatre which focuses on gypsy music.
- The Theater Season will include a new Kennedy Center production of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's Pal Joey, which will feature a new book by Terrence McNally, as well as Broadway hits such as Billy Elliot the Musical, Memphis, La Cage aux Folles, The Addams Family, and the 25th anniversary production of Les Misérables. The theater season will also include the Sydney Theatre Company production of Uncle Vanya starring Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving, a 10th anniversary concert of the Center's Sondheim Celebration, and the Mabou Mines production of Dollhouse. Barbara Cook will return to perform in the fifth season of her Spotlight series.
- Look Both Ways: Street Arts Across America will support the timeless tradition of street art and shed light on artists and companies who are producing extraordinary work in non-traditional spaces. The festival will offer entirely free programming at the Kennedy Center as well as at locations around Washington, D.C., featuring contemporary visual arts, large-scale spectacles, street musicians, parade culture, flash mobs, puppetry, circus arts, and clowning. Part of the Rubenstein Arts Access program, the festival will focus on artists from across the country such as Nick Cave, Project Bandaloop, Bread and Puppet Theater, Mass Ensemble, The Midnight Circus, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Nana Projects, and more.
- The National Symphony Orchestra will present the season's Opening Night with Joshua Bell, conducted by Music Director Christoph Eschenbach. The Orchestra will host several well-known choral works such as Mendelssohn's Elijah, Orff's Carmina Burana, and Dvo?ák's Stabat Mater, and continue its focus on Beethoven, performing five of the composer's nine symphonies. The NSO will also host the world premiere of a new work by Bill Banfield to be performed by Sweet Honey in the Rock and the D.C. premiere of an NSO co-commission of Golijov's Sidereus. The season will include performances by Joshua Bell, Matthias Goerne, Midori, and Peter Serkin, among many others.
- The National Symphony Orchestra Pops season will welcome Steven Reineke, its new Principal Pops Conductor. The NSO Pops season will include such guest artists as The Canadian Tenors, Wayne Brady singing the music of Sam Cook and Sammy Davis Jr., Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, as well as special performances including Cirque de la Symphonie and the 40th anniversary celebration of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On featuring John Legend and The Roots.
- The Ballet Season features legendary dance companies from around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet, New York City Ballet, and Paris Opera Ballet. The Suzanne Farrell Ballet will celebrate its 10th anniversary as the Center's ballet company. In addition to its engagement at the Kennedy Center, the company will host an artistic partnership with Sarasota Ballet and perform a week-long season at New York City's Joyce Theater as part of a larger tour.
- The Contemporary Dance Season features performances by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Preljocaj, Beijing Dance Theater, Jo Kanamori's Noism, Keigwin + Company, Mark Morris Dance Group, and Merce Cunningham Dance Company as part of the company's Legacy Tour.
- Washington National Opera will embark on its first season as an affiliated company with the Kennedy Center with five productions that are new to Washington audiences: Puccini's Tosca, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Mozart's Così fan tutte, a new production of Verdi's Nabucco, and Massenet's Werther. The company will also present concerts with Deborah Voigt and Angela Gheorghiu and once again offer its free -Opera in the Outfield? simulcast, this year a live broadcast of Tosca on September 22.
- The Jazz Season will feature a two-week festival of Swing music entitled Swing, Swing, Swing which will include Jazz on the Elevens: A Tribute to Billy Taylor, featuring Ramsey Lewis, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Danilo Pérez. The festival will also include The Manhattan Transfer with special guest Jon Hendricks, and An Unforgettable Tribute to Nat King Cole by George Benson and the NSO Pops. The Center will build a dance floor in the Grand Foyer and invite the public to dance to swing music performances at the Millennium Stage.
- The Jazz Season will also include dozens of artists, including Roy Haynes and the Fountain of Youth Band, Django Reinhardt Festival All-Stars, Grace Kelly and Phil Woods, Jane Monheit, Dianne Reeves, Nicholas Payton, A Jazz New Year's Eve with Patti Austin, and many others.
- Performances for Young Audiences will premiere three new Kennedy Center- commissioned works: The Space-capades of Dr. Wonderful (and her dog!) with book and lyrics by Lauren Gunderson and music by Brian Lowdermilk, The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, and The Wings of Ikarus Jackson, adapted by Jerome Hairston from the book by Christopher Myers. The National Symphony Orchestra and Washington National Opera will also present diverse programming for young people and their families.
- VSA, the international organization on arts and disability and an affiliate of the Kennedy Center, will present performances, exhibitions, and educational programming both nationally and abroad. Such programming includes the VSA Playwright Discovery Program, the VSA International Young Soloists Program, and the VSA Teaching Artist Fellowship.
- The 34th Kennedy Center Honors will celebrate extraordinary individuals whose artistry have contributed significantly to the cultural life of this nation and will be broadcast on CBS in late December.
-The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, in its 14th year, will continue to recognize recipients who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th century novelist. The presentation will be broadcast nationally.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, overlooking the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., is America's living memorial to President Kennedy. Under the guidance of Chairman David M. Rubenstein and President Michael M. Kaiser, the nine theaters and stages of the nation's busiest performing arts facility attract audiences and visitors totaling three million people annually; Center-related touring productions, television, and radio broadcasts welcome 40 million more.
Opening its doors on September 8, 1971, the Center presents the greatest performances of music, dance, and theater; supports artists in the creation of new work; and serves the nation as a leader in arts and arts management education. With its artistic affiliate, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Center's achievements as a commissioner, producer, and nurturer of developing artists have resulted in more than 300 theatrical productions, and dozens of new ballets, operas, and musical works.
