Lincoln Center Launches GREAT PERFORMERS 50th Season Tonight

The 50th season of Lincoln Center's Great Performers series runs from tonight, October 14, 2015 through June 4, 2016. Reflecting the defining character of the series, Great Performers 2015-16 will present renowned orchestras, conductors, recitalists, and chamber ensembles, as well as outstanding emerging artists, across several long-running and newer series. It also breaks new ground, as it has many times, with several debuts and premieres, as well as a fully-staged contemporary opera as part of an unprecedented, multi-year collaboration with the New York Philharmonic.

The Great Performers season opens with a three-concert survey of the complete song cycles of Franz Schubert sung by tenor Mark Padmore with pianist Paul Lewis, tonight, October 14, October 15 and 17 in Alice Tully Hall. Padmore recently triumphed in the role of the Evangelist in the White Light Festival 2014 presentation of Peter Sellars' and the Berlin Philharmonic's St. Matthew Passionat the Park Avenue Armory.

Highlighting the season's orchestral offerings are two milestones: Valery Gergiev's final New York appearances as Chief Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) before taking up the baton as Principal Conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra; and Louis Langrée's first New York concerts with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since assuming the post of music director last season. Maestro Gergiev will lead the LSO in two Bartók programs (October 23 and 25), both with pianist Yefim Bronfman, who returns to Great Performers after a 10-year absence. Maestro Langrée and the Cincinnati Symphony perform an all-Tchaikovsky program at Avery Fisher Hall on January 6, 2016.

Said Jane Moss: "Over the years, the Great Performers palette has diversified, but what has remained constant is the exceptional musical virtuosity that lies at the heart of the series. Our 50th anniversary season celebrates that excellence with artists and ensembles who have figured prominently in the series' history -- the London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Joshua Bell, Murray Perahia, Richard Goode, William Christie and Les Arts Florissants -- and with a series-defining composer-focused, three-concert immersion in the complete Schubert song cycles. The season is marked equally by discoveries such as the superb period-instrument ensemble Anima Eterna Brugge, and by new directions -- the exciting initiative, in partnership with the New York Philharmonic, to bring the first staged productions of extraordinary contemporary operas to New York. It's a privilege to share these performances, which embody the hallmarks of excellence that have made Great Performersa vital part of New York's musical life for 50 years."

Tenor Mark Padmore and his fellow Englishman, pianist Paul Lewis, open the Great Performers season with "Art of the Song" recitals of the three Schubert song cycles: October 14, Die schöne Müllerin; October 15, Schwanengesang, paired with Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte; and October 17, Winterreise. The two artists have delved deeply into these beloved exemplars of the song literature, with acclaimed recitals and a triptych of recordings over the past five years. Both artists have strong connections to Great Performers. Padmore's first series appearance was in 1992 with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, and he has returned often over the years. Paul Lewis made his U.S. recital debut in 2002 on the Great Performers"Sunday Mornings" series.

"Art of the Song" 2015-16 continues on November 1 with soprano Christine Brewer and organist Paul Jacobs performing works by Handel, Bach, Puccini, Franck, and Gounod in the first recital ever recital for voice and organ on the series since it began in 1982. Soprano Karita Mattila will appear on March 10 with pianist Martin Katz. Baritone Matthias Goerne is joined by pianist Alexander Schmalcz on April 20 for the final season recital. "Art of the Song" recitals take place in Alice Tully Hall.

The October LSO concerts open the "Symphonic Masters" series. On October 23, Gergiev and the orchestra perform Bartók'sThe Miraculous Mandarin and Stravinsky's The Firebird (complete), joined by Yefim Bronfman for Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 3. They return on October 25 with an all-Bartók program: Dance Suite, Concerto for Orchestra, and Piano Concerto No. 2. Louis Langrée and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's January 6 concert features an all-Tchaikovsky program: the Fifth Symphony and Piano Concerto No. 1, with Ukrainian-born rising pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk. Gustavo Dudamel leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in two concerts: Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford on March 13; and on March 14, a program featuring New York premieres of works by John Williams and Andrew Norman, Ginastera's Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Sergio Tiempo, and Copland's Appalachian Spring. For the final "Symphonic Masters" concert on March 21, Joshua Bell and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields offer works by Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven.

The London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields all made their first Great Performers appearances in the 1982-83 season. All "Symphonic Masters" concerts take place in Avery Fisher Hall.

Four renowned European period-instrument ensembles will perform on next season's "Chamber Orchestras" series in Alice Tully Hall beginning October 31 with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants' semi-staged production of Handel's opera Theodora. The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, led by Gottfried von der Goltz, violinist and director, perform an all-Mozart program on February 25, featuring Symphony No. 31 ("Paris"), the Clarinet Concerto, and arias from Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro, sung by baritone Christian Gerhaher. Belgium's Anima Eterna Brugge, led by Jos van Immerseel, conductor and fortepiano, will make its U.S. debut with an all-Beethoven program on January 28. Making its Great Performers debut on April 13 is Italy'sAccademia Bizantina, with Ottavio Dantone, conductor, in his New York conducting debut, leading an all-Vivaldi program that includes arias sung by contralto Delphine Galou and renowned period-instrument soloists, cellist Christophe Coin and bassoonist Sergio Azzolini.

"Virtuoso Recitals" presents four incomparable pianists, including one who appeared on the first Great Performers all-piano recital series, Richard Goode. Paul Lewis, who was heard in solo recital in the 2012 White Light Festival, opens the series on November 14 with an all-Beethoven program. On March 3, Piotr Anderszewski gives his first Great Performers solo recital in more than 10 years, performing works by Bartók, Janácek, and Schubert. An early Avery Fisher Prize winner (1980), Richard Goode has performed frequently at Lincoln Center over the years. On April 9, he returns with an all-Bach program. Winding up the series on May 8 is Murray Perahia, the first recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize (1974, along with cellist Lynn Harrell), a frequent and favorite artist on both the Great Performers series and at the Mostly Mozart Festival.

Launched on the next phase of its storied career last year with a new member, cellist Paul Watkins, the Emerson String Quartetreturns to Great Performers for three 2016 spring concerts. Across three evenings -- April 7, April 17, and May 12 -- the quartet will perform all six of Haydn's late Opus 76 quartets alongside all six of Beethoven's first published quartets, Opus 18, illuminating an important transitional moment in the history of the musical form.

"Sunday Morning Coffee Concerts," launched in the 1994-95 season, has introduced two decades of New York audiences to exciting rising artists from home and abroad in a casual atmosphere, with the opportunity to meet the artists over refreshments following each concert. The 2015-16, six-concert series at the Walter Reade Theater has an international focus.

"Sunday Morning" opens on October 25 with Queen Elisabeth and Yehudi Menuhin Competition First Prize-winner, violinist Ray Chen performing a program of works by Bach, Ysaÿe, and Milstein. Spain's award-winning Cuarteto Quiroga, performs quartets by Haydn and Brahms on November 22. Swedish cellist Jakob Koranyi, an alumnus of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's CMS Two development program for young artists, will play a recital on December 6. Ukrainian-born Australian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk gives a solo recital on January 10, following his January 6 "Symphonic Masters" performance as soloist in Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. A duo-recital by English violinist Jack Liebeck and Russian-born pianist Katya Apekisheva takes place on February 7. Finally, concluding the series on April 3, young Israeli pianist Roman Rabinovich will perform a world premiere by American composer-pianist Michael Brown, along with works by Mozart and Schumann.

The new season of the "Music on Film," series, presented in association with the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Classifilms, brings three films focused on legendary violinists to the Walter Reade Theater in February 2016. Program 1 on February 3 is a screening of Peter Rosen's 2011 film biography, Jascha Heifetz: God's Fiddler. Program 2 on February 6, Yehudi Menuhin Returns to the USSR, Part I, offers selected segments from Bruno Monsaingeon's extended documentation of the violinist's 1987 trip to his parent's homeland, Belarus. Program 3, also on February 6, is Christopher Nupen's 1992 documentary, Nathan Milstein: Master of Invention.

Launched last season, "Complimentary Classical," a series of free, hour-long concerts by notable, emerging string quartets, returns with four evenings in 2016 in the David Rubenstein Atrium. Opening the series on February 11 is the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition-winning Dover Quartet. Boston-based Parker Quartet, 2011 Grammy Award-winners for Best Chamber Music Performance, comes to the Atrium on February 25. Founded at Yale, New York's Enso String Quartetperforms on May 5. Austria's Minetti Quartett, already familiar to audiences of Europe's leading concert halls, makes its Lincoln Center debut on March 31, closing out next season's series. All concerts take place at 7:30.

Lincoln Center's Great Performers 50th anniversary seasons concludes in June with Irish composer Gerald Barry's acclaimed comic opera The Importance of Being Earnest in its first U.S. staging. Inspired by the Oscar Wilde play, the opera is directed by Ramin Gray and features the New York Philharmonic conducted by Ilan Volkov, and most of the original cast from its 2013 staged production at the Royal Opera House. The Importance of Being Earnest is presented jointly by the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center as part of a new artistic partnership to stage modern operas not yet seen in New York.

Pre- and post-concert talks by noted musicologists, writers and academics including Peter A. Hoyt, Christopher H. Gibbs, Susan Orlando, and Scott Burnham, along with discussions with artists, will provide background and insights into the programs. Details follow with program information, and in the Season Chronology.

Programs and artists subject to change.

Subscription Tickets for Great Performers 2015-16, are on sale now by phone via CenterCharge, 212-721-6500, online at LCGreatPerformers.org/subscribe, by mail: Great Performers, Alice Tully Hall Box Office, 1941 Broadway, New York, NY 10023-6588, or in person at the Alice Tully Hall or Avery Fisher Box Office, 65th Street and Broadway. Single tickets are on sale starting in June. Tickets for The Importance of Being Earnest are on advance sale only as a Producers Circle premium purchase. For more information, call 212-875-5466. To request a season brochure, call 212-875-5766.

Initiated in 1965, Lincoln Center's Great Performers series offers classical and contemporary music performances from the world's outstanding symphony orchestras, vocalists, chamber ensembles, and recitalists. One of the most significant music presentation series in the world, Great Performers runs from October through June with offerings in Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Walter Reade Theater, and other performance spaces around New York City. From symphonic masterworks, lieder recitals, and Sunday morning coffee concerts to films and groundbreaking productions specially commissioned by Lincoln Center, Great Performers offers a rich spectrum of programming throughout the season. For more information, visit LCGreatPerformers.org.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. A presenter of more than 3,000 free and ticketed events, performances, tours, and educational activities annually, LCPA offers 15 series, festivals, and programs including American Songbook, Avery Fisher Artist Program, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, Martin E. Segal Awards, Meet the Artist, Mostly Mozart Festival, Target Free Thursdays, and the White Light Festival, as well as the Emmy Award-winning Live From Lincoln Center, which airs nationally on PBS. As manager of the Lincoln Center campus, LCPA provides support and services for the Lincoln Center complex and 11 resident organizations: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center Theater, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the School of American Ballet and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. For more information, go to aboutlincolncenter.org.