Lincoln Center Begins A Year-Long Celebration Of Its 50th Anniversary On May 11

On a sunny day in May, 1959, President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower stood at Columbus Avenue and 64th Street and pushed a shovel into the earth to break ground for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

On the morning of May 11, 2009, 50 years after that momentous occasion, Lincoln Center will begin a year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary with a special ceremony in the newly-transformed Alice Tully Hall. New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert, acclaimed violinist Itzhak Perlman with alumni from The Perlman Music Program, Tony Award-winning opera star Paulo Szot, jazz icon Wynton Marsalis with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and The Juilliard Orchestra are among those scheduled to perform in a program that celebrates the past 50 years and looks to the next generation of Lincoln Center's artists and audiences.   In the audience of this private event will be elected officials, performing artists, civic and community representatives, and leaders from all 12 Lincoln Center resident organizations.

That night, the Tower Lights of the Empire State Building will be lit in the Lincoln Center’s 50th Anniversary colors in honor of the official kick-off of the year-long celebration.  A complete list of 50th Anniversary Year events from May through Labor Day Weekend 2009 is below.  Updates for fall 2009 50th Anniversary programs will follow.

Fifty years ago, Lincoln Center pioneered the concept of a performing arts campus as a catalyst for urban renewal and played a significant role in reviving its Upper West Side neighborhood.  Now a model for performing arts centers around the world, Lincoln Center is home to twelve world class resident organizations representing the highest standards of excellence in opera, symphonic and chamber music, theater, jazz, dance, film and arts education. 

To celebrate, there will be special 50th anniversary events. They are as follows:

May through Labor Day Weekend, 2009

Lincoln Center at Times Center: Times Talks

May 4, 11, 2009

The Times Center, 242 West 41st St.

The New York Times presents a special TimesTalks series featuring prominent Lincoln Center figures and artists exploring relevant arts-related topics with New York Times journalists.  André Bishop (Lincoln Center Theater), Peter Gelb (The Metropolitan Opera) and Mara Manus (The Film Society of Lincoln Center) will participate in the May series.

For tickets and more information, visit www.nytimes.com/timestalks.

StoryCorps®

May 6-23, 2009

Lincoln Center

The award-winning national oral history project, StoryCorps, brings its signature Airstream trailer to Manhattan for the very first time.  Outfitted with a recording studio, the MobileBooth will be on the Lincoln Center campus enabling members of the community to share memories of their lives and illuminate the personal significance of Lincoln Center and its history.  Participants will receive a CD of their recording and with their permission a copy will be archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and at the Lincoln Center archive.  Reservations open April 15th, 2009 at 10am.

To make a reservation, visit www.storycorps.net or call 1.800.850.4406.

This event is free and open to the public.

Lincoln Center Education Resource Fair     

May 7, 2009                                                        

Morgan Stanley lobby at Alice Tully Hall, 65th St. and Broadway

Lincoln Center holds a special Resource Fair for educators from the tri-state area, highlighting the wide variety of arts education resources offered by all of Lincoln Center’s resident organizations. A specially designed education resource poster, detailing critical information and contacts for all Lincoln Center educational programs, will be produced in conjunction with the Fair and distributed to educators.

This event is sponsored by Chase.

Celebratory Commemorative Ceremony

May 11, 2009

Starr Theater at Alice Tully Hall, 65th St. and Broadway

Lincoln Center officially launches a year-long celebration on May 11, 2009.  On that day key artistic, civic, government leaders and invited guests will pay tribute to Lincoln Center’s celebrated past and to its next generation of artists and audiences in a program commemorating the original groundbreaking ceremony led by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

This event is generously underwritten by Cecilia and Jim Herbert.

Bergdorf Goodman

Mid-May, 2009

Bergdorf Goodman, 754 5th Ave at 58th St.

Bergdorf Goodman salutes Lincoln Center’s 50th Anniversary with its renowned window displays along its 5th Avenue store frontage.

This event is free and open to the public.

Screenings at the Paley Center for Media

May 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31, 2009

Paley Center for Media, 25 West 52nd St. between 5th and 6th Avenue

The Paley Center for Media screens a selection of rare Lincoln Center television programs never released commercially.  In fall 2009 a seminar at the Paley Center will examine the diverse ways in which the artistic companies of Lincoln Center have used media over the past fifty years, as well as the new ways the arts will use television, radio, film and digital media.

For tickets and more information, visit www.paleycenter.org.

Empire State Building

May 2009

Empire State Building, 350 Fifth Avenue, between 33rd and 34th Sts.

The Empire State Building dedicates its ground floor lobby display space to Lincoln Center, highlighting images and objects from Lincoln Center’s exciting 50 year history.  On the evening of May 11, 2009, the Empire State Building’s Tower Lights are lit in Lincoln Center’s 50th Anniversary colors.

This event is free and open to the public.

Art at Lincoln Center: The Public Art and List Print and Poster Collections, by Charles Riley II

May 2009

This lavish, full-color coffee table book is the fifth installment in the LCPA/Wiley series of books.  It takes readers on a comprehensive look at Lincoln Center’s acclaimed visual arts collections.  Important artworks by Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Henry Moore and Jasper Johns, among others, are part of Lincoln Center’s renowned collection.

Lincoln Center at the Time Warner Center: Art Exhibit

June 1-June 21, 2009

Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, 59th St. and Broadway

In the second floor public gallery space at the Time Warner Center, Lincoln Center presents 30 rarely-seen works by contemporary artists from the Lincoln Center List Poster and Print Program, which commissions leading visual artists to create posters and prints in tribute to Lincoln Center.  Artists include Josef Albers, Chuck Close, HeLen Frankenthaler, Sol Lewitt, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol, among others

This event is free and open to the public.

It is sponsored by Altria.

College Scholarships

June 27, 2009

$100,000 in scholarships will be awarded to graduates of the High School for Arts, Imagination and Inquiry (HSAII) over four years beginning with the school’s first graduating class in June 2009.  The HSAII, which opened in September 2005, infuses its interdisciplinary curriculum with experience in and reflective study of the arts and utilizes the resources of Lincoln Center Institute and its teaching artists.

This is ponsored by Chase.

Expanded Meet the Artist Series

July-September, 2009

The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island

Lincoln Center’s Meet the Artist series, which presents a wide range of performances for young people, travels to libraries in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island for the first time as a 50th Anniversary initiative.  Each program combines performance, participation, and education to provide the audience the opportunity to experience the arts firsthand with world-class artists.

For more information, visit www.LincolnCenter.org/50.

This is free and open to the public.

Major support for the Meet the Artist School Series is provided by International Flavors & Fragrances, and Betty and John Levin.  This program was made possible in part by funds granted by the Charles H. Revson Foundation.

There will also be special 50th anniversary performances. They are as follows:

Great Performers

June 9, 2009

Guggenheim Bandshell, Amsterdam Avenue and 62nd St.

Lincoln Center presents a special free performance by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.  The performance will also be broadcast to millions as part of the Live From “the 50th Anniversary of” Lincoln Center series on PBS.

This event is free and open to the public.

Live From Lincoln Center is made possible by a major grant from MetLife.  Additional generous support provided by Thomas H. Lee and Ann Tenenbaum and the RoBert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust.

Film Society of Lincoln Center

July 3-5, 2009

Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th St.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center presents a marathon of 50 consecutive hours of film musicals.

For tickets and more information, visit www.filmlinc.com.

Midsummer Night Swing

July 8, 2009

Damrosch Park, Amsterdam Avenue at 62nd St

Midsummer Night Swing presents Chubby Checker and the Wildcats in a Twist party celebrating 50 years of dancing apart to the beat.

For tickets and more information, visit www.LincolnCenter.org/50.

Midsummer Night Swing 2009 is made possible in part by a grant from Daisy and Paul Soros and the Charina Endowment Fund.

July 11, 2009

Damrosch Park, Amsterdam Avenue at 62nd St.

Midsummer Night Swing presents the Big 3 Palladium Orchestra’s tribute to Tito Rodriguez, Machito and Tito Puente.

Midsummer Night Swing 2009 is made possible in part by a grant from Daisy and Paul Soros and the Charina Endowment Fund.

For tickets and more information, visit www.LincolnCenter.org/50.

Lincoln Center Festival

July 9, 10, 11, 2009

Starr Theater at Alice Tully Hall, 65th St. and Broadway

Lincoln Center Festival presents Shen Wei Dance Arts in Re – (I, II, III), the first New York performance of the complete triptych.  Part III, The New Silk Road, a New York premiere, was commissioned for the 50th Anniversary.

For tickets and more information, visit www.LincolnCenter.org/50.

Lincoln Center Festival 2009 is sponsored by American Express

July 14, 16 and 17, 2009

Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th St.

Lincoln Center Festival presents new works by Emanuel Gat Dance, featuring the North American premiere of Gat's latest short work Silent Ballet and the New York premiere of Winter Variations.

For tickets and more information, visit www.LincolnCenter.org/50.

Lincoln Center Festival 2009 is sponsored by American Express

Lincoln Center Out of Doors

August 5, 2009

Damrosch Park, Amsterdam Avenue at 62nd St.

Lincoln Center Out of Doors celebrates its opening night with The Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Out @ 50 and the New York debut of Amir ElSaffar's Two Rivers Large Ensemble.

This event is free and open to the public.

Lincoln Center Out of Doors 2009 is sponsored by Bloomberg and PepsiCo, Inc.

August 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 2009

Various outdoor locations at Lincoln Center

Lincoln Center Out of Doors presents the world premiere of the Asphalt Orchestra in collaboration with Bang on a Can in a series of new wave marching band performances.

This is free and open to the public.

Lincoln Center Out of Doors 2009 is sponsored by Bloomberg and PepsiCo, Inc.

Mostly Mozart Festival

August 9, 10, 2009

Avery Fisher Hall, Broadway at 64th St.

Mostly Mozart Festival presents the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE)  led by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, who will serve as both conductor and soloist in two Alice Tully Hall programs that showcase his expertise in a repertoire that ranges from classical to contemporary.  The COE has 50 members who represent 15 nationalities, each with parallel careers as international soloists, ensemble members, and professors.

For tickets and more information, visit www.LincolnCenter.org/50.

August 13, 14 & 15, 2009

Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th St.

Mostly Mozart Festival presents the New York premiere of A Flowering Tree.  John Adams conducts three performances of his two-act opera/oratorio, A Flowering Tree, with a cast of American singers, the production’s original Schola Cantorum de Venezuela choir, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, set against a rich tapestry of Indonesian dancers and costumes.  Director Peter Sellars and Adams wrote the libretto together—their sixth collaboration—with inspiration from Mozart’s final opera, The Magic Flute, and its themes of magic, transformation, and morality.

For tickets and more information, visit www.LincolnCenter.org/50.

August 19-22, 2009

Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th St.

Mostly Mozart presents the New York premieres of two dance works by the Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) featuring Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, and violinist Colin Jacobsen—Empire Garden is set to Ives’ Trio for Violin, Violoncello, and Piano and Visitation to Beethoven’s Cello Sonata in C major.

For tickets and more information, visit www.LincolnCenter.org/50.

Film Society of Lincoln Center

September 4-6, 2009

Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th St.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center presents a marathon of 50 consecutive hours of classic foreign films.

For tickets and more information, visit www.filmlinc.com.

Year-long 50th anniversary initiatives include:

Lincoln Center 50th Anniversary Website      

In May 2009 LincolnCenter.org will launch several new 50th Anniversary elements including an interactive, multimedia timeline animating the historic milestones of Lincoln Center’s 12 resident organizations over the past five decades.

Contributors from all over the world are invited to send in memories, images, videos, and audio of favorite moments, performances, and events at Lincoln Center over the past 50 years to Lincoln Center’s “Digital Time Capsule.”

Nationally televised Live from Lincoln Center broadcasts highlight the 50th Anniversary throughout the year.  The first of the specially titled Live From “the 50th Anniversary of” Lincoln Center broadcasts features the New York City Ballet’s production of “Romeo and Juliet” on May 21, 2009.

Live From Lincoln Center is made possible by a major grant from MetLife.  Additional generous support provided by Thomas H. Lee and Ann Tenenbaum and the RoBert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust.

Lincoln Center commissions a 50th Anniversary series of fine print editions and handmade, collectible posters created by artists including Vija Celmins, Jim Dine, HeLen Frankenthaler, Malcolm Morley, Jill Moser, Richard Serra, and Terry Winters.

Lincoln Center has formed a 50th Anniversary Artist Committee of performing artists from across several disciplines representing the exceptional and essential contributions that artists have made to Lincoln Center over the past 50 years, and will continue to make into the future.  Current 50th Anniversary Artist Committee members include: Emanuel Ax, Trisha Brown, Kristin Chenoweth, Victoria Clark, Barbara Cook, David Finckel and Wu Han, Renée Fleming, Alan Gilbert, James Levine, Wynton Marsalis, Peter Martins, Audra McDonald, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Peter Sellars, Dawn Upshaw, and Deborah Voigt

Lincoln Center will continue its 50th Anniversary celebration through May, 2010 with special programs and events including the first major exhibition to explore the origins, development, and impact of Lincoln Center, curated by Thomas Mellins (October 15, 2009-January 16, 2010 at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts).

Look for monthly updates.  For more information visit LincolnCenter.org/50 or call 212-LINCOLN

Lincoln Center is the world’s leading performing arts complex, representing the highest standards of excellence in opera, symphonic and chamber music, theater, dance, film, and arts education.

WNBC/WNJU are Official Broadcast Partners of Lincoln Center, Inc.

Continental Airlines is the Official Airline of Lincoln Center, Inc.

Nokia is the Official Mobile Equipment Provider of Lincoln Center, Inc.

MetLife is the National Sponsor of Lincoln Center, Inc.

The complex includes twelve Resident Organizations:  The 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 City Opera, New York Philharmonic, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the School of American Ballet, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. Additional information on the transformation may be found at www.LincolnCenter.org.

“Summer at Lincoln Center” is sponsored by Diet Pepsi and The Wall Street Journal.

Visit www.LincolnCenter.org/50 for more information.

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