Lincoln Center Festival 2010 Announces Updated Musical Lineup

Lincoln Center Festival began with the idea of expanding the possibilities presented at Lincoln Center and bringing to audiences something that they could not see elsewhere. This is a challenging goal in a city as culturally rich as New York, and the result has been an eclectic mix of artists and productions representing over 50 countries as of Festival 2009. Central to the Festival has been an effort to look outside the Western European canon, to broaden notions of classicism by presenting classical works from other parts of the world. And, of course, the theaters of Lincoln Center have been our main stages, although on occasion we have presented performances elsewhere, notably at the Gerald Lynch Theater at John Jay College and at the Park Avenue Armory.

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou (U.S. debut)
Approximately: One hour and 30 minutes; no intermission

July 11 at 8 p.m.
Gerald W. Lynch Theater, John Jay College, Tenth Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets
Tickets: $30, 40

Lincoln Center Festival 2010 will present the U.S. debut of the Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, the voodoo/funk sensation from the African nation of Benin that wows audiences with its afro-infused psychedelia and James Brown-influenced rhythms. The New York Times, described its unique sound: "At times the funk turns into hypnosis, and the rest is unstoppable dance music."

The cultural and spiritual richness of traditional Beninese music has an immense impact on the country's modern sound. Benin is the birthplace of Vodun (or, as it is known in the West, Voodoo), which involves worship of 250 sacred divinities. Rituals paying tribute to these divinities are colored by complex polyrhythms that are difficult to decipher for even an accomplished musician.

The group modernizes traditional rhythms by integrating psychedelic guitar riffs, organ harmonies, and vibrant funk and soul. This thrillingly energetic music was given new life in 2008 after being rediscovered by French radio journalist Elodie Maillot, who helped the group tour internationally, and in 2009 by Frankfurt-based label Analog Africa, which has rediscovered Africa's musical repertoire of the 1970s by releasing compilations of dozens of songs the group recorded.

The TP Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou ("TP" stands for Tout Puissant, or "all-powerful") was formed in the late 1960s and became the house band at the Canne Au Sucre nightclub in Benin after a sojourn in Lagos in the early 1970s. The core of the band-Melome Clement, Eskill Lohento, and Francois Hoessou-created a remarkable new fusion by combining the sounds they had heard in Lagos with two traditional Vodun rhythms: Sato and Sakpata. Combining these patterns with soulful organ sounds and guitar riffs, they recorded dozens of 45s at the Afrodisia studios. The Orchestre Poly-Rythmo has recorded over 500 LPs and 100 45s during its legendary career. The band is co-headlining the African Soul Rebel Tour with Oumou Sangare in February and March and will tour extensively in Europe this summer.

Lincoln Center Festival 2010 is sponsored by American Express
The Blind Boys of Alabama
Three-concert series

July 12, 8 p.m.
Spirit in the Dark
Featuring:
Yo La Tengo
Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket
Lambchop
Marshall Allen and the Sun Ra Horns
Exene Cervenka

Approximately: One hour and 30 minutes; no intermission
Support provided by Isilon Systems.

July 14, 8 p.m.
The Unbroken Circle
Featuring:
Ralph Stanley
Yonder Mountain String Band
Sara Watkins
Ray Benson and Jason Roberts of Asleep at the Wheel
Allison Moorer

Approximately: One hour and 30 minutes; no intermission

July 16, 8 p.m.
Blind Boys Family Revival
Featuring:
Aaron Neville
Joan Osborne
Dan Zanes
New Orleans' Own Hot 8 Brass Band
Charlie Musselwhite
John Hammond
Approximately: Two hours and 40 minutes; one 20 minute intermission

Alice Tully Hall, 65th Street and Broadway
Tickets: $35, 45 (each concert)

Lincoln Center Festival 2010 will present a three-night series 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 on all three nights, demonstrating the breadth of their musical collaborations with vastly diverse artists and their ability to combine the evocative power of gospel with pop, country, blues, and rock-creating a new kind of spiritual music that is both widely accessible and uniquely their own.

The celebrated Blind Boys-whose singing has been described as "gutsy lead vocals and rough-and-ready harmonies" by The New York Times-have won five Grammy Awards over 10 years, culminating in Grammy's highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. Formed at a school for the visually impaired in 1939, The Blind Boys have featured many waves of remarkable and multi-generational musical talent over the past 70 years, and have toured with numerous artists ranging from Peter Gabriel to Ben Harper and Tom Petty.

The three Lincoln Center Festival celebrations of the incomparable group showcase The Blind Boys' great range, starting with an opening night concert with Yo La Tengo, Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket, Lambchop, Marshall Allen and the Sun Ra Horns, and Exene Cervenka. The second concert spotlights country music with Yonder Mountain String Band, Texas Swing sensations Ray Benson and Jason Roberts of Asleep at the Wheel, Sara Watkins, Allison Moorer, and bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley performing songs from The Blind Boy's upcoming CD. 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, New Orleans' Own Hot 8 Brass Band,, Dan Zanes, John Hammond and Charlie Musselwhite.

For 70 years, The Blind Boys of Alabama have traversed "higher ground" together. Since forming at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind (Talladega Blind School) in 1939, they have kept alive the spirit and energy of pure soul gospel music. Founded by Clarence Fountain, Jimmy Carter and George Scott-and currently featuring Carter with Eric McKinnie, Joey Williams, Tracy Pierce, Billy Bowers, and Ben Moore-the group has drawn upon gospel's river-deep reflections on life's trials, and combined its haunting falsettos and muscular harmonies with foot-stomping, rollicking beats. Since first reaching a wider audience in the 1983 Obie Award-winning production of the Broadway musical The Gospel at Colonnus, the singers have repeatedly reinvented the musical genre. In 2007, they released the Grammy winning album, Down in New Orleans, their first for Saguaro Road Records, which was followed in 2008 by a companion DVD, Live in New Orleans. The Blind Boys' new album, Duets, was released in October and features collaborations with Ben Harper, Randy Travis, and Bonnie Raitt, along with previously unreleased recordings with Lou Reed, John Hammond, and Toots Hibbert, as well as a new song with Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles.

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Emir Kusturica and The No Smoking Orchestra (U.S. debut)
Approximately: One hour and 30 minutes; no intermission

July 14 at 8 p.m.
Avery Fisher Hall, 65th Street and Broadway
Tickets: $30, 40, 50

Lincoln Center Festival 2010 will present the U.S. debut of Emir Kusturica and The No Smoking Orchestra, the Serbian rock/punk group that is a major concert draw throughout the world. Playing its own unique blend of rock, folk, gypsy, and world music mixed with political satire and surrealist comedy, Emir Kusturica and The No Smoking Orchestra attracts enthusiastic audiences to its infectious, energetic live performances. Inspired by The Sex Pistols and The Clash, the electrifying group was described as a "rowdy, genre-straddling Balkan gypsy-punk rock ten-piece Orchestra" by Time Out London.

Leading the musically adventurous and politically rebellious group members of The No Smoking Orchestra is award-winning Serbian film director and guitarist Emir Kusturica. The group has contributed music to Kusturica's films, including Black Cat White Cat and Life Is a Miracle, and has been the subject of one of Kusturica's own films: the documentary portrait 8mm Stories.

The No Smoking Orchestra (Zabranjeno Pušenje in Serbo-Croatian) was formed in Sarajevo in 1980 and became the most significant musical expression of "New Primitivism," a cultural resistance movement that began in Yugoslavia at the end of Marshal Tito's reign. While filming his debut feature, Do You Remember Dolly Bell? in 1981, Emir Kusturica became friends with the band members, and he started playing with them both live and to record an album. After two years of performing in Sarajevo, in 1984 the group recorded its first album, Das ist Walter. When Yugoslavia broke apart in 1991, the musicians separated and the group went on hiatus. Those who lived in Serbia, among them singer-songwriter Nele Karajli? and violinist Dejan Sparavalo, made a new album, askEd Kusturica back, and began performing live again. During the shooting of his film Black Cat, White Cat (1998), Kusturica called Karajli? regularly to ask him to compose songs for the soundtrack, which began another fruitful collaboration among the band members.

The Lincoln Center Festival 2010 presentation of Emir Kusturica and The No Smoking Orchestra is made possible in part by a generous grant from the Trust for Mutual Understanding.
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Varèse: (R)evolution

New York Philharmonic
Alan Gilbert, Music Director and Conductor
INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE (ICE)
Steven Schick, Conductor

Varèse: (R)evolution, PART I
July 19 at 8 p.m.

International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)
Steven Schick, conductor
So Percussion
Anu Komsi, soprano
Alan Held, bass baritone
Mika Rännäli, piano
Jonathan Golove and Natasha Farny, cello theremins
Claire Chase, flute
Musica Sacra
Kent Tritle, chorus master
Program:
Poème Électronique (1957-1958; no musicians); Un Grand Sommeil Noir (1906); Hyperprism (1923); Offrandes (1921); Integrales (1925); Ecuatorial (1933-1934); Dance for Burgess (1949); Étude pour Espace (1947, arr. Chou Wen-Chung 2009); Density 21.5 (1936); Déserts (1949-1954)
One hour; one intermission

Alice Tully Hall, 65th Street and Broadway
Tickets: $30, 40

Varèse: (R)evolution, PART II
July 20 at 8 p.m.

New York Philharmonic
Alan Gilbert, conductor and music director
Anu Komsi, soprano
Oratorio Society
Kent Tritle, chorus master
Program:
Ionisation (1930-1931); Octandre (1923); Tuning up (1947, arr. Chou Wen-Chung 1989); Arcana (1927, revision 1960); Nocturnal (1961); Amériques (1929)
One hour, 45 minutes; one intermission

Avery Fisher Hall, 65th Street and Broadway
Tickets: $30, 40, 50

Related event: The U.S. premiere of a new adaptation of Amériques for two pianos, eight hands, and two other Varèse works will be performed by musicians of International Contemporary Ensemble at a special preview event for a small audience on July 7 at 7:00 p.m. at Yamaha Artist Services at 689 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. It will be aired live on Q2and will be hosted by John Schaeffer of WNYC radio.
This event is co-presented by Lincoln Center Festival, ICE, Yamaha Artist Services and Q2, New York's new home for new music.

The complete works of influential 20th century composer Edgard Varèse will be performed when Lincoln Center Festival 2010 presents Varèse: (R)evolution on July 19 and 20. French-American composer Varèse (1883-1965), a unique character in the progressive classical music scene, extracted the urban sounds of New York and reinvented them onstage. Often called the "father of electronic music," he completed just under three hours of music in his lifetime, coined the term "organized sound," and wrote scores greatly emphasizing timbre and rhythm, leading to an entirely new kind of music with new instruments and electronic sounds.

Varèse: (R)evolution Part I, July 19 at Alice Tully Hall, features Steven Schick and ICE, So Percussion, soprano Anu Komsi (whose last Festival appearance was in George Benjamin's opera Into the Little Hill in 2007), bass baritone Alan Held, pianist Mikka Rännäli, cello thereminists Jonathan Golove and Natasha Farny, flutist Claire Chase, and Musica Sacra (Kent Tritle, Chorus Master), performing works for small forces and chamber ensembles, including seminal compositions Density for 21.5 and Étude pour Espace (completed by his student Chou Wen-Chung). On July 20 at Avery Fisher Hall, Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic will be joined by Komsi and the Oratorio Society (Kent Tritle, Chorus Master) for Part II, performing Varèse's brilliant orchestral works: Tuning Up; Arcana; Nocturnal; and Amériques; Ionisation; and Octandre.

French-born Edgard Varèse exercised a strong influence on the avant-garde in the United States, where he spent time from 1915 until 1928, when he returned to Paris. Back in America in 1933, he found the necessary backing for his electro-acoustic research and enjoyed a career as a conductor but is now remembered more for experiments in composition and the influence his work exerted over later 20th century composers. Varèse made an impression with Offrandes in 1921 and Octandre, first heard in New York in 1924. Later "organized sound" works included Ionisation for 13 percussion players (1931) and Déserts, with its combination of instrumental performance and recorded tape (1954). Two of Varèse's works (Déserts and Poème Électronique) were heard at Lincoln Center Festival 2000 in the Electronic Evolution series.

The New York Philharmonic has been performing Varèse's music since 1958 when Leonard Bernstein led the Orchestra in playing Arcana. The tradition continued under Pierre Boulez (one of Varèse's great advocates), Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, and Alan Gilbert. The Philharmonic's previous Lincoln Center Festival appearances were in 2002, in celebration of Kurt Masur's birthday; in 2000, in a concert of Messiaen's Éclairs Sur L'au-Delà and Turangalila-Symphonie, conducted by Hans Vonk; in 1999, a five-part Beethoven series led by Masur and featuring pianist Emanuel Ax; in 1998, six concerts celebrating the Bernstein's music, led by Masur; in 1997, six concerts (including Ornette Coleman's Skies of America) led by Masur, and orchestra members performing a chamber concert of Hans Pfitzner's music; and in 1996, as Masur and the Philharmonic played seven concerts at the inaugural Lincoln Center Festival.

The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) is an ensemble comprising 30 versatile young performers dedicated to advancing the music of our time. ICE last performed at Lincoln Center during 2009's Mostly Mozart Festival in an all-John Adams concert. Founded in 2001, ICE rapidly became a leading new-music ensemble by winning first prize at the 2005 Chamber Music America/ASCAP Awards, and performing over 50 concerts a year worldwide. Its first acclaimed CD came out on Naxos in 2007, and a new album on New York-based New Focus Recordings features works by Davidovsky, Lindberg, Saariaho, Du Yun, and Fujikura. ICE has self-produced eight contemporary music festivals in venues as wide-ranging as nightclubs, galleries, and warehouses, many of which are free and open to the public.

The Lincoln Center Festival 2010 presentaion of Varèse (R)evolution is made possible in part by The Grand Marnier Foundation and the Georges Lurcy Charitable and Educational Trust.

LA PORTA DELLA LEGGE (North American Premiere)
Quasi un monologo circolare
Composed by Salvatore Sciarrino
Libretto by Salvatore Sciarrino after a text by Franz Kafka
Musical direction/Conducted by Hilary Griffiths
Stage direction by Johannes Weigand
Set and costume design by Jürgen Lier
Lighting by Sebastian Ahrens
Video by Jakob Creutzburg
Wuppertal Opera
Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal
Cast: Ekkehard Abele, baritone; Gerson Sales, counter-tenor; Michael Tews, bass
Performed in Italian with English supertitles; 75 minutes; no intermission

July 20, 21, 22 at 8:30 p.m.
Gerald W. Lynch Theater, John Jay College, Tenth Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets
Tickets: $35, 55, 75

Lincoln Center Festival will present the North American premiere of La porta della legge, an opera by Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino, whose work was previously at the Festival in 2001 (Luci mie traditrici) and 2003 (Macbeth). La porta della legge-which had its world premiere in April 2009 at the Wuppertal Opera in Germany-is based on a Franz Kafka story originally written independently, then incorporated into Der Prozess (The Trial). Sciarrino wrote the opera's libretto.

The three-character La porta della legge features a baritone (Man 1), counter-tenor (Man 2), and bass (Gatekeeper). Kafka's circular literary form (Quasi un monologo circolare-"Almost a circular monologue"-is Sciarrino's subtitle) is mirrored in his musical adaptation, notably in the pivotal scene of a man waiting so long at the gates of the House of Justice for his case to be heard that he dies before he can stand trial. In La porta della legge, Sciarrino repeats this scene three times: in the first, the role is sung by a baritone, the second time by a counter-tenor, and finally by both of the singers together. Though the scenes parallel one another, there are differences in tonal transformations and textures that are important to Sciarrino's representation.

"Since the death of Luciano Berio in 2003, Sciarrino has assumed the mantle of Italy's most important living composer...in his own way, a sensualist and a lyricist...he plays with sound at its edges," wrote The Los Angeles Times in a recent article about the composer. The Evening Standard said, "His music is made of aphorisms, like a volume of e e cummings, but the fragments cohere into a picture that is both attractive to the ear and mathematically absorbing."

Salvatore Sciarrino, long been regarded as one of Europe's leading composers, has a large body of work including seven operas, many orchestral pieces, instrumental and choral chamber works, and music for the stage. His work has been presented at La Scala Milan, Florence's Teatro del Maggio Musicale, Venice's La Fenice and the Biennale, as well as opera houses in Stuttgart, Brussels, Frankfurt, and Paris, and by the London Symphony Orchestra. His discography numbers more than 80 acclaimed and prize-winning recordings. Along with the librettos of his own works of opera and music theater, Sciarrino has also authored articles and essays on music and theater. He has taught at the conservatories of Milan (1974-1983), Perugia (1983-1987), and Florence (1987-1996). Between 1978 and 1980, he was artistic director of the Teatro Comunale of Bologna. He has won prestigious prizes, including the inaugural Musikpreis Salzburg (2006). The composer's recent work includes his 2006 opera Da gelo a gelo; 4 Adagi (2008); and 12 Madrigali premiered at the 2008 Salzburg Festival which presented a survey of his work.

Born and educated in England, conductor Hilary Griffiths received advanced training at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, and began his career at Cologne Opera. He has served as music director of the Oberhausen Opera, general music director of the City of Regensburg Opera, Chief Conductor of the Prague State Opera and Music Director of the Eutin Opera Festival, and has appeared as guest conductor throughout Germany, as well as across Europe, in Japan, China, South America and Canada. His repertoire consists of more than 100 operas. In addition to the world premiere of La porte della legge, he has conducted the European premieres of three operas by Thea Musgrave. Griffiths was professor and music director of the Opera School of Mannheim University from 2004-2009. He joined Wuppertal Opera in 2009 as Chief Conductor and Music Director, where, with Johannes Weigand, he has created productions of Fidelio, Eine florentinische Tragödie and Gianni Schicchi.

Stage director Johannes Weigand studied opera and music-theater directing at the Hamburg Conservatory. Early engagements as assistant director were for the Frankfurt and Bonn Operas, Salzburg Festival, Nice Opera House and the Los Angeles Opera, where he collaborated with directors Herbert Wernick, Giancarlo del Monaco and Achim Freyer, among others. He became principal stage director for Wuppertal Opera in 2001, receiving early acclaim for his production of The Barber of Seville. His work for Wuppertal encompasses operettas, and modern music-Theater Productions, in addition to opera. Notable opera projects include The Death of Klinghoffer (2005) with John Adams and Hänsel und Gretel (2006) with Toshiyuki Kamioka. Weigand was appointed Artistic Director of Wuppertal Opera in 2009.

Wuppertal Opera
The Wupper Valley in Germany has a long and storied history, with the 19th-Century Theaters of the two towns that existed there prior to 1929 presenting opera performances as early as 1821. In 1929, with the formation of the municipality of Wuppertal, the two theaters were combined as the Städtische Bühnen Wuppertal (State Opera of Wuppertal). Among the major figures associated with Wuppertal are Hans Knappertsbusch, Max Ophüls, Erich Kleiber, Otto Klemperer, Gert Fröbe and Horst Tappert. In recent decades, choreographer Pina Bausch brought international attention to the city with her acclaimed Tanztheater Wuppertal which she directed until her death in 2009. Since 1945 the City Opera of Wuppertal has been responsible for many new and progressive productions of drama and opera. With its name changed recently to Wuppertaler Bühnen, it continues to support permanent ensembles for opera and theater.

Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal
The orchestra traces its history back 150 years and today consists of 88 musicians who perform approximately 40 concerts annually in their home theater, Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal, a Jugenstil architectural gem whose outstanding acoustics are acknowledged throughout Europe. Leading musical figures such as Clara Schumann, Brahms and Bruch have been associated with the orchestra, and a number of renowned conductors, including Erich Kleiber, Otto Klemperer and Hans Weisbach began their careers with the ensemble. In addition to its home season, the ensemble also tours regularly throughout Germany and Europe. A recent first-time tour to Japan (to sold-out houses in four cities) resulted in a two-CD release. A more extensive Japanese tour is planned for the 2010-11 season.

TICKETS
Tickets for Lincoln Center Festival 2010 are on sale now 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.

PHONE NUMBERS/CONTACT INFORMATION
CenterCharge: 212-721-6500
Lincoln Center's website: www.LincolnCenter.org (general); www.LincolnCenterFestival.org (Festival)
Lincoln Center Customer Service: 212-875-5456

VENUE LOCATIONS
Alice Tully Hall, 65th Street and Broadway, Lincoln Center
Avery Fisher Hall, 65th Street and Broadway, Lincoln Center
Clark Studio Theater, the Rose Building, 165 W. 65th Street, 7th floor
Governors Island*, via free ferry, Battery Maritime Building located at 10 South Street, adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry in Lower Manhattan
David H. Koch Theater, Broadway at 63rd Street, Lincoln Center
Gerald W. Lynch Theater, John Jay College, Amsterdam Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets
Rose Theater, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway

Lincoln Center Festival 2010 is sponsored by American Express.

Lincoln Center Festival 2010 is also made possible by Nancy A. Marks, LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, Isilon Systems, The Skirball Foundation, The Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, The Katzenberger Foundation, Inc., Trust for Mutual Understanding, The Shubert Foundation, Jennie and Richard DeScherer, The Winston Foundation, The Grand Marnier Foundation, The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, Asian Cultural Council, Italian Cultural Institute, J.C.C. Fund of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York, Inc., Georges Lurcy Charitable and Educational Trust, Mitsubishi International Corporation, Mitsui USA Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, Great Performers Circle, Chairman's Council, and Friends of Lincoln Center.

Public support for Festival 2010 is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Endowment support is provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Nancy Abeles Marks, and The Alice Tully Foundation.

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.

Lincoln Center is committed to providing and improving accessibility for people with disabilities. For information, call the Department of Programs and Services for People with Disabilities at (212) 875-5375.