Lincoln Center Sets Exciting Fall/Winter Season with US Premiere, New York Premieres & More

As Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts nears the close of Summer for the City, the organization has revealed its fall/winter season of programming.

Featuring the contemporary, the classical, and new collaborations, the season offers fresh interpretations, boundary-blurring presentations, contemporary artistry in genres rarely seen at Lincoln Center, and collaborations that defy conventional artistic definitions.

Fresh perspectives on classical music, dance, and literature build upon the rich traditions of these art forms, including:

• Turtle Island Quartet’s Island Prayers featuring New York premieres by David Balakrishnan, Terence Blanchard, Rhiannon Giddens, and Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, a co-commission of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Meany Performing Arts Center, and The Music Hall (Oct 27);

• The US Premiere of a new production from Les Arts Florissants of Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen directed by French-Algerian choreographer and director Mourad Merzouki and featuring dancers from The Juilliard School in Alice Tully Hall (Nov 2);

• Philip Glass’s The Complete Piano Etudes, an epic performance of the full sweep of Philip Glass’s 20 piano etudes with Timo Andres, Inon Barnatan, Lara Downes, Daniela Liebman, Jenny Lin, Nico Muhly, Maki Namekawa, Ursula Oppens, and more in David Geffen Hall (Nov 19); and

• Mexican operatic tenor Rolando Villazón and French harpist Xavier de Maistre in an evening of music from their album, Serenata Latina, in association with The Metropolitan Opera at Alice Tully Hall (Dec 18).

Contemporary artistry across genres feature some of the most exciting up and coming voices from New York and beyond, including:

• Rising star and Lincoln Center regular Jaime Lozano will present two evenings this season: one to celebrate the release of his new album, Songs by an Immigrant Vol.2 and Navidad en Familia (Sept 15 & Dec 14);

• North Star: Conversations on Boundlessness, a two-day symposium with visual artist Kambui Olujimi featuring the world premiere of his film, North Star (Oct 7 & 8);

• FUTUROS, New Ideas in Composition, the New Latin Wave Festival’s Latine Composers Showcase (Nov 2, 9, & 16);

• The return of the Unsound Festival featuring a new genre-defying project Osmium and Robin Fox’s TRIPTYCH(Dec 2); The Caretaker and Moor Mother’s Black Encyclopedia of the Air (Dec 4); and an evening with Raphael Rogiński and Martyna Basta, two leading voices from the Polish avant-garde scene (Dec 1),

• The return of globalFEST in David Geffen Hall with emerging artists from around the world (Jan 14).

New collaborations push the boundaries of expectations for artists and audiences, including:

• A collective of early career designers and artists curated by Artist-in-Residence Mimi Lien and Itohan Edoloyi present works in The Social Sculpture Project, a series of installations across campus that examine how cultural spaces perpetuate spatial inequity and how power structures are manifested in physical spaces;

• Gospel, funk, soul, and Afrobeat come together in The Sound of (Black) Music, a reimagining of the beloved Rogers and Hammerstein score by Michael Mwenso and Jono Gasparro in Alice Tully Hall (Nov 9); and

• Deep River, a new project of Alonzo King LINES Ballet in collaboration with vocalist Lisa Fischer and pianist Jason Moran (Feb 22 - 24).

The majority of programs are offered for FREE or Choose-What-You-Pay, helping to remove cost as one barrier to participation in the arts. Livestreams of performances will be offered regularly and for free on Lincoln Center’s social channels for audiences unable to attend in person. 

“The rich cultural traditions across this city and across Lincoln Center are truly what set us apart,” said Shanta Thake, Ehrenkranz Chief Artistic Officer of LCPA. “It is our job to honor and build upon this history and the phenomenal work currently offered throughout our campus.” 

Thake continued, “We’re deepening work this season with our two artists-in-residence. Mimi Lien’s The Social Sculpture Project, a collaboration with artists and designers whose installations across campus will help us continue to examine how the built environment helps shape relationships and equity. Mahogany L. Browne, whose poetic rituals have inspired so many at Lincoln Center, continues to evolve her series of poetry readings and workshops. And, of course, our year-long celebration of composer Terence Blanchard continues with a new co-commission and collaborations with the New York Philharmonic, Juilliard, and Jazz at Lincoln Center.”

Legacies of San Juan Hill, the digital hub dedicated to exploring the Manhattan neighborhood that existed before Lincoln Center was built, adds new essays and in-person talks throughout the season. 

The Festival of Firsts is back with a dozen artists embarking on new journeys and celebrating significant moments in their careers; shows for kids, teens, and families welcome audiences from infants through young adulthood, including presentations designed specifically for neurodivergent audiences; the Lincoln Center Moments series returns, with events for those with dementia and their caregivers offered in-person and online; and Lincoln Center Passport returns for children, teens, and adults with disabilities and their families, offering inclusively-designed dance classes with the New York City Ballet, a dress rehearsal at the Metropolitan Opera, family performances with Jazz at Lincoln Center, and more. 

A collective of early career designers and artists curated by Artist-in-Residence Mimi Lien and Itohan Edoloyi present works in The Social Sculpture Project, a series of installations across campus that examine how cultural spaces perpetuate spatial inequity and how power structures are manifested in physical spaces. The project continues many of the explorations behind Mimi Lien’s groundbreaking 2021 installation, The GREEN, that transformed Josie Robertson Plaza into a participatory public art installation that invited New Yorkers to relax and enjoy the open-air space, along with live performances.