Lincoln Center Presents GREAT PERFORMERS Concerts, DEAR MANDELA and More, April 2014

Lincoln Center has announced an exciting lineup of events for April 2014. Check out the full schedule below!

JustFilms at AtriumFlix will present Dear Mandela, a film by Dara Kell and Christopher Nizza, tonight, April 1 at 7:00pm.

Filmmakers Kell and Nizza offer a fascinating portrait of South Africa's coming of age and a new perspective on the role young people can play in political change. Africa's first lady of song, Sibongile Khumalo, performs before the screening, followed by a conversation with the filmmakers.

The film screening will take place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center Frieda and Roy Furman Stage. Free seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, including program updates, visit atrium.lincolncenter.org.

Great Performers will present Les Arts Florissants, conducted by Paul Agnew, on Wednesday April 2 at 7:30pm. A pre-concert lecture by Benjamin Sosland at 6:15 will take place in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse. The cast will feature Marcel Beekman (Platee), Edwin Crossley-Mercer (Jupiter), Marc Mauillon (Citheron), Cyril Auvity (Mercure and Thespis), Simon Kermes (La Folie), Emilie Renard (Junon), Emmanuelle de Negri (L'Amour and Clarine), Virginie Thomas (Thalie), and Joao Fernandes (Momus).

Les Arts Florissants returns to Lincoln Center in a concert version of Rameau's first comic opera, Platée. The 1745 comédie lyrique, styled as broad burlesque and a parody of French opera of the time, was one of the composer's most popular works and had its first performance at Versailles. The light-hearted plot is based on a Greek myth about an ugly water nymph who thinks Jupiter is in love with her. The concert version is based on the production of the Theater an der Wien (Vienna) and the Opéra Comique (Paris). The concert will take place in the Alice Tully Hall.

Tickets, starting at $45, are available online at LCGreatPerformers.org, by calling CenterCharge at 212.721.6500, or at the Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Hall box offices, Broadway and 65th Street.

Target ® Free Thursdays, presented in collaboration with the Unsound Festival, will present Pietnastka at 7:30pm and Neotantrik and Suzanne Ciani at 8:30pm on Thursday, April 3.

"Pietnastka" is one of the recording monikers of Piotr Kurek, a Warsaw-based musician and composer. Since 2006 he has collaborated with a long list of contemporary dance and theater companies, record labels, and artists.

Kurek creates densely-woven tapestries of sound. His layered melodic patterns are constructed from, and influenced by, sounds ranging from contemporary abstractions to the ululations of primeval chants, using amplified organs, electric accordions, and many other unusual instruments.

As one half of musical research duo Neotrantrik (with Demdike Stare's Sean Canty) Polish musician Andy Votel will collaborate with legendary American electronic music innovator Suzanne Cianni for a first-time performance of a special project in the David Rubenstein Atrium. Cianni, recently hailed as a "Synthesizer Queen" by the Los Angeles Times, has played a pivotal role in the development of electronic music in the US. Her recent rediscovery by today's electronic music fans has come about in part due the compilation Lixiviation, 1969-1985 and reissues released on Votel's record label.

These events will take place in theDavid Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center Frieda and Roy Furman Stage. Free seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, including program updates, visit atrium.lincolncenter.org.

American Songbook in the Penthouse will present Hurray for the Rigg Raff on Thursday April 3 at 8:00pm.

The creation of front woman and Bronx native Alynda Lee Segarra, this band marries rock and pop with honky tonk, swamp pop, and blues for a wholly unique sound unified by Segarra's fresh vocals and beautifully crafted songs.

The concert wull take place in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse. Tickets, starting at $30, are available online at AmericanSongbook.org, by calling CenterCharge at 212.721.6500, or at the Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Hall box offices.

American Songbook in the Penthouse will present Rebecca Naomi Jones on Friday, April 4 at 8:00pm.

The dynamic pop-rock powerhouse Rebecca Naomi Jones has appeared in some of the best new rock musicals, including Murder Ballad, Passing Strange, and Green Day's American Idiot. The charismatic rising star makes her highly anticipated American Songbook debut with a solo evening of her favorite songs, including her own material, pieces by contemporary composers, and songs written by her musician father.

The concert will take place in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse. Tickets, starting at $30, are available online at AmericanSongbook.org, by calling CenterCharge at 212.721.6500, or at the Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Hall box offices.

Meet the Artist Saturdays will present Horseplay: April Foolishness on Saturday, April 5 at 11:00am.

Horseplay is an improvisational ensemble that performs interactive theater. Each work is created on the spot, with audiences having a hand in developing the piece by engaging with the performers through musical comedy games, singing, dancing, and laughter.

The event will take place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Frieda and Roy Furman Stage. Free seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, including program updates, visit atrium.lincolncenter.org.

American Songbook in the Penthouse will present Unsung Carolyn Leigh, with Donna Bullock, Rachel de Benedet, Drew Gehling, Autumn Hurlburt, Adam Kantor, Jerry Kushnier, Ali Mauzey, Jenny Powers, Max von Essen, and Teal Wicks, on Saturday, April 5 at 8:00pm.

Celebrate the lyrics of Tony- and Grammy-nominated songwriter Carolyn Leigh in a jazz-filled evening featuring numbers from some of her unproduced Broadway musicals. Lyricist of such all-time classic hits as "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come" as well as the Broadway shows Little Me with Sid Caesar and Peter Pan with Mary Martin, Leigh collaborated with the likes of Cy Coleman and Elmer Bernstein. The Penthouse performance will include numbers from Smile, a project she was working on with Marvin Hamlisch at the time of her death. Hamlisch noted, "She was one of the few people who had genuine wit in her lyrics."

The concert will take place at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse. Tickets, starting at $30, are available online at AmericanSongbook.org, by calling CenterCharge at 212.721.6500, or at the Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Hall box offices.

Great Performers will present What Makes It Great? Over the Rainbow: The Songs of Harold Arlen, featuring Rob Kapilow (commentator and piano), Sally Wilfert (soprano), and Michael Winther (tenor), on Monday, April 7 at 7:30pm.

For the last What Makes It Great? program this season, Kapilow takes a seat at the keyboard-joined by Broadway and cabaret veterans Sally Wilfert and Michael Winther-to illuminate the genius behind one of the most celebrated contributors to the Great American Songbook. Best known as the composer of the score to The Wizard of Oz, Arlen has more than 400 songs to his credit, including such enduring hits as "Stormy Weather," "I've Got the World on a String," and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

The concert will take place at the Walter Reade Theater. Tickets, priced at $45, are available online at LCGreatPerformers.org, by calling CenterCharge at 212.721.6500, or at the Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Hall box offices, Broadway and 65th Street, or at the Walter Reade Theater the evening of the performance.

Leonard Bernstein Emerges: Defying Boundaries and Challenging Racial Politics During World War II, part of the New York Philharmonic's Insights Series, will be held on Monday, April 7 at 7:30pm.

Carol Oja, the New York Philharmonic Leonard Bernstein Scholar-in-Residence for the 2013-14 season, explores Bernstein's stunning debut as a conductor with the ballet Fancy Free and the Broadway musical On the Town. Bernstein's lifelong commitment to racial justice took off during this period, as he became an activist for the desegregation of performance.

The concert will take place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Frieda and Roy Furman Stage. Free seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, including program updates, visit atrium.lincolncenter.org.

Target ® Free Thursdays will present the Poet-Linc Final Competition on Thursday, April 10 at 7:30pm.

This event marks the exciting final poetry slam competition for metro area students aged 13-19 from New York's five boroughs. Students will perform original poetry and compete for the chance to be published in Lincoln Center's Poet-Linc anthology alongside professional poets and mentors. Creativity shines, as the young people describe their hopes, dreams, loves, and lives in high-impact verse. The Poet-Linc Final Competition is presented in collaboration with Lincoln Center Education and the NYC Youth Poet Laureate

The competition will take place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Frieda and Roy Furman Stage (Broadway bet. 62nd & 63rd St.). Free seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, including program updates, visit atrium.lincolncenter.org.

Great Performers will present Stephen Hough on piano on Sunday, April 13 at 5:00pm.

Great Performers' 2013/14 Virtuoso Recitals series continues its focus on the piano with one of today's most exceptional keyboard artists.

The concert will take place at the Alice Tully Hall. Tickets, starting at $45, are available online at LCGreatPerformers.org, by calling CenterCharge at 212.721.6500, or at the Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Hall box offices, Broadway and 65th Street.

Target ® Free Thursdays will present Sanford Biggers: Moon Medicine on Thursday, April 17 at 7:30pm.

Percussionist Swiss Chris, guitarist Martin Luther, singing turntablist Jahi Sundance, and bassist Mark Hines get together for an evening of performance art combining theater, sculpture, painting, and music. The brainchild of visual artist and keyboard player Sanford Biggers, the group will offer an evening of carefully curated covers and original compositions.

The concert will take place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Frieda and Roy Furman Stage. Free seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, including program updates, visit atrium.lincolncenter.org.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts celebrates the 50th Anniversary of New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center on Tuesday April 22 at 6:00pm.

April 23, 1964 was the first performance of New York City Ballet in the State Theater (now the David H. Koch Theater) at Lincoln Center. To mark this occasion, Lincoln Center President Jed Bernstein will moderate a talk with select members of the current company.

The celebration will take place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Frieda and Roy Furman Stage. Free seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, including program updates, visit atrium.lincolncenter.org.

Great Performers will present the Emerson String Quartet on Wednesday, April 23 at 7:30pm.

The acclaimed Quartet, with new cellist Paul Watkins, performs the second of three concerts in its 2014 Great Performersseries surveying the late quartets of Shostakovich alongside those by Mendelssohn, Britten, and Schubert.

The concert will take place at the Alice Tully Hall. Tickets, starting at $45, are available online at LCGreatPerformers.org, by calling CenterCharge at 212.721.6500, or at the Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Hall box offices, Broadway and 65th Street.

Target ® Free Thursdays will present a free concert previewing summer 2014's Mostly Mozart Festival, now in its 48th season, on Thursday April 24 at 7:30pm. Artist(s) will be announced at a later date

The concert will take place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Frieda and Roy Furman Stage. Free seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, including program updates, visit atrium.lincolncenter.org.

Great Performers Sunday Morning Coffee Concerts will present Bertrand Chamayou's All-Schubert piano program on Sunday, April 27 at 10:30am.

French pianist Bertrand Chamayou made his U.S. debut at the Mostly Mozart Festival and won a Diapason d'Or award for his CD of the complete Liszt Années de pèlerinage the same year. The audience is invited to join the artist for refreshments after the concert.

The concert will take place at the Walter Reade Theater. Tickets, priced at $22, are available online at LCGreatPerformers.org, by calling CenterCharge at 212.721.6500, or at the Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Hall box offices, Broadway and 65th Street, or at the Walter Reade box office the morning of the performance.

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's series include American Songbook, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, Mostly Mozart Festival, White Light Festival, and the Emmy Award-winning Live From Lincoln Center. As manager of the Lincoln Center campus, LCPA provides support and services for the Lincoln Center complex and the 11 resident organizations. In addition, LCPA led a series of major capital projects, now complete, on behalf of the resident organizations across the campus.