Works & Process Perf Arts Series at the Guggenheim Sets Fall 2011 Season

Works & Process at the Guggenheim is announces its 2011 fall season. Since 1984 and in over 300 programs, New Yorkers have been able to see, hear, and meet the most acclaimed artists in the world, in an intimate setting unlike any other. Each 80-minute long program informs artistic creation through stimulating artist discussion and performance and is presented in the Guggenheim's Frank Lloyd Wright-designed 285-seat Peter B. Lewis Theater. Each season Works & Process champions new works and offers unprecedented access to leading creators and performers. After most programs, the artists continue the discussion at a reception in the rotunda of the museum. Described by the New York Times as "a popular series devoted to shedding light on the creative process," Works & Process is produced by founder Mary Sharp Cronson.

A Works & Process preview video and past performance highlight videos can be viewed at youtube.com/worksandprocess.

Lead funding provided by The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation with additional support from The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston, The Christian Humann Foundation, Leon Levy Foundation, and Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Inc.

This program is supported by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

2011 Fall Season Schedule

U.S. Premiere
An Epic Choral Symphonic Cycle: James Dillon - Nine Rivers
Wed, Fri, and Sat, Sept 14, 16, and 17, 8 pm
Miller Theatre, Columbia University
2960 Broadway at 116th Street
Written over several decades and scored for 50 musicians and multimedia artists, James Dillon's Nine Rivers covers a vast sonic terrain, from hushed a cappella singing to high-octane drumming. Members of the creative team behind the work's acclaimed world premiere-percussionist Steven Schick and video designer Ross Karre-join with young American musicians from the International Contemporary Ensemble, chamber choir The Crossing, and percussion group red fish blue fish in this new production of Nine Rivers.

Part I: Leukosis - Wed, Sept 14, 8 pm (75 minutes)
Four immersive movements, performed without pause, for six percussionists, six violins, 16 solo voices, and chamber ensemble.

Part II: Iosis - Fri, Sept 16, 8 pm (60 minutes)
An evening-length work, La coupure, for percussion solo with live electronics and video projection, performed by Schick.

PART III: Melanosis - Sat, Sept 17, 8 pm (90 minutes)
The concluding four movements for chamber ensemble, live electronics, tape, brass ensemble, percussion, and voices, including a finale for all 50 musicians.

Tickets only available via Miller Theatre Box Office at 212 854 7799 or millertheatre.com.
All-access pass: $100*
Single tickets: $40
*Includes prime seating for all three performances, opening night reception with the artists, and closing night discussion with the composer and performers.

Balliol College Lecture
Does Man Drive Animals to Extinction?
Sun, Sept 18, 7:30 pm
The Balliol College lecture will explore the topic with Princeton University Professor and past Balliol Visiting Professor Daniel Rubenstein, one of the world's leading authorities on ecology and evolutionary biology, and Pennsylvania State University Professor Beth Shapiro, an evolutionary molecular biologist, a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, and past Junior Research Fellow at Balliol. Shapiro will draw on her research on ancient DNA while Rubenstein reflects on his research on zebras in Africa.

New Dance Commission
The Music of Elliot Carter Interpreted
New Choreography by Emery LeCrone and Avi Scher
Sun and Mon, Oct 2 and 3, 7:30 pm
Next-generation choreographers Emery LeCrone and Avi Scher each create new works set to the same music by 102-year-old, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Elliott Carter. Accompanying the dances, clarinetist Charles Neidich, violinist Rolf Schulte, and cellist Fred Sherry will perform Carter's Duettino, Gra, Fantasy, Figment I, and Con Leggerezza Pensosa. The world premiere performances will be interspersed with discussion by the artists, moderated by New York Post Dance Critic Leigh Witchel.

American Ballet Theatre - Season Preview
Sun and Mon, Oct 16 and 17, 7:30 pm
American Ballet Theatre dancers will perform excerpts from their 2011 City Center season, including works by Twyla Tharp, Merce Cunningham, and Demis Volpi. ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie will discuss the artistic process behind presenting the company's diverse repertory, the intricate journey involved in mounting major revivals, and the commissioning of exciting world premieres with John Meehan, Professor of Dance at Vassar College.

New Dance Commission
Keigwin + Company
Sun and Mon, Oct 30 and 31, 7:30 pm
Commissioned by Works & Process, choreographer Larry Keigwin's new work Balloon Dance will feature set design by sculptor Jason Hackenwerth with movement inspired by his whimsical, otherworldly balloon designs. Set to original music by composer Adam Crystal, Balloon Dance reflects Keigwin's signature wit and theatricality. The program also includes Keigwin's acclaimed Works & Process commission Sidewalk (2009), as well as Love Songs (2006). Keigwin will participate in a discussion moderated by John Meehan, Professor of Dance at Vassar College.

Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba
Sun and Mon, Nov 6 and 7, 7:30 pm
Direct from Havana, Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba will perform highlights from their distinctive Cuban repertoire that combines flamenco, ballet, and contemporary dance with Spanish, Cuban, and Afro-Cuban movement. Company founder Lizt Alfonso will participate in a discussion moderated by Ballet Hispanico Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro.

New Music and Dance Commission
Fred Ho
The Sweet Science Suite: A Scientific Soul Music Honoring of Muhammad Ali
Sun and Mon, Nov 13 and 14, 7:30 pm
Award-winning composer Fred Ho will perform his evening-long composition inspired by and in homage to Muhammad Ali and his indomitable spirit. Ho's opus features his twenty-piece Green Monster Big Band conducted by Whitney George, along with fresh choreography by Christal Brown that incorporates elements of boxing, hip-hop, martial arts, and modern dance.

New Visual Art Commission
Peter & the Wolf
Dec 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 2:30 and 4 pm
Enter via ramp at 5th Ave and 88th St; no reception
Isaac Mizrahi will narrate Sergei Prokofiev's charming children's classic, as New York City Opera's Music Director George Manahan conducts the Juilliard Ensemble. Artist Jason Hackenwerth will bring the production to life with an installation of newly commissioned balloon sculptures representing each character in the story.

Free Holiday Concert
Sun and Mon, Dec 18 and 19, 7 pm
Museum Rotunda
Celebrate the season with the joyous sound of holiday music in the museum's Frank Lloyd Wright-designed rotunda. George Steel conducts the Vox Vocal Ensemble and the Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble in what has become a revered annual tradition.

The museum will close at 5:45 pm and re-open at 6:30 pm for the Free Holiday Concert.

Location: Peter B. Lewis Theater, unless otherwise noted
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street
Subway: 4, 5, 6 train to 86th Street
Bus: M1, M2, M3, or M4 bus on Madison or Fifth Avenue

Tickets: $30/$25 Members/$10 Students under 25 with valid ID, unless otherwise noted
Tickets on sale August 8.
212 423 3587, Mon-Fri, 1-5 pm or visit worksandprocess.org

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