To make the arts more accessible to everyone, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has announced an exciting spring season of free and choose-what-you-pay programming, beginning on Sunday, February 27, and running through Wednesday, June 15. The extensive roster will feature both in-person and virtual performances, discussions, and civic activations, bringing together dozens of arts organizations and artists from across NYC and beyond to explore the intersection of culture, civic engagement, and community-building through vibrant and varied weekly programming.
The events will also mark the reopening of the David Rubenstein Atrium on the Lincoln Center campus on Thursday, March 10, made possible by the eponymous philanthropist’s generous $10 million donation in 2021, enabling the expansion of the civic-minded activities to be presented in the accessible community space. All events in the David Rubenstein Atrium are free and first-come, first-served; no tickets are required. The admission line will form at the Atrium’s entrance on Broadway, between 62nd and 63rd Street.
Multiple days a week, audiences will be treated to specially curated events and performances, from the return of fan favorite Latin dance nights and a family friendly performance by the neuro-diverse theater company E.P.I.C. Players, to a staged reading of teenage playwrights in #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence (a collaboration with Roundabout Youth Ensemble), and opportunities to donate blood at community blood drives. Atrium events will continue until Thursday, May 26, when Anthony Roth Costanzo, as part of his residency with the New York Philharmonic, will present his Authentic Selves performance series.
Additionally, the upcoming season will include the return of the popular American Songbook Series with a new edition entitled A World of Voices, playing in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse from Wednesday, April 13-Saturday, April 30, and showcasing performers whose diverse global artistic heritage deeply informs their craft. Hailing from across the world, all the musicians (among them Aurelio and The Garifuna Soul Band, Jaime Lozano, Kiran Ahluwalia, Natu Camara, and Huang Ruo) are sure to dazzle with their signature visions in the genres of musical theater, pop, Western and Eastern classical, rock, jazz, and folk. Choose-What-You-Pay tickets, which start at $5 and include a glass of wine, go on sale on Wednesday, February 16, at noon. To purchase, go online.
Other springtime programming is designed to engage people of all ages with special needs. Passport to the Arts, offering virtual arts experiences for children, teens, and adults with disabilities and their families, kicks off on Sunday, February 27, with an Adapted Dance Workshop with New York City Ballet and continues through Wednesday, June 15, with music, dance, and theater workshops presented in collaboration with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, Co/LAB Theater Group, and many more. All virtual programs take place on Zoom and are free with advanced online registration. Families will receive pre-visit materials, including social narratives, photos, and links, before each program; in-person performances will be announced in the coming weeks.
Partnering with arts organizations across a variety of disciplines, including the New York Philharmonic, Mark Morris Dance Company, Ajna Dance Company, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, The Juilliard School, and more, Lincoln Center Moments, for individuals with dementia, their families, and caregivers, will also return with eight virtual, and five in-person events at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, offering free performances, activities, discussion, and art-making programs from Wednesday, March 9-Tuesday, June 14. All are free of charge with sign-up in advance.
And Lincoln Center Activate will continue expanding its multidisciplinary community of artists and educators with its outreach to small-town Vernon, Texas, and Quebec, Canada, through virtual workshops and conversations on professional development. From Wednesday, March 16-Thursday, March 17, Activate participants will explore the power of the arts to build common ground and to foster community via a shared platform for connecting, collaborating, and building new ways to spark change across the arts industry and society. Sessions from Wednesday, April 6-Thursday, April 7, will focus on the power of regional cultural networks to amplify welcoming in communities. To register for the free sessions, click here.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is located between West 62nd and West 65th Streets, between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway, NYC. All in-person audiences are required to provide proof that the final dose of their primary COVID-19 vaccination series was administered at least 14 days before entry, and all those eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster, under criteria recommended by the CDC, must present proof of having received one. Additionally, everyone is required to wear a face covering. For more information about programming and safety protocol, visit the website.
