Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center Officially Opens, Offers $20 for 20 Days Tickets

The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center officially opens to the public on December 17. The new space, open every day and located on Broadway between 62nd and 63rd streets, is a vibrant, new public visitors space and ticketing facility that is home to an array of programs, services, and amenities designed to welcome, inform, and entertain the thousands of people who visit Lincoln Center and its surrounding community every day.

Formerly known as the Harmony Atrium when the space originally opened in 1979, it was one of approximately 503 Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) in New York City created under a longstanding program that offers zoning concessions to office and residential developers in return for accessible public spaces. Newly reinvigorated, this public space for the arts offers services including:

? A community gathering place to linger in and enjoy
? Free weekly performances
? Chef Tom Colicchio's 'wichcraft café
? The starting point for guided tours of the Lincoln Center campus
? A staffed Information Desk
? Restrooms
? Free Wi-Fi access

For the first time in Lincoln Center's 50-year history, day-of discount tickets to available performances across the campus will be sold in the Atrium starting on January 7. To kick-off the discount ticket sales, Lincoln Center will offer "$20 Tickets for 20 Days" - all tickets at the day-of discount ticket box office will be sold for the promotionAl Price of $20, inclusive, through January 26. Tickets will go on sale at 12 noon every day and will be sold, two per person, on a first come, first served basis. The Box Office is closed on Monday, so those tickets will be sold on Sunday.**

"$20 for 20 Days" is made possible by a generous gift from David M. Rubenstein.

The David Rubenstein Atrium will be open 7 days a week, 365 days per year, from 8 am -10 pm Mondays through Fridays, and from 9 am - 10 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Discount tickets will be sold Tuesdays through Sundays, with discount tickets for Monday performances sold on Sundays. Every Thursday, Target® Free Thursdays presents free-to-the-public performances in the Atrium at 8:30 pm.

The Tod Williams Billie Tsien design reflects a respect for materials used throughout Lincoln Center and it achieves an open, accessible, and inviting environment that is an essential goal of the redevelopment of the 16-acre campus. The Atrium has applied to be the first LEED certified, "green" building at Lincoln Center.

The facility is named in honor of the philanthropist, financier and Vice Chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in recognition of his $10 million gift to the Bravo Campaign for redevelopment.

"We are so delighted that Lincoln Center, the City of New York, the Harmony Condominium Corporation, the 'wichcraft company and many others have been able to come together to create a spectacular arts-focused visitor space in New York City," says Reynold Levy, President of Lincoln Center. "The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center is designed to become a gathering and mingling space for our neighbors and visitors from across the city and around the world. While the space itself will be completed over the coming months, we wanted to make its many services available to the public in time for the holiday season."

Discount and Full-Price Tickets Details
Among the David Rubenstein Atrium's varied programs and services is a one-stop box office location for available, same-day discount performance tickets to Lincoln Center events. Daily offerings from across the campus, including performances presented by Lincoln Center and its resident organizations, will be discounted from 25 percent to 50 percent off regular prices. The Rubenstein Atrium also offers help and guidance to patrons who want to purchase full-price tickets for future performances.

A Visitor and Tourist Destination
The Rubenstein Atrium will also be the new departure point for Lincoln Center campus tours. Tour options will include foreign language tours in Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Japanese (for groups, by reservation only); specialty outings for art and architecture fans (also for groups, by reservation); special Jazz at Lincoln Center tours; and 'wichcraft package tours combining the tour experience with a light snack from 'wichcraft. Daily walk-up tours for the public will be offered between 10:30am and 4:30pm (exact times are on the Atrium website.) Prices for Lincoln Center tours range from $8 to $20, depending on packages and student and senior discounts. For more information on tours call 212/875.5350, or email tour_desk@lincolncenter.org.

Target® Free Thursdays Performance Information
The Rubenstein Atrium hosts Target® Free Thursdays - free performances in a variety of disciplines curated by Lincoln Center staff and presented every Thursday at 8:30 pm. Performances will be drawn from Lincoln Center's resident organizations - including The Chamber Music Society, The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., Lincoln Center Theater, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York City Opera, New York Philharmonic, and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts - as well as community arts organizations and events. On December 17th the performance is Stephanie Winters and Dina Richardson performing lyrical ballads that transcend classical, folk and gospel music. On Christmas Eve, December 24, "Swing Through the Holidays Part 1" will be the Ted Rosenthal Trio performing a variety of jazz and holiday favorites. "Swing Through the Holidays Part 2" on New Year's Eve, December 31, will be the Champian Fulton Quartet performing swing jazz.

Signature Architectural Elements and Space Details
Award-winning architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien have transformed an underutilized indoor space into a welcoming visitors center where natural elements meet man-made ones, and artistic flourishes co-exist with a streamlined design aesthetic.

Among the highlights:

· Two lush, 21-foot-high vertical gardens with a variety of living plants surrounded by comfortable seating, creating an indoor garden sanctuary;
· Floor-to-ceiling fountain incorporating streams of water falling into a small basin surrounded on three sides by dark blue Pietra Luna stone;
· A media wall that displays visitor and Lincoln Center performance information and serves as a canvas for curated video presentations;
· A 97-foot felt wall art installation on 114 panels by noted Dutch textile artisan Claudy Jongsta;
· 16 architecturally distinctive "occuli" lighting fixtures that bring natural light and state-of-the-art illumination into The Atrium's interior.

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects was selected as the design firm for the Rubenstein Atrium project in October 2006. Formed in New York in 1986, the firm employs approximately 30 architects and is known for successfully combining theory and practice, architecture and the fine arts. Notable projects include: the Phoenix Art Museum; the American Folk Art Museum in New York City; the Cranbrook Schools Natatorium in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; the Mattin Center at Johns Hopkins University; a bioengineering building at University of Pennsylvania; and the East Asian Library at University of California, Berkeley.

The firm was selected by the University of Chicago to design the $100 million Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts, and by the Barnes Foundation to design its new Philadelphia facility. Williams and Tsien have received numerous awards for their work including the Brunner Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture, the Medal of Honor from the American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter, and more.

History of the David Rubenstein Atrium
Opened in 1905 as the Colonial Music Hall, it featured vaudeville acts such as the dance team of Fred and Adele Astaire and it introduced Charlie Chaplin to American audiences. In the 1920s it became a Broadway theater, then a movie palace in the 1930s and 40s, before becoming a TV studio for both NBC and ABC. In 1971 it was renamed the Harkness Theater to house Rebecca Harkness' ballet company and school, before closing in the late 1970s. The theater was torn down, replaced by condominiums and a public plaza called the Harmony Atrium.

Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center is the world's leading performing arts complex, representing the highest standards of excellence in opera, symphonic and chamber music, theater, dance, film, and arts education. Its 12 resident organizations - The Chamber Music Society, The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., Lincoln Center Theater, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York City Opera, New York Philharmonic, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and School of American Ballet - welcome 5 million visitors each year. After five decades of artistic excellence and service to its community, the nation and the world, Lincoln Center began a major transformation initiative to fully modernize its concert halls and public spaces, renew its 16-acre campus, and reinforce its vitality for decades to come.

General operating support for the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center has generously been provided by Ford Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation New York City Cultural Innovation Fund, The Educational Foundation of America, Algin Management Co., LLC, The New York Community Trust, Altman Foundation, Cushman & Wakefield, Xerox Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Schubert Organization, Inc., and The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc. The Atrium has also benefitted from the contributions of several dozen individual donors.

Target is proud to sponsor Target® Free Thursdays at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center.

Movado is an Official Sponsor of Lincoln Center, Inc.

WNBC is Official Broadcast Partner of Lincoln Center, Inc.

Continental Airlines is the Official Airline of Lincoln Center, Inc.

Nokia is the Official Mobile Equipment Provider of Lincoln Center, Inc.

MetLife is the National Sponsor of Lincoln Center, Inc.

**Tickets for "$20 for 20 Days" will only be available for that night's performances at Lincoln Center and will only be available at the Donald and Barbara Zucker Box Office at the Rubenstein Atrium. Inventory will change daily based on availability, and availability cannot be guaranteed.

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