Works & Process at the Guggenheim Announces Spring 2013 Season

Works & Process at the Guggenheim has announced its spring 2013 season. Since 1984, the performing-arts series has championed new works and offered audiences unprecedented access to leading creators and performers. Each intimate, 80-minute performance uniquely combines artistic creation and stimulating conversation and takes place in the Guggenheim's Frank Lloyd Wright-designed, 285-seat Peter B. Lewis Theater, where new reserved seating is now offered. A reception for the audience and artists follows most programs. 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. Past performance highlights can be viewed at youtube.com/worksandprocess.

Lead funding is provided by The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation with additional support from The Christian Humann Foundation, Leon Levy Foundation, and Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Inc. This program is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

SPRING 2013 SEASON SCHEDULE

Tectonic Theater Project
The Tallest Tree in the Forest
Sun, Jan 13, 7:30 pm
Mon, Jan 14, 3 and 7:30 pm
For 3 pm matinee, enter via ramp at 5th Ave and 88th Street; no reception
Obie Award-winning performer and writer Daniel Beaty and Tony and Emmy Award-nominated director and playwright Moisés Kaufman present and discuss excerpts from their newest work. The play explores the evolution of Paul Robeson as an actor and activist, as well as his humanity, his courage, his contradictions, and why many call him "The Tallest Tree in the Forest."

3 pm matinee performance: $25, $20 members

The Metropolitan Opera
Rigoletto, directed by Michael Mayer
Mon, Jan 21, 7:30 pm
In a significant update of Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto, director Michael Mayer sets the action in 1960s Las Vegas. Mayer and set designer Christine Jones discuss finding the "real, immediate resonance" in this bold new production. Met stars perform excerpts from the opera.

Second Stage Theatre
The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown
Mon, Feb 11, 7:30 pm
Composer, lyricist, and director Jason Robert Brown discusses and performs excerpts from his contemporary musical prior to its March opening at Second Stage Theatre. Previously presented at Works & Process in 1999, The Last Five Years takes a bold look at one young couple's hope that love endures the test of time with a funny, honest, intimate, and exuberantly romantic score.

New Commission and World Premiere
Tyondai Braxton: HIVE
Thurs, Mar 21, 7:30 pm
Performed in museum rotunda; no reception
Praised by the Washington Post as "one of the most acclaimed experimental musicians of the last decade," composer and former Battles front man Tyondai Braxton performs the world premiere ofHIVE, commissioned by Works & Process and presented in association with Wordless Music in the museum's Frank Lloyd Wright-designed rotunda. Throughout the live multimedia event that is part architectural installation and part performance, Braxton creates a visual environment for his music while using modular synthesis, sound design, and acoustic instruments.

$25, $20 members

Wendy Whelan
Restless Creature
Sun and Mon, Apr 14 and 15, 7:30 pm
Hailed by the New York Times as "America's greatest contemporary ballerina," Wendy Whelan performs a Shen Wei solo; a duet with New York City Ballet's Robbie Fairchild choreographed by Joshua Beamish; and excerpts from Restless Creature, featuring four new duets by Beamish, Kyle Abraham, Brian Brooks, and Alejandro Cerrudo, prior to its premiere at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Jacob's Pillow Executive and Artistic Director Ella Baff moderates a discussion with Whelan and the four choreographers.

American Ballet Theatre
The Versatile Dancer
Sun and Mon, Apr 21 and 22, 7:30 pm
American Ballet Theatre (ABT) was founded on the principle that its dancers must be as versatile as the repertory is diverse. Join ABT artistic staff and dancers for an evening moderated by John Meehan, Professor of Dance at Vassar College, answering the question: "What makes an ABT dancer?"

World Premiere
Season of Cambodia
Khmeropédies III: Source/Primate by Emmanuéle Phuon
Sun and Mon, Apr 28 and 29, 7:30 pm
Tues, Apr 30, 3 pm
For 3 pm matinee, enter via ramp at 5th Ave and 88th Street; no reception
Phnom Penh-based Amrita Performing Arts performs the world premiere of Khmer-French choreographer Emmanuéle Phuon's new work exploring the archetypal monkey character in theLakhaon Kaol, a classical CambodIan Male masked dance. Yale Professor of Anthropology Eric Sargis joins Phuon in a discussion about animal and cultural behaviors moderated by Stanford Makishi, Director of Programs at the Asian Cultural Council. Season of Cambodia is an initiative of Cambodian Living Arts.

3 pm matinee performance: $25, $20 members

Playwrights Horizons
Far From Heaven with Kelli O'Hara
Fri, May 3, 7:30 pm
Four-time Tony Award-nominee Kelli O'Hara performs excerpts, and members of the creative team discuss the world premiere of this musical, based on the movie by Todd Haynes, with New York Magazine columnist Frank Rich. Directed by three-time Tony-nominee Michael Greif, Far From Heaven features a book by Tony-winner Richard Greenberg, music by Tony-nominee Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Tony-nominee Michael Korie. This powerful story of romance, betrayal, and intolerance reveals a woman grappling with her identity in a society on the verge of a great upheaval.

Arcane Collective
Cold Dream Colour
Sat and Sun, May 11 and 12, 7:30 pm
For Sat, May 11, performance, enter via ramp at 5th Ave and 88th Street
In homage to Ireland's foremost 20th-century painter Louis le Brocquy, Arcane Collective performs excerpts from Cold Dream Colour for an engaging experience that turns the artist's imagery into music and dance. Irish broadcaster John Kelly moderates a discussion with director and choreographer Morleigh Steinberg, choreographer Oguri, and composers Paul Chavez and The Edge of U2.

The Santa Fe Opera
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein with Susan Graham
Mon, May 13, 7:30 pm
Prior to its summer 2013 premiere, the Santa Fe Opera previews musical excerpts from its new production of Jacques Offenbach's The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, featuring mezzo-soprano Susan Graham. Spoiled and domineering, the Grand Duchess gets what she wants-until she sets her sights on the young soldier Fritz, sung by tenor Paul Appleby. Graham joins Appleby, soprano Anya Matanovic, and bass Kevin Burdette in a discussion moderated by director Lee Blakeley.

Keigwin + Company
Sun and Mon, May 19 and 20, 7:30 pm
Company dancers, plus special ballet guests, preview excerpts from choreographer Larry Keigwin's new work Canvas prior to its August premiere at the Vail International Dance Festival (VIDF). The company also performs Rock Steady (2010) and Contact Sport (2012) in their entirety, and Keigwin discusses his work with VIDF Artistic Director Damian Woetzel. Canvas is commissioned by the Vail International Dance Festival with additional support from Works & Process at the Guggenheim.

The New York Botanical Garden
"Garden of Good and Evil: Harmful and Healing Properties of Plants"
Sun and Mon, June 2 and 3, 7:30 pm
In this interdisciplinary presentation that combines the performing arts and science, New York Botanical Garden curator Michael Balick uses excerpts from theatrical performances to discuss the healing and harmful properties of plants and the use of plant-based remedies and poisons.

Charles Wuorinen at 75
Sun, June 9, 7:30 pm
On Charles Wuorinen's 75th birthday, cellist Fred Sherry and fellow musicians perform Wuorinen'sFast Fantasy (1977), Iridule (2006), and New York Notes (1982). Wuorinen and Sherry engage in a lively discussion.

Steve Reich
Sun and Mon, June 16 and 17, 7:30 pm
Alarm Will Sound performs excerpts from Steve Reich's new work Radio Rewrite (2012), inspired by the music of Radiohead, prior to its U.S. premiere at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Jack Quartet performs Reich's WTC 9/11 (2011) and Meehan/Perkins Duo performs Nagoya Marimbas(1994). Met General Manager of Concert and Lectures Limor Tomer leads a discussion with Reich.