A Stephen Schwartz Celebration, Patti LuPone & More on Tap for Symphony Space's 2015-16 Season

Symphony Space will usher in a new series of works for its 2015-16 season, thanks to new artistic director Andrew Byrne.

According to The New York Times, the famed organization's next season will be based around "four special thematic projects," that will "take advantage of the impressive breadth of programs and use it to explore four larger stories," related to the organization itself, Byrne said in a statement this morning. Annual programs SELECTED SHORTS and JUST KIDDING will make their returns alongside the newly announced slate.

Launching the season in October will be PROJECT FIFTEEN, celebrating the construction and opening of Symphony Space in 1915, that will feature a screenings and concerts honoring Frank Sinatra and Edith Piaf, who were both born that year.

Broadway's Patti LuPone and Stephen Schwartz highlight the next, titled PROJECT B-WAY/95. The Tony-winning composer will be honored during this year's annual WALL TO WALL marathon, with the Tony-winning actress headlining a concert.

Another new series, FUSE PROJECT, will include the premieres of new works by David Lang and Donnacha Dennehy, as well as conversations with violinist Nadia Sirota.

The final program, THE SOURCE PROJECT, is set to deep-dive into the culture of Cuba, highlighting the country's diverse cultural achievements through a number of concerts, block parties, and more.

Symphony Space is located at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. Box office hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 1 pm - 6 pm, open two hours prior to performances and events. Tickets can also be purchased through www.symphonyspace.org, or by calling 212/864-5400.

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Schwartz began his Broadway career in 1969 with the title song for Butterflies Are Free. Since then, he has become known for his music and lyrics for such shows as Godspell, Pippin and Wicked. But he has also worked on many projects of educational, charitable and social value to the theatre community.

For the past six years, as President of the Dramatists Guild, he has worked to strengthen and protect the rights of American dramatists, including battling censorship and piracy and improving the relationship between writers and directors, actors and producers.

As a long-standing board member of the ASCAP Foundation, he has served as artistic director of the Musical Theatre Workshops in New York and Los Angeles for more than 20 years, nurturing many of the young composers and lyricists working in the theatre today. He has also brought the ASCAP workshop to multiple cities around the country, as well as conducting frequent master classes at universities and regional theatres for aspiring writers and performers. Internationally, Schwartz has done master classes for musical theatre writers and performers in such countries as Germany, Australia, Latvia and Kenya.

LuPone most recently starred on Broadway in David Mamet's new play The Anarchist and the musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award nominations). She is currently appear Off-Broadway in Shows for Days at LCT. NYC Stage: New York City Ballet's production of Brecht-Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins; Company (NY Philharmonic); Gypsy (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards); John Doyle's production of Sweeney Todd; Passion; Candide; Noises Off; Sweeney Todd (NY Philharmonic); Patti LuPone on Broadway (Outer Critics Circle Award); Anything Goes, Oliver!; Evita (Tony and Drama Desk Awards); and The Robber Bridegroom (Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations), among others. Opera: John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles (LA Opera); Jake Heggie's To Hell and Back (SF's Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra); Weill-Brecht's The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (LA Opera, debut); and Marc Blitzstein's Regina (The Kennedy Center). Film: Parker; Union Square; City By The Sea;David Mamet's Heist and State and Main; Just Looking; Summer of Sam; Driving Miss Daisy; Witness. TV: Girls; American Horror Story: Coven; 30 Rock; Law & Order: SVU; Glee; Ugly Betty; Will & Grace; the Emmy-winning telecasts of Passion and Sweeney Todd; Oz; and Frasier (Emmy nomination), among others. Recordings include:Patti LuPone Live; Sweeney Todd (NY Philharmonic's Special Editions label); the 2006 and 2008 recordings of Sweeney Todd and Gypsy; and the Ghostlight Records release of The Lady With The Torch, among others. Patti is a founding member of the Drama Division of The Juilliard School and a founding member of John Houseman's TheActing Company.

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