Lincoln Center Reveals 25/26 Season Featuring Jeanine Tesori as Visionary Artist

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has revealed its 25/26 season of programming, running September 2025 through May 2026. The slate for summer 2026 will be announced next spring. The season complements the artistry of the ten organizations with which LCPA shares the Lincoln Center campus, reflects the global communities of New York City, and invests in the next generation of artists pushing the boundaries of their forms.

See the full lineup here! 

MAINSTAGE PRESENTATIONS
Throughout the Lincoln Center campus, mainstage presentations offer dance, music, theater, and family events from around the world.

Table of Silence Project 9/11

September 11 – Josie Robertson Plaza
Presented by Lincoln Center in collaboration with Buglisi Dance Theatre
An annual, free public performance ritual and call to action for peace, Table of Silence Project 9/11 was conceived and choreographed by Jacqulyn Buglisi in 2011 to commemorate the loss of life and honor the bravery of all individuals affected by acts of terror, war, and oppression of freedom. The company will present the original full-scale version of the work with elements of the reimagined version as more than 150 dancers slowly ascend onto Josie Robertson Plaza at Lincoln Center to the sound of a conch shell’s call to action.

A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham

September 25–27 – Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center
One of the world’s most acclaimed touring dance companies and a Lincoln Center favorite, A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham—approaching its 20-year anniversary—returns with three compelling pieces. 2x4, a new work choreographed by Kyle Abraham, is set to an electrifying experimental classical score by Shelley Washington with music performed live by two baritone saxophonists. The Gettin is a work for six dancers created in collaboration with renowned visual artist Glenn Ligon and set to live music composed by GRAMMY Award–winning jazz artist Robert Glasper, performed by acclaimed musicians who reimagine Max Roach’s We Insist! Freedom Now Suite. Finally, If We Were A Love Song offers a series of poetic vignettes set to some of Nina Simone’s most intimate songs performed live by GRAMMY-nominated singer-songwriter Baby Rose.

Passing the Crown — Featuring MC Lyte

October 12 – Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall
Passing the Crown takes center stage once more in this unforgettable live orchestral mixtape and dance experience, featuring Hip-Hop icon MC Lyte—one of Hip-Hop’s most legendary queens and multiple Gold Record recording artist. Originally commissioned as part of Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City festival, this groundbreaking production blends cinematic orchestration, DJing, breaking, and powerful freestyling, all driven by an all-female and gender-expansive collective of award-winning artists. Executive produced and conceived by violinist and composer Juliette Jones, and creatively led by associate producer Monique Brooks Roberts and Emmy Award–winning choreographer Randi “Rascal” Freitas, Passing the Crown reimagines the Hip-Hop canon through the lens of orchestral grandeur and raw street energy—celebrating the visionary women who helped lay the foundation, and continue to shape, the genre. Styled by legendary streetwear designer April Walker of Walker Wear and her The Future Been Female imprint, Passing the Crown is more than a concert—it’s a movement that honors legacy, uplifts community, and ignites the future. This performance will feature American Sign Language interpretation.

Legacies of San Juan Hill Festival – San Juan Hill: A New York Story

By Etienne Charles – Featuring University of Miami Frost Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Gerard Schwarz
October 23 – Alice Tully Hall
Created by composer Etienne Charles, San Juan Hill: A New York Story is an immersive multimedia creation that celebrates a vital chapter of New York’s past. Through music, visuals, and first-person accounts, this powerful work shines a light on the historic communities of the area where Lincoln Center stands today. Blending diverse musical styles—including ragtime, jazz, stride piano, swing, blues, mambo, paseo, Antillean waltz, calypso, funk, disco, and Hip-Hop—with historical film and compelling narratives, the work showcases the myriad cultures that migrants brought to New York from the American South and the Caribbean. Featuring Etienne Charles & Creole Soul, Frost Symphony Orchestra, and special guests, this piece is a testament to the enduring spirit and forgotten stories of a community that helped shape the city’s cultural landscape. Commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. This performance will feature closed captioning.

Legacies of San Juan Hill Festival – Aaron Diehl

October 25 – Alice Tully Hall
Multifaceted pianist and composer Aaron Diehl is one of the great contemporary instrumental musicians of his era. Though his primary métier is jazz, Diehl’s creative output transcends genre with a sound that The New York Times calls “elegant... upholding a traditional framework while crisply demolishing usual notions of conservatism.” Diehl is both a bandleader and soloist, in addition to his tremendous work in supporting and collaborating with many major artists and ensembles, including Wycliffe Gordon, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and Cécile McLorin Salvant. For his headlining debut set at Alice Tully Hall, Diehl presents work inspired by the history and culture of the San Juan Hill neighborhood.

Unsound New York – Sinfonietta Cracovia Plays Mica Levi / Lucrecia Dalt / Aleksandra Słyż

November 1 – Alice Tully Hall
The Kraków-based Unsound Festival challenges presumptions of contemporary composition with unique staging, unlikely instrumentation, and passionate presentation. This international celebration of sound in three acts features cutting-edge composers from Central Europe, South America, and the United Kingdom. The program begins with Pure Voices, a work for strings and electronics by experimental Polish composer Aleksandra Słyż, performed by one of Poland’s leading chamber ensembles, Sinfonietta Cracovia. The evening continues with the official album launch of A Danger to Ourselves, the hotly anticipated new release from “gleefully cerebral” (Pitchfork) Colombian musician Lucrecia Dalt. Dalt’s sonic signature blends avant-pop, adventurous sound design, and Latin rhythm, all grounded in her vividly personal narrative. The program concludes with the Sinfonietta Cracovia’s U.S. premiere of a suite of new works by English composer Mica Levi, best known for acclaimed film scores including The Zone of Interest, Under the Skin, Memory Lost, and Sirens.

Unsound New York – John Cale / Heinali & Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko

November 2 – Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall
Unsound’s second concert brings together genre-defying performers who draw from jazz, classical music, folk, and beyond. Ukrainian composer Heinali opens the evening with music for modular synthesizer that reimagines early music, including material from his 2025 album Гільдеґарда (Hildegard), a recontextualization of works by 12th-century composer Hildegard von Bingen. In partnership with soaring vocalist Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko, Heinali fuses Ukrainian folk singing, singular technique, and ancient tradition into a contemporary reflection on wartime experience. The evening’s headliner is living legend John Cale, co-founder of The Velvet Underground and a pioneering force in experimental, classical, electronic, and rock music for over six decades. His latest solo album, MiXology (Volume 1), continues his lifelong exploration and expansion of musical boundaries.

The Ocean Etched in the Forest《刻在森林的海》

November 7 – Alice Tully Hall
Lincoln Center presents the North American premiere of a major work from Pulitzer Prize–winning composer and performer Du Yun. Born in China and currently based in New York City, Du Yun exudes an insatiable curiosity that finds new voice in The Ocean Etched in the Forest (刻在森林的海). Over the past several years, Du Yun and her collaborator Julian Crouch have worked closely with artists of the Jinuo ethnicity from Yunnan province, including He Guiying, the national inheritor of his people’s unique heritage. Living almost entirely isolated from urban society until 1979, the Jinuo people have maintained their distinct culture and ecologically grounded mindset amid modernization. In collaboration with Du Yun and Crouch, Guiying has been recording Jinuo children in Bapiao Village as they perform nearly forgotten local folk songs. These recordings, merged with music from Du Yun’s band OK MISS, represent an original musical tapestry that transcends time and geography, highlighting the intersections of ancient tradition and modern methodology, folk tales and contemporary storytelling, generations living and gone. This performance is commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Beijing Music Festival. The world premiere of The Ocean Etched in the Forest takes place at the Beijing Music Festival, followed by the North American Premiere as part of the 2025–2026 Lincoln Center Presents season. This is a Relaxed Performance, open to all and including social and sensory modifications for anyone who may need.

Lincoln Center Visionary Artist: Jeanine Tesori — Blue

November 15 – Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall
Presented in collaboration with Lincoln Center Theater and The Metropolitan Opera
Experience a staged concert of Blue, the award-winning contemporary opera from Lincoln Center’s 2025 Visionary Artist and two-time Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori. Set in Harlem, Blue is a poignant and powerful contemporary opera that delves into the heart of a Black middle-class family—grappling with the devastating loss of their teenage son, who is fatally shot by a white police officer during a peaceful protest. This two-act opera, with music by Jeanine Tesori, a libretto by acclaimed playwright and director Tazewell Thompson, and direction also by Thompson, offers an unflinching exploration of race and identity within the Black community.

A Murray Little Christmas: 25th Anniversary

December 19 – Alice Tully Hall
Cue the snow machine and strike up the band: the King of Christmas is coming uptown! Star of HBO’s Somebody Somewhere, host of the historic King of Drag, and NYC’s “hardest-working middle-aged man in showbiz,” Murray Hill celebrates 25 years of his beloved winter variety show with a one-night-only Lincoln Center extravaganza. A Murray Little Christmas is and has always been a haven for all: queer folks, chosen families, tourists, outcasts, seniors, lonely hearts, show people, and anyone who needs a holiday pick-me-up. What began as a downtown romp has grown into an annual tradition of epic camp, comedy, and community, drawing a quarter-century of sold-out crowds and rave reviews. Attendees are invited to dress for the occasion—ugly Santa sweaters, cocktail chic, festive furry suits, or reindeer runway outfits are encouraged. This year, Hill pulls out all the stops with a 10-piece band, his favorite performers, a choir (or two), celebrity cameos, showbiz razzle-dazzle, and holiday cheer! This performance will feature American Sign Language interpretation.

globalFEST

January 11 – David Geffen Hall
The cultural catalysts at globalFEST have been promoting the world’s greatest musical traditions for over 20 years. This annual festival features an eclectic array of musical discoveries from today’s hottest international sounds to styles born and bred in the U.S. The New York Times calls the festival “a joyful and often raucous celebration of diversity and culture.” The blockbuster, ten-sets-in-one-night evening returns to David Geffen Hall for their annual full-theater takeover at Lincoln Center, populating all the floors of the building with soul-stirring performers from across the planet and around the corner.

Pastoral — Pam Tanowitz Dance

January 11–13 – Rose Theater
Presented in collaboration with Fisher Center at Bard
Renowned choreographer Pam Tanowitz returns to Lincoln Center with Pastoral, an evocative evening-length dance performance in collaboration with composer Caroline Shaw and painter Sarah Crowner. Tanowitz set a dance to Beethoven’s beloved “Pastoral” Symphony, then replaced it with a new score by Shaw that pays homage to, and transforms, the Beethoven work. Crowner’s awe-inspiring, abstract stage designs are as moving and lyrical as the choreography in this dazzling and critically acclaimed performance—a palimpsest of artistic layers, with Beethoven’s evocation of the natural world as a guiding spirit.

Philip Glass Ensemble: Songs from Liquid Days

January 25 – Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall
Presented in collaboration with New Latin Wave
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Philip Glass’s Songs From Liquid Days, Lincoln Center and New Latin Wave present the album’s first revival in four decades, on stage at David Geffen Hall. Originally released in 1986, the iconic six-track concept album remains Glass’s most commercially successful recording. Crafted in collaboration with an extraordinary roster of lyricists—Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Paul Simon, and Suzanne Vega—Songs From Liquid Days fuses Glass’s minimalist brilliance with pop sensibilities, forever changing the landscape of contemporary music. Alongside The Philip Glass Ensemble, founded by the composer in 1968 and still the definitive interpreter of his work, this landmark concert will feature a dynamic lineup of Latine guest artists, offering a thrilling convergence of generations that honors the original’s visionary spirit while introducing its groundbreaking sound to an entirely new audience.

Contested Sites of Memory: A Performance with Artist Carrie Mae Weems

January 29 & 30 – Alice Tully Hall
Over the course of a four-decade career, American artist Carrie Mae Weems’s work has consistently given voice to people whose stories would have otherwise been silenced or ignored. Celebrated for her incisive photography, which resides in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art, Weems is also a renowned maker of installation video and performance art. Her newest interdisciplinary creation, Contested Sites of Memory, features live music, spoken word performance, and screenings of new and extant video art. Produced in collaboration with Shore Art Advisory and Lincoln Center, and constructed in partnership with a remarkable collective of writers, singers, and musicians including Carl Hancock Rux, Nona Hendryx, Craig Harris, Esther Armah, and Jawwaad Taylor, Contested Sites is an unflinching, multi-voiced exploration of cultural erasure and remembrance.

Lincoln Center Visionary Artist: Jeanine Tesori — Violet

March 20 – Alice Tully Hall
In American Sign Language by Deaf Broadway
Performed in American Sign Language (ASL) by a full Deaf Broadway cast and accompanied by the original Broadway cast album, Jeanine Tesori’s Violet tells the story of a young woman’s quest for beauty amidst the image-obsessed landscape of the 1960s. Facially disfigured in a childhood accident, Violet dreams of a miraculous transformation through the power of faith. Convinced that a televangelist in Oklahoma can heal her, she boards a Greyhound bus and starts the journey of a lifetime. Winner of the Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical, and nominated for a Tony, Violet features show-stopping anthems ranging from American roots to folk to gospel, with a score from Tony-winning composer and Lincoln Center Visionary Artist Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Brian Crawley. Deaf Broadway, synonymous with authentically Deaf musical theater, returns to Lincoln Center after smash productions of RENT and Waitress: The Musical. Their mission is to provide unprecedented visual access to classic musical works of the American theater for those whose primary and native language is ASL, creating a more equitable shared evening for hearing and Deaf audiences alike.

Lincoln Center Visionary Artist: Jeanine Tesori — Cast Album Project

April 5 & 6 – The Appel Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center Visionary Artist Jeanine Tesori, Anne Kauffman, and Teneisha Duggan bring their ongoing Cast Album Project (CAP) to The Appel Room this spring. CAP spotlights culturally significant musicals by historically marginalized artists that have faded from public memory, celebrating these works and their creators by producing live-session cast recordings and sharing them with a new generation. The musical for this evening will be announced shortly.

Minty Fresh Circus

May 15 & 16 – Alice Tully Hall
Conceived by Monique Martin in collaboration with a range of circus performing artists, Minty Fresh Circus is a U.S.-based circus show performed by an all-Black and Brown cast celebrating the healing power of Black music and movement, infused with the joy and resilience of those who traversed the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Inspired by abolitionist Harriet Araminta Tubman and the survival of generations of African Americans, the central question in Minty Fresh Circus is: what does freedom feel and sound like if your only access to it is through your imagination? This performance will feature audio description.

ARTIST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is committed to providing artists with time, space, and support in which to hone their craft, experiment without production constraints, and share their artistry with audiences in New York and beyond.

Visionary Artist: Jeanine Tesori

Each season, Lincoln Center honors one extraordinary artist whose impact, vision, and values embody the transformative power of the arts across the many disciplines represented on campus. Starting in August 2025, Lincoln Center celebrates Jeanine Tesori, one of the most prolific and honored theatrical composers in history. A two-time recipient and six-time nominee of the Tony Award for Best Score, a two-time Drama Desk Award recipient, a six-time GRAMMY Award nominee, and a two-time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Tesori’s major theatrical works include Kimberly Akimbo; Fun Home; Caroline, or Change; Shrek The Musical; Thoroughly Modern Millie; and Violet.

Her operas include A Blizzard on Marblehead Neck; The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me; Blue (recipient of the MCANA Award for Best New Opera); and Grounded. She is also among the first women to be commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera.

Lincoln Center’s season-long celebration of Tesori centers around the theme of making connections—between artists, audiences, and the arts organizations that make up Lincoln Center. Program highlights include a screening of Grounded as part of the Metropolitan Opera’s Met HD Festival (Aug 27); a production of her opera Blue (Nov 15); her musical theater masterpiece Violet, performed in American Sign Language by Deaf Broadway (March 20); a film screening of West Side Story in collaboration with Film at Lincoln Center; Come & Sing, a public community choir series in collaboration with Lincoln Center Theater (March 8, May 17); a conversation series exploring the creative threads that connect storytelling across disciplines; and more.

“At Lincoln Center, I want to shine a light on the threads that connect us—the artists, the audiences, the neighborhoods, the histories we carry. This is about opening the doors wider, lifting up new voices, and honoring the legacy that got us here. I’m inspired by my collaborators—past, present, and future—who help shape this vision with courage, imagination, and heart,” said Jeanine Tesori, Lincoln Center 25/26 Visionary Artist.

Artists-in-Residence

Lincoln Center’s Artist-in-Residence program is designed to fortify the career and vision of practicing artists across the performing arts—adding a deeper dimension to our support of some of the most innovative artists working today. These extraordinary storytellers are invited to infuse their creative process into the life and culture at Lincoln Center through residencies that offer time and space to develop, research, and create new projects. Established in 2022 by Ehrenkranz Chief Artistic Officer Shanta Thake, former Artists-in-Residence include Mimi Lien, with current artists Mahogany L. Browne and Clint Ramos.
“I am excited to host the 3rd annual Lincoln Center Poetry Festival where poems offer breath, empathy, and belonging. As a poet residing in one of the greatest cities (on this planet), it is an honor to share energy and ideas with such a cast of literary juggernauts—Pulitzer Prize winners, National Book Award finalists, activists, performance poets, and educators. At Lincoln Center we bear witness to the octopi power of poetry, its wingspan building bridges between generations, cultures, and people with different economic conditions,” said Mahogany L. Browne, Artist-in-Residence.

For her Seen, Sound, Scribe series, Browne curates thought-provoking evenings of spoken word, spirited conversation, poetry, and presentations of new work—showcasing both major poets and emerging voices on New York’s literary scene. During the 25/26 season, Browne and her collaborators offer six performances, including their largest stage yet in Alice Tully Hall (March 26, 2026).

As the first year of his residency continues, Clint Ramos takes on curation of the beloved American Songbook series in 2026, exploring the theme Echoes of an Inheritance across multiple Lincoln Center stages (details forthcoming). Ramos is also providing costume design for The Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Tristan und Isolde (March 9–April 2).

“This season’s American Songbook approaches the canon not as a fixed archive, but as a series of open questions. In curating these performances, I wanted to explore how artists engage with what they’ve inherited—how they challenge, reclaim, and reshape the stories that define us. At the heart of this project is an understanding that American identity has never been singular. It is built from many voices, many histories, and always with a consciousness of what’s beyond this great land. It’s in the dialogue between past and present that we begin to imagine the future—and the songbook we want to leave behind,” said Clint Ramos, Lincoln Center Artist-in-Residence.
Collider Fellows

Now entering its second year, Lincoln Center’s Collider Fellowship brings six artists working at the vanguard of their fields for an eight-month residency exploring how technology can enhance and deepen in-person performing arts experiences. Fellows are supported in whatever investigations they wish to undertake—free from commission timeframes or production constraints.

They receive studio space at Lincoln Center and at collaborator Onassis ONX (a global Onassis Culture platform dedicated to developing new media art and immersive experiences), financial stipends, artistic and administrative support from Lincoln Center staff, and regular opportunities for collaboration. The Collider Fellowship leads the way in supporting discovery and innovation across the performing arts. The 25/26 Fellows will be announced in the coming weeks.

Avery Fisher Artist Program

In 1974, Avery Fisher—lifelong lover and benefactor of classical music—established Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Artist Program, which includes the Avery Fisher Prize and Avery Fisher Career Grants, to give outstanding instrumentalists significant recognition on which to build their careers. Artists do not apply directly; recipients are chosen for outstanding artistic merit by the Program’s Executive Committee.

The Program, administered by Lincoln Center, is recognized as one of the most prestigious in the music world. The Avery Fisher Prize honors musicians whose vision and leadership have taken classical music to an expanded level. Past awardees include Emanuel Ax, Emerson String Quartet, Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, Murray Perahia, and André Watts.

The Avery Fisher Career Grants, awarded since 1976, have recognized artists early in their careers such as Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Anthony McGill, Richard Stoltzman, Pamela Frank, Gil Shaham, Sarah Chang, Ursula Oppens, Demarre McGill, Augustin Hadelich, Yuja Wang, and George Li. While typically awarded to soloists, since 2004 chamber ensembles have also been considered. This season’s recipients will be announced in the coming months.

Kenan Fellows

Since 2006, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellowship at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has supported emerging artists committed to arts education, providing them with practical knowledge and experience as they launch their careers in New York City and beyond. Through mentorship and hands-on projects, Kenan Fellows focus on their personal artistry, learn about Lincoln Center’s approach to arts education, and gain insight into the professional arts world in NYC. Fellows are active members of the Lincoln Center team, engaging with the community of arts learners and enthusiasts that the institution serves.
The 2025–2026 Kenan Fellows are: Adelyn Harris (Dance), Gabriel Lopez (Music), Hannah Mufuka (Music), and Claire Schiffer (Dance).

ARTISTIC SERIES

American Songbook

For over two decades, the American Songbook series has celebrated the ever-evolving American music canon, spotlighting both legendary artists and the next generation of visionary voices shaping the future of contemporary music. The 2026 edition will be curated by Artist-in-Residence Clint Ramos—internationally celebrated creative director, designer, and producer. This season’s lineup will explore the theme Echoes of an Inheritance, with groundbreaking performances presented across multiple Lincoln Center stages. Programming details will be announced in the coming months.

AMOC* Up Close

Following the acclaimed Run AMOC! Festival, presented as part of Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City, the visionary interdisciplinary ensemble returns for a dynamic series of free performances in the David Rubenstein Atrium. These intimate showcases feature innovative new works from leading creators in music, dance, and opera—fresh, bold, and fearless.

Art and Wellness

The Art of Wellbeing

In collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian, the Official Hospital of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, this free series transforms the campus into a pop-up wellness studio. Events include guided meditations, movement-based lessons, and music-inspired experiences with world-class musicians—inviting participants of all ages and abilities to experience the restorative power of the arts. This season will feature six events, including two in collaboration with the New York Philharmonic.
Heartbeat

On February 21, 2026, Lincoln Center launches Heartbeat—its first dedicated wellness summit. This immersive arts experience will explore the power of the arts to support mental health, physical wellbeing, and human connection. Programming will include panels, performances, participatory movement sessions, expert-led classes, and sound experiences, bringing together artists, healthcare professionals, and scientists.
Beats, Rhymes & Sights

Lincoln Center marks the next 50 years of Hip-Hop with a vibrant mix of concerts, classic film screenings, dance parties with top NYC DJs, and live interactive events featuring artists who move the music and culture forward. Curated by Hip-Hop guest curator Xavier “X” Jernigan—Head of Spotify’s Cultural Partnerships—season highlights include an evening with East Coast producer Pete Rock (Dec 13) and Fly Love Songs co-presented with J. Period (Feb 13), among others.
Festival of Firsts

The fourth annual Festival of Firsts showcases artists exploring new creative horizons and celebrating career milestones—from U.S. and NYC premieres to Lincoln Center debuts and fresh collaborations. Highlights include countertenor Key’mon Murrah (Oct 23), multidisciplinary artist Sparklmami (Oct 17), guitar and singing duo Love? Said the Commander (Oct 15), the multisensory performance celebration Art Bath (Oct 16), the New York debut of a play by Malicho Vaca Valenzuela (Oct 3), and the Latin GRAMMY-nominated trio DARUMAS (Oct 10). All events are free at the David Rubenstein Atrium.

The InBETWEEN Music & Tech — Boundaryless Flux of Infinite Collision

From the mind of Nona Hendryx, The InBETWEEN Music & Tech invites audiences to a convergence of art, technology, science, and the humanities—a space where XR immersion, AR integration, and AI collaboration are explored, discussed, and experienced. The series will examine how machines enhance physical abilities, expand mental capacity, and transform lives, with a focus on AI’s role in designing prosthetics such as cochlear implants, sight implants, skeletal frames, and other advances in human–machine integration. Hendryx blurs the boundaries of time and space, envisioning life beyond Earth, exploring new environments, and integrating emerging knowledge into present-day reality. The series aims to expand understanding, spark creativity, and inspire visions of tomorrow’s world. Events to be announced.
Kids, Teens & Families

Lincoln Center’s family programming offers performances, workshops, Create-athons, and other arts events from around the globe designed for young audiences. Season highlights include:

You’ll See — James Joyce’s epic story brought to life through live performance, intricate paper design, and an original score by Ireland’s Branar (Nov 21–23).

Skeleton Canoe — GRAMMY winner Ty Defoe’s powerful tale of an Indigenous youth in search of truth and belonging (Dec 12–14).

BOUNCED — A high-energy, playful theatrical production for all ages by Magnet Theater (Jan 23–25).

Lunar New Year Celebration — Performances, hands-on arts and crafts, and more (Feb 22).
 

cOsmO — A theatrical journey into the microscopic, macroscopic, and everything in between, by co-creators Haydeé Boetto and Hélène Ducharme (Mar 6–8).

The Boy & the Ball — Stephen Noonan’s magical tale of reassurance, joy, and connection (May 8–10).

The popular Open House returns for its fourth year with Lincoln Center Open House: Where You Are the Artist (Oct 26), a campus-wide day of creativity and community in collaboration with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, School of American Ballet, and more. The season also includes free, hands-on Create-athons that invite young people to explore music-making, set design, technology, and more. Highlights include Draw Your Escape—a comic book–making workshop with the Metropolitan Opera and professional comic artists (Sept 28)—plus collaborations with New York City Ballet and others.

Legacies of San Juan Hill Festival

Before Lincoln Center stood in its current location, the surrounding neighborhood was known as San Juan Hill—a vibrant cultural hub in the first half of the 20th century that nurtured luminaries in ragtime, stride, jazz, bebop, mambo, and other Afro-Caribbean forms, as well as in visual arts and theater. This October, Lincoln Center honors that artistic legacy with a multi-day festival of live performance, film, and interactive events. Highlights include:

San Juan Hill: Manhattan’s Lost Neighborhood — Stanley Nelson’s documentary exploring the untold history and lasting legacy of the community (Oct 14).

San Juan Hill: A New York Story — Composer Etienne Charles’s immersive multimedia celebration (Oct 23).

¡VAYA! Night with Dennis Hernández y su Conjunto Amalia — A night of Latin music and dance (Oct 24).

An Evening with Aaron Diehl — Pianist and composer Aaron Diehl presents works inspired by San Juan Hill’s history (Oct 25).
Lincoln Center Immersive

Merging augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), the Lincoln Center Immersive series invites audiences into experiences that expand perceptions of reality. Two AR art installations—featuring the work of Miles Regis and poetry by Artist-in-Residence Mahogany L. Browne—will appear on Josie Robertson Plaza and along the campus facades, accessible via free web-based technology by EyeJack. Ticketed VR experiences include Collective Body (Oct 22–Nov 1) and Soul Paint (Feb 10–21), offering journeys of introspection and connection through shared interior worlds.
Seen, Sound, Scribe

Since 2022, Mahogany L. Browne—Lincoln Center’s inaugural Poet-in-Residence—has curated Seen, Sound, Scribe, an ongoing series of spoken word, conversation, and poetry. This season’s highlight is the series’ largest event yet, held at Alice Tully Hall (Mar 26).

Songwriter/Storyteller

For six nights in January, Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium becomes an intimate stage for Songwriter/Storyteller, celebrating the singer/songwriter tradition across genres. Each night (Jan 22–31) features a different artist, sharing personal stories and songs.

The Tune Up!

Pulitzer Prize–winning dramatist Suzan-Lori Parks leads her nine-piece band, SLP & The Joyful Noize, in The Tune Up!—a high-energy mix of original music, short plays, and special guests. Directed by Niegel Smith, this genre-bending evening blends art, activism, and celebration. Dates to be announced.

Under the Radar at Lincoln Center

The internationally renowned Under the Radar festival returns in January 2026 with more than 25 innovative productions across New York City, including two at Lincoln Center. This influential festival has championed groundbreaking theater from creators such as Elevator Repair Service, Reggie Watts, Taylor Mac, and Suzan-Lori Parks. Presented in collaboration with the Under the Radar Theater Festival.

Unsound New York

The Kraków-based Unsound Festival, curated by Artistic Director Mat Schulz, challenges traditional presumptions of contemporary composition through unique staging, unlikely instrumentation, and passionate presentation. Performers draw freely from electronic, experimental, jazz, classical, folk, and other traditions. Returning to Lincoln Center, the festival promises audiences a sonic journey of unpredictable ingenuity—blurring genres and pushing the boundaries of the audio avant-garde. This year’s lineup includes John Cale, Sinfonietta Cracovia performing Mica Levi, Lucrecia Dalt, RP Boo & Gary Gwadera, Heinali & Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko, Aleksandra Słyż & Sinfonietta Cracovia, and more (Nov 1–2).

Variations on America: A Discussion Series

Presented in collaboration with the New York Philharmonic
In recognition of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the New York Philharmonic present a free discussion series examining the American experience, inspired by that week’s NY Phil concert. Moderated by ethnomusicologist, historian, and Juilliard faculty member Fredara Hadley, each program features experts expanding on the music to explore sociological themes ranging from revolution and resistance to wealth and prosperity, the tenor of the American voice to the beating heart of the American Dream. All are welcome to learn and participate.

¡VAYA!

A Lincoln Center tradition since 2015, ¡VAYA! is a free showcase of New York City’s finest Latin music and dance traditions. The series offers a welcoming community, outstanding orchestras, and an ongoing lineup of top names in salsa, Latin jazz, merengue, bachata, boogaloo, and more. Whether you come to dance or simply to listen—nuestra casa es tu casa. The season kicks off with Cuban percussionist Miguelito “Pachá” Pozo and his band La Charanga Pachá (Sept 12).

Accessibility Programs

Big Umbrella Festival
Every April, the Big Umbrella Festival welcomes kids, teens, and adults for a series of performances, installations, workshops, relaxed spaces, and multi-sensory experiences designed with and for neurodiverse audiences. Centering its audiences by embracing interactive and engaging approaches, the festival invites visitors to curate their own experience by booking tickets to individual events.
Lincoln Center Moments
A free, performance-based program designed for individuals with dementia and their caregivers, Lincoln Center Moments brings exceptional artistry into an intimate, supportive setting. This season features performances by musicians from the New York Philharmonic, Ragamala Dance Company, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and more. Registration is required.

Passport to the Arts
This program offers children, teens, and adults with disabilities—and their families—a welcoming and cost-free introduction to the performing arts at Lincoln Center. Attendees enjoy performances, interactive workshops, and virtual events in collaboration with New York City Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera, Musicians from the New York Philharmonic, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Society, and others.

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