Works & Process, the Performing-Arts Series at the Guggenheim, Announces Fall 2016 Season

Works & Process at the Guggenheim is pleased to announce its fall 2016 season. Since 1984 the performing-arts series has championed new works and offered audiences unprecedented access to leading creators and performers. Each intimate program blends performance with stimulating conversation with the creators, and takes place in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum's Frank Lloyd Wright-designed, 285-seat Peter B. Lewis Theater. Described by the New York Times as "an exceptional opportunity to understand something of the creative process," Works & Process is produced by founder Mary Sharp Cronson. A season preview video is available and further details can be found at worksandprocess.org.

Lead funding for Works & Process is provided by The Florence Gould Foundation and The Christian Humann Foundation and is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Fall 2016 Season Schedule

Opera Philadelphia

Breaking the Waves by Missy Mazzoli

Monday, September 12, 7:30 pm

Composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek's chamber opera Breaking the Waves, based on Lars von Trier's 1996 Academy Award-nominated film of the same name, tells the story of a couple's sacrificial love. Prior to the world premiere, cast members perform excerpts, and Mazzoli and Vavrek discuss their creative process.

Kate Weare Company

Marksman

Sunday, September 18, 7:30 pm

Choreographer Kate Weare's newest work, a sextet with an original score by saxophonist Curtis Robert Macdonald, zeroes in on our ability to precisely intuit one another with senses remote from modern consciousness yet imperative to our survival. Dancers perform excerpts from the new piece prior to its premiere at The Joyce Theater in New York. Weare and Macdonald participate in a moderated discussion before the Joyce premiere.

Steppenwolf

The Fundamentals by Erika Sheffer

Monday, September 26, 7:30 pm

A Steppenwolf commission, The Fundamentals explores America's corporate culture through its main character, Millie, a resourceful young mother and housekeeper at a New York luxury hotel. When an opportunity in management gives her the chance to leave her blue-collar life behind, she is faced with how much, and who, she is willing to sacrifice. Cast members perform excerpts, and playwright Erika Sheffer and director Yasen Peyankov provide a behind-the-scenes look at the play's production.

MCC Theater

Ride the Cyclone by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell

Sunday, October 16, 7:30 pm

Prior to the New York premiere of Ride the Cyclone,creators Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell and director Rachel Rockwell discuss the quirky musical that follows six teenagers whose lives are tragically interrupted aboard a roller coaster ride that promises a prize like no other. Excerpts will be performed.

Works & Process Commission Encore

Commedia dell'arte by John Zorn

Sunday, October 23, 9 pm

American composer and musical pioneer John Zorn returns with Commedia dell'arte, a suite of five miniatures inspired by the dell'arte characters Harlequin, Colombina, Scaramouche, Pulcinella, and Pierrot. Zorn participates in a moderated discussion.

Rules Of The Game by Jonah Bokaer and Daniel Arsham

Monday, October 31, 7:30 pm

Choreographer Jonah Bokaer and scenographer Daniel Arsham's largest collaboration yet, Rules Of The Game is a new multidisciplinary work for eight dancers. It features an original score composed by Pharrell Williams, arranged and conducted by David Campbell and recorded by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Bokaer discusses the collaboration, and excerpts are performed before the New York premiere at Brooklyn Academy Of Music's Next Wave Festival.

Enter via the ramp at 88th St and 5th Ave.

Houston Grand Opera

It's a Wonderful Life by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer

Sunday, November 6, 7:30 pm

Houston Grand Opera artistic and music director Patrick Summers, composer Jake Heggie, and librettist Gene Scheer discuss Heggie and Scheer's It's a Wonderful Life-an opera based in part on the timeless film It's a Wonderful Life* (1946) and Philip Van Doren Stern's short story The Greatest Gift (1943). Excerpts will be performed prior to the world premiere.

*The opera adaptation is by permission of Paramount Licensing, Inc and co-commissioned by San Francisco Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera

L'Amour de Loin by Kaija Saariaho

Monday, November 7, 7:30 pm

Excerpts from Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho's breakthrough opera L'Amour de Loin are performed prior to the Met Opera premiere in a new production by Robert Lepage. Peter Gelb, General Manager, Metropolitan Opera, willmoderate a discussion with Saariaho and the creative team.

Works & Process Commission

Jodi Melnick with Sara Mearns, Jared Angle and Gretchen Smith

Sunday, November 13, 3* and 7:30 pm

Monday, November 14, 7:30 pm

See the culmination of choreographer Jodi Melnick's Works & Process residency with dancers Sara Mearns, Jared Angle, and Gretchen Smith. Melnick's work weaves dance, spoken text, and moderated discussion with Claudia La Rocco. The performance features live music for harpsichord by composer György Ligeti, violin by composer Heinrich Biber,and newly commissioned music by Robert Boston.

*Enter via the ramp at 88th St and 5th Ave.

Nederlands Dans Theater with Sol León and Paul Lightfoot

Tuesday, November 15, 7:30 pm

Preview Nederlands Dans Theater's New York City Center season with excerpts from choreographic works by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot, Marco Goecke, and Crystal Pite. León and Lightfoot will participate in a moderated discussion.

Enter via the ramp at 88th St and 5th Ave.

Juilliard Dance

New Dances with John Heginbotham, Katarzyna Skarpetowska, Pam Tanowitz, and Matthew Neenan

Sunday, November 20, 7:30 pm

Excerpts of new works by four innovative choreographers-John Heginbotham; Katarzyna Skarpetowska; Pam Tanowitz; and Matthew Neenan- are performed by Juilliard Dance students prior to their premieres. Artistic director Lawrence Rhodesdiscusses the creative process with the choreographers.

Peter & the Wolf with Isaac Mizrahi

December 3, 4, 10, 11, 2:30 pm and 4 pm

December 9, 5 pm and 6:30 pm

Isaac Mizrahi narrates Sergei Prokofiev's charming children's classic as Brad Lubman conducts Ensemble Signal, and a cast performs choreography by John Heginbotham, bringing the 30-minute story to life for the young and young at heart.

For children 5 and up.

Premium front-row ticket: $100/$90 Friends of Works & Process and Guggenheim members

Enter via the ramp at 88th St and 5th Ave.

Holiday Concert

Sunday and Monday, December 18 and 19, 7 pm

In what has become a revered annual tradition, Vox Vocal Ensemble, led by George Steel, fills the museum's iconic rotunda with the joyous sounds of holiday music.

The museum closes at 5:45 pm and reopens at 6:45 pm for the concert.

Floor seating: $40, $35 Friends of Works & Process and Guggenheim members

Ramp standing: $20, $15 Friends of Works & Process and Guggenheim members

Location: Peter B. Lewis Theater, unless otherwise noted (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum).

Tickets:$40, $35 Friends of Works & Process and Guggenheim Members, unless otherwise noted. $10 student rush tickets available one hour prior to each performance if space allows (for students under 25 with valid ID). Priority ticket access and preferred seat selection available starting July 27, 2016, for $500+ Friends of Works & Process or $600+ Guggenheim Members. Season tickets will be on sale August 10, 2016. For the box office call 212 423 3575, Mon-Fri, 1-5 pm, or visit worksandprocess.org.