Amir ElSaffar News

NYU Skirball's 2018 Winter/Spring season will feature works by some of the world's leading provocateurs, artists and activists, performing unconventional and often controversial works, showcasing diverse and cutting-edge international talent from Slovakia, Brussels, Chile, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, the U.K. and the United States.

BRIC presents Reenactment, a group exhibition examining and agitating the aesthetics and politics of historical reenactment in contemporary art (January 18-February 25). In traditional reenactments, events like the American Revolution and Civil War are embodied by amateur performers using storytelling and props, all too often approaching history as unchangeable and absolute.

Jacob's Pillow announces the full season lineup for Festival 2018, including U.S. company debuts, world premieres, international artists, newly commissioned work, rich historic Festival connections, and the formal presentation of work developed through the organization's growing residency program at the Pillow Lab. Jacob's Pillow is the longest-running dance festival in the United States, a National Historic Landmark, a National Medal of Arts recipient, and has recently expanded to become a year-round center for dance research and development. Festival 2018 opens on June 20, engaging visitors and community members from throughout the region and beyond, on- and off-site, through August 26.

NYU Skirball's 2018 Winter/Spring season will feature works by some of the world's leading provocateurs, artists and activists, performing unconventional and often controversial works, showcasing diverse and cutting-edge international talent from Slovakia, Brussels, Chile, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, the U.K. and the United States.

On Thursday, October 26, Meredith Monk, trailblazing composer, singer and interdisciplinary artist, was awarded the 24th annual Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize at a packed ceremony at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).

The Gish Prize Trust today announced that the widely influential, utterly inimitable Meredith Monk has been selected to receive the 24th annual Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, in recognition of her ongoing achievements as a composer, singer and interdisciplinary artist. Established in 1994 through the will of legendary stage and screen actress Lillian Gish, known as the First Lady of Cinema, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize is one of the most prestigious honors given to artists in the United States and bears one of the largest cash awards, currently valued at approximately $250,000.

Shubbak, London's festival of contemporary Arab culture, has become a key event in the arts calendar of the UK and the Arab World, and 2017 will be the 4th edition of this biennial festival.

New Amsterdam Records is proud to announce the release of Not Two, the debut album from Amir ElSaffar's Rivers of Sound Orchestra, out today in double LP, CD, and digital formats via Bandcamp.

Shubbak, London's festival of contemporary Arab culture, has become a key event in the arts calendar of the UK and the Arab World, and 2017 will be the 4th edition of this biennial festival.

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) presents the 16th annual River To River Festival, Downtown New York City's completely free summer arts festival, June 14-25. The 2017 edition presents an array of performances and events exploring and celebrating diversity in all its forms-often blurring the lines between genres including dance, music, theater and the visual arts-over the course of 100+ performances and events spanning 17 projects at 31 unique sites across Lower Manhattan and Governors Island. The Festival also offers opportunities for audiences to interact with artists, socialize and experience multiple facets of artists' work and the creative process.

NYU Skirball's 2017-18 season will feature over 45 unique presentations by some of the world's leading provocateurs, artists and activists, performing unconventional and often controversial works in varied spaces throughout the Skirball Center - turning the lobby, dressing rooms, hallways and backstage areas into centers of creativity.

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) presents the 16th annual River To River Festival, Downtown New York City's completely free summer arts festival, June 14-25. The 2017 edition presents an array of performances and events exploring and celebrating diversity in all its forms-often blurring the lines between genres including dance, music, theater and the visual arts-over the course of 100+ performances and events spanning 17 projects at 31 unique sites across Lower Manhattan and Governors Island. The Festival also offers opportunities for audiences to interact with artists, socialize and experience multiple facets of artists' work and the creative process.

The Brooklyn Museum will present a variety of programs for adults, teens, and kids in May. Public programs include talks, performances, and hands-on workshops for children and adults that amplify the Museum's exhibitions and permanent collection, serve its diverse public, and support learning through the visual arts.

The Bang on a Can Marathon, celebrating its 30th anniversary, is presented for the first time at the Brooklyn Museum on Saturday, May 6, from 2 to 10 pm. The Marathon features eight hours of live performances by today's most innovative musicians and pioneering young artists.

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) presents the 16th annual River To River Festival, Downtown New York City's completely free summer arts festival, June 14-25.

Bang on a Can announces the complete lineup and schedule for its 30th Anniversary Bang on a Can Marathon, presented for the first time at Brooklyn Museum on Saturday, May 6, 2017 from 2-10pm in the Museum's Beaux-Arts Court.

Bang on a Can announces its 30th Anniversary Bang on a Can Marathon, presented for the first time at Brooklyn Museum on Saturday, May 6, 2017 from 2-10pm. This incomparable super-mix of boundary-busting music from around the corner and around the world features eight hours of rare performances by some of the most innovative musicians of our time side-by-side with some of today's most pioneering young artists. The Marathon is part of A Year of Yes: Reimagining Feminism at the Brooklyn Museum, a yearlong project that celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art through ten diverse exhibitions and an extensive calendar of related public programs. Bang on a Can Marathon artists include Meredith Monk, Julia Wolfe, Joan La Barbara, and many more.

Under the leadership of General Manager Bernard Foccroulle, the 69th season of the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence will present an exceptional collection of artists from around the globe in five major opera productions and 16 recital, chamber music and orchestral concerts from July 3 through 22, plus more than 60 events from the Academie du Festival d'Aix.

Award-winning Iraqi-American playwright and performer Heather Raffo (9 Parts of Desire) teams up with director Joanna Settle to examine the issue of fractured American identity in this timely re-imagining of Ibsen's iconic A Doll's House.

On Thursday, November 3, Elizabeth LeCompte, experimental theater and media pioneer, and founding member and director of the internationally acclaimed theater company The Wooster Group, was awarded the 23rd annual Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize at a packed house at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. Scroll down for photos!