David Geffen News

The 93rd season of the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts (YPCs) will begin today, December 12, 2015, at 2:00 p.m. with the program 'Fables and Folktales,' the first in this season's series, Once Upon a Time, exploring music inspired by stories, poems, and legends.

Heatherwick Studio and Diamond Schmitt Architects have been selected as the architecture team that will lead the renovation and reimagination of David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center's largest concert hall, it was announced today by Katherine Farley, chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and Oscar S. Schafer, chairman of the New York Philharmonic. This first-ever collaboration brings together two world-class, award-winning firms -- collectively, they bring extensive experience designing innovative public spaces and specialized expertise in the design and execution of world-renowned performing arts halls.

The New York Philharmonic will present two programs of film music in May 2016: a complete screening of Charlie Chaplin's CITY LIGHTS, May 19, 2016 - with the Orchestra performing Chaplin's score live, conducted by Timothy Brock, who restored the score for live performance - and Disney's FANTASIA, May 20-21, 2016 - in which selections from Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 will be screened as the Orchestra performs the music live, led by Assistant Conductor Joshua Gersen, in honor of Fantasia's 75th anniversary.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts announces a new partnership with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and DreamWorks Studios to present the highly successful annual program

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts announces a new partnership with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and DreamWorks Studios to present the highly successful annual program, The ASCAP Foundation Musical Theatre Workshop. Now in its 23rd year under the leadership of Artistic Director Stephen Schwartz, the workshop -- giving selected composers and lyricists the opportunity to present selections from original musical works in progress for professional critique -- will take place at The Wallis in Beverly Hills from Feb. 16-18, 2016, with submissions now being accepted. The application deadline is Dec. 16, 2015. 

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) and the New York Philharmonic announce the addition of Tony and Grammy Award-winning actor, singer, director, composer, and playwright Billy Porter and actor and vocalistKyle Dean Massey to the star-studded concert fundraiser for the new David Geffen Hall on Thursday, December 3, in the hall, celebrating the music of Frank Sinatra on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Earlier this year music and media executive David Geffen gave a $100 million gift to Lincoln Center to lead a complete renovation of its largest concert hall, which now bears his name.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO), under the direction of Music Director Louis Langree, returns to New York City in 2016 for a January 6 performance at 8 p.m at David Geffen Hall.

Notre Dame's Department of Film, Television, and Theatre (FTT) announces LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, tonight, November 18-22 in the Decio Mainstage Theatre at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Directed and choreographed by guest artist Nathan Halvorson, who previously helmed FTT's production of Cabaret (2013), LITTLE SHOP will also feature puppets by special effects makeup artist and puppeteer RJ Haddy, who was a finalist on Season 2 of the Syfy channel's reality competition series FACE OFF.

The 93rd season of the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts (YPCs) will begin on Saturday, December 12, 2015, at 2:00 p.m. with the program "Fables and Folktales," the first in this season's series, Once Upon a Time, exploring music inspired by stories, poems, and legends. The season's first concert will feature Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, narrated by Brandon Gill; Richard Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks; and the first performance of selections from the orchestral version of Raphael Mostel's Travels of Babar, Part One: The Honeymoon, accompanied by a digital slideshow of high-resolution scans of Babar author Jean de Brunhoff's watercolors. Joshua Gersen, in his first season as a Philharmonic Assistant Conductor, will make his Philharmonic debut leading the performance, and Vice President, Education, Theodore Wiprud will host the event.

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation's annual galas--celebrating each year's winner of the Tucker Award to young American singers--are known for two things. First, they are notoriously fun evenings of opera warhorses and, second, they are guessing games: Which of the singers scheduled to perform won't show up? This year's gala fulfilled the first object delectably, as it celebrated mezzo Jamie Barton, but, surprise!, almost everyone appeared as scheduled, with one very noticeable exception.

The New York Philharmonic will present Rachmaninoff: A Philharmonic Festival, tonight, November 10-28, 2015, featuring 24-year-old Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov performing three of the composer's piano concertos and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini over the course of three consecutive all-Rachmaninoff programs, each led by a different conductor: Cristian Macelaru (in his Philharmonic debut), Neeme Jarvi, and Ludovic Morlot.

Clive Davis and The Recording Academy will present the annual Pre-GRAMMY Gala on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016, at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., the evening before the 58th Annual GRAMMY Awards.

LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER - the award-winning performing arts series that for more than 40 years has showcased the best of the wide-ranging programming from the world's leading performing arts center - today announced the national broadcast presentation of SINATRA: VOICE FOR A CENTURY, airing Friday, December 18, 2015 on PBS*.

Music Director Alan Gilbert will conduct the New York Philharmonic in an all-Mozart program: his Divertimento in D major, K.136/125a; Horn Concerto No. 2, with Principal Horn Philip Myers; and Serenade for 13 Winds, Gran partita. The concerts take place tonight, November 4, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, November 5 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, November 6 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, November 7 at 8:00 p.m.

Notre Dame's Department of Film, Television, and Theatre (FTT) announces LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, November 18-22 in the Decio Mainstage Theatre at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Directed and choreographed by guest artist Nathan Halvorson, who previously helmed FTT's production of Cabaret (2013), LITTLE SHOP will also feature puppets by special effects makeup artist and puppeteer RJ Haddy, who was a finalist on Season 2 of the Syfy channel's reality competition series FACE OFF.

Jaap van Zweden will return to the New York Philharmonic to conduct Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23, with Artist-in-Association Inon Barnatan as soloist; Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem; and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. The performances take place tonight, October 29, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, October 30 at 2:00 p.m.; and Saturday, October 31 at 8:00 p.m. 

Returning for its 17th season, Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook will continue to broaden its scope in celebrating the best in American singing and songwriting as interpreted by top performers and rising stars, with events at three Lincoln Center venues.

For the last century, the three B's of classical music have been Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, and their catalogues remain the programming bedrock of most symphony orchestras around the world. On Friday, Oct. 23rd the New York Philharmonic gave a very strong argument for Brahms remaining at the very top of the programmatic choices. It was an extremely well-considered and magnificently executed combination of very old and very new (if you can say that about Brahms) selections that combined for a deeply fulfilling performance.

The New York Philharmonic Very Young People's Concerts (VYPCs), for children ages 3 to 6, will begin its 11th season Sunday, November 8, 2015, at 12:30 and 3:00 p.m. and Monday, November 9 at 10:30 a.m. at Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street.

From May 23 to June 11, 2016, the New York Philharmonic and Music Director Alan Gilbert will present the second NY PHIL BIENNIAL, a wide-ranging exploration of today's music by an array of contemporary and modern composers. A flagship project of the New York Philharmonic, the NY PHIL BIENNIAL brings together an international roster of composers, performers, and curatorial voices for concerts presented both on the Lincoln Center campus and in venues throughout the city.