“A triumphant realization of a challenging work…For sheer productions values, Michaels Reise is arresting as anything Performance you will see in an opera house.” —New York Times Season

Live performance is at the heart of , and the from renowned pianist Emanuel Ax to violinist and rising star 2012–13 season hummed with the excitement of superb Isabelle Faust. Continuing the Festival’s broad exploration programming on a resplendent, reimagined campus. of its namesake genius, this year spotlighted Mozart’s influence on the music of Beethoven, surveyed contemporary A highlight of the Great Performers season was the New composers with the International Contemporary Ensemble, York premiere of John Adams’s The Gospel According to the and presented such quintessential Mozart evenings as an Other Mary with the Los Angeles Philharmonic led by a fiery inventively staged concert version of Le nozze di Figaro with Gustavo Dudamel. Keyboard enthusiasts were treated to the Budapest Festival Orchestra under the baton and direction virtuoso recitals by Jean-Yves Thibaudet and András Schiff, of Iván Fischer. and baritone Simon Keenlyside thrilled audiences in the title role of Berg’s opera Wozzeck. Lincoln Center Festival’s extraordinary international lineup of multidisciplinary events unfolded in six venues both on and off Broadway stars Kristin Chenoweth and legendary singer/ campus, with 62 performances by artists and ensembles from songwriter Valerie Simpson headlined a glowing American 10 countries. In addition to director Chen Shi-Zheng’s fantastical Songbook season in The Allen Room. This year, the program production of a Chinese folktale, Monkey: Journey to the West, expanded to an adventurous new series of intimate concerts there were concerts by Sinead O’Connor, John Zorn and the in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse. Mongolian band Hanggai; the North American premiere of The White Light Festival explored the human body as a vehicle Complicite’s theater work Shun-Kin; and the American premiere for transcendence with dance premieres from London’s Akram of Stockhausen’s seminal Michaels Reise um die Erde. Khan Company and Ireland’s Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre. In July and August, Lincoln Center Out of Doors filled our The roster of global artistry included choirs from Latvia and plazas with more than 100 free performances of music, dance, Georgia as well as repertoire from Mahler to Arvo Pärt. Post- theater, and commissioned works, including a world premiere concert White Light Lounges, where concertgoers mingle and from Mark Dendy Dance & Theater Projects, three New York greet the artists, returned as part of the White Light experience. debuts as part of Festival au Désert: Caravan for Peace, and a Summer at Lincoln Center began with the outdoor dance special week-long Kronos Quartet at 40 anniversary celebration. party Midsummer Night Swing marking its 25th anniversary An expanded Live From Lincoln Center television series on of live music under the stars. For three weeks, top bands from PBS welcomed the incomparable five-time Tony-winner Audra New York and around the world called thousands of joyful feet McDonald as its new host, reaching millions of viewers with to dance in Damrosch Park. Tango, salsa, and swing were all enhanced digital platforms. The part of the revelry, featuring Wynton Marsalis, Arturo O’Farrill, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, earning Emmy® and the wildly popular Silent Discos, where music can only be nominations, a star-studded New Year’s Eve tribute to Marvin heard through the dancers’ headphones. Hamlisch, and legendary artists including Itzhak Perlman and Trumpeter Marco Blaauw (Michael) and basset horn player Nicola The Mostly Mozart Festival’s Renée and Robert Belfer Music Joshua Groban were among the outstanding offerings from our Jürgenson (Eve) in the North American premiere of Stockhausen’s Director Louis Langrée hosted a spectacular lineup of artists, stages broadcast on Live From Lincoln Center. spectacular Michaels Reise um die Erde at Lincoln Center Festival. “A remarkable production…A highlight not just of the Mostly Mozart Festival, but also of the opera season in New York.” —New York Times

Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra gave the Mostly Mozart premiere of Le nozze di Figaro in a jubilant staged concert performance. “ Monkey: Journey to the West—a dazzling collision of Chinese folklore, spiritual instruction and ethno-digital pop music.“ —Rolling Stone

Green Lotus Maidens spun their plates in “Paradise” for the finale of Monkey: Journey to the West at Lincoln Center Festival. “ An extraordinary piece of dance theater that manages to be both seamless entertainment and a rich insight into Irish culture.” —Irish Times

Traditional Irish music and passionate contemporary dance shared the stage in Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre’s lively production of Rian during the White Light Festival. “ The crowd reflects the city in age, ethnicity, size, skill level, personality and fashion sense. There are singles and couples, paired-up strangers and circles of friends. Different bands attract different crowds, so each night has its own character and energy, but there’s always a miscellany, a cross-section of New York mingling to music.” —New York Times

The Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis made a joyful noise at the opening of Midsummer Night Swing. “ Langrée sustained compelling passion. His attentive players [the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra] responded with gutsy bravura.” —Financial Times

Renée and Robert Belfer Music Director Louis Langrée led nine concerts with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra on the Festival’s specially-constructed stage in Avery Fisher Hall. “ Alban Berg’s compact shocker of an opera is about cruelty and despair, but the Philharmonic's concert performance…was a celebratory event. Rare as it is to experience the score in the flesh, it’s rarer still to hear it done with such a volatile mixture of vitriol and love.” —New York Magazine

Simon Keenlyside (right) starred in the title role of Wozzeck, with Joshua Ellicott (left) as Andres and Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra for Lincoln Center’s Great Performers. “ There’s a good reason that Panamanian singer, songwriter and bandleader Rubén Blades is one of salsa’s most durable icons: Simply put, few other performers can speak to your mind, touch your heart quite so reliably…as this brilliant performer does.” —Time Out New York

Latin superstar and nine-time Grammy Award–winner Rubén Blades thrilled the crowds at a free Lincoln Center Out of Doors concert. “ More than half a century of American social history is embodied in the warm, earthy voice of the great R&B gospel singer Mavis Staples, who appeared at The Allen Room on Thursday evening as part of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series.” —New York Times

At Lincoln Center’s American Songbook, Mavis Staples—one of the 100 greatest singers of all time (Rolling Stone)—rocked the house at a sold-out concert in The Allen Room. Education, Community, and Free Programming

Education and community engagement are vital elements of filmmakers like John Sayles and Mira Nair, was also launched Lincoln Center’s mission, and the 2012–13 season witnessed in partnership with the Ford Foundation and presented in a significant number of new programs in these areas. collaborationwith the Film Society of Lincoln Center. And weekly Target® Free Thursdays and monthly Meet the Artist Lincoln Center Institute (LCI), our educational cornerstone, Saturdays performances reached more than 22,000 people. welcomed Russell Granet as its new Executive Director in 2012. Following his arrival, Lincoln Center’s many educational activities More free programming took place with Young Music Makers were consolidated as the Lincoln Center Education (LCE) family in the spring, when school ensembles from across the nation of programs. LCE initiatives include such projects as the Arts in performed on our plazas, and continued with world-class the Middle pilot, which takes the arts to underserved City middle Lincoln Center Out of Doors performances in July and August schools; an LCE-CUNY Learning Lab for teacher candidates; for hundreds of thousands of people. The Atrium’s Zucker the establishment of a Lincoln Center Arts Teacher Award in Box Office continues to make the best of the performing arts conjunction with the Department of Education; available at discounted prices. and a teaching artist certification program. An exciting Lincoln Center Digital initiative took a giant step Also under the LCE umbrella is Lincoln Center Local, which took on the path to making Lincoln Center a digital destination for 15 performances to seven Queens libraries reaching thousands performing arts content. In July 2013, a video portal viewable at of neighborhood residents in 2012–13, and live-streamed viewing LincolnCenter.org/watch was launched, offering access to video parties in 21 Queens and Brooklyn locations this past summer. interviews with and performances by renowned Lincoln Center The Meet the Artist School Series hosted more than 15,000 artists. The video portal also features on-demand excerpts students and introduced a student artist continued partnership from our flagship Live From Lincoln Center television series and with The Juilliard School. Lincoln Center Institute continues includes such live-stream events as the recent all-star Lincoln its valued work in the schools with teaching artists, and is Center Out of Doors Red Hot + FELA LIVE! concert. expanding its thought leadership in arts education. Lincoln Center’s Programs and Services for People with The David Rubenstein Atrium visitors center greeted its Disabilities (PSPD) remains dedicated to ensuring that the 1 millionth visitor this year, and added two more programs campus is accessible to guests with physical disability. In to its wide-ranging free performance series. The first Poet- 2013, PSPD reached more than 6,000 disabled children and Linc saw teenagers from all five boroughs compete in a lively adults with live performances through the combined efforts poetry slam. Their works were published in Lincoln Center’s of its Community Engagement and Family Passport Programs, Fun and learning combined: the Meet the Artist School Series engaged thousands of young people in specially created programs offering first-ever poetry book, Poet-Linc. JustFilms at AtriumFlix, in addition to providing nearly 120,000 Large Print and Braille personal interaction with artists and live performance. a monthly series of film screenings and interviews with programs for audiences. The world premiere of Mark Dendy’s Ritual Cyclical, a site-specific work for 80 dancers, took place on Hearst Plaza and the Paul Milstein Pool and Terrace during Lincoln Center Out of Doors.