2014/15 GREAT PERFORMERS The Program Sponsored by BNY Mellon Thursday Evening, March 19, 2015, at 7:30 Takács Quartet Edward Dusinberre, Violin Károly Schranz, Violin Geraldine Walther, Viola András Fejér, Cello Joyce Yang, Piano HAYDN String Quartet in C major, Op. 76, No. 3 (“Emperor”) (1797) Allegro Poco adagio, cantabile Menuetto: Allegro Finale: Presto DEBUSSY String Quartet in G minor (1893) Animé et très décidé Assez vif et bien rythmé Andantino, doucement expressif Très modéré—Très mouvementé—Très animé Intermission ˇ ÁK Piano Quintet in A major (1887) DVOR Allegro, ma non tanto Dumka: Andante con moto Scherzo (Furiant): Molto vivace Finale: Allegro Please make certain all your electronic devices are switched off. BNY Mellon is a Proud Supporter of Great Performers. This performance is made possible in part by the Josie Robertson Fund for Lincoln Center. Steinway Piano Alice Tully Hall, Starr Theater Adrienne Arsht Stage Great Performers BNY Mellon is a Proud Supporter of Great Performers. Support is provided by Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser, The Florence Gould Foundation, Audrey Love Charitable Foundation, Great Performers Circle, Chairman’s Council, and Friends of Lincoln Center. Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts. Endowment support for Symphonic Masters is provided by the Leon Levy Fund. Endowment support is also provided by UBS. MetLife is the National Sponsor of Lincoln Center. Movado is a Supporter of Lincoln Center. United Airlines is a Supporter of Lincoln Center. WABC-TV is a Supporter of Lincoln Center. William Hill Estate Winery is a Supporter of Lincoln Center. UPCOMING GREAT PERFORMERS EVENTS IN ALICE TULLY HALL: Monday Evening, March 30, at 7:30 Lisa Batiashvili, Violin Paul Lewis, Piano SCHUBERT: Sonata in A major, D.574 SCHUBERT: Rondo brillant BACH (arr. Busoni): Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland TELEMANN: Fantaisie No. 4 BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonata No. 10 in G major Presented by Lincoln Center’s Great Performers in association with the New York Philharmonic. Lisa Batiashvili is the New York Philharmonic’s 2014/15 Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence. Sunday Afternoon, April 12, 2015 at 5:00 Sarah Connolly, Mezzo-soprano Joseph Middleton, Piano SCHUBERT: Ellens Gesang I–III MAHLER: Rückert-Lieder COPLAND: Selections from 12 Poems of Emily Dickinson ELGAR: Sea Pictures For tickets, call (212) 721-6500 or visit LCGreatPerformers.org. Call the Lincoln Center Info Request Line at (212) 875-5766 to learn about program cancellations or to request a Great Performers brochure. Visit LCGreatPerformers.org for more information relating to this season’s programs. Join the conversation: #LCGreatPerfs We would like to remind you that the sound of coughing and rustling paper might distract the performers and your fellow audience members. In consideration of the performing artists and members of the audience, those who must leave before the end of the performance are asked to do so between pieces. The taking of photographs and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in the building. Snapshot Great Performers By Paul Schiavo Timeframe The three works on this evening’s program span less than a century, yet they represent three distinct periods in the history of Western music. Haydn’s music epitomizes what we have come to regard as the Austrian Classical style, a school of composition that also includes the work of Mozart and the young Beethoven and Schubert. For all practical purposes, Haydn single-handedly invented the string quartet as a musical genre. His Quartet in C major, Op. 76, No. 3 (“Emperor”), embodies many of the traits that Haydn established as the genre’s classic qualities, principal among them being shared dialogue among the quartet members and a well-balanced four-movement design. ARTS Debussy’s retention of these Classical virtues in his String Quartet, Op. 10, is striking in light of the work’s fairly modern musical idiom. The G-minor Quartet is one of Debussy’s earlier compositions, yet it shows the fresh melodic contours and original harmonic language that make his music so distinctive. The influence of Javanese gamelan music, which Debussy had heard and admired at the 1889 Paris World Exposition, is evident here. Whereas Haydn’s quartet gives us musical classicism and Debussy’s broaches modernist innovation, Dvorˇák’s Piano Quintet in A major belongs to the late bloom of 19thcentury Romanticism. Its Romantic standing stems not only from its sweeping melodies and rich harmonic palette—Dvorˇák gave expression to Czech patriotic pride, incorporating elements of Czech folk music in his work. His Piano Quintet fuses these Romantic characteristics with the same Classical four-movement form used by the other pieces on tonight’s program. —Copyright © 2015 by Paul Schiavo 1797 Haydn’s Quartet in C major (“Emperor”) Jane Austen starts Elinor, which becomes Sense and Sensibility. 1887 Dvorˇák’s Piano Quintet Arthur Conan Doyle creates Sherlock Holmes. 1893 Debussy’s String Quartet Frank Lloyd Wright starts the Winslow House. SCIENCE 1797 The element chromium is discovered. 1887 The National Institutes of Health is founded. 1893 A method for growing cultured pearls is developed in Japan. IN NEW YORK 1797 New York’s first state prison, Newgate, opens in Greenwich Village. 1887 Bloomingdale’s department store opens. 1893 Andrew Carnegie is made a trustee of the New York Free Circulating Library. Notes on the Program Great Performers I Notes on the Program By Paul Schiavo String Quartet in C major, Op. 76, No. 3 (“Emperor”) (1797) JOSEPH HAYDN Born March 31, 1732, in Rohrau, Austria Died May 31, 1809, in Vienna Approximate length: 27 minutes Haydn made important contributions to the symphony, to opera, to sacred music, and to the piano literature. Still, his string quartets constitute the core of his output. Haydn’s involvement with the string quartet spanned virtually the whole of his long career. His first works of this kind may have originated during his late adolescence. (Haydn scholars disagree as to when the subject of their studies produced his first string quartets, their estimates ranging from 1750 to 1760.) His last came approximately half a century later, during his ultimate maturity. Among the latter works is a set of six quartets published in 1799 as the composer’s Op. 76. These pieces, together with three subsequent quartets (the last of them unfinished), crown his endeavors in the field of chamber music, much as his “London” Symphonies capped his work in the area of orchestral composition. The third piece in the Op. 76 set, a quartet in C major, has become known as the “Emperor” Quartet for Haydn’s use in the second movement of an anthem he had written for Austria’s monarch, Emperor Franz II. The composition begins, however, with a lively Allegro that carries no trace of the solemnity of that imperial melody. Rather, its initial theme conveys high spirits through the use of syncopated rhythms, wide melodic leaps, and other playful details. Haydn’s fertile imagination wrests so much interest from this single idea that he constructs the entire movement without resorting to another subject. The second movement takes the form of theme with variations, the generative melody being the aforementioned anthem, “Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser” (“God Preserve Emperor Franz”), which Haydn had composed in 1797. This song quickly became a popular expression of Austrian patriotism and eventually was adopted as Austria’s national anthem. (Fitted with new words, it also became Germany’s national anthem in 1922.) Haydn reportedly loved the melody and often played it on the piano during his final years. Here he elaborates it in four ingenious paraphrases. There follows a cheerful minuet—its main theme even features series of laughing melodic figures—though with a somewhat more sober central episode. Its manifest good humor makes the onset of the Finale a startling event. Here Haydn resorts to the dark harmonic colors of C minor and a strongly dramatic demeanor. The suspenseful tone persists through the contrapuntal exchanges that occupy the middle part of the movement. Great Performers I Notes on the Program Only in approaching the final moments of the piece does Haydn steer the music decisively into the bright light of C major. String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 (1893) CLAUDE DEBUSSY Born August 22, 1862, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France Died March 25, 1918, in Paris Approximate length: 27 minutes Debussy completed his only string quartet early in 1893. The work’s original title, “First Quartet in G Minor, Opus 10,” offered what was, for Debussy, an unusually formal and self-conscious declaration. This is the only instance of the composer bestowing on one of his compositions an opus number, and the designation “First Quartet” suggests an intention to write further works of this kind. Debussy actually did begin a second string quartet shortly after the first received its initial performance, but he soon abandoned it, turning instead to piano music, orchestral poems, and opera. In this quartet, Debussy adopted a procedure much favored by French composers during the last quarter of the 19th century: the “cyclical” use of a single theme that appears in varied forms over the course of a composition. Often such cyclical thematic recurrences allowed works to assume novel shapes bearing little resemblance to familiar Classical designs. But in Debussy’s quartet the transformation of thematic material occurs within a familiar four-movement framework of fast outer movements framing a scherzo and slow movement. The opening measures give us the quartet’s principal theme. A variant of this idea, presented by the cello, forms the background against which the second subject of the opening movement is presented. The next movement, a scherzo in all but name, commences with another transformation of the work’s initial theme, here played by the viola over a pizzicato accompaniment by the three other instruments. Because this accompaniment is a complex combination of different recurring melodic patterns, most commentators have assumed the influence of Indonesian gamelan music, in which comparable interlocking figures are common. (Debussy had heard gamelan music at the Paris World Exposition in 1889.) In the third movement, Debussy leaves the quartet’s recurring idea in favor of an expressive aria played in muted tones. The signature subject returns in several forms during the finale. Two of these variants, given out by the cello and first violin respectively, appear in the opening measures. Another version of the theme is treated contrapuntally in the section that follows. Further transformations of the germinal melody follow, culminating in a breathless coda passage. Great Performers I Notes on the Program Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81 (1887) ˇ ÁK ANTONÍN DVOR Born September 8, 1841, in Nelahozeves, Czech Republic Died May 1, 1904, in Prague Approximate length: 39 minutes Dvorˇák composed his Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81, in the autumn of 1887, but the impulse for creating this work had originally come to him some 15 years earlier. In 1872 Dvorˇák, then 30 years of age and still a fledgling composer, had written a piece for the same ensemble of piano and string quartet, and in the same key of A major, as the one we know as his Op. 81. This early Piano Quintet was performed in Prague in November of 1872 and admitted into the canon of Dvorˇák’s work as his Op. 5. Upon further consideration, however, the composer decided that the music did not entirely please him, and he withheld it from publication. By the late 1880s, Dvorˇák had risen from obscurity to become one of the most celebrated composers in Europe, and he now found a greater demand for his music than his recent efforts could fulfill. As an expedience, he therefore reviewed some of his youthful pieces and revised several of them with an eye toward publication. Among these was the Op. 5 Piano Quintet. But even after reworking the music as best he could, Dvorˇák remained dissatisfied with this composition. Having failed to rectify the flaws of the first A-major Quintet, Dvorˇák now set about by composing an entirely new one. The result was one of his finest pieces of chamber music. The new quintet, which received its first performance on January 6, 1888, in Prague, revealed that dependable flow of melody, inventive development of thematic ideas and mastery of large-scale form that Dvorˇák had achieved in his maturity, as well as the flavor of Bohemian folk music, which the composer was by this time incorporating into even his most Classically shaped compositions. The quintet’s initial moments juxtapose the strong, unhurried lyricism of the opening cello melody with a more impassioned musical rhetoric that follows shortly, and the music moves easily between these two modes of expression throughout the course of the first movement. In place of a traditional slow movement, Dvorˇák casts the second portion of the composition as a dumka, a type of Slavic folk ballad that characteristically alternates between melancholy and more hopeful statements in several contrasting sections, as we hear in this part of the quintet. (Dvorˇák appropriated the dumka style and format in several works, most notably his Piano Trio, Op. 90.) The third movement brings a Scherzo with something of the flavor of that lively Bohemian dance the furiant, which Dvorˇák also evoked in a number of his compositions. The Finale begins as a high-spirited romp. Dvorˇák introduces Great Performers I Notes on the Program more sober elements in the form of a fugal passage midway through the movement and the relatively dignified chorale strains heard near the close. But while deepening this fourth movement’s emotional complexion, these ideas cannot dispel its sense of exuberance and humor. Paul Schiavo serves as program annotator for the St. Louis and Seattle Symphonies, and writes frequently for concerts at Lincoln Center. —Copyright © 2015 by Paul Schiavo LENNY OOSTERWIJK Meet the Artists Great Performers I Meet the Artists Takács Quartet Recognized as one of the world’s great ensembles, the Takács Quartet plays with a unique blend of drama, warmth, and humor, combining four distinct musical personalities to bring fresh insights to the string quartet repertoire. In 2012, Gramophone announced that the Takács was the only string quartet to be inducted into its first Hall of Fame. The ensemble won the 2011 Award for Chamber Music and Song presented by the Royal Philharmonic Society in London. Based in Boulder at the University of Colorado, the Takács Quartet performs 90 concerts a year worldwide. The Quartet is known for innovative programming. In September 2014 the musicians performed Philip Roth’s Everyman with Meryl Streep at Princeton University, and they first performed the work at Carnegie Hall in 2007 with Philip Seymour Hoffman. The Quartet has toured 14 cities with the poet Robert Pinsky, collaborates regularly with the Hungarian folk group Muzsikás, and in 2010 collaborated with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and David Lawrence Morse on a drama project that explored the composition of Beethoven’s last quartets. The Quartet’s award-winning recordings include the complete Beethoven cycle on the Decca label. In 2005 The Late String Quartets won Recording of the Year and the Chamber Award from BBC Music Magazine, a Gramophone Award, Album of the Year at the Brit Awards, and a Japanese Record Academy Award. Its recordings of the early and middle Beethoven quartets collected a Grammy Award, another Gramophone Award, a Chamber Music of America Award, and two further awards from the Japanese Recording Academy. The Takács Quartet was founded in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and made its North American debut tour in 1982. In 2001 the ensemble was awarded the Order of Merit of the Knight’s Cross of the Republic of Hungary, and in 2011 each member of the Quartet was Great Performers I Meet the Artists awarded the Order of Merit Commander’s Cross by the president of the Republic of Hungary. Joyce Yang KT KIM A Van Cliburn International Piano Competition silver medalist and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, Joyce Yang captivates audiences with her virtuosity, lyricism, and interpretive sensitivity, showcasing her colorful musical personality in solo recitals and collaborations with the world’s top orchestras and chamber musicians. Recent engagements include appearances with the New York Philharmonic and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, chamber music and solo recitals with Musica Viva Australia, and performances in Montreal and Aspen, where Ms. Yang played the Grieg Concerto under Osmo Vänskä and reunited with violinist Augustin Hadelich and guitarist Pablo Villegas for a reprise of their acclaimed Tango, Song, and Dance program that premiered at the Kennedy Center. Later this spring Ms. Yang tours and records with Hadelich, and she returns to the New York Philharmonic for its 2015–16 season. Last spring Ms. Yang released her second solo disc for Avie Records, Wild Dreams; a pairing of the Brahms and Schumann Piano Quintets with the Alexander String Quartet; and a recording of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Ms. Yang came to international attention in 2005 as the youngest contestant at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, winning the silver medal and sweeping additional awards for Best Performance of Chamber Music and Best Performance of a New Work. She made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut at 12 years old, and has also performed with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, the orchestras of Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Milwaukee, San Francisco, and Sydney, as well as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the BBC Philharmonic. A Steinway Artist, Ms. Yang lives in New York City. Great Performers Lincoln Center’s Great Performers Initiated in 1965, Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series offers classical and contemporary music performances from the world’s outstanding symphony orchestras, vocalists, chamber ensembles, and recitalists. One of the most significant music presentation series in the world, Great Performers runs from October through June with offerings in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Walter Reade Theater, and other performance spaces around New York City. From symphonic masterworks, lieder recitals, and Sunday morning coffee concerts to films and groundbreaking productions specially commissioned by Lincoln Center, Great Performers offers a rich spectrum of programming throughout the season. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. A presenter of more than 3,000 free and ticketed events, performances, tours, and educational activities annually, LCPA offers 15 programs, series, and festivals including American Songbook, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and the White Light Festival, as well as the Emmy Award–winning Live From Lincoln Center, which airs nationally on PBS. As manager of the Lincoln Center campus, LCPA provides support and services for the Lincoln Center complex and the 11 resident organizations. In addition, LCPA led a $1.2 billion campus renovation, completed in October 2012. Great Performers I Lincoln Center Programming Department Jane Moss, Ehrenkranz Artistic Director Hanako Yamaguchi, Director, Music Programming Jon Nakagawa, Director, Contemporary Programming Jill Sternheimer, Acting Director, Public Programming Lisa Takemoto, Production Manager Charles Cermele, Producer, Contemporary Programming Kate Monaghan, Associate Director, Programming Claudia Norman, Producer, Public Programming Mauricio Lomelin, Associate Producer, Contemporary Programming Julia Lin, Associate Producer Nicole Cotton, Production Coordinator Regina Grande, Assistant to the Artistic Director Luna Shyr, Programming Publications Editor Olivia Fortunato, House Seat Coordinator The Takács Quartet’s representation: Seldy Cramer Artists, Inc. www.seldycramerartists.com Ms. Yang’s representation: Arts Management Group www.artsmg.com presents String Theory Jazz Guitarist John Pizzarelli pens a musical memoir. When renowned guitarist/singer John Pizzarelli performed in Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series in 2007, The New York Times enthused that the joy he transmits “seems to come as naturally as breathing.” Now Pizzarelli has penned World on a String: A Musical Memoir, a fascinating account of a life populated by great musicians and filled with behind-the-scenes revelations as he progresses from early efforts at fledgling “pass the hat” performances to concerts and recording sessions with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Paul McCartney. Along the way, we meet Doc Severinsen, Rosemary Clooney, Benny Goodman, Skitch Henderson, James Taylor and a host of other musical celebrities eager to share their experience and knowledge, foremost among them, his first teacher, his father the legendary jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli. Written with Joseph Cosgriff (a longtime friend), World on a String is the latest release on the joint John Wiley & Sons/Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts imprint. Previous titles have included Rob Kapilow’s What Makes It Great?, Art at Lincoln Center: The Public Art and List Prints and Poster Collections, and celebrated operatic bass Hao Jiang Tian’s memoir Along the Roaring River: My Journey from Mao to the Met. Advance praise for World on a String has come from many in the music and entertainment fields. Regis Philbin commented, “John Pizzarelli is one of the most entertaining performers you’ll ever see on a stage. He’s perfection: a musician, a singer, a comedian. And now with World on a String, it turns out that John’s a perfect author too.” Stephen Holden, music critic of The New York Times said, “John Pizzarelli has the gift of gab in more ways than one. A great storyteller, he can spin the tiniest anecdote about the musician’s life into a sidesplitting absurdist yarn.” This exuberant, engaging memoir is written for lovers of jazz, lovers of the American Songbook, and anyone who responds to a warm, well-written biography by an artist at the top of his game. Read the book and you may agree with radio host Jonathan Schwartz, “I’d rather spend time with this guy Pizzarelli than with almost anyone else.” World on a String: A Musical Memoir by John Pizzarelli & Joseph Cosgriff (Wiley, November 2012, Hardcover: 304 pages, ISBN-13: 978-1118062975, $26.95; e-book: ISBN-10: 1118062973) is available for purchase at www.wiley.com. It is also available at Amazon.com, BN.com, Books-A-Million, Indie Bound and Apple iBooks. Learn More, Take the Tour B R I A N S TA N T O N LINCOLN CENTER, THE WORLD’S LEADING PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, is a premiere New York destination for visitors from around the globe. Did you know that tours of its iconic campus have made the Top Ten Tour list of NYC&CO, the official guide to New York City, for two year’s running? All tour options offer an inside look at what happens on and off its stages, led by guides with an encyclopedic knowledge of Visitors get a concert preview at rehearsal Lincoln Center, great anecdotes, and a passion for the arts. The daily one-hour Spotlight Tour covers the Center’s history along with current activities, and visits at least three of its famous theaters. Visitors can now also explore broadcast operations inside the Tisch WNET-TV satellite studio on Broadway, and see Lincoln Center’s newest venue, the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, home to the largest Plasma screen in the nation on public display. Want more? A number of specialty tours are available: RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL & LINCOLN CENTER COMBO TOUR Experience two of New York City’s “must-see” attractions with one ticket. This package combines the Music Hall’s Stage Door tour of its Art Deco interior—which might include meeting a world-famous Radio City Rockette—with Lincoln Center’s Spotlight Tour, where a sneak peak at a rehearsal happens whenever possible. ART & ARCHITECTURE TOUR Lincoln Center’s 16-acre campus has one of New York City’s greatest modern art collections, with paintings and sculpture by such internationally acclaimed artists as Marc Chagall, Henry Moore, and Jasper Johns. The tour not only examines these fine art masterworks, it also explores the buildings and public spaces of visionary architects like Philip Johnson, as well as the innovative concepts of architects Diller Scofidio+ Renfro with FXFOWLE, Beyer Blinder Belle, and Tod Williams Bille Tsien, designers of the campus’ $1.2 billion renovation. Inside the David H. Koch For more information, click on LincolnCenter.org/Tours.To book a tour, call (212) 875.5350, email [email protected], or visit the Tour and Information Desk in the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, located on Broadway between 62nd and 63rd Streets. –Joy Chutz Theater B R I A N S TA N T O N EVEN MORE TOUR OPTIONS Lincoln Center offers Foreign Language Tours in five languages: French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish, in addition to American Sign Language tours. Visitors with a special interest in jazz can take the Jazz at Lincoln Center Tour of the organization’s gorgeous venues at the Times Warner Center, the only facilities created specifically for the performance of jazz music. And Group Tours of more than 15 people get a discount. Young Patrons of Lincoln Center WHO SAYS THE NIGHTLIFE FOR YOUNG PROFESSIONALS IS DOWNTOWN? Young Patrons of Lincoln Center (YPLC) is a dynamic network of urban professionals in their 20s to early 40s making a splash way above 14th Street. With an annual contribution of $250, YPLC members enjoy year-round opportunities to experience the finest performing arts up-close-and-personal. The core of YPLC’s programming is the popular 101 Series, which brings members together for bi-monthly cocktail parties with live performances where they meet likeminded arts enthusiasts and interact with the artists. Recent 101 events have included Ballet 101: The Nutcracker with dancers from the New York City Ballet; Mixology 101 at Lincoln Ristorante; and Lincoln Center 101 with Harvard Business School professor Allen Grossman. Beyond events produced especially for YPLC, members also receive email updates and invitations to Lincoln Center’s broader programming, including reserved seating at American Songbook, Great Performers, and Lincoln Center Festival. In July 2011, eighty young professionals went to see As You Like It performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Park Avenue Armory, and were joined by the cast at an exclusive champagne after-party at the Nespresso Boutique on Madison Members Walter Hack and Avenue. Katherine Carey smile for To support this flourish of activity, YPLC hosts an the camera at a YPLC mixer annual black tie gala. The event attracts more than 600 young philanthropists who raise a glass to celebrate and support the spectacular redevelopment of Lincoln Center’s campus with hors d’oeuvres, open bar, and dancing into the night. And it doesn’t stop there. By flashing their purple membership card, YPLC members receive discounts at restaurants and retailers in the Lincoln Center neighborhood. For those who are volunteer-oriented, YPLC offers an opportunity to participate on committees focused on outreach, education, and fundraising. Funds raised through YPLC events, along with annual membership contributions, support projects that bring new audiences to Lincoln Center. With four hundred members and counting, YPLC is committed to celebrating and supporting the world’s leading performing arts center, and has a lot of fun in the process. For more information on YPLC membership and events, visit www.lincolncenter.org/yplc, email [email protected] or call 212.875.5236. YPLC is sponsored by Nespresso. presents DONNA BRENNAN Arts Access LINCOLN CENTER’S Department of Programs and Services for People with Disabilities (PSPD) was created in 1985 to ensure that everyone can enjoy the thousands of events offered each year at the world’s leading performing arts center. Under the stewardship of director Bobbi Wailes, PSPD (the first program of its kind within an arts organization) has grown to include increased campus--wide wheelchair accessibility, the production of free large-type and Braille concert programs, Braille maps, and the publication of the Lincoln Center Accessibility Guide. In addition, PSPD conducts regular Awareness/Sensitivity Training seminars for all Lincoln Center employees and offers American Sign Language interpreters for campus tours. And, Lincoln Center’s performance halls are equipped with state-of-the-art listening devices. Two PSPD programs of note are Passport to the World of Performing Arts and the Community Outreach program. The Passport program provides an opportunity for children with disabilities ages 6 to 12, along with the parents and siblings, to experience performances at Lincoln Center. As part of this program, the children can also attend Lincoln Center’s Meet the Artist presentations. This school-day series, for disabled and non disabled students alike, offer a glimpse into the life of the professional artist. Conversely, the Community Outreach Program takes the arts and artists of Lincoln Center directly to those who are unable to come here, enriching the lives of the physically challenged long-term residents of hospitals and nursing homes in New York City. Of Lincoln Center’s redevelopment, Wailes says, “One of Lincoln Center’s goals—from its public spaces to its concert halls—continues to be one of inclusion. We’re working to make the spaces on campus work for the able-bodied as well as for those with disabilities.” To request a free copy of the Lincoln Center Accessibility Guide, or for any other information about Lincoln Center’s PSPD Department, call 212-875-5375 or visit LincolnCenter.org. presents The Table is Set AMERICAN TABLE CAFE AND BAR by Marcus Samuelsson, which opened in late September in Alice Tully Hall, is the latest dining option available to Lincoln Center patrons, joining Lincoln Ristorante on Hearst Plaza, indie food & wine in the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, ’wichcraft in the David Rubenstein Atrium, The Grand Tier in the Metropolitan Opera house, Arpeggio in Avery Fisher Hall and the Espresso Bar, also in Avery Fisher. The restaurant is operated by Marcus Samuelsson Group (MSG) and Restaurant Associates (RA). Marcus Samuelsson, the youngest chef ever to be Marcus Samuelsson awarded a three-star review by The New York Times and the winner of the James Beard Award for both “Rising Star Chef” (1999) and “Best Chef: New York City” (2003), crafted the menu along with long-time associate Nils Noren, MSG’s Vice President of Restaurant Operations. American Table Cafe and Bar by Marcus Samuelsson serves food that celebrates the diversity of American cuisine, drawing on influences and regions from across the country. Dishes on the menu, which is offered for both lunch and dinner, include Smoked Caesar Salad, BBQ Pork Sliders, Cauliflower Soup, Scallop Sausage Curry, Turkey Meatball Sandwich, and Tacos Duro Wat. The bar features a cocktail menu designed by consulting master mixologist, Eben Klemm, as well as a selection of reasonably-priced wines. Marcus Samuelsson’s recently published memoir, Yes, Chef, chronicles his remarkable journey from being orphaned at age three in his native Ethiopia to his adoption by a family in Göteborg, Sweden, where he first learned to cook by helping his grandmother prepare roast chicken. He went on to train in top kitchens in Europe before arriving in New York, first taking the reins at Aquavit. He has won the television competition Top Chef Masters on Bravo as well as top honors on Chopped All Stars: Judges Remix. His current New York restaurant, the wildly successful Red Rooster, is located in his home base of Harlem. American Table Cafe and Bar seats 73 inside, plus more space outside on the Alice Tully Hall Plaza. Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the designers of the critically acclaimed Alice Tully Hall, have transformed the glass-walled space with lounge-like furniture in warm, rich colors, a long communal couch, tree-trunk tables, and lighting that can be dimmed to adjust the mood. The design—an eclectic reinterpretation of Americana—draws its inspiration from the cafe’s culinary focus. The restaurant is open seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. It doesn’t take reservations, but the number for information is 212.671.4200.
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