Program Notes - Lincoln Center`s Great Performers

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.