Lincoln Center Announces 25/26 Season

Mainstage Presentations from Across the Globe,
Sweep of Artist Development Initiatives,
and Series Beloved and New Featured in
Lincoln Center Presents Season

Artists from a Range of Backgrounds and Perspectives Connect
Past, Present, and Reveal Imagined Futures 
 

• Composer Jeanine Tesori is honored as the season’s Lincoln Center Visionary Artist, with stagings of her powerful opera Blue and her musical theater masterpiece Violet, a series of expansive public community choir performances, and collaborations across campus
   
• The Legacies of San Juan Hill Festival features a series of events that celebrate the artistry in the historic neighborhood and build upon the Legacies of San Juan Hill initiative, with Etienne Charles, Aaron Diehl, and more
   
• The Philip Glass Ensemble performs the composer’s pop crossover album in full, Songs From Liquid Days, in a new concert collaboration with New Latin Wave
   

• A.I.M by Kyle Abraham returns with three works performed to live music, including the choreographer’s newest piece 2x4 set to an original score by Shelley Washington 
   

• The North American premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun’s The Ocean Etched in the Forest (刻在森林的海) created in collaboration with director and designer Julian Crouch exploring the musical heritage of the Jinuo people
   

• Performances curated by Artists-in-Residence Mahogany L. Browne and Clint Ramos, including Browne’s poetry and spoken word series Seen, Sound, Scribe and Ramos’ curation of American Songbook 
   

• Sweep of series exploring a variety of genres, intersections of the arts and wellbeing, hands-on educational creative events, family performances from around the world, and more

 

NEW YORK, NY – (August 12, 2025) – Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) today announced its 25/26 season of programming, running September ‘25 through May ‘26. The slate for summer ’26 will be announced next spring.

The season complements the artistry of the ten organizations with which LCPA shares the Lincoln Center campus, reflects the global communities of New York City, and invests in the next generation of artists pushing the boundaries of their forms.

This robust year includes multidisciplinary mainstage presentations alongside beloved series that delve deeply into one genre or theme. Lincoln Center’s free and Choose-What-You-Pay programming welcomes audiences and artists from throughout New York City and around the world to a curated mix of large-scale international productions and intimate concerts featuring traditional artistry from across the globe and events that bring the arts into conversation with cutting-edge technology.  A range of artist development initiatives support established and next-generation performing artists.

“We believe artists carry us forward in so many ways. They illuminate our individual lives, bring us together to appreciate one another, and encourage us to experience the world around us from angles we may never have otherwise considered,” said Shanta Thake, Ehrenkranz Chief Artistic Officer of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. “This season, we offer a range of  productions, series, and artist development initiatives that speak to shared histories, joyful and complex presents, and futures that seemed impossible just a few years ago.”

Thake continued, “From the legendary Philip Glass, the incomparable Nona Hendryx, and this year’s Visionary Artist Jeanine Tesori to our Collider Fellows experimenting with art and technology in beautiful and compelling ways, we invite New Yorkers to join us for a season of joy, contemplation, connection, and innovation.”

“We are proud to hold space for so many ambitious and visionary artists this season, inviting us to find community and imagine collective futures together,” said Mariko Silver, President and CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. “Artists are essential leaders in our society. They help us learn about ourselves and those around us in profound and transformative ways. We invite all New Yorkers and visitors to this great city to join us this season.”

 

Lincoln Center’s 25/26 Season activates spaces across the campus. All tickets are free or Choose-What-You-Pay. Tickets for fall presentations go on sale Wednesday, September 10.

Multimedia assets are available here.

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Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
25/26 Season
Full Chronological Listing Here

MAINSTAGE PRESENTATIONS

Throughout the Lincoln Center campus, mainstage presentations offer dance, music, theater, and family events from around the world.

Table of Silence Project 9/11
September 11
Josie Robertson Plaza
Presented by Lincoln Center in collaboration with Buglisi Dance Theatre

An annual, free public performance ritual and call to action for peace, Table of Silence Project 9/11 was conceived and choreographed by Jacqulyn Buglisi in 2011 to commemorate the loss of life and honor the bravery of all individuals affected by acts of terror, war, and oppression of freedom. The company will present the original full-scale version of the work with elements of the reimagined version as more than 150 dancers slowly ascend onto Josie Robertson Plaza at Lincoln Center to the sound of a conch shell’s call to action.

A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham
September 25-27
Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center

One of the world’s most acclaimed touring dance companies and a Lincoln Center favorite, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham—approaching its 20-year anniversary—returns with three compelling pieces. 2x4, a new work choreographed by Kyle Abraham, is set to an electrifying experimental classical score by Shelley Washington with music performed live by two baritone saxophonists. The Gettin is a work for six dancers created in collaboration with renowned visual artist Glenn Ligon and set to live music composed by GRAMMY Award-winning jazz artist Robert Glasper, and performed by acclaimed musicians who reimagine Max Roach’s We Insist! Freedom Now Suite. Finally, If We Were A Love Song offers a series of poetic vignettes set to some of Nina Simone’s most intimate songs performed live by GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter Baby Rose.

A Project of Arnhold Dance Innovation Fund. Major support provided by Arnhold Dance Innovation Fund.

Passing the Crown
Featuring MC Lyte
October 12
Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall

Passing the Crown takes center stage once more in this unforgettable live orchestral mixtape and dance experience, featuring Hip-Hop icon MC Lyte—one of Hip-Hop’s most legendary Queens and multiple Gold Record recording artist. Originally commissioned as part of Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City festival, this groundbreaking production blends cinematic orchestration, DJing, breaking, and powerful freestyling, all driven by an all-female and gender-expansive collective of award-winning artists.

Executive produced and conceived by violinist and composer Juliette Jones, and creatively led by associate producer Monique Brooks Roberts and Emmy-award winning choreographer Randi “Rascal” Freitas, Passing the Crown reimagines the Hip-Hop canon through the lens of orchestral grandeur and raw street energy—celebrating the visionary women who helped lay the foundation, and continue to shape, the genre.

Styled by legendary streetwear designer April Walker of Walker Wear and her The Future Been Female imprint, Passing the Crown is more than a concert—it’s a movement that honors legacy, uplifts community, and ignites the future. Join us for this history-making night of rhythm and royalty at Lincoln Center. The crown isn’t just passed—it’s celebrated.

This performance will feature American Sign Language interpretation.

Legacies of San Juan Hill Festival
San Juan Hill: A New York Story
By Etienne Charles
Featuring University of Miami Frost Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Gerard Schwarz
October 23
Alice Tully Hall

Created by composer Etienne Charles, San Juan Hill: A New York Story is an immersive multimedia creation that celebrates a vital chapter of New York's past. Through music, visuals, and first-person accounts, this powerful work shines a light on the historic communities of the area where Lincoln Center stands today. Blending diverse musical styles—including ragtime, jazz, stride piano, swing, blues, mambo, paseo, Antillean waltz, calypso, funk, disco, and Hip-Hop—with historical film and compelling narratives, the work showcases the myriad cultures that migrants brought to New York from the American South and the Caribbean. Featuring Etienne Charles & Creole Soul, Frost Symphony Orchestra, and special guests, this piece is a testament to the enduring spirit and forgotten stories of a community that helped shape the city's cultural landscape.

Commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Note: The 2022 premiere of this work was co-presented by Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic, performed by Etienne Charles & Creole Soul and the New York Philharmonic, and created in collaboration with a range of artists and academics, including Carl Hancock Rux, Elena Pinderhughes, DJ Logic, playwright Eljon Wardally, video artist Maya Cozier, graffiti/visual artist Wicked GF (Gary Fritz), visual artist Bayeté Ross Smith, and historian Julia Foulkes, among others.

This performance will feature closed captioning.

Legacies of San Juan Hill Festival
Aaron Diehl
October 25
Alice Tully Hall

Multifaceted pianist and composer Aaron Diehl is one of the great contemporary instrumental musicians of his era. Though his primary metier is jazz, Diehl’s creative output transcends genre with a sound that The New York Times calls "elegant... upholding a traditional framework while crisply demolishing usual notions of conservatism."  Diehl is both a bandleader and soloist, in addition to his tremendous work in supporting and collaborating with many major artists and ensembles, including Wycliffe Gordon, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and Cécile McLorin Salvant. For his headlining debut set at Alice Tully Hall, Diehl presents work inspired by the history and culture of the San Juan Hill neighborhood.

Unsound New York
Sinfonietta Cracovia Plays Mica Levi / Lucrecia Dalt / Aleksandra Słyż
November 1
Alice Tully Hall

The Kraków-based Unsound Festival challenges presumptions of contemporary composition with unique staging, unlikely instrumentation, and passionate presentation. The November 1 Unsound concert is an international celebration of sound in three acts, featuring cutting-edge composers hailing from Central Europe, South America, and the United Kingdom. We begin with a work for strings and electronics called Pure Voices by experimental Polish composer Aleksandra Słyż, presented by one of Poland's leading chamber ensembles, the Sinfonietta Cracovia. The evening continues with an official album launch of A Danger to Ourselves, the hotly anticipated new album from "gleefully cerebral" (Pitchfork) Colombian musician Lucrecia Dalt. Dalt's distinctive sonic signature includes touches of avant-pop, adventurous sound design, and Latin rhythm, all couched within her vividly personal narrative. We conclude with the Sinfonietta Cracovia’s U.S. premiere of a suite of new works by the English composer Mica Levi. Levi is best known as a film composer who has worked with renowned directors and artists including Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest, Under the Skin) and Nan Goldin (Memory Lost, Sirens). They also operate as a solo musician and as a member of the groups Good Sad Happy Bad, Spresso and the collective CURL.

Unsound is co-organized by Fundacja Tone and co-presented by the Polish Cultural Institute New York. This project is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland from the Culture Promotion Fund in partnership with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

 

Unsound New York
John Cale / Heinali & Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko
November 2
Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall

The Kraków-based Unsound Festival challenges traditional presumptions with performers who draw liberally and without prejudice from the traditions of jazz, classical music, folk, and beyond. Unsound’s concert at David Geffen Hall begins with a set from Ukrainian composer Heinali, who utilizes a modular synthesizer to imbue fresh life to early music. Heinali's 2025 album Гільдеґарда (Hildergard)  is a striking recontextualization of the music of the pioneering 12th century composer Hildegard von Bingen. In partnership with the soaring vocalist Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko, Heinali forges Ukrainian folk singing, singular technique, and ancient wisdom into art that reflects and processes his contemporary wartime experiences. Our headliner for the evening is the living legend John Cale, one of modern music's most influential and innovative voices. A founding member of the seminal 1960s proto-punk band The Velvet Underground, Cale has proven and re-proven himself as a composer, performer, and producer of experimental, classical, electronic, and rock music for over six decades. His latest solo album, 2025's MiXology (volume 1), finds the music icon continuing to expand and explore.

Unsound is co-organized by Fundacja Tone and co-presented by the Polish Cultural Institute New York. This project is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland from the Culture Promotion Fund in partnership with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

The Ocean Etched in the Forest《刻在森林的海》
November 7
Alice Tully Hall

Lincoln Center presents the North American premiere of a major work from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and performer Du Yun. Born in China and currently based in New York City, Du Yun exudes an insatiable curiosity that finds new voice in The Ocean Etched in the Forest (刻在森林的海). Over the past several years, Du Yun and her collaborator Julian Crouch have worked closely with artists of the Jinuo ethnicity from Yunnan province, including He Guiying, the national inheritor of his people's unique heritage. Living almost entirely isolated from urban society until 1979, the Jinuo people have maintained their distinct culture and ecologically grounded mindset amid modernization. In collaboration with Du Yun and Crouch, Guiying has been recording Jinuo children in Bapiao Village as they perform nearly forgotten local folk songs. These recordings, merged with music from Du Yun’s band OK MISS, represent an original musical tapestry that transcends time and geography, highlighting the intersections of ancient tradition and modern methodology, folk tales and contemporary storytelling, generations living and gone.

This performance is commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Beijing Music Festival. The world premiere of The Ocean Etched in the Forest takes place at the Beijing Music Festival, followed by the North American Premiere as part of the 2025-2026 Lincoln Center Presents season.

This is a Relaxed Performance, open to all and including social and sensory modifications for anyone who may need.  

Lincoln Center Visionary Artist: Jeanine Tesori
Jeanine Tesori’s Blue
November 15
Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall

Presented in collaboration with Lincoln Center Theater and The Metropolitan Opera

Experience a staged concert of Blue, the award-winning contemporary opera from Lincoln Center’s 2025 Visionary Artist and two-time Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori. Set in Harlem, Blue is a poignant and powerful contemporary opera that delves into the heart of a Black middle-class family—grappling with the devastating loss of their teenage son, who is fatally shot by a white police officer during a peaceful protest. This two-act opera, with music by Jeanine Tesori, a libretto by acclaimed playwright and director Tazewell Thompson, and direction also by Thompson, offers an unflinching exploration of race and identity within the Black community.

A Murray Little Christmas: 25^th Anniversary
December 19
Alice Tully Hall

Cue the snow machine and strike up the band: the King of Christmas is coming uptown! Star of HBO's Somebody Somewhere, host of the historic King of Drag, and NYC’s “hardest-working middle-aged man in showbiz,” Murray Hill celebrates 25 years of his beloved winter variety show with a one-night-only Lincoln Center extravaganza. A Murray Little Christmas is and has always been a haven for all: queer folks, chosen families, tourists, outcasts, seniors, lonely hearts, show people, and anyone who needs a holiday pick-me-up. What began as a downtown romp has grown into an annual tradition of epic camp, comedy, and community, drawing a quarter-century of sold-out crowds and rave reviews. Attendees are invited to dress for the occasion, so come in your ugly Santa sweaters, cocktail chic, festive furry suits, or reindeer runway outfits. This year, Hill pulls out all the stops with a 10-piece band, his favorite performers, a choir (or two), celebrity cameos, showbiz razzle-dazzle, and holiday cheer!

This performance will feature American Sign Language interpretation.

globalFEST
January 11
David Geffen Hall

The cultural catalysts at globalFEST have been promoting the world's greatest musical traditions for over 20 years. This annual festival features an eclectic array of musical discoveries from today's hottest international sounds to styles born and bred in the U.S. The New York Times calls the festival, "a joyful and often raucous celebration of diversity and culture." The blockbuster, ten-sets-in-one-night evening returns to David Geffen Hall for their annual full-theater takeover at Lincoln Center, populating all the floors of the building with soul-stirring performers from across the planet and around the corner.

Pastoral
Pam Tanowitz Dance
January 11-13
Rose Theater

Presented In Collboration with Fisher Center at Bard

Renowned choreographer Pam Tanowitz returns to Lincoln Center with Pastoral, an evocative evening-length dance performance in collaboration with composer Caroline Shaw and painter Sarah Crowner. Tanowitz set a dance to Beethoven’s beloved “Pastoral” symphony, then replaced it with a new score by Shaw that pays homage to, and transforms, the Beethoven work. Crowner’s awe-inspiring, abstract stage designs are as moving and lyrical as the choreography in this dazzling and critically acclaimed performance—a palimpsest of artistic layers, with Beethoven’s evocation of the natural world as a guiding spirit.

A Project of Arnhold Dance Innovation Fund. Major support provided by Arnhold Dance Innovation Fund.

Philip Glass Ensemble: Songs from Liquid Days
January 25
Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall

Presented in collaboration with New Latin Wave

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Philip Glass's Songs From Liquid Days, Lincoln Center and New Latin Wave present the album's first revival in four decades, on stage at David Geffen Hall. Originally released in 1986, the iconic six-track concept album remains Glass’s most commercially successful recording. Crafted in collaboration with an extraordinary roster of lyricists—Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Paul Simon, and Suzanne Vega—Songs From Liquid Days fuses Glass’s minimalist brilliance with pop sensibilities, forever changing the landscape of contemporary music. Alongside The Philip Glass Ensemble, which was founded by the composer in 1968 and remains the definitive interpreter of his work, this landmark concert will feature a dynamic lineup of Latine guest artists, offering a thrilling convergence of generations that honors the original’s visionary spirit while introducing its groundbreaking sound to an entirely new audience.

Contested Sites of Memory: A Performance With Artist Carrie Mae Weems
January 29 and 30
Alice Tully Hall

Over the course of a four decade career, American artist Carrie Mae Weems's work has consistently given voice to people whose stories would have otherwise been silenced or ignored. Celebrated for her incisive photography, which resides in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art, Weems is also a renowned maker of installation video and performance art. Her newest interdisciplinary creation, Contested Sites of Memory, features live music, spoken word performance, and screenings of new and extant video art. Contested Sites is produced in collaboration with Shore Art Advisory and Lincoln Center and is constructed in partnership with a remarkable collective of writers, singers, and musicians that includes Carl Hancock Rux, Nona Hendryx, Craig Harris, Esther Armah, and Jawwaad Taylor.

Lincoln Center Visionary Artist: Jeanine Tesori
Jeanine Tesori's Violet
In American Sign Language by Deaf Broadway
March 20
Alice Tully Hall

Performed in American Sign Language (ASL) by a full Deaf Broadway cast and accompanied by the original Broadway cast album, Jeanine Tesori’s Violet tells the story of a young woman’s quest for beauty amidst the image-obsessed landscape of the 1960s. Facially disfigured in a childhood accident, Violet dreams of a miraculous transformation through the power of faith. Convinced that a televangelist in Oklahoma can heal her, she boards a Greyhound bus and starts the journey of a lifetime. Winner of the Drama Critics' Circle Award, Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical, and nominated for a Tony, Violet features show-stopping anthems, ranging from American roots to folk to gospel, with a score from Tony-winning composer and Lincoln Center Visionary Artist Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by the acclaimed Brian Crawley. Deaf Broadway, synonymous with authentically Deaf musical theater, returns to Lincoln Center after their previous smash productions of RENT and Waitress: The Musical. This remarkable company is guided by their overlying mission to provide unprecedented visual access to classic musical works of the American theater for those whose primary and native language is American Sign Language, creating a more equitable shared evening for hearing and Deaf audiences alike.

Lincoln Center Visionary Artist: Jeanine Tesori
Cast Album Project
April 5 and 6
The Appel Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center

Lincoln Center Visionary Artist Jeanine Tesori,  Anne Kauffman, and Teneisha Duggan bring their ongoing Cast Album Project (CAP) to The Appel Room this spring. CAP spotlights culturally significant musicals by historically marginalized artists that have faded from public memory. The project celebrates these works and their creators by producing live-session cast recordings—sharing them with a new generation of audiences. The musical for this evening will be announced shortly.

Minty Fresh Circus
May 15 and 16
Alice Tully Hall

Conceived by Monique Martin in collaboration with a range of circus performing artists, Minty Fresh Circus is a US-based circus show performed by an all-Black and Brown cast celebrating the healing power of Black music and movement, infused with the joy and resilience of those who traversed the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Inspired by abolitionist Harriet Araminta Tubman and the survival of generations of African Americans, the central question in Minty Fresh Circus is: what does freedom feel and sound like if your only access to it is through your imagination?

A Project of Arnhold Dance Innovation Fund. Major support provided by Arnhold Dance Innovation Fund.

This performance will feature audio description. 

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ARTIST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is committed to providing artists with time, space, and support in which to hone their craft, experiment without production constraints, and share their artistry with audiences in New York and beyond.

Visionary Artist: Jeanine Tesori
Each season, Lincoln Center honors one extraordinary artist whose impact, vision, and values embody the transformative power of the arts across the many disciplines represented on campus. Starting in August 2025, we celebrate Jeanine Tesori, one of the most prolific and honored theatrical composers in history. A two-time recipient and six-time nominee of the Tony Award for Best Score, a two-time Drama Desk Award recipient, a six-time GRAMMY Award nominee, and a two-time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Tesori's major theatrical works include Kimberly Akimbo; Fun Home; Caroline, or Change; Shrek The Musical; Thoroughly Modern Millie; and Violet. Her operas include A Blizzard on Marblehead Neck; The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me; Blue, which received the MCANA Award for Best New Opera; and Grounded. She is also among the first women to be commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera.

Lincoln Center’s season-long celebration of Tesori centers around the theme of making connections—between artists, audiences, and the arts organizations that make up Lincoln Center. Program highlights include a screening of her opera Grounded as part of the Metropolitan Opera’s Met HD Festival (Aug 27); a production of her powerfully poignant opera Blue (Nov 15); her musical theater masterpiece Violet, performed in American Sign Language by Deaf Broadway (March 20); a film screening of West Side Story in collaboration with Film at Lincoln Center; Come & Sing, a public community choir series inviting the audience to sing in collaboration with Lincoln Center Theater (March 8, May 17) ; a conversation series exploring the creative threads that connect storytelling across disciplines; and so much more.

“At Lincoln Center, I want to shine a light on the threads that connect us—the artists, the audiences, the neighborhoods, the histories we carry. This is about opening the doors wider, lifting up new voices, and honoring the legacy that got us here. I’m inspired by my collaborators—past, present, and future—who help shape this vision with courage, imagination, and heart,” said Jeanine Tesori, Lincoln Center 25/26 Visionary Artist.

Artists-in-Residence
Lincoln Center’s Artist-in-Residence program is designed to fortify the career and vision of practicing artists across the performing arts—adding a deeper dimension to our support of some of the most innovative artists working today. These extraordinary storytellers are invited to infuse their creative process into the life and culture at Lincoln Center through residencies that offer the time and space to develop and seek inspiration, research, and create new projects, subject to each individual’s interests and medium. Established in 2022 by Ehrenkranz Chief Artistic Officer Shanta Thake, former Artists-in-Residence include Mimi Lien and current are Mahogany L. Browne and Clint Ramos.

"I am excited to host the 3rd annual Lincoln Center Poetry Festival where poems offer breath, empathy, and belonging. As a poet residing in one of the greatest cities (on this planet), it is an honor to share energy and ideas with such a cast of literary juggernauts. Pulitizer Prize winners, National Book Award finalists, activists, performance poets, and educators. At Lincoln Center we bear witness to the octopi power of poetry, its wingspan builds bridges between generations, cultures and people with different economic conditions,” said Mahogany L. Browne, Artist-in-Residence at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

For her ever-expanding Seen, Sound, Scribe series, Browne curates thought-provoking driven evenings of spoken word, spirited conversation, poetry, and presentations of new work, presenting major poets and emerging voices on the New York literary scene. During the 25-26 season, Browne and her collaborators offer six performances, including their largest stage yet in Alice Tully Hall on March 26, 2026.

As the first year of his residency continues, Clint Ramos takes on curation of the beloved American Songbook series in 2026, exploring the theme Echoes of an Inheritance across multiple Lincoln Center stages (details forthcoming). In addition to his curation of American Songbook, Ramos is providing costume design for The Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Tristan und Isolde (March 9-April 2).

“This season’s American Songbook approaches the canon not as a fixed archive, but as a series of open questions. In curating these performances, I wanted to explore how artists engage with what they’ve inherited—how they challenge, reclaim, and reshape the stories that define us. At the heart of this project is an understanding that American identity has never been singular. It is built from many voices, many histories and always with a consciousness of what’s beyond this great land. It’s in the dialogue between past and present that we begin to imagine the future—and the songbook we want to leave behind,” said Clint Ramos, Lincoln Center Artist-in-Residence.

Collider Fellows
Welcoming its second class this fall, Lincoln Center’s Collider Fellowship brings six artists working at the vanguard of their fields for an eight-month residency exploring how technology can enhance and deepen in-person performing arts experiences. Each Fellow is supported in whatever investigations they wish to undertake—free from commission timeframes or production constraints.

They receive studio space, both at Lincoln Center and at Collider collaborator Onassis ONX a global Onassis Culture platform dedicated to the development of new media art and immersive experiences; financial stipends; artistic and administrative support from Lincoln Center staff; and regular opportunities to collaborate with one another. Emerging technologies can offer new possibilities to connect with our common humanity and learn about experiences across time and cultures. The Collider Fellowship is leading the way as we support discovery and innovation across the performing arts.

The 25/26 Lincoln Center Collider Fellows will be announced in the coming weeks.

Avery Fisher Artist Program
Avery Fisher, lifelong lover and benefactor of classical music, shared with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts a great commitment to nurturing performers. In 1974, Mr. Fisher established Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Artist Program, which includes the Avery Fisher Prize and Avery Fisher Career Grants, the latter to give outstanding instrumentalists significant recognition on which to continue to build their careers. Artists do not apply directly for these awards and recipients are chosen based on outstanding artistic merit, with final selections made by the Program’s Executive Committee.

The Program, administered by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, has been recognized as one of the most prestigious in the music world, and instrumentalists continue to treasure both the Prize and the Career Grants. The Avery Fisher Prize is awarded in recognition of musicians who represent the highest level of excellence and whose vision and leadership have taken classical music to an expanded level. Since 1975, Avery Fisher Prize awardees have included Emanuel Ax, Emerson String Quartet, Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, Murray Perahia, André Watts, and many more.

The Avery Fisher Career Grants began in 1976, and have been received early in their careers by artists such as Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Anthony McGill, Richard Stoltzman, Pamela Frank, Gil Shaham, Sarah Chang, all of whom subsequently became Prize recipients, Ursula Oppens, Demarre McGill, Augustin Hadelich, Yuja Wang, and George Li, among dozens of others. While the Prize and Career Grants are primarily given to soloists, since 2004, consideration is also given to chamber ensembles.

This season’s Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients will be announced in the coming months.

Kenan Fellows
Since 2006, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellowship at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has provided emerging artists who are committed to arts education with practical knowledge and experience as they embark on their career in New York City and beyond. Through mentorship and hands-on projects, Kenan Fellows focus on their personal artistry, learn about Lincoln Center's approach to teaching and learning in the arts, and familiarize themselves with the professional arts world in NYC. The fellows are active members of the Lincoln Center team, engaging with the community of arts learners and enthusiasts that we serve.

The 25/26 Kenan Fellows are: Adelyn Harris (Dance), Gabriel Lopez (Music), Hannah Mufuka (Music), and Claire Schiffer (Dance).

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ARTISTIC SERIES

A number of series and festivals, some long beloved and some new, round out the season with in-depth explorations of a genre, a theme, historic moments in time, and performances created for and with audiences.  Highlights include:

American Songbook
For over two decades, the American Songbook series has celebrated the ever-expanding American music canon, spotlighting both legendary artists and the next generation of visionary new voices shaping the future of contemporary music, across genres.

The 2026 edition of this long-running series will be curated by Artist-in-Residence and internationally celebrated creative director, designer, and producer Clint Ramos. This season’s lineup of innovative artists explores the theme Echoes of an Inheritance. This spring, join us in celebrating the evolving landscape of American music and storytelling through groundbreaking performances across multiple Lincoln Center stages. Programming will be announced in the coming months.

AMOC* Up Close
On the heels of the acclaimed Run AMOC* Festival, presented as part of Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City, the visionary interdisciplinary ensemble returns for a dynamic series of free performances in the David Rubenstein Atrium. Get up close to today’s most boundary-pushing artists in a one-of-a-kind showcase on Lincoln Center’s most intimate stage: featuring innovative new works from leading creators in music, dance and opera. Fresh, bold, and fearless—American Modern Opera Company is not to be missed!

 

Art and Wellness

The Art of Wellbeing
Get your feel-good endorphins flowing at Lincoln Center’s pop-up wellness studio, presented in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian, the Official Hospital of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The Art of Wellbeing series harnesses the power of art to engage the mind, body, and spirit with FREE guided meditations, movement-based lessons, and music-inspired experiences—accompanied by world-class musicians. This season will feature six events, two in collaboration with the New York Philharmonic. Participants of all ages and ability levels are invited to experience an elevated sense of health and wellbeing, inspired by the arts.

Heartbeat
On February 21, 2026, Lincoln Center will proudly present our first-ever dedicated wellness summit. Introducing Heartbeat—a new immersive arts experience celebrating the power of the arts to support mental health, physical wellbeing, and human connection. Heartbeat will bring together artists, healthcare professionals, and scientists for engaging programming including panels, performances, participatory movement, expert-led classes, and sound experiences. The event will highlight Lincoln Center’s commitment to accessibility, movement as medicine, mental wellbeing, community, and—ultimately—the restorative power of the arts.

Beats, Rhymes & Sights
Lincoln Center celebrates the next fifty years of artistry, spirit, and the history of Hip-Hop with a collection of can't-miss concerts, classic Hip-Hop film screenings, dance parties with NYC's hottest DJs, and one-of-a-kind live interactive events with the artists that move the music and the culture forward. This dynamic series is curated by Lincoln Center’s Hip-Hop guest curator and the Head of Spotify's Cultural Partnerships division, Xavier “X” Jernigan. Highlights this season include an evening with East Coast Hip-Hop producer Pete Rock (Dec 13), Fly Love Songs co-presented with J. Period (Feb 14), and much more.

Festival of Firsts
The fourth annual Festival of Firsts at Lincoln Center highlights artists exploring new horizons and celebrating major career milestones—from premiere performances in the U.S. and NYC to Lincoln Center debuts, album debuts, fresh collaborations, and so much more. Experience performers from across the globe, including internationally acclaimed countertenor Key’mon Murrah (Oct 23), multidisciplinary artist Sparklmami (Oct 17), guitar and singing duo Love? Said the Commander (Oct 15), the multisensory performance celebration Art Bath (Oct 16), the New York debut of a critically acclaimed play by Malicho Vaca Valenzuela (Oct 3), and the electrifying Latin GRAMMY-nominated trio DARUMAS (Oct 10)...all for free at the David Rubenstein Atrium. Feed your curiosity with a full slate of spectacular performances so that you can say, “I saw them first!”

The InBETWEEN Music & Tech
Boundaryless Flux of Infinite Collision
Join us for a convergence of art, technology, science, and humanities—a space where XR immersion, AR integration, and AI collaboration are explored, dissected, discussed, and experienced. From the mind of Nona Hendryx, this series will create an opportunity to investigate machines and their enhancement of our physical abilities, mental capacity, and lives. It will highlight AI’s use in designing prosthetics like cochlear implants, sight implants, skeletal frames, and our budding existence with cyborgs. Hendryx blurs the boundaries of time and space, allowing us to envision life beyond Earth, explore other planets and environments, and intertwine our newfound knowledge for the future with our current reality. This artistic convergence series will expand your understanding, encourage creativity, and growth—leaving you inspired for tomorrow's today. Events to be announced soon!

Kids, Teens & Families
We offer a wide-ranging season of performances, workshops, Creat-athons, and other arts events from around the world designed for young people and their families. Highlights this season include You’ll See, James Joyce’s epic story brought to life through live performance, intricate paper design, and an original score in a production by Ireland’s Branar (Nov 21-23); a powerful story of an Indigenous youth on the search for truth and belonging by GRAMMY winner Ty Defoe, Skeleton Canoe (Dec 12-14); Magnet Theater’s BOUNCED, a high-energy, playful theatrical production for audiences of all ages (Jan 23-25); a Lunar New Year Celebration with performances, hands-on arts and crafts, and more (Feb 22); cOsmO, an original theatrical work that invites us to discover our relationship with the microscopic, macroscopic, and everything in between by co-creators Haydeé Boetto and Hélène Ducharme (March 6-8); and the Boy & the Ball, a wondrous tale of reassurance, joy, and connection...with a little magic from Stephen Noonan (May 8-10). 

The popular Open House returns for the fourth year with a day of creativity and communityfor families and audiences of all ages. This year, Lincoln Center Open House: Where You are the Artist will take place across campus in collaboration with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the School of American Ballet, and more (Oct 26).

A series of free, creative workshops—Create-athons—help young people enter their artsy era through music-making, set design, technology, and more. This season’s Create-athons feature Draw Your Escape,  comic book making with the Metropolitan Opera and professional comic book artists (Sept 28); collaborations with the New York City Ballet, and more.

Legacies of San Juan Hill Festival
In the first half of the twentieth century, the area around where Lincoln Center stands today was known to many as San Juan Hill. A lively cultural center, San Juan Hill nurtured luminaries in ragtime, stride, jazz, bebop, mambo and other Afro-Caribbean forms, visual arts, musical theater, and more.

This October, Lincoln Center celebrates the artistic legacy of this historic neighborhood with a multi-day festival of live performance, film, and interactive events that shine a light on the artists who created here and the community that inspired them. We invite you to experience the visionary voices that transformed the area in the first half of the 20th century and continue to influence artistic work being made today—connecting the past to the future in a joyous celebration. Stanley Nelson’s documentary, San Juan Hill: Manhattan’s Lost Neighborhood takes a closer look at the untold history and lasting legacy of the neighborhood (Oct 14); Composer Etienne Charles presents an immersive multimedia celebration, San Juan Hill: A New York Story (Oct 23); Dennis Hernández y su Conjunto Amalia take the stage in a special ¡VAYA! Night that celebrates  the Latin music and dance that flourished in San Juan Hill(Oct 24); Carlos Henriquez presents his Latin Jazz work inspired by the Puerto Rican communities of New York City, at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club (Oct 28, 29); and multifaceted pianist and composer Aaron Diehl presents an evening of performance inspired by the history of the San Juan Hill community (Oct 25).

Lincoln Center Immersive
Encompassing excitingly fresh augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences, the Lincoln Center Immersive series invites participants to expand their perception of reality and space, and offers an entry point into a hidden realm. Discover a space where digital media and the real world coexist to create something refreshingly new. Throughout the season, two distinct AR art installation commissions come to wondrous life on Josie Robertson Plaza and along the facades of the halls, including the artwork of Miles Regis and poetry by Artist-in-Residence Mahogany L. Browne—both available in succession through web-based technology designed by EyeJack, for free from your smartphone. Coming this fall and winter via ticketed time slots, the interactive VR journeys Collective Body (Oct 22-Nov 1) and Soul Paint (Feb 10-21) inspire personal introspection and universal connection through exploration of shared interior worlds.

Seen, Sound, Scribe
Since 2022, Brooklyn’s own Mahogany L. Browne—a prolific writer and avid advocate for public art—has held the role of Lincoln Center’s inaugural Poet-in-Residence. Browne has written works of fiction, stage plays and critical essays, edited six anthologies, and authored another half-dozen poetry collections. For her ever-expanding Seen, Sound, Scribe series, Browne curates thought-provoking evenings of spoken word, spirited conversation, poetry, and presentations of new work, presenting major poets and emerging voices on the New York literary scene. Highlights this season include the series largest stage yet, Alice Tully Hall (March 26).

Songwriter/Storyteller
The tradition of the singer/songwriter has been used across time and cultures to share stories through song. For six nights in January, Lincoln Center spotlights this impactful art form at the David Rubenstein Atrium, honoring the coffeehouse darlings, folk aficionados, and genre-blending indie icons. Songwriter/Storyteller seeks to champion six innovative artists, celebrating the craft and artistry central to their work. Come hear their stories (Jan 22-31)!

The Tune Up!
SLP & The Joyful Noize is a nine-piece band led by the Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist Suzan-Lori Parks, that serves as her musical workshop for original songwriting and new storytelling. The Tune Up!, directed by Bessie Award-winning Executive Artistic Director of The Flea Theater Niegel Smith, puts SLP & The Joyful Noize at center stage for a feature-length program that blends short plays, American music, and high-voltage performance. This is a sip-your-drinks, make-new-friends, dance-in-the-aisles kind of evening that traffics in big sounds and bold ideas, booty-shaking and statement-making. Surrounded by songs, celebrated guests and exceptional newcomers, Parks reminds us of the importance and joy in remembering who we are! Dates to be announced soon!

Under the Radar at Lincoln Center
For more than two decades, the Under the Radar festival has produced some of the world's most innovative theater makers, presenting New York City audiences with risk-taking work from international artists. Dozens of major creators and rising voices—including Elevator Repair Service, Reggie Watts, Taylor Mac, Richard Maxwell, Toshi Reagon, Suzan Lori-Parks, Ryan J. Haddad, Whitney White, Lemon Andersen, Roger Guenveur Smith, and Migguel Anggelo—have found a champion in the festival. Under the Radar returns with a signature selection of more than 25 new productions in January 2026 with performances across the city, including two productions at Lincoln Center. Presented in collaboration with Under the Radar Theater Festival.

Unsound New York
The Kraków-based Unsound Festival, curated by Unsound Artistic Director Mat Schulz, challenges traditional presumptions of contemporary composition with unique staging, unlikely instrumentation, and passionate presentation. Unsound performers draw liberally and without prejudice from the traditions of electronic, experimental, jazz, classical music, folk, and beyond. The festival’s return to Lincoln Center promises audiences a sonic tour of unpredictable ingenuity with unforgettable experiences that blur genre and push the boundaries of the audio avant-garde. This year’s lineup features John Cale, Sinfonietta Cracovia playing Mica Levi, Lucrecia Dalt, RP Boo & Gary Gwadera, Heinali & Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko, Aleksandra Słyż & Sinfonietta Cracovia, and more (Nov 1 and 2).

Unsound is co-organized by Fundacja Tone and co-presented by the Polish Cultural Institute New York. This project is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland from the Culture Promotion Fund in partnership with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Variations on America: A Discussion Series
Presented in collaboration with the New York Philharmonic

In recognition of the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the New York Philharmonic, one of the nation’s founding cultural organizations, co-present a series of free discussions examining the American experience and inspired by that week’s NY Phil concert. Held at the David Rubenstein Atrium, each uniquely themed program, moderated by renowned ethnomusicologist, historian, and Juilliard faculty member Fredara Hadley, will feature experts discussing topics that expand on the music to explore sociological themes, ranging from revolution and resistance to issues of wealth and prosperity, the tenor of the American voice to the beating heart of the American Dream. All are welcome to learn and participate.

¡VAYA!
A Lincoln Center tradition since 2015, ¡VAYA! is a free showcase for NYC's finest Latin music and dance traditions. ¡VAYA! offers devotees of Latin music a friendly community, top-notch orchestras, and an ongoing cross-section of major names in the fields of salsa, Latin jazz, merengue, bachata, boogaloo, and much more. Whether you're here to show off your dance moves or just to listen, nuestra casa es tu casa. The series kicks off with Cuban percussionist Miguelito “Pachá” Pozo and his band La Charanga Pachá (Sept 12)!

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ACCESSIBILITY PROGRAMS

Lincoln Center’s approach to accessibility mirrors our commitment to transformimg performing arts spaces to be more inclusive of our audiences’ identities and access needs by design, not as an afterthought or add-on. As part of our wider commitment to accessibility and inclusion, we recognize that access needs must be integrated in the creative process, that the work on our stages reflects our differences and interconnectedness, and that we are creating a space where everyone feels welcome.

Big Umbrella Festival
Every April, the Big Umbrella Festival welcomes kids, teens, and adults for a dynamic series of programming, designed with and for neurodiverse audiences. The Big Umbrella Festival centers our audiences by sharing unique approaches to multi-sensory, interactive, and engaging artistic experiences. This April, the celebrated festival returns for a multi-week series of performances, installations, workshops, relaxed spaces, and multi-sensory experiences specifically welcoming neurodivergent audiences and their families. Audiences can design their own festival by booking tickets to individual events.

Lincoln Center Moments
Lincoln Center Moments is a free performance-based program specially designed for individuals with dementia and their caregivers. Join us as we bring Lincoln Center's unparalleled artistry to an intimate and supported setting. The season includes: Musicians from the New York Philharmonic, Ragamala Dance Company, Jazz at Lincoln Center and more. Lincoln Center Moments is free and registration is required.

Passport to the Arts
Designed for children, teens and adults with disabilities and their families, Passport to the Arts provides a welcoming, accessible, and cost-free introduction to the performing arts at Lincoln Center. Families are invited to attend performances, interactive workshops, and virtual events with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York City Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera, Musicians from the New York Philharmonic, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Society, and more. 

Relaxed Performances
Lincoln Center believes the arts are for all! We welcome guests to come as they are and be their full selves. Relaxed Performances are open to all, and especially welcoming for people with autism, sensory and communication disorders or learning disabilities. The artistic integrity of the piece remains unchanged, however modifications to social and sensory environment may be made. This structure can also be beneficial for people who are neurodivergent, families with young children and anyone who finds traditional performance protocols do not work for their needs.

Artists and programming subject to change.

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About Lincoln Center  
Lincoln Center is a premier performing arts center and iconic civic cultural campus. A beacon for the arts in New York City and around the world, Lincoln Center believes the arts are fundamental to our humanity and should be accessible to all—connecting us to one another, expanding our individual and collective imaginations, and elevating our spirit. Opened in 1962, the 16-acre campus is home to eleven resident arts organizations dedicated to uplifting the role of art and artists in our society, providing a destination for global artistic voices, training the next generation of great artists, and creating unforgettable experiences for all New Yorkers: The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Film at Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center Theater, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and School of American Ballet. Lincoln Center welcomes millions of people for thousands of performances each year, anchoring New York City’s legendary creative life and greatly impacting its civic and economic wellbeing. 

 
About Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts 
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) is a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring the Lincoln Center campus is a destination that welcomes all—where every visitor, whether a native New Yorker or New Yorker for a day, can find inspiration, artistic innovation, and community in the creative achievements realized on campus. Year-round, we offer robust seasons of programming, representing a broad spectrum of performing arts disciplines and complementing the artistic and educational activities of the 10 fellow resident arts organizations with whom we share a home. LCPA presents hundreds of programs each year, offered for free or Choose-What-You-Pay, helping ensure that the arts are at the center of civic life for all. 

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Lead support for Legacies of San Juan Hill is provided by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)

Contemporary Dance is made possible by the Pasculano Collaborative for Contemporary Dance - Lynne and Richard Pasculano, Founding Donors

NewYork-Presbyterian is the Official Hospital of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

United is the Preferred Airline of Lincoln Center Presents

Steinway & Sons is the Preferred Piano Partner of Lincoln Center

Major support for Lincoln Center Presents is provided by the Ford Foundation and The Shubert Foundation

Additional support is provided by Park Lane New York and Fairfield by Marriott Central Park

We are grateful to our Board of Directors for their leadership and generous support in making our work possible

Operation of Lincoln Center’s public plazas is supported in part with public funds provided by the City of New York

Programs are made possible, in part, with public funds provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Empire State Development, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor, Mayor of the City of New York, the New York State Legislature and the New York City Council

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For more information, please contact: 

Isabel Sinistore
[email protected]
212-671-4195
 

Desiree Naranjo-Ochoa
[email protected]
212-875-5078 
 

Jenni Klauder
[email protected]
212-875-5490
 

Rosie Marinelli
[email protected]
212-671-4747