Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a 16.3 acre (61,000 m²) complex of buildings in New York City which serves as home for 12 arts companies. It was built during Robert Moses' program of urban renewal in the 1960s, by a consortium led by, and under the initiative of, John D. Rockefeller 3rd. It was the first gathering of major cultural institutions into a centralized location in a United States city, and is located between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues and between West 62nd and 66th Streets on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Lincoln Center cultural institutions also make use of facilities located away from the main campus. In 2004 Lincoln Center was expanded through the addition of Jazz at Lincoln Center's newly built facilities (Frederick P. Rose Hall) at the new Time Warner Center, located a few blocks to the south.

Lincoln Center special event presentations (also called "Lincoln Center Presents") include American Songbook, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and the Emmy Award-winning Live From Lincoln Center.

Performance facilities

Alice Tully Hall - 1,095-seat concert hall located within the Juilliard School building; home stage of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Avery Fisher Hall – 2,738-seat symphony hall; home stage of the New York Philharmonic; formerly Philharmonic Hall
The Metropolitan Opera House – 3,900-seat opera house; home stage of the Metropolitan Opera
The New York State Theater – 2,713-seat ballet theater; originally constructed to be the home stage of the New York City Ballet, now also serves as home to the New York City Opera
Vivian Beaumont Theater – 1,047-seat Broadway-style theater
Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater – 334-seat theater suitable for Off-Broadway-style productions; formerly The Forum
The Walter Reade Theatre – 268-seat movie theater; used by The Film Society of Lincoln Center

Jazz at Lincoln Center, while a part of the Center’s programming, is located separately in the Frederick P. Rose Hall complex within the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. It consists of the following performance and related facilities:
- The Allen Room – 508-seat amphitheater with 50-foot glass wall overlooking Central Park; part of Jazz at Lincoln Center's facilities
- Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola – nightclub-style venue in the Jazz at Lincoln Center facility; allows jazz to be performed in its traditional venue
- Rose Theater – 1,094-seat concert hall designed for jazz performances.
- Irene Diamond Education Center – rehearsal, recording, and classroom facility at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Other associated and local theatres and facilities

Church of St. Ignatius Loyola – Catholic Church located on Park Avenue between 83rd and 84th Streets on the Upper East Side; used by Lincoln Center for its great acoustics and its pipe organ (allowing expanded organ repertoire, since the Metropolitan Opera House is the only other venue with an organ)
Clark Studio Theater – 120-seat dance theater; part of the facilities of the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education
Damrosch Park – outdoor amphitheater with bowl-style stage known as the Guggenheim Band Shell
Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Rehearsal Studio – rehearsal studio of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College – theater at John Jay College of Criminal Justice; used for the Lincoln Center Great Performers series
Josie Robertson Plaza – central plaza of Lincoln Center; the three main halls (opera, philharmonic, and ballet) face onto this plaza; sometimes used as an outdoor venue
Juilliard Drama Theater
Juilliard School – facility housing the school of the same name; building also incorporates Alice Tully Hall, Morse Recital Hall, Paul Recital Hall, the Juilliard Drama Theater, and the Juilliard Theater
Juilliard Theater
La Guardia Concert Hall – concert hall in the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, located across Amsterdam Avenue from Lincoln Center
La Guardia Drama Theater – drama theater in the same school
Morse Recital Hall – recital hall within the Juilliard School facility
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Paul Recital Hall – recital hall within the Juilliard School facility
Paul Milstein Plaza – plaza that acts as a sky-bridge over 65th Street connecting Lincoln Center to the Juilliard School facility
Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse – nightclub-style venue; used for intimate concerts, “meet the artist” events, lectures, and other events where a small, intimate space is preferred; was also used for jazz performances prior to the construction of the new Jazz at Lincoln Center facilities

Resident companies

Lincoln Center houses several cultural companies and institutions, including:

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Film Society of Lincoln Center (sponsor of the New York Film Festival)
Jazz at Lincoln Center
The Juilliard School
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., also called "Lincoln Center Presents"
Lincoln Center Theater
Metropolitan Opera
New York City Ballet
New York City Opera
New York Philharmonic
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
School of American Ballet

Architects

Architects who designed buildings at Lincoln Center include:

Max Abramovitz - Avery Fisher Hall
Pietro Belluschi - The Juilliard School (including Alice Tully Hall)
Gordon Bunshaft - The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Wallace Harrison - Master plan & Metropolitan Opera House
Philip Johnson - New York State Theater
Eero Saarinen - Vivian Beaumont Theater

Historical events

April 21, 1955 - Lincoln Square designated for urban renewal.
June 22, 1956 - Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. incorporated.
May 14, 1959 - Ground breaking ceremony.
September 23, 1962 - Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall) opened.
April 6, 1964 - Lincoln Center Fountain opened.
April 23, 1964 - New York State Theater opened.
October 14, 1965 - Vivian Beamont Theater and the Forum (now Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater) opened.
November 30, 1965 - The Library & Museum of the Performing Arts opened.
September 16, 1966 - The Metropolitan Opera House opened.
September 11, 1969 - Alice Tully Hall opened.
October 26, 1969 - Juilliard School opened.
October 19, 1976 - Avery Fisher Hall re-opened after renovation to improve acoustics.
September 7, 1982 - New York State Theater re-opened after renovation to improve acoustics.
May 22, 1969 - Damrosch Park and the Guggenheim Band Shell opened.
September 2, 1986 - Former Jewish Defense League National Chairman Chaim Ben Pesach throws a tear gas grenade during a performance of Soviet ballet in the Metropolitan Opera House as a protest against the Soviet practice of not letting its Jews emmigrate to Israel.
November 19, 1990 - The Samuel B. and David Rose Building opened; houses the Walter Reade Theater, the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, the Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Rehearsal Studio and the Clark Studio Theater, as well as office space for ten of the member organizations.
December 3, 1991 - The Walter Reade Theater opened within the previously completed Samuel B. and David Rose Building.
July 12, 1997 - The Paul Milstein Plaza dedicated.
October 18, 2004 - Jazz at Lincoln Center opened.

External links

Lincoln Center official website