If you wish to go to a festival, the summer classic arts scene in New York has lots of options for you! Here is just a sampling of some of the classic arts events happening this week.
The BAAND Together Dance Festival returns to Lincoln Center July 30-August 3, bringing together five of New York City’s most celebrated dance companies for one incredible program at the David H. Koch Theater. New York City Ballet will perform Duo Concertant, by the company’s founding choreographer George Balanchine, set to the musical work by Stravinsky. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will perform Hans Van Manen’s Solo, a work for three dancers set to an assortment of solo violin works by Bach. Ballet Hispánico will perform Sombrerísimo by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, inspired by the work of René Magritte, famous for his paintings of men in bowler hats. American Ballet Theatre’s contribution to the program will be Brady Farrar’s Night Falls, a pas de deux set to a Chopin nocturne. Dance Theatre of Harlem will round out the program with a performance of Blake Works IV (The Barre Project) by William Forsythe, part of a series of works by Forsythe set to the work of British composer James Blake. Throughout the week, all five dance companies will also be hosting free dance workshops in David Geffen Hall’s LeFrak Lobby.
August 1-7 is World Orchestra Week at Carnegie Hall, showcasing youth ensembles from around the world. Kicking off with NYO2, Carnegie Hall’s own national youth orchestra, the week will continue with performances from the National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela, Africa United Youth Orchestra, the Beijing Youth Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, the European Union Youth Orchestra with guest musicians from the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, and the Afghan Youth Orchestra.
Mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges will join the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center July 30 and 31 to perform Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs, a song cycle based on the poetry of Pablo Neruda. Carlos Miguel Prieto will conduct the concerts, which will also include performances of Haydn’s Symphony No. 49, and Ginastera’s Variaciones concertantes.
August 2 and 3, the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center will perform a concert of works by classical-era contemporaries W.A. Mozart and Joseph Bologne. Soprano Sonya Headlam will sing Mozart’s concert aria “Exsultate, jubilate,” and an aria of Bologne’s opera LAmant anonyme. The program will also include excerpts from some of Mozart’s operas, in the form of the ballet music from Idomeneo, and the iconic overture from Le Nozze di Figaro. Bologne’s Sinfonia concertante in G major, with violinists Ruggero Allifranchini and Laura Frautschi, and Mozart’s “Haffner” symphony round out the program, which will be conducted by Jeannette Sorrell.
Brooklyn-based dance collective Urban Bush Women celebrates its 40th anniversary with a series of workshops and performances at Lincoln Center running July 26-August 4. The week of workshops and discussions across Lincoln Center’s various venues will conclude August 4 with a performance of the group’s site responsive ensemble dance-theater work Haint Blu on Hearst Plaza.
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