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Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Lincoln Center is a 16.3-acre (61,000 m?) complex of buildings in New York City which serves as home for 12 arts organizations: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Film Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Juilliard School, Lincoln Center Theater, Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York City Opera, New York Philharmonic, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, School of American Ballet, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.

History and facilities

A consortium of civic leaders and others led by, and under the initiative of John D. Rockefeller III, built Lincoln Center as part of the "Lincoln Square Renewal Project" during Robert Moses' program of urban renewal in the 1960s. Rockefeller was its inaugural president from 1956 and became its chairman in 1961. He is credited with raising more than half of the $184.5 million in private funds needed to build the complex, including drawing on his own funds; the Rockefeller Brothers Fund also contributed to the project.

Avery Fisher Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic in Lincoln Center

The first structure to be completed and occupied as part of this renewal was the Fordham Law School of Fordham University in 1962. Located between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, from West 60th to West 66th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the Lincoln Center complex was the first gathering of major cultural institutions into a centralized location in an American city.

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. In March 2006 Lincoln Center launched construction on a major redevelopment plan that will modernize, renovate, and open up the Lincoln Center campus in time for its 50th anniversary celebration in 2009.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. As a presenter of more than 400 events annually, its programs 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.
In July 2006, LCPA announced it will join with publishing company John Wiley & Sons, Inc. to publish at least 15 books, which will focus on performing arts, and will draw on Lincoln Center Institute’s educational background and archives.

In March 2006, and continuing through 2009, Lincoln Center launched the 65th Street Project--part of a major redevelopment plan--to create a new pedestrian promenade designed to improve accessibility and the aesthetics of that area of the campus. Diller Scofidio + Renfro are the designers in association with FX Fowle Architects. Turner Construction is the general contractor for the project.

Performance facilities

Interior of the New York State Theater

Alice Tully Hall - 1,095-seat concert hall located within the Juilliard School building; home stage of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Currently closed for renovations; scheduled to open in winter 2008.
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. This is the second Metropolitan Opera House; the original one opened in 1883 and was demolished in 1966, the year of the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera facilities at Lincoln Center.
The New York State Theater – 2,713-seat theater; originally constructed to be the home of the New York City Ballet, now also serves as home to the New York City Opera. Many Broadway musicals have also been revived there.
Vivian Beaumont Theater – 1,080-seat Broadway-style theater operated since 1985 as the main stage of Lincoln Center Theater. Previously occupied by The Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center (1965-1973) and The New York Shakespeare Festival (1973-1977).
Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (originally known as the Forum) – intimate 299-seat theater operated by Lincoln Center Theater for its Off-Broadway-style productions. See Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at the Internet off-Broadway Database for a list of productions in the venue.
The Walter Reade Theatre – 268-seat movie theater; used by the Film Society of Lincoln Center; features a raised dais used for post-screening filmmaker discussions
Jazz at Lincoln Center, while a part of Lincoln Center, 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

Lincoln Center and public art: Nancy Rubins's Big Pleasure Point, August 2006

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 with President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
September 23, 1962 - Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall) opened. A two-hour live CBS special, Opening Night at Lincoln Center, preserved the event on videotape.
April 6, 1964 - Lincoln Center Fountain opened.
April 23, 1964 - New York State Theater opened.
October 14, 1965 - Vivian Beaumont 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.
May 22, 1969 - Damrosch Park and the Guggenheim Band Shell 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.
December 4, 1981 - The Big Apple Circus performed at its winter home in Damrosch Park for the first time. The circus has performed every winter at Lincoln Center ever since.
September 7, 1982 - New York State Theater re-opened after renovation to improve acoustics.
September 2, 1986 - Former Jewish Defense League National Chairman Victor Vancier 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 emigrate 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, the Clark Studio Theater, and Juilliard School student residences, as well as office space for a number 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.
March 2006 - Preliminary construction on the West 65th Street Project begins
June 8, 2006 - Plans for Lincoln Center to transform the nearby Harmony Atrium into a public space for the arts open to the public, neighbors, students, and Lincoln Center patrons are announced.
June 12, 2006 - The Lincoln Center Promenade initiative to revitalize Lincoln Center's Columbus Avenue frontage and the iconic Josie Robertson Plaza is unveiled.
August 20, 2006 - Paul Milstein Plaza dismantled as part of 65th Street Redevelopment project.

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