When festivals do it right, they bring individuals, communities, and even entire cities, closer together.

"Festivals promote diversity," Binder says. "They bring neighbors into dialogue, they increase creativity, they offer opportunities for civic pride, they improve our general psychological well-being. In short, they make cities better places to live."

In a heartwarming talk on the Sydney Festival in Australia, the acclaimed Broadway producer David Binder explains how an entire city finds communal ownership in a tiny Australian neighborhood theater project called Minto Live. During Minto Live, the attendees travel from house to house to view autobiographical performances put on by the residents of each home they visit; this unique format brings the city's neighborhoods closer together through shared experience and joyous, meaningful participation.

Beyond the bright lights and the roar of the crowds, there’s something special brewing inside the melting pot of festival culture. Some say it’s a social revolution. Others look at it as a spiritual awakening of sorts. Whatever it is, brilliant academics are talking about the larger impact festivals have on the world, which we explore in Festie TED Talks.

Keep reading at fest300 #Festivalgoals

Lincoln Center Out of Doors, one of the country’s longest-running free outdoor summer festivals, opens this year on July 20 and runs through August 7, with a post-festival special event on August 13.  In Lincoln Center’s continuing commitment to making the arts available to all, the 46th edition of the popular festival will fill the plazas with a diverse range of music, dance, spoken word, and family events, featuring dozens of U.S., international, and local artists.

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE
 A Night of Words and Music With Patti Smith
Pioneering Salsa Duo Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz
Nigerian Pop Star Davido and Afrobeat Pioneers Antibalas
Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca
AFROPUNK Girrrl Riot @ Lincoln Center
World Premiere of David Lang’s the public domain and Other
Special Co-Presentations with the Mostly Mozart Festival

PLUS
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Previously Announced The Bells: A Daylong Celebration of Lou Reed
NPR Music Live in Concert with the Hosts of All Songs Considered and Alt.Latino
Annual Presentations of La Casita and Family Day,
And More………




WEDNESDAY, JULY 20

7:30 pm – Damrosch Park Bandshell
A Night of Words and Music with Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, and Tony Shanahan
Mariachi Flor de Toloache
Writing about Patti Smith at last summer’s Glastonbury Festival in the U.K., a reporter for The Guardian (London) said, “Amid all the hideous things going on in the world, I’m always grateful for something that reminds me now is a great time to be alive.  I feel like that about Patti Smith’s performance.”  And so does Lincoln Center.  This will be the singer-songwriter, poet, and activist’s third appearance at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, and punk’s poet laureate hasn’t lost any of the combination of grit and grace that makes her a music and cultural icon.  She’ll be joined by longtime musical collaborators, guitarist Lenny Kaye and bassist Tony Shanahan, for an intimate, acoustic evening of poetry, spoken word, and music.

Latin Grammy nominees for their 2015 debut album, New York’s all-female Mariachi Flor de Toloache are led by singers Mireya I. Ramos and Shae Fiol. The group’s members hail from diverse cultural and musical backgrounds, and that, plus the heady mélange of Latin music styles absorbed from their New York City? base (salsa, bachata, cumbia, Latin jazz, hip-hop, and soul), help create their edgy, versatile, and fresh take on the traditional Mexican music. The group opened for Black Keys’ singer Dan Auerbach’s new band, The Arcs, on its debut U.S. and European tour in 2015 and is again with the band on its 2016 West Coast tour, including this April’s Coachella Festival. Their second studio album (Daptone – Chulo Records) is slated for release in fall 2016.

THURSDAY, JULY 21

7:30 pm – Damrosch Park Bandshell
The Hallelujah Train featuring Pastor Brady Blade Sr., Brian Blade, Daniel Lanois, and guests
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Two song traditions born in struggle and oppression and raising powerful voices in hope are represented on the Damrosch Bandshell stage this evening.  The Hallelujah Train rolls into Damrosch Park led by Pastor Brady Blade Sr., an all-star band featuring his son Brian Blade, celebrated jazz drummer and longtime member of The Wayne Shorter Quartet, his friend and frequent collaborator guitarist-producer Daniel Lanois and members of the Zion Baptist Church. The Hallelujah Train began life as a Sunday morning gospel show on a local Shreveport T.V. station in the 1970s and ‘80s, created by Rev. Blade Sr., pastor of the Zion Baptist Church. Resurrected several years ago as a labor of love by Brian Blade and his brother, the group performs its special brand of Southern gospel and Americana music in New York for the first time this July.

The Hallelujah Train is presented in association with the BAM R&B Festival at Metrotech

The foremost exponents of Isicathamiya, Zulu for a style of a capella singing that originated among South African mine workers in the early part of the 20th century, Ladysmith Black Mambazo was introduced to the world through Paul Simon’s Graceland album and tour in the mid-1980s.  The five-time Grammy Award?winning group has recorded with artists ranging from Stevie Wonder and Dolly Parton to Josh Groban and Emmylou Harris, appeared on Broadway, been featured on numerous film soundtracks, and are world-wide peace ambassadors.

FRIDAY, JULY 22

7:00 pm – Hearst Plaza
Barbara Lynn
A left-handed, electric guitar-playing woman was a rare sight on the Gulf Coast music circuit in the early 1960s, when Texas-born singer-songwriter Barbara Lynn was signed by producer Huey P. Meaux and launched her recording career at New Orleans’s legendary Cosimo’s studio. Her 1962 ballad, “You’ll Lose a Good Thing” was her first big hit—a national Top-Ten single, and Number One on the R&B charts.  Lynn’s mix of blues and southern R&B drew on early influences like Etta James, Ruth Brown, Texas guitar sensation Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and Brenda Lee. Her later hit singles included “Oh Baby (We Got a Good Think Goin’)” recorded by the Rolling Stones in 1965.  She signed with Atlantic Records in 1967.  Ponderosa Stomp presented Lynn in their 2008 festival line-up, and she had a repeat engagement in 2015.

7:30 pm –Damrosch Park Bandshell
Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra
Louis Langrée, conductor
Simone Porter, violin (Mostly Mozart debut)
All-Mozart program
         Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K.216
         Symphony No. 41 in C major, K.551 (“Jupiter”)
The Mostly Mozart Festival celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and in the first of three collaborative projects with Lincoln Center Out of Doors to offer more free events to the public, presents its traditional free preview concert in Damrosch Park. Maestro Louis Langrée, Renée and Robert Belfer Music Director, leads an all-Mozart program that includes the composer’s majestic final Symphony No. 41, and his youthful G-major violin concerto performed by rising young violinist and 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant winner Simone Porter.  Damrosch Park will open for seating at 6:30 pm.
Co-presented with Mostly Mozart Festival

This free preview concert of the Mostly Mozart Festival is made possible in part by The Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Foundation.

SATURDAY, JULY 23
FAMILY DAY

11:00 am – Josie Robertson Plaza
Lincoln Center Block Party with Illstyle & Peace
The Philadelphia-based dance collective led by Brandon “Peace” Albright presents hip-hop with an uplifting message. They create work rooted in contemporary, West African, and old-school hip-hop styles, blended with a mix of dance and performance disciplines including tap, ballet, DJing, and beatboxing. They’ll host a participatory block party for all-ages to kickoff Family Day.

1:00 pm – Location TBD
Dance Theatre of Harlem Performance and Demonstration
Students from the Dance Theatre of Harlem Summer Intensive program, and professional dancers of the celebrated dance company will give an informal performance where they’ll explain and demonstrate the rudiments of classical ballet, share their personal experiences, and invite questions from the audience.

2:00 pm – Josie Robertson Plaza
Illstyle & Peace Dance Performance
The dancers return for a performance showcasing their dazzling artistry, which The New York Times said was like “watching the greatest ballet virtuosos.”

Time TBD – Hearst Plaza
She’s a Rebel
While generations of fans know 1960s girl group songs by heart, many of these great singers aren’t known by name.  In 2011, before the release of the Academy Award?winning documentary Twenty Feet from Stardom shone a spotlight on the anonymous artistry of the ’60s girl groups and background singers, Lincoln Center Out of Doors presented She’s Got the Power, a day devoted to their stories, with a concert featuring some of those women. The idea inspired She’s a Rebel, inviting young women ages 12?18 to participate in a 15?week project, supervised by Lincoln Center Education, to learn and perform three-part harmony and participate in master classes with some of the women.  The project culminates in this concert with the young women singing with Margaret Ross Williams of the Cookies, Louise Murray of the Hearts and the Jaynetts, Barbara Harris of the Toys, Lillian Walter Moss of the Exciters, Nanette Licari of Reparata and the Delrons, and Beverly Warren of the Raindrops.

Family Day is supported by Disney

SATURDAY EVENING, JULY 23

7:30 pm – Damrosch Park Bandshell
An Evening with Darlene Love
“Darlene Love deserves to be heard, really heard, and her voice has no problem reaching into the heart of anyone willing to listen” is what NPR’s Ann Powers wrote about Introducing Darlene Love, the singer’s most recent album, released in fall 2015.  With new songs written for her by producer and longtime friend Steven Van Zandt, as well as by Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Linda Perry, Jimmy Webb, and more, the album puts Love in the spotlight where she belongs with accolades and richly?deserved recognition as one of the great pop singers of our time.

SUNDAY, JULY 24

1:00 pm – Hearst Plaza
Heritage Sunday
Global Beat of The Bronx: From Bambara to Breakbeats featuring
Bambara Drum and Dance Ensemble
Bombazo Dance Company
Chief Joseph Chatoyer Dance Company
Full Circle Souljahs
For 18 summers, Heritage Sunday at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, curated by the Center for Traditional Music and Dance (CTMD), has celebrated the diverse performance traditions found throughout New York City. This year, CTMD celebrates the Bronx and dance from West African, African-American, and Latino sources, each with distinct expressions but interconnected through the present day community’s shared culture and traditions.  Bambara Drum and Dance Ensemble celebrates the culture and traditions of West Africa and their varied expressions today; Bombazo Dance Company fuses Afro-Puerto Rican, Afro-Caribbean, and traditional folkloric elements drawn from the history of Americans and Latinos with classical, contemporary, and social dance styles; Chief Joseph Chatoyer Dance Company, a drumming, singing, and dance group, showcases the culture of the Garifuna, Caribbean descendants of West and Central Africans and Native Americans;  Full Circle Souljahs, rooted in street performance and started by hip-hop dancers Kwikstep and Rokafella, has grown to include beatboxers, MCs, and dancers of diverse backgrounds and styles. Its performances come with a message that hip-hop is a culture and an ever? evolving vehicle for social change.

Presented in association with the Center for Traditional Music and Dance and the Center for Art, Tradition and Cultural Heritage

7:30 pm – Damrosch Park Bandshell
Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz
Miramar
Recently reunited kings of salsa brava Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz have performed as a duo for more than 50 years and can still bring loyal fans and new ones alike to their feet. Ray, born in Brooklyn to Puerto Rican parents, is a virtuoso pianist, singer, composer, and arranger who attended Juilliard, and Cruz, a Puerto Rico?born and New York?raised multi-instrumentalist and singer with an operatic range, began their partnership in 1965 and not only became one of the most popular duos in the history of salsa, but influenced many Latino artists across a variety of genres.

Opening the evening is Miramar, the trio formed by members of the indie salsa band Bio Ritmo.  In a musical detour for the artists, they’ll perform music from their debut album—a tribute to Puerto Rican bolero composer Sylvia Rexach. Miramar is reviving the golden sounds of the popular and beloved music genre of the 1950s and ’60s and introducing these passionate love songs to a new generation.

WEEK 2

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27

7:00 pm – Hearst Plaza
Dane Terry
When singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dane Terry sits down at the piano he channels the wit and wordsmithing of Cole Porter, the ballad?making magic of Elton John, and a sprinkling of the folksy directness of Woody Guthrie. Terry’s genre?defying musical theater piece Bird in the House, featuring songs from his album Color Movies, mined his white working class, Midwestern childhood and was performed at LaMaMa and the Public Theater. His solo gigs have taken him to Pangea, Joe’s Pub, and Rockwood Music Hall. Gayletter.com called Terry “a natural-born storyteller, a wizard whose power to delight, crack up, and terrify an audience comes from the traditions of the uniquely American world he brings so vividly to life.”

7:00 pm – Damrosch Park Bandshell
AFROPUNK Girrrl Riot @ Lincoln Center
SATE
The VeeVees
Additional artist to be announced.
Following the success of its debut at last summer’s Lincoln Center Out of Doors, AFROPUNK returns with AFROPUNK Girrrl Riot @ Lincoln Center, an all-female lineup of genre-busting artists who embody the spirit of the alternative, experimental music community and cultural movement.

SATE is the name that Canadian alt-rock-blues singer-songwriter Saidah Baba Talibah adopted when she embarked on a new project and a new musical and life journey a few years ago.  The daughter of Canadian blues and jazz great Salome Bey, SATE (rhymes with fate) released her debut album in 2011, which launched her career and led to extensive touring at home and abroad. Finding her authentic voice, including acknowledging three important women in her life—her mother who has suffered from Alzheimer’s since 2011, her daughter; and her sister—was the impetus two years of work on her new concept album, RedBlack&Blue, due for release this summer.  Soul-shaking, empowering, and fierce messages delivered in a characteristic high-energy mix of hard rock, blues, and raunchy soul are what to expect when SATE struts onto the Damrosch Park Bandshell stage.

One of the 16 finalists chosen for AFROPUNK’s 2015 Battle of the Bands, The VeeVees believe in the “dark glory days” of rock and roll, and the raw, visceral, truthful music they create and perform is the proof.  The Deli Magazine called them, “a charismatic throwback to the in-your-face attitude that rock was built on. The group puts out a vibrant and dynamic energy that will have you banging your head along with the overdriven guitars and driving drums.” Started in 2011, as the duo of guitarist-singer-songwriter Garrett Cillo, and drummer Andrea Belfiore, the Brooklyn-based rock band now features Detroit-born, rock and r&b powerhouse vocalist Sophia Urista as frontwoman.

THURSDAY, JULY 28

7:00 pm – Hearst Plaza
Jaime Woods
Okayplayer.com said of rising singer-songwriter Jaime Woods, “She carries with her a voice that soothes and a penchant for knee-deep soul, making it known with each and every breathy note that her groove is for both the head and the heart.” The soulfully mellow singer arrived in New York after coming up in the gospel scene in Chicago and has performed and collaborated with Bilal, Casey Benjamin, Gizmo, Roy Hargrove, Emily King, Kendra Foster, among others, and as a duo with her brother, Solo Woods, who will be joining her for this performance.

7:30 pm – Damrosch Park Bandshell
Maurice Hines Tappin’ Thru Life
Michael Mwenso & The Shakes
In an adaptation of his Off-Broadway show, Maurice Hines taps and sings his way through his life story from the start of his show business career at age five as a tap act with his younger brother Gregory Hines to the trio act with their father, “Hines, Hines and Dad,” at the Apollo Theater to his own star turns in Broadway musicals Eubie! and Sophisticated Ladies. Hines tells stories about sharing the stage with entertainers like Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Lena Horne, and more. The all-female, Diva Jazz Orchestra are Hines’ dazzling musical collaborators.  And tipping his hat to the virtuoso tappers of a new generation, Hines welcomes—and engages in some friendly competition with—The Manzari Brothers, a tap duo he introduced and continues to mentor.

Michael Mwenso & The Shakes have been heating up the New York jazz scene from their home base at Ginny’s Supper Club in Harlem.  Vocalist and bandleader Michael Mwenso grew up around the ports of Freetown, Sierra Leone, raised by his aunts, and came to London with his mother at the age of ten.  There, be became close and performed with musicians such as James Brown and developed a young, energetic movement at the famed Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. After coming to the U.S., he did a stint curating and performing at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club. His band, The Shakes, embody the spirit of this great music, but bring their own individual creativity and jovial energy to the stage.

FRIDAY, JULY 29

7:00 pm – Hearst Plaza
Eli “Paperboy” Reed
The singer-songwriter Rolling Stone hailed for his “classic soul” and R&B soaked with the blues” returns to an early inspiration from his time spent in a Southside Chicago church as a young minister of music, with a new gospel-inflected album, My Way Home, to be released this summer.  It is sure to be a centerpiece of his concert at Out of Doors.

7:30 pm – Damrosch Park Bandshell
Okayafrica: Afrobeat x Afrobeats
Davido
Antibalas
Okayafrica, the source for “all that's hot and jumping in the new African renaissance,” will showcase artists for the first time at Lincoln Center this summer.  The double bill illustrates the fluid exchange between the Afrobeat sound created by Nigerian musician and political activist Fela Kuti, and today’s popular electronic Afrobeats music joining hip-hop, funk, and other western influences to African roots.

American-born Nigerian recording artist and producer David Adedeji Adeleke, better known by his stage name Davido, is a rising young star in Nigeria and on the international Afrobeats music scene.  He released a debut LP in 2012 and has a second studio album in the pipeline, on which he does producing duties, featuring guest appearances from some of Nigeria’s most popular music artists. Davido is a recipient of the 2014 BET Music Award (Best International Act: Africa), a Kora Award, and two MTV Africa Music Awards, among many others.  He recently signed a two-year record deal with Sony.

“Few bands have been as indebted to a stylistic and philosophical predecessor as Antibalas are to Fela Kuti.  Fewer still have been as capable of doing their predecessor justice” (Pitchfork).  The Brooklyn-based music collective formed by baritone sax player Martin Perna in 1998 were largely responsible for introducing Afrobeat to audiences in New York and across the U.S. starting in the 2000s, and later reached an even broader audience through their involvement in the Tony Award?winning Broadway musical Fela! They’ve recorded and performed with a raft of music notables. In the tradition of Fela, the band’s purpose is to make “music that is militantly pacifist,” according to Perna (The New York Times), and to continue to play pure, “unadulterated” Afrobeat.

SATURDAY, JULY 30
The Bells:  A Daylong Celebration of Lou Reed
Lincoln Center Out of Doors celebrates the work and legacy of legendary musician and consummate New Yorker Lou Reed with a full day of free events, encompassing a wide range of his interests and creative output. The Bells: A Daylong Celebration of Lou Reed is named for Reed’s iconic song “The Bells,” and is curated by Laurie Anderson and Reed’s friend and longtime producer Hal Willner. Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson frequently attended Lincoln Center events and also performed here—separately and together—on several occasions.  In November 2013, the only public event marking Lou Reed’s death—organized by family and friends—took place outdoors on Lincoln Center’s Hearst Plaza.  Now, for The Bells, musical collaborators and other artists gather to give voice to the singular legacy of the rock musician, cofounder with Andy Warhol of The Velvet Underground, progenitor of glam, punk, indie, new wave, and noise rock, poet, and activist who left an indelible mark on the music of the past 50 years and on the city that he called home.

The Bells will begin in the morning with group tai chi exercises on Josie Robertson Plaza led by Reed’s teacher Master Ren Guangyi (beginners are welcome).  An immersive sound installation, Lou Reed: Drones, created from six of his guitars and amps in a feedback loop, will take place at Alice Tully Hall.  The day continues with a martial arts demonstration by Master Ren Guangyi and his students on Hearst Plaza.  Recordings of Reed’s music will play at the David Rubenstein Atrium and film screenings will take place at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.  The afternoon includes music performances by several musician friends and readings from Lou Reed’s collected lyrics, both taking place on the Hearst Plaza stage.  Lou Reed’s Love Songs, a Damrosch Park concert featuring artists across a range of music genres, begins at 7:30 pm.  Following the concert, at 10:00 pm is a screening of Julian Schnabel’s acclaimed film Berlin, which captured Reed’s live, 2006 concert performances at St. Ann’s Warehouse.  Sound will be provided via wireless headphones.  NOTE: Artist and program details will be available at a later date.

SATURDAY, JULY 30 AND SUNDAY, JULY 31 – LA CASITA

La Casita is Lincoln Center Out of Doors’ annual celebration of community.  It showcases urban poetry, spoken word, and musical expressions that represent the diversity of traditional and contemporary cultures across New York City. This summer opens at Teatro Pregones in the Bronx, where Out of Doors has presented La Casita for many years. Returning to do MC duties is New York spoken word, hip-hop, and experimental performance artist Baba Israel.

Saturday, July 30 at 2:00 pm
Teatro Pregones, 571 Walton Avenue, Bronx, NY 10451

Sunday, July 31 at 12:00 pm
Hearst Plaza, Lincoln Center

La Casita Spoken Word lineup:
Tusiata Avia, a Samoan-New Zealand poet, performer, and writer; Toni Blackman, the first hip-hop artist invited to work as Cultural Ambassador with the U.S. Department of State, whose book Wisdom of the Cypher is due out this summer; Moe Clark, a Canadian Métis singer and multidisciplinary artist who works in English and Cree;  Natalie Diaz, of Mojave descent and a member of the Gila River Indian Tribe, is a published poet and teacher working to revitalize the Mojave language; Baba Israel; Noel Quiñones, a Bronx-born,  AfroBoricua writer, performer, and educator, who is co-founder of Piel Café Poetry, an AfroLatino spoken word collective; Terisa Siagatonu, a first generation, queer, Samoan, spoken word artist, educator and community organizer from California; Elisabet Velasquez, a Brooklyn-born poet and 2009 member of the Nuyorican National Slam team; Tanaya Winder, a writer, educator, singer, artist, and poet from the Southern Ute, Duckwater Shoshone, and Pyramid Lake Paiute Nations; G Yamazawa, a National Poetry Slam champion, advocate for youth empowerment, and teaching artist; and Gustavo Zapoteco, a storyteller from Topiltepec, Mexico, who draws from oral traditions of Mexico’s indigenous peoples.

La Casita’s Music lineup:
Fernando A. Cruz, singer-songwriter drawing on Puerto Rico’s Nueva Trova, jazz, and global folk music; Grupo Rebolu, an Afro-Colombian group who performs original compositions and interpretations of traditional rhythms, such as gaita, tambora, chalupa, and bullerengue; Harana Kings bring together some of the last great haranistas, Filipino musicians who specialized in serenading women in a once?popular courtship practice throughout the Philippines;  Jomion & The Uklos, a family band from Benin, West Africa, that combines traditional rhythms and songs from Vodoun with reggae, salsa, and jazz; and William Prince, a storyteller-singer-songwriter from Peguis First Nation in Manitoba, Canada.

La Casita is curated by Melody Capote, Caribbean Cultural Center; Lillian Cho, Consultant; C. Daniel Dawson, Arts and Media Consultant; Latasha N. Nevada Diggs, Writer, Vocalist, Sound Artist and Curator; Claudia Norman, Lincoln Center Out of Doors; Shawn Termin, Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian; and Rich Villar, Acentos Foundation.

SUNDAY, JULY 31

7:00 pm – Damrosch Park Bandshell
Songs of Freedom
Ky-Mani Marley
Finotee
Music’s ability to heal and empower is celebrated in Songs of Freedom through the vibrant rhythms of Ky-Mani Marley and Finotee—presented in association with longtime community partner, the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute.  Ky-Mani Marley, son of Bob Marley, is a reggae and hip-hop artist with an international performing and recording career. His 2015 album, Maestro, on his newly-created label, Konfrontation Muzic, was released after an eight-year break from the studio during which he toured extensively in Europe and South America. Finotee takes its name from the Ethiopian Amharic word “fenote,” meaning “the way.” The New York group will open the evening with its tuneful blend of rock, reggae, funk, and soul. Both artists give voice to the struggle for human and civil rights in the age of Ferguson.

Presented in association with the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute

WEEK 3

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3

7:00 pm – Damrosch Park Bandshell
Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca
Manhattan Camerata Tango-Fado Project featuring Nathalie Pires
“Passion, majesty, absorption,” is how Joan Acocella of The New Yorker described the dancing of flamenco virtuoso Soledad Barrio. Hailed by critics everywhere for its transcendent and deeply emotional performances, Noche Flamenca returns flamenco to its roots with authentic performance standards underpinning the complex interrelationship of dance, song, and music that is the essence of flamenco. Formed in 1993 by Barrio (recipient of a 2015 Dance Magazine Exceptional Artist award) and her husband, artistic director and producer Martín Santangelo, the award-winning company tours throughout the world.  For this summer’s Out of Doors’ engagement the company’s program will include a new work, La Ronde, commissioned by Lincoln Center.

Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca’s La Ronde is commissioned by Lincoln Center for Lincoln Center Out of Doors.

Opening the evening is the Manhattan Camerata with its Tango Fado Project, featuring Portuguese- American fado singer Nathalie Pires. The Manhattan Camerata is a chamber orchestra that brings together world and classical music from around the globe.  With its Tango Fado Project, the orchestra explores the connections between Argentine tango and Portuguese fado, and the sound of the two instruments that form the heart of both styles: bandoneón and Portuguese guitar. The program will include traditional tangos and fados by Carlos Gardel, Astor Piazzolla, Amália Rodrigues, and new works and arrangements by members of Manhattan Camerata.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4

7:00 pm – Damrosch Park Bandshell
NPR Music: Live in Concert
Hosted by Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton of All Songs Considered, and Felix Contreras and
Jasmine Garsd of Alt. Latino
Artists to be announced
Two of NPR’s most popular music programs make their Out of Doors’ debut in this evening of conversation and performance. The live music experience will later be available for streaming on NPR.org/music. All Songs Considered hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton, and Alt. Latino co-hosts Felix Contreras and Jasmine Garsd will showcase some of their musical discoveries and favorite artists. All Songs Considered is the cornerstone of NPR Music. During the weekly broadcast of the Emmy?nominated and Webby Award?winning show, Boilen and Hilton discuss new music from emerging bands and musical icons. Alt.Latino spins a genre-bending mix where tradition meets innovation, from Latin rock to psychedelic cumbia and everything in between. Co-hosts Felix Contreras and Jasmine Garsd share their love of Latin alternative music by introducing audiences to the best classic and emerging sounds from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and more.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5

7:00 pm - Hearst Plaza
Zé Renato with special guests Vinícius Cantuária and Ricardo Silveira
Regarded as one of the great interpreters of Brazilian music, singer Zé Renato is a cofounder and member of one of Brazil’s most popular vocal-instrumental groups, Boca Livre. Over his nearly 40-year performing and recording career with the group, he has collaborated with Tom Jobim, Nana Vasconcelos, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Rubén Blades, among other celebrated musicians.  For this intimate concert, accompanied by guitar, Renato will sing sambas and Brazilian standards, joined by special guests Vinícius Cantuária (drums and vocals) and Ricardo Silveira (guitar).

Presented in association with Brasil Summerfest

7:30 pm - Damrosch Park Bandshell
M. Ward
Margaret Glaspy
The Guardian (London) called singer-songwriter and guitarist M. Ward (the stage name of Matthew “Matt” Stephen Ward) “a maverick auteur who draws upon blues, folk, country, and art-rock” to write potent “outsider narratives.”  In addition to his established solo career, Portland-based Ward is also a member of the pop duo She & Him with Zooey Deschanel and was a member of the folk-rock supergroup Monsters of Folk, formed with Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Conor Oberst, and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes).  The singer has performed on recordings by, among others, Cat Power, Neko Case, Berth Orton, and Norah Jones. Ward released his eighth studio album, More Rain (Merge), this March

“”Full of distorted, bluesy electric guitar licks matched with a voice that completely takes over, moving from soft and tender to aggressively twisted…complex, deceptively heavy riffs with vocals that really stand out and grab you around the throat,” is how Noisey.com described singer-songwriter Margaret Glaspy’s music. Glaspy, a Brooklynite by way of California and Boston, releases her debut full-length album this June.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 6 AND SUNDAY, AUGUST 7 – ROOTS OF AMERICAN MUSIC

In a sweeping embrace of America’s diverse sounds—from blues to roots rock to country and more—Lincoln Center’s long-running Roots of American Music collaborates with the Americana Music Association, advocates for the authentic voice of American roots music around the world, for the third annual Americanafest NYC to present artists, both new and iconic, in concerts on the Hearst Plaza and at the Damrosch Park Bandshell.
The 2016 artist lineup will be announced at a later date.

Performance locations:

ALICE TULLY HALL
Broadway at 65th Street

DAMROSCH PARK
West 62nd Street, between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenue

DAVID RUBENSTEIN ATRIUM
Broadway between 62nd and 63rd Streets

ELINOR BUNIN MUNROE FILM CENTER – AMPHITHEATER
144 West 65th Street

HEARST PLAZA / BARCLAYS CAPITAL GROVE
North of the Metropolitan Opera House, in front of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and Lincoln Center Theater, near West 65th Street.

JOSIE ROBERTSON PLAZA
Main plaza of Lincoln Center, fronting Columbus Avenue, between 63rd and 64th Streets.

All events are FREE; no tickets required.  Program details on  lcoutofdoors.org

ABOUT LINCOLN CENTER OUT OF DOORS
Inaugurated in 1971, Lincoln Center Out of Doors began as a small festival of street theater in collaboration with Everyman Theater (cofounded by actress Geraldine Fitzgerald). Over its 45-year history, Out of Doors has commissioned more than 100 works from composers and choreographers and presented hundreds of major dance companies, renowned world-music artists, and legendary jazz, folk, gospel, blues, and rock musicians. It has highlighted the rich cultural diversity of New York City with its annual La Casita project which offers poetry and spoken word, along with music and dance performances. Out of Doors has partnered with dozens of community and cultural organizations including the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center, Center for Traditional Music and Dance, and the Chinese American Arts Council. The festival is produced by Jill Sternheimer.

Lincoln Center Out of Doors is a presentation of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA), which serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community engagement, 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 16 series, festivals, and programs including American Songbook, Avery Fisher Career Grants and Artist program,  David Rubenstein Atrium programming, Great Performers, Legends at Lincoln Center: The Performing Arts Hall of Fame, Lincoln Center at the Movies, Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Awards, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Lincoln Center Vera List Art Project, Midsummer Night Swing, Mostly Mozart Festival, White Light Festival, the Emmy Award?winning Live From Lincoln Center, which airs nationally on PBS, and Lincoln Center Education, which is celebrating 40 years enriching the lives of students, educators, and lifelong learners. As manager of the Lincoln Center campus, LCPA provides support and services for the Lincoln Center complex and the 11 resident organizations: The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center Theater, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the School of American Ballet, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

The Coachella of classic rock is coming soon, and it features no less than Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney.

Neil Young, the Who and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd will round out the bill for Desert Trip, a new festival scheduled for Oct. 7 through Oct. 9 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., the home of the popular Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. But instead of the millennial-heavy crowd that flocked to the grounds last month for LCD Soundsystem, Ellie Goulding and Disclosure — along with the flower-crown fashion and trendy V.I.P.s — this one is aimed squarely at baby boomers, a largely untapped festival audience.


Goldenvoice, a California concert promoter that is owned by the global concert giant A.E.G. Live, organized the mega-concert, which will see two of the acts play full-scale shows — not abbreviated festival sets — per night.

The Rolling Stones and Mr. Dylan and are scheduled to get things going on Friday, Oct. 7, with Mr. McCartney and Mr. Young filling the Saturday slots on Oct. 8. Mr. Waters and the Who will close out the concert on Sunday, Oct. 9.

Read more at nytimes.com