Isabel Leonard, Michael Fabiano, Quinn Kelsey, Kangmin Justin Kim, Jamie Barton Headline Santa Fe Opera’s 2022 Season / November 7, 2021 by David Hwang

Santa Fe Opera has announced its 2022 festival, which will run between July 1 through August 27, 2022.

The season will include five new productions, 38 performances, one world premiere, one company premiere, and an international co-production. In sum, there will be 26 artists making their debuts and another 29 returning to the company.

Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s “M. Butterfly” will world premiere in a production by James Robinson. Carolyn Kuan conducts a cast headlined by Mark Stone, Kangmin Justin Kim, Hongni Wu, Kevin Burdette, and Joshua Dennis.

Performance Dates: July 30 – August 24, 2022

SF Opera plans return to five productions in 2022 / November 7, 2021 by David Hwang

After going dark in 2020 and offering only four operas and reduced seating this summer, the Santa Fe Opera plans to be back in 2022 with postponed programming and a standard five-opera season.

There will be 36 performances of the operas, all in new productions, as well as two evenings of scenes by the apprentice singers and technicians, General Director Robert Meya announced in a virtual event Thursday.

The season opens July 1, with Georges Bizet’s Carmen, followed the next evening by Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff on July 16, Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde on July 23, and the world premiere of Huang Ruo’s and David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly on July 30.

“Yellow Face” Opens the Conversation with Satire – Nov. 4th -7th / November 7, 2021 by David Hwang

Continuing Culver City High School’s Academy of Visual and Performing Arts tradition of thoughtful, relevant theater, the AVPA/CTE Theatre has the immense honor of putting on “Yellow Face” by David Henry Hwang. Debuting Thursday evening, November 4 and running through Sunday, November 7, 2021, the production is a collaboration with East West Players Theatre Company, and Stephanie Lee as guest director. Professional actor Christopher Chen will be onstage with the theater students as David Henry Hwang’s father, Henry Hwang.

For technical theatre students, AVPA has partnered with professional designers from the industry to come in as design mentors for each department within the production team.

“Yellow Face” is a wonderful satire that uses comedy to discuss important and difficult issues such as race in America, representation in the arts, and cultural appropriation. The theatre staff, and guest producers and directors created a series of professional development opportunities to accompany the play, so CCUSD teachers can use the themes and issues to educate and empower other students to learn from Yellow Face.

Curtain Calls: East Bay company to premiere romantic comedy ‘Chinglish’ / November 7, 2021 by David Hwang

Story showing in Castro Valley highlights importance of having your own interpreter as cultures collide

It’s red-carpet-premiere time for Plethos Productions as it presents David Henry Hwang’s “Chinglish” in Castro Valley, starting Nov. 6.

Showing at the Chabot Theatre, 2853 Castro Valley Blvd., this romantic comedy highlights the importance of having your own interpreter as cultures collide in a hilarious way as the story revolves around Daniel, an American businessman trying to land the deal of a lifetime in China. The show features Will Livingston as Daniel and Lan Zhong as the woman across the negotiating table. The cast also includes Tony Cardoza as Daniel’s unhinged consultant, Xun Zhang as the powerful Chinese minister, with Byron Guo, Bingcong Zhu and Skyler Riordan as an assortment of terrible translators who add mayhem to this comedy of errors.

Applications are now open for Columbia University's MFA in Theatre / November 7, 2021 by David Hwang

Columbia University School of the Arts MFA in Theatre CONCENTRATIONS Acting, Directing, Playwriting, Dramaturgy, Stage Management, and Theatre Management & Producing, Theatre JD/MFA INFORMATION SESSION: Saturday, November 6 at 11am ET REGISTER.

APPLICATION DEADLINES Directing: December 1, 2021 All other Concentrations: January 5, 2022

Composer Huang Ruo and Writer David Henry Hwang Talk M. BUTTERFLY in New Panel / November 3, 2021 by David Hwang

In a new panel hosted by Works and Process at the Guggenheim, composer Huang Ruo and writer David Henry Hwang discussed their newest collaboration, "M. Butterfly” opera.

Inspired by the true story of a French diplomat who carried on a twenty-year love affair with a star of the Peking Opera, "M. Butterfly” opera is based on Hwang's 1988 Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award-winning Broadway play of the same name.

This Month in Theatre History / October 31, 2021 by David Hwang

October 2001 (20 years ago)

The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles premiered David Henry Hwang’s adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song. Hwang’s aim was to redeem the script by eliminating the sexist and racist stereotypes and to “write the book that Oscar Hammerstein would have written if he were Asian American.” Hwang received approval from Chin Yang Lee, the author of the novel (published in 1957) that was source material for the original musical, and he received permission from Rodgers’s and Hammerstein’s estates to completely rewrite the book of the musical, though he was not allowed to alter any lyrics. The reviews of the premiere in L.A. were overwhelmingly positive and the production received an extended run. The move to Broadway was less well-received than the L.A. premiere. The show closed after 169 performances, but Hwang’s work was recognized with a Tony nomination.

The Lark Is Grounded: New-Play Incubator to Fold After 27 Years / October 11, 2021 by David Hwang

Citing a financial ‘perfect storm,’ the organization’s board has opted to close the 27-year-old organization.

BY AMERICAN THEATRE EDITORS

NEW YORK CITY: In a stunning blow to playwrights and play development in the U.S. and worldwide, the prestigious new-play lab the Lark has announced that it will close its doors, though not before it works with “peer institutions to re-home existing Lark programs and fellowships.” According to a press release, the decision to shutter the 27-year-old play development mainstay was a “unanimous yet painful conclusion” of the organization’s board after “many long months of responding to pandemic-related crises and seeking paths to sustainability.”

In early 2020, the Lark’s founder, John Clinton Eisner, began to plan his retirement and transition out of his active role in the organization. When the COVID-19 pandemic and the attendant lockdown began, the Lark appeared to soldier on. Eisner publicly announced his departure in February 2021, and a week later director and new-play advocate May Adrales (she/her) was named as his successor, to lead alongside executive director Stacy Waring (she/her).

But behind the scenes all was not well with the organization’s finances, as its longtime board president, Colin Greer (he/him), acknowledged in an interview. Contributing to a growing crisis at the Lark, he said, Waring went on medical leave not long after Adrales’s hiring, leaving her solely in charge of a small, over-stretched staff. As the organization struggled to meet pre-pandemic funding levels, Greer said, the landlord for the Lark’s midtown space threatened to nearly double the rent. “It was really a perfect storm,” he said.

Greer, who had been with the Lark since before its founding, when he and Eisner kicked around the idea for a new-play initiative over breakfast at a Hungarian restaurant, called its ending “enormously sad,” and emphasized that the board and staff had worked tirelessly hard for the last six months to find a solution that would allow the Lark to continue, to no avail.

For her part, Adrales wrote in an email: “When I excitedly stepped into this role six months ago, I did not know that this great organization, my first artistic home of 20 years, faced such steep, insurmountable challenges. It is a devastating loss personally but also to the theatre field. I am comforted by my belief that the Lark has never been beholden to a physical place. It is a spirit, a transformation. Our methodologies and philosophies, which empower playwrights to write what they choose, have permeated the theatre landscape. We all have been transformed by the Lark experience, and we will carry all that the Lark taught us throughout its amazing 27 years. We know that its spirit will live on through every person it has touched.”

The Lark’s history and legacy is indeed substantial. As board member and playwright David Henry Hwang said in a statement, “At a time when play development in America risked slipping into formulaic dramaturgy, the Lark was founded to re-empower the playwright’s vision, a philosophy that has now become a best practice throughout the country and internationally. Its mission included centering dramatists from BIPOC, LGBTQIA, and other marginalized backgrounds, which was once also a radical idea but now sets the pace for the field. Plays developed at the Lark have become the new American canon; of the five most recent winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, four were written by Lark playwrights, and two were developed directly in Lark programs. The Lark has succeeded in transforming the American theatre, and its legacy will live on.”

The Lark, Off-Broadway’s Developer and Champion of New Works, to Shut Down / October 11, 2021 by David Hwang

The organization was founded in 1994 as a counterpoint to commercially driven theatre and a platform for underrepresented voices.

The Lark, a longtime home to theatre writers and new works for nearly three decades, is shutting down. An October 5 statement says that the closure was determined by a unanimous vote from the organization’s board of directors, and that the group intends to transfer its current programming and fellowship initiatives to similar institutions.

The Lark says the closure follows several hardships faced in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, adding “there is no sustainable and viable path forward.”

Earlier this year, May Adrales was named new artistic director of the organization, succeeding John Clinton Eisner, who co-founded The Lark in 1994 as a counterpoint to commercially driven theatre. Eisner had made his intention to retire known to the board in early 2020, with the announcement being made public about a year into the pandemic shutdown.

Among the myriad writers to develop works at the Lark are David Henry Hwang (a board member himself), Kristoffer Diaz, Katori Hall, Rajiv Joseph, Arthur Kopit, Koffi Kwahule, Javier Malpica, Theresa Rebeck, Saviana Stanescu, Sinan Unel, Tracey Scott Wilson, and Karen Zacarías.

THE KENNEDY CENTER AT 50 Concert / October 1, 2021 by David Hwang

The Kennedy Center's 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert, which was taped in the Concert Hall on Tuesday, September 14, is being broadcast across the nation on Friday, October 1 at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS Video App.

Echoing "An American Pageant for the Arts," the 1962 event conducted by Leonard Bernstein, this special celebration and re-launch of live, in-person performing arts in America is hosted by six-time Tony Award® winner Audra McDonald with special guest Caroline Kennedy and feature the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO). The concert is directed and choreographed by Emmy Award® winner and Tony Award® nominee Joshua Bergasse and features newly announced conductors JoAnn Falletta, Steven Reineke and Thomas Wilkins, Herman Cornejo, Randall Goosby, Cassandra Trenary, Tony Yazbeck, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Ray Chen, Robert Glasper, Joshua Henry, Bettye LaVette, Kelli O'Hara, Gaby Moreno, Zhu Wang, the original cast of David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori's Soft Power, and more will be making appearances and performing throughout the night.

Kennedy at 50 Concert, Heading to PBS / October 1, 2021 by David Hwang

Watch Kelli O’Hara Sing ‘Take Me to the World’ The Tony winner was backed by the National Symphony Orchestra on the Stephen Sondheim tune.

arlier this month, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. celebrated 50 years with a star-studded concert celebration. Check out a clip above of Kelli O’Hara, backed by the National Symphony Orchestra, singing Stephen Sondheim’s “Take Me to the World” from Evening Primrose.

Kennedy at 50 will air in full on PBS October 1 at 9 PM ET (check local listings) and also be available at PBS.org and the PBS Video App. Hosted by Audra McDonald, the concert also featured performances by Tony nominees Joshua Henry, Renée Fleming, and Tony Yazbeck, the cast of David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s Soft Power, Darren Criss, Common, and more.

The Kennedy Centre celebrates 50 years with a spectacular evening of performances / September 29, 2021 by David Hwang

PBS will air The Kennedy Center at 50, featuring Darren Criss, Dianne Reeves, Audra McDonald, and more.

The star-studded Kennedy Center at 50 concert event (reviewed live by Olivia Hampton below) will be broadcast Friday, October 1, at 9 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org, and the PBS video app.

Celebrating 50 years of the National Cultural Center, the evening is hosted by six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and features the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO); the original cast of David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s groundbreaking musical-within-a-play, Soft Power.

BARD CONSERVATORY’S US-CHINA MUSIC INSTITUTE PRESENTS FOURTH ANNUAL CHINA NOW MUSIC FESTIVAL / September 29, 2021 by David Hwang

This Year’s Theme, Asian American Voices, Focuses on Moving Society Forward Through Music.

The festival runs OCTOBER 12-17.

The festival features three important works by New York based composer, Huang Ruo. Born in China in 1976 and based in the United States, Huang has established a career as a major figure in classical music today. Included will be selections from An American Soldier, with libretto by David Henry Hwang.

The festival programming also showcases new works by a range of Asian American composers. These works delve into the Asian American experience stretching back 100 years to today.

Circus Days and Nights nominated for 1st international circus awards / September 23, 2021 by David Hwang

1st International Circus Awards, Nominees Announced From 12 Countries
Hosted by Contemporary Circus and Immersive Arts Center
Ceremony Broadcast Online Oct. 9

Nominees for the first International Circus Awards were announced today, with 15 nominated productions from 12 countries in consideration for 10 award categories.

The Contemporary Circus and Immersive Arts Center, a nonprofit organization based in Troy, N.Y., will present awards to winning productions on Oct. 9 during an online video awards ceremony. The ICA was created to recognize professional circus companies, artists and producers from around the globe for their outstanding achievements.

What is Circus?

While many hear the word “circus” and think of animals, peanuts and “Big Top” large arenas, there is great variety in modern circus productions. “Contemporary Circus” companies, for example, don’t use animals, but focus instead on the incredible capabilities of the human body to tell stories, typically in smaller and more intimate settings.

The Nominees

Outstanding Production

“The Pulse” – Gravity & Other Myths (Australia)
“Sweat & Ink” – Cirque Barcode (Canada)
“SIX” – FLIP Fabrique (Canada)
“Serge Fiori, Seul Ensemble” – Cirque Éloize (Canada)
“Passagers” – Les 7 doigts de la main (Canada)
“Out Of Order” – Les 7 doigts de la main (Canada)
“O’DD” – Race Horse Company (Finland)
“Moya” – Zip Zap Circus & Sabine Van Rensburg, Brin Schoellkopf, Samuel Renaud (South Africa, Canada, United States)
“La Galerie” – Machine de Cirque (Canada)
“Circus Days and Nights” – Cirkus Cirkör (Sweden)

Outstanding Digital Production

“Out Of Order” – Les 7 doigts de la main (Canada)
“Moya” – Zip Zap Circus & Sabine Van Rensburg, Brin Schoellkopf, Samuel Renaud (South Africa, Canada, U.S.A.)
“Circus Days and Nights” – Cirkus Cirkör (Sweden)

Outstanding Performance by an Artist

Barcode company – “Sweat & Ink,” by Cirque Barcode (Canada)
Sereno Aguilar, Sabine Van Rensburg + Cast – “Passagers,” by Les 7 doigts de la main (Canada)
Rauli Dahlberg – “O’DD,” by Race Horse Company (Finland)
Phelelani Ndakrokra – “Moya,” by Zip Zap Circus & Sabine Van Rensburg, Brin Schoellkopf, Samuel Renaud (South Africa, Canada, U.S.A.)
Pauline Bonanni – “La Galerie,” by Machine de Cirque (Canada)

Outstanding Achievement in Circography

“The Pulse” – Gravity & Other Myths (Australia)
“Sweat & Ink” – Cirque Barcode (Canada)
“Se prendre” – LION LION (Canada)
“Passagers “- Les 7 doigts de la main (Canada)
“La Galerie” – Machine de Cirque (Canada)

Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy

“The Pulse” – Gravity & Other Myths (Australia)
“Sweat & Ink” – Cirque Barcode (Canada)
“Se prendre” – LION LION (Canada)
“RAVEN” – still hungry (Germany)
“Passagers” – Les 7 doigts de la main (Canada)
“Circus Days and Nights” – Cirkus Cirkör (Sweden)

Outstanding Emerging Company

“Sweat & Ink” – Cirque Barcode (Canada)
“Se prendre” – LION LION (Canada)
“RAVEN” – still hungry (Germany)
“Piste, piste, piste” – Portmanteau (Brazil, Finland)
“La Vrille du Chat” – Back Pocket (Belgium)

Outstanding Achievement in Design

“A Deer in the Headlights” – Cirque Le Roux (France)
“Circus Days and Nights” – Cirkus Cirkör (Sweden)
“Moya” – Zip Zap Circus & Sabine Van Rensburg, Brin Schoellkopf, Samuel Renaud (South Africa, Canada, U.S.A.)
“Passagers” – 7 Fingers (Canada)
“The Pulse” – Gravity & Other Myths (Australia)

Other categories will include CircusTalk Critics Choice Award, Audience Choice Award and Community Impact Award.

Kennedy Center's 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert, Hosted by Audra McDonald, Presented September 14 / September 14, 2021 by David Hwang

Tony nominee Joshua Bergasse directs and choreographs the evening featuring Kelli O'Hara, Joshua Henry, Tony Yazbeck, and more.

Six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald hosts the Kennedy Center’s 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert, which is held September 14 in the Concert Hall and will be subsequently broadcast October 1 on PBS as The Kennedy Center at 50.

Tony nominee Joshua Bergasse directs and choreographs the evening; conductors are JoAnn Falletta, Steven Reineke, and Thomas Wilkins.

The concert event features the talents of Tony winner Kelli O'Hara, Tony nominees Joshua Henry, Renée Fleming, and Tony Yazbeck, the cast of David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s Soft Power, Darren Criss, Common, DJ Jahi Sundance, D Smoke, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Ray Chen, Robert Glasper, Bettye LaVette, Gaby Moreno, Kelly Marie Tran, Zhu Wang, Mo Willems, Herman Cornejo, Ben Folds, Randall Goosby, Christian McBride, Keb’ Mo’, Rachael Price, Punch Brothers, and Cassandra Trenary.

Bard Conservatory's US-China Music Institute Presents Fourth Annual China Now Music Festival, October 12-17 / September 14, 2021 by David Hwang

This Year’s Theme, Asian American Voices, Focuses on Moving Society Forward Through Music

The US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music announces the fourth season of the China Now Music Festival, from October 12 to 17. The festival’s concerts will take place at The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College and Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Through an annual series of concerts and academic activities, the China Now Music Festival is dedicated to promoting an understanding and appreciation of music from contemporary China. This year’s theme broadens the festival’s scope to include the voices of a wide array of Asian American composers, with the aim of exploring their importance in contemporary American music and society. “Asian American voices are American voices, and Asian American music is American music. We should always cherish the cultural diversity in American society,” says China Now Music Festival Artistic Director Jindong Cai.

On Saturday, October 16 at 3pm, Asian American Voices: Symphonic Portraits, with The Orchestra Now, a festival concert, will be held at the Fisher Center for Performing Arts. Jindong Cai will lead The Orchestra Now to showcase three symphonic works by the composers Tan Dun, dean of the Bard Conservatory; Xinyan Li, Bard Conservatory faculty member; and Peng-Peng Gong, Shanghai-based composer and pianist. Tan’s Prayer and Blessing is his initial response to the pandemic, composed in early 2020. Li’s Awakening Light, concerto for guzheng and orchestra, was commissioned by the festival to be performed by the winner of the 2019 Bard Conservatory Concerto Competition, Yixin Wang. Gong’s A Chinese in New York is a raw description of the experience of a Chinese student confronting cultural differences in America.

The second half of the concert will feature several moving episodes from composer Huang Ruo’s 2014 opera, An American Soldier. The opera tells the powerful and haunting true story of the death of US Army Private Danny Chen, who was born and raised in New York's Chinatown and died in Afghanistan in 2001 after being subjected to relentless hazing and racial maltreatment by his superiors. The episodes presented here will be introduced by the opera’s librettist, Tony award–winning playwright David Henry Hwang.

Metropolitan Opera & Santa Fe Opera Headline Guggenheim’s Fall Works & Process Lineup / September 10, 2021 by David Hwang

New York’s Guggenheim has announced the fall schedule for its Works & Process series.

The programs will be 60 minutes long, ticketed at full capacity, and will require everyone to be fully vaccinated. All individuals will be required to wear a face mask at all times. For children under the age of 12, for whom there is currently no available vaccination, will not be permitted to attend.

Santa Fe Opera will showcase a preview of “M. Butterfly” by Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang. Audiences will get to hear excerpts ahead of the production’s world premiere as part of Santa Fe Opera’s 2022 season.

Workshop Date: Oct. 18, 2021

Works & Process at the Guggenheim to Kick Off Fall 2021 Season on September 20, 2021 / September 10, 2021 by David Hwang

Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, will begin its fall 2021 Season with a return to evening performances in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Peter B. Lewis Theater this September and October at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10128. Following a spring season featuring robust in-person rotunda performances at a time when theaters remained dark, this fall Works & Process will resume its signature behind the scenes Artist-driven programs, uniquely blending performance highlights with insightful artists discussions all prior to premiere. Tickets on sale now for September and October programs at www.worksandprocess.org. Additional programs will be announced later in the fall.

The Santa Fe Opera: M. Butterfly by Huang Ruoand David Henry Hwang

Monday, October 18, 7:30 pm

Joincomposer Huang Ruo and writer David Henry Hwang as they discuss their newest collaboration, M. Butterfly. Inspired by the true story of a French diplomat who carried on a twenty-year love affair with a star of the Peking Opera, M. Butterfly is based on Hwang's 1988 Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award-winning Broadway play of the same name. Hear excerpts ahead of the production's world premiere as part of Santa Fe Opera's 2022 season.

News: Kennedy Center’s 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert To Be Broadcast Nationwide on PBS / September 10, 2021 by David Hwang

The in-person performance on September 14, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. in the Concert Hall to be broadcast on PBS on October 1, 2021

(WASHINGTON) — The Kennedy Center’s 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert, to be held on September 14 in the Concert Hall, will now be broadcast across the nation on October 1 at 9 p.m. ET as THE KENNEDY CENTER at 50 on PBS, PBS.org, and the PBS video app. Echoing “An American Pageant for the Arts,” the 1962 fundraising telecast for the National Cultural Center hosted by Leonard Bernstein, this special celebration will be hosted by six-time Tony Award® winner Audra McDonald with special guest Caroline Kennedy and feature the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO). The concert will be directed and choreographed by Emmy Award® winner and Tony Award® nominee Joshua Bergasse and feature newly announced conductors JoAnn Falletta, Steven Reineke, and Thomas Wilkins.

“I am delighted that viewers across the country will be able to take part in the 50th Anniversary of the Kennedy Center through this special PBS broadcast,” said Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter. “I offer my continued well wishes for Michael Tilson Thomas on his journey to health as we carry forward his vision for the evening with JoAnn, Steven, Thomas, and all of these incredible artists whose work spans the breadth and depth of the performing arts in America. This promises to be an unmissable evening in celebration of the National Cultural Center and memorial to John F. Kennedy.”

“PBS is honored to partner with the Kennedy Center as it celebrates five decades of extraordinary theater, dance and music. Performing arts are central to the cultural fabric of our nation, and we are excited to mark this wonderful occasion by showcasing these talented artists with audiences across the country,” said Paula Kerger, PBS President & CEO.

Newly announced to take part in celebrating the great performance traditions that have enriched our varied cultural heritage and the bright future that lies ahead are Abigail Barlowand Emily Bear, creators of the TikTok smash The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical; violinist Ray Chen; Tony® and Grammy Award® nominee Joshua Henry; four-time Grammy Award®–winning pianist, composer, producer, and founding Kennedy Center Hip Hop Culture Council Member Robert Glasper; Tony Award® winner David Henry Hwang and the original cast of his and Jeanine Tesori’s groundbreaking musical-within-a-play, Soft Power; Grammy®–nominated soul singer-songwriter Bettye LaVette; Latin Grammy® winner and Grammy Award®nominee Gaby Moreno; Tony Award® winner Kelli O’Hara; Star Wars and Raya and the Last Dragon star Kelly Marie Tran; pianist Zhu Wang; and Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence Mo Willems in a world premiere collaboration with Artistic Advisor to the NSO, Ben Folds.

50th Anniversary Celebration Concert / September 1, 2021 by David Hwang

The Kennedy Center’s 50th Anniversary will officially kick off on September 14 with the 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert, a re-launch of live, full-scale productions at the Center.

Tue. Sep. 14, 2021 8p.m.

Echoing “An American Pageant for the Arts,” the 1962 event conducted by Leonard Bernstein, this special evening will be hosted by six-time Tony Award® winner Audra McDonald with special guests Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and Ms. Rose Schlossberg. Featuring the National Symphony Orchestra, the star-studded concert will be directed and choreographed by Emmy Award® winner and Tony Award® nominee Joshua Bergasse and conducted by JoAnn Falletta, Steven Reineke, and Thomas Wilkins.

Preeminent artists including Renée Fleming, Ben Folds, Punch Brothers, Keb’ Mo’, Christian McBride, and Rachael Price will join the NSO to recognize the great performance traditions that have enriched our varied cultural heritage and the bright future that lies ahead. Plus, don’t miss phenomenal performances and appearances from Herman Cornejo, Randall Goosby, Cassandra Trenary, Tony Yazbeck, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Ray Chen, Robert Glasper, Joshua Henry, Bettye LaVette, Kelli O’Hara, Gaby Moreno, Kelly Marie Tran, Zhu Wang, Mo Willems, the original cast of David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s Soft Power, and others!