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Lincoln Center renovations include free concerts
Sketch of Rubenstein Atrium
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As Bernadette Peters, famed Broadway performer and longtime Midtown Theater District resident stepped up to the podium at the newly christened Rubenstein Atrium, she announced, “Virtually, Lincoln Center has been inspiring me my entire career.” The statement could well have been said by any number of New Yorkers, those who have come far and wide to enjoy performances that continue to put New York at the forefront of the worldwide arts scene. But with the recent recession, witnessing, and being inspired by these performances, has become ever more difficult. The Lincoln Center’s inception of the Rubenstein Atrium aims to ease that difficulty.
On November 19, the Atrium was unveiled in a community preview to reveal a space that will house free concerts every Thursday night, courtesy of Target stores and function as a place to score day-of discount tickets to any of the 12 organizations that comprise the Lincoln center complex. The discount program, designed to fill 2,200 seats in the complex, is unprecedented and will begin January 7, 2010. The Rubenstein Atrium itself will open on December 17, 2009 and will serve as a “civic space and urban arts oasis.”
Located on Broadway, between 62nd and 63rd, the space hosted the Sexteto Rodriguez and the Cuban-Jewish All Stars in its community preview. Described as “a marriage between Cuban roots dance music and Jewish klezmer traditions. The music is a new sound full of fiery Cuban grooves in moods both melancholic and joyous,” the band played tunes while audience members were invited to enjoy the new surroundings. Beginning December 17th, look for Target Free Thursdays in the Atrium. For more information, please visit www.lincolncenter.org.