On May 14, 1959, the official groundbreaking for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts took place. The photo above is from the official ceremony, which included President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and a performance by the New York Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein of Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man.
(Photo: Bob Serating)
Lincoln Center Fun Facts:
On May 10, 1994, the inaugural performance at Lincoln Center’s Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse took place, featuring a cabaret performance with Karen Akers. The Kaplan Penthouse, which offers a glowing view of the Manhattan skyline from the Rose Building, is a performance site for many Lincoln Center festivals, and will be the venue for several “A Little Night Music” events this summer during the Mostly Mozart Festival.
(Photo: International Contemporary Ensemble at the Kaplan Penthouse, 2006. Credit: Chris Lee)
In the last number of months, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has worked to become more “green” by buying and using renewable energy for buildings on campus. Between October 2012 and March 2013, Lincoln Center used a collective 9,372,524 kWh of electricity.
The environmental benefit measure of the above is estimated at:
According to the EPA, this translates to:
Approximately 12,000 students from the New York area will participate in commencement exercises at Lincoln Center’s concert halls during “graduation season.” Graduations from the most prestigious colleges and universities in New York take place at Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Halls, as well as a number of high school graduations. The graduation programs also attract top level speakers to the campus, and over the years such prominent figures as Rudolph Guilliani, Hillary Rodham Clinton, John E. Sununu, and Geraldine A. Ferraro have given commencement addresses to graduating classes.
Now approaching the finish line, Lincoln Center’s redevelopment program has won an enviable collection of awards. These include:
The Movado Timesculpture located in Dante Park, the triangular island at 63rd Street and Broadway, is the only modern clock tower in New York City designed by architect Philip Johnson. It was his fourth major contribution to the architectural landscape of Lincoln Center after his design of the New York State Theater, the original Fountain Plaza (now named the Josie Robertson Plaza), and the interior of Avery Fisher Hall. It was only after Mr. Johnson committed to creating the piece that funding was secured.
Installed in 1999, the bronze twisting rectangle stands 18 feet high with four clock faces of different diameters placed at various heights, set upon a 3.5-foot base. The clock inset, created in Switzerland, communicates with GPS for accuracy better than plus or minus one millisecond. The generous donation from Mr. and Mrs. Grinberg and the Movado Group, Inc. paid for the design, installation, ongoing maintenance of the timepiece and its artistic casing. Movado continues to support Lincoln Center, Inc. for many other projects.
Every month, approximately 100 personal items end up in the Lost and Found department at Lincoln Center’s Security Office. Umbrellas, eyeglasses, gloves, and cell phones are the most common things left behind after performances or found by security guards.
However, occasionally they’ll get something a bit more unexpected. The department once received a package containing cremated remains. No note of explanation was enclosed, so with only the name of the deceased and the address of a Florida funeral parlor as clues, a lengthy investigation to contact the family ensued. The mystery was solved when it was discovered that the daughter-in-law of the deceased had shipped the ashes to Lincoln Center. It turned out that, while she was alive, the woman would constantly reminisce about how wonderful it was to live near Lincoln Center. When she passed away, her daughter-in-law felt that Lincoln Center was where her ashes should be kept. Eventually, another member of the family was contacted and the ashes were taken off campus.
For questions about property lost in Lincoln Center, the Lost and Found department can be reached at (212) 875-5520. It’s open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, in the Central Security Office on the Lower Concourse. For items lost at the Metropolitan Opera, David H. Koch Theater, Vivian Beaumont Theater, and Performing Arts Library, contact each constituent’s Lost and Found department directly.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) serves three primary roles: presenter of superb artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. As a presenter of some 5,000 programs and events annually, LCPA’s offerings include American Songbook, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival, White Light Festival, and Live From Lincoln Center. In addition, LCPA is leading a series of major capital projects, now nearly complete, on behalf of the resident organizations across the campus. Lincoln Center is a 16-acre campus housing 11 prestigious cultural organizations including LCPA. The other 10 are 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, and the School of American Ballet. Like us on facebook. Watch us on YouTube
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