The leading performing arts center in the nation, and arguably the world, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) occupies 16 acres in Manhattan’s Upper West Side neighborhood. It is comprised of 12 resident organizations. The Juilliard School, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic,Jazz at Lincoln Center, and New York City Ballet are all resident at LCPA.
The construction of Lincoln Center was spearheaded by John D. Rockefeller III, during Robert Moses’ sweeping urban renewal program of the 1950s and ‘60s. Though LCPA is often thought to be named after Abraham Lincoln, there are no records indicating this to be true; it was given the name because it was built in an area previously known as Lincoln Square.
LCPA is a major contributor to the intellectual and cultural life of New York, as well as a major economic engine for the city, attracting five million visitors to the Upper West Side each year. Combined, the resident arts organizations at Lincoln Center present thousands of performances annually, in all artistic disciplines. LCPA presents a number of concert series and festivals each year, including Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and the Emmy Award-winning Live from Lincoln Center Telecasts.
The educational wing of LCPA is the Lincoln Center Institute, which offers arts symposia, family programming and other community initiatives, serves over 200,000 students annually from 400 schools in the NY metropolitan area. Similar organizations in Australia, China, Mexico and South Africa have used the Institute’s model in their curriculum.
- Venues: Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Metropolitan Opera House, the New York State Theater, the Vivian Beaumont Theater, the Mitzi Newhouse Theater, the Walter Reade Theatre, and Jazz at Lincoln Center (which includes the Allen Room, Rose Theater, and Dizzy’s Club). All venues located at 70 Lincoln Center Plaza, a 16-acre complex on the Upper West Side, between Broadway and Amsterdam from 62nd to 65th Streets
- Public Transportation: Excellent (convenient to subway lines 1 at 66th Street/Lincoln Center; A, B, C, and D, at 59th Street/Columbus Circle; and buses M5, M7, M10, M11, M66, and M104)
- Handicapped Accessibility: Good
- Performances/Programs: Lincoln Center is home to numerous resident companies, such as American Ballet Theatre, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Juilliard, Lincoln Center Presents, Lincoln Center Theater, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet, the New York City Opera, the New York Philharmonic, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and the School of American Ballet. Programming celebrates all of the arts, and includes noted series such as American Songbook, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and Live From Lincoln Center. Individual companies and series offer subscription packages
- Ticket Prices: Vary based on program. $20 student tickets available for many of Lincoln Center’s shows
- Group Discounts: Group discounts are available for many performances
- Membership: Friends of Lincoln Center memberships start at $75 and include advanced ticket buying and invites to rehearsals and special events. Friends of Mostly Mozart memberships start at $75 and include early-buying privileges and priority seating. Young Patrons of Lincoln Center memberships (for people in their 20s through early 40s) start at $250 and include invites to special events, receptions, sneak previews, rehearsals, advance-buying privileges, and some discounts to Lincoln Center events
- Educational/Community Outreach: Lincoln Center houses educational institutions like Juilliard and the School of American Ballet; it’s the home of the Lincoln Center Institute for the arts in education and it offers various educational programs like lectures, symposia, and the Meet the Artist series.
