Arts>World Financial Center Announces 2010 Lineup

Cementing its position as New York City's leading year-round showcase for free performing and visual arts, Arts>World Financial Center today announced an ambitious lineup for its 2010 season.

With three residencies, including its first-ever extended-run theatrical production, arts>World Financial Center's 22nd season furthers the organization's role in supporting established and emerging artists as a part of an eclectic roster of new work and world premieres.

The residencies include New York Classical Theatre's staging of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, performed throughout the sprawling World Financial Center, as well as multidisciplinary artist MK Guth's three-part working exhibition and performance using objects woven from clothes and fabric donated by New Yorkers.

Other highlights range include: a weeklong celebration of Frederic Chopin's 200th birthday, featuring 200 hours of the composer's works performed by pianists like NPR host Christopher O'Riley; a Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra performance of Peter and the Wolf narrated by Newbery Award winner Neil Gaiman; internationally-acclaimed South African artist William Kentridge's latest animation, Sounds from the Black Box, featuring live accompaniment by the NYC-based Ensemble Pi; and the annual Bang on a Can Marathon featuring the U.S. premiere of the Professor Bad Trip composed by Fausto Romitell.

"People tend to think that you can only experience free events of this caliber at the summer arts festivals," said Debra Simon, artistic director of arts>World Financial Center. "arts>World Financial Center is unmatched in presenting free, world-class arts year-round, and our 2010 programming takes that commitment to an exciting new level."

Season highlights include:

• In Arts>World Financial Center's first-ever extended run theatrical production, New York Classical Theatre applies their signature panoramic staging style to Hamlet,Prince of Denmark conducting the production and the audience from one end of the 3.5-acre World Financial Center to the other
(April 1-18). During the month of March, the company will be in residence as it develops the production and rehearses in public throughout the venue, as well as creates the show's costumes in a public work studio at One New York Plaza starting in January.

• A weeklong celebration of Frederic Chopin's 200th birthday (March 1- 5) featuring 200 hours of the composer's works performed by an eclectic mix of pianists including NPR's From the Top host Christopher O'Riley, Joel Fan, Vassily Primakov, Claire Huangci, winner of the Chopin Competition of Europe, and the winner of the Chopin Competition in Miami (being held the last week of February 2010).

• In This Fable Is For You: A Work-Energy Principle, multidisciplinary artist MK Guth presents a working exhibition of ropes and objects created from clothes donated by New Yorkers and a series of free performances, part of the Under the Radar Festival, where 24 volunteers will be intertwined with the ropes to create an evolving and extraordinary set of geometric shapes. (Jan. 6-24)

• In addition to Peter and the Wolf narrated by Newbery Award winner Neil Gaiman, the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra joins with acclaimed Broadway tenor Jason Danieley (Candide, Curtains) to perform a world premiere of a new work by Gary S. Fagin, ,...And Bold to Fall Withal (The Voyage in the New World), celebrating the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's arrival in New York Harbor. (Jan. 16)

• The New York Opera Society presents opera singers ChristIna Clark and Kenneth Overton performing selections from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (Jascha Heifitz arrangement for violin and piano) and popular standards by Scott Joplin. (Feb. 5)

• WNYC's John Schaefer curates SILENT FILMS/LIVE MUSIC, a tribute to the great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu with a short retrospective of his
silent films all accompanied by New York premiere's of original compositions
performed live. (Feb. 10-12)

• In Sounds from the Black Box, internationally-acclaimed South African artist William Kentridge pairs his stunning animations with new scores by South African composer Philip Miller, performed live by the NYC-based Ensemble Pi. (March 21 & 22)

• Hailed as "the country's most provocative and consistently entertaining new-music event" by the Village Voice, the Bang on a Can Marathon draws huge crowds each year for a 12-hour marathon of mind-boggling, genre-bending music. This year's program will feature the U.S. premiere of the celebrated work Professor Bad Trip composed by Fausto Romitelli (June 27)

• For two weeks in July, Third Rail Projects will present a new dance every day culminating on Friday, July 23rd when each dance is performed in succession to reveal an underlying web of meaning. (July 12-23)

Since its inception in 1988, over 2.5 million people have attended more than 2,000 free performances and events at the World Financial Center, making it the East Coast's largest presenter of free, year-round performing and visual arts. With an emphasis on commissioned works, site-specific installations and premieres, arts>World Financial Center is also the home of flagship annual events, including the Bang on a Can Marathon, Silent Films/Live Music curated by WNYC's John Schaefer, and Canstruction, an exhibit featuring giant sculptures made entirely from cans of high quality food which are ultimately donated to charity.

Selected season highlights, including dates and times, follow:

January 6 - 24
THIS FABLE IS FOR YOU: A WORK-ENERGY PRINCIPLE
A three-part project by MK Guth
Co-presented by Arts>World Financial Center and Under the Radar Festival

Exhibition: January 6-24; 12 pm-5 pm daily
World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery

Performances: Saturday & Sunday, January 9 & 10, 2 pm and Monday &
Tuesday, January 11 & 12, 12 pm
Performances are approximately 75 minutes
World Financial Center Winter Garden

From November 10 to December 18, acclaimed artist MK Guth invited New Yorkers to bring old sweaters, sheets, yarn, and any unusable fabric to a storefront transformed into an artist studio at One New York Plaza. Over the five weeks, the materials were taken apart, sorted, stacked, sewn, and woven together into large ropes and objects. This Fable is For You now unfolds at the World Financial Center with a working exhibition of the ropes and objects and a series of free performances, part of the Under the Radar Festival, where 24 volunteers will be intertwined with the ropes and objects to create an evolving and extraordinary set of geometric shapes mimicking the architectural features of the Winter Garden.

January 8
New York Guitar Festival Opening Night
PANDIT DEBASHISH BHATTACHARYA
8 pm
World Financial Center Winter Garden

The 2010 New York Guitar Festival opens with a concert celebrating the dazzling musicality and virtuosity of Indian slide guitar playing. Grammy- nominated slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya and his tabla-playing brother Subashish will present an evening of Hindustani guitar music. Debashish's music, spirit, and generosity have won him admirers and devotees around the world.

January 16
KNICKERBOCKER CHAMBER ORCHESTRA PRESENTS MUSICAL TALES AND ADVENTURES: PETER AND THE WOLF NARRATED BY NEIL GAIMAN & ...AND BOLD TO FALL WITHAL (THE VOYAGE OF HENRY HUSON) WITH JASON DANIELEY
7 pm
World Financial Center Winter Garden

Lower Manhattan's professional classical musical ensemble orchestra, The Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra, continues its sophomore season with a new twist on a classic work and a world premiere, Sergei Prokofiev's children's classic, Peter and the Wolf, is given new life when special guest Neil Gaiman, winner of the 2009 Newbery Award and author of Coraline, narrates this tale.

The evening proceeds with the world premier of . . . And Bold to Fall Withal (The Voyage of Henry Hudson) composed by Gary S. Fagin for tenor and chamber orchestra. The work celebrates the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's sail into New York Harbor and features tenor Jason Danieley who was described by The New York Times as "the most exquisite tenor on Broadway."

February 5
A TRIBUTE TO BLACK HISTORY MONTH
THE NEW YORK OPERA SOCIETY PRESENTS FASCINATING RHYTHMS -GERSHWIN AND JOPLIN
12:30 pm & 7 pm
World Financial Center Winter Garden

The New York Opera Society debuts at the Winter Garden with two concerts celebrating the music of George Gershwin and Scott Joplin, featuring renowned soprano ChristIna Clark, baritone Kenneth Overton, and a 1930s Weimar Berlin style jazz quintet.