The Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center is an annual exploration of its namesake composer’s genius promises to chase away the memory of a long, cold winter.
From July 25 through August 22, you can experience wonderful musical artistry in the casual atmosphere of this renowned festival. Under the inspired baton of Renée and Robert Belfer Music Director Louis Langrée, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra continues to be the pulse of each summer season.
Exciting guest conductors lead the orchestra as well: favorite Andrew Manze, sharing the podium with Joshua Bell; Edward Gardner, who also conducts the Academy of Ancient Music; and Cornelius Meister and Cristian Măcelaru, making their festival debuts. Virtuosic soloists including Emanuel Ax, Jeremy Denk, Sol Gabetta, and Lars Vogt appear with the Festival Orchestra, and performances by the Emerson String Quartet and the International Contemporary Ensemble, the returning artists-in-residence, add to the myriad offerings.
This year’s festival also features a landmark operatic event: the U.S. stage premiere of George Benjamin’s acclaimed opera Written on Skin, widely considered a modern masterpiece. The Mostly Mozart Festival composer-in-residence, Mr. Benjamin’s powerful tale of submission and desire comes to the stage for just three performances. This unique and moving experience is not to be missed, along with other Benjamin works throughout the summer.
Nine Little Night Music performances extend the festivities into the evening, and our many pre-concert recitals, artist discussions, film, and engaging lectures round out the 49th festival. With so much to choose from, this summer’s Mostly Mozart Festival truly has something for everyone.
The festival kicks off with a free preview concert on July 25 by the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, performing Mozart’s Symphony No. 34 and Brahms’ Symphony No. 4. The celebratory fanfare of Mozart’s final Salzburg symphony announces the arrival of another wonderful summer with Louis Langrée and the acclaimed Festival Orchestra. On the wings of Mozart’s uplifting opus, the players pursue the Classical symphony to its summit: Brahms’s sublime Fourth Symphony. Free tickets will be distributed on Saturday, July 25 at 10:00 am at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office on a first come, first-served basis. Limit two tickets per person. While Avery Fisher Hall will not open until 10:00, lines begin to form outside earlier in the morning. Early arrival is recommended to increase the possibility of receiving tickets. If you are unable to wait in line due to a disability, please check in with Guest Services staff upon arrival for assistance.
Lincoln Center (Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts) serves three primary roles: world’s leading presenter of superb artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. In addition, LCPA led a $1.2 billion campus renovation, completed in October 2012. Lincoln Center was envisioned as a major performing arts center that would develop and present the finest and brightest in all types of performing arts to a diverse audience drawn from all walks of life.
Lincoln Center is on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, located between West 62nd and 65th Streets and Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.