''Live from Lincoln Center'' is a seventeen-time

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning series that has broadcast notable performances from the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

in New York City on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

since 1976. The program airs between six and nine times per season. Episodes of ''Live from Lincoln Center'' feature Lincoln Center's resident artistic organizations, most notably the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

. Funding for the series is currently made possible by major grants from the Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust, Thomas H. Lee and Ann Tenenbaum, the

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

and Renee Belfer Family Foundation, the MetLife Foundation, Mercedes T. Bass, and the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

History

''Live from Lincoln Center'' premiered on PBS on January 30, 1976. Since its premiere, the series has presented performances by the world's greatest performing artists. Some of its most notable regular performers include

Audra McDonald Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four act ...

(the program's official host),

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...

, Luciano Pavarotti,

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

, Itzhak Perlman, George Balanchine,

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...

Nathan Lane Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. In a career spanning over 40 years he has been seen on stage and screen in roles both comedic and dramatic. Lane has received numerous awards including three Tony Awards, ...

James Galway Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". He established an international career as a solo flute player. In 2005, he received the Brit Award for Outsta ...

, Billy Porter,

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

James Naughton James Naughton (born December 6, 1945) is an American actor and director. He is best known as Michael Bower on '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984-1992) and was also notable for his earlier role as the astronaut Pete Burke in the 1974 single-season telev ...

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus O ...

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

Jason Isbell Michael Jason Isbell (; born February 1, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is known for his solo career, his work with the band The 400 Unit, and as a member of Drive-By Truckers for six years, from 2001 to 2007. Isbell h ...

Beverly Sills Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verdi, she was especially renowned f ...

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma ('' Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...

Renée Fleming Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nominated for ...

, Emma Thompson, Joan Sutherland,

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, wi ...

Mikhail Baryshnikov Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; lv, Mihails Barišņikovs; born January 28, 1948) is a Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Latvian-born R ...

Patina Miller Patina Renea Miller is an American actress and singer. Miller's breakout role was as originating the role of disco diva wannabe Deloris Van Cartier in the 2009 West End and 2011 Broadway productions of '' Sister Act'' for which she earned a Laur ...

, the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

, the

Mark Morris Dance Group Mark William Morris (born August 29, 1956) is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments. Morris is popular among dance aficionados, ...

, the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

, the

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is a modern dance company based in New York City. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey. It is made up of 32 dancers, led by artistic director Robert Battle and associate ...

, the

, and the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

Martin Bookspan Martin Bookspan (July 30, 1926April 29, 2021) was an American announcer, commentator, and author. He was the announcer on the PBS series ''Live from Lincoln Center'' from its beginnings in 1976 until his retirement in 2006. For years he was als ...

served as the program announcer from the premiere of ''Live from Lincoln Center'' until his retirement in 2006, at which point Fred Child took over. On-camera hosts throughout the broadcast's history have included Dick Cavett,

Hugh Downs Hugh Malcolm Downs (February 14, 1921July 1, 2020) was an American radio and television broadcaster, announcer and programmer; television host; news anchor; TV producer; author; game show host; talk show sidekick; and music composer. A regular t ...

Sam Waterston Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television and, film. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, and has receive ...

Garrick Utley Clifton Garrick Utley (November 19, 1939 – February 20, 2014) was an American television journalist. He established his career reporting about the Vietnam War and has the distinction of being the first full-time television correspondent coverin ...

, Patrick Watson, and

. Most recently, the host position has been filled by

Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the war come ...

, Alec Baldwin, Lesley Stahl, and currently, Audra McDonald. The show was originally developed in the mid-1970s by John Goberman, who served as executive producer from 1976 until 2011. In 2012, current Executive Producer Andrew Carl Wilk took over. Through 2012, the show was, in fact, live (or delayed slightly to accommodate PBS scheduling). Through Goberman and Wilk's leadership, ''Live from Lincoln Center'' has gone on to win 17

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, 2

George Foster Peabody Awards The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

, and several other accolades over its time on PBS. The current team of directors for the program is made up of Habib Azar, Dana Calderwood, Alex Coletti, Matthew Diamond, Brad Fuss, Annette Jolles, Lonny Price, Alan Skog, Glenn Weiss, and Andrew Carl Wilk. Kirk Browning is credited as the longest-running director of the series, contributing to the production of 185 episodes, and winning two Primetime Emmys as well as two Daytime Emmys. The show's full-time production team, led by Wilk, is composed of Douglas Chang (Series Producer), Kristy Geslain (Producer, Lincoln Center Media Productions), Danielle Schiffman (Director, Business and Legal Affairs), Daisy Placeres (Line Producer), Gillian Campbell (Manager, Rights and Media), and Nick Palm (Post-Production Supervisor; Lead Editor).

Awards

Notable broadcasts

*American Ballet Theater: ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

'' (Jun. 30, 1976) *New York City Opera: ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was base ...

'' (Nov. 3, 1976) *Stern, Perlman & Zukerman:

's 60th Birthday Celebration (Sep. 9, 1980) *Beverly! Her Farewell Performance, An Evening with Danny Kaye (Jan. 5, 1981) *New York City Ballet: A Tribute to George Balanchine (Oct. 10, 1983) *

Marilyn Horne Marilyn Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient of the Natio ...

's Great American Songbook (Dec. 23, 1983 *

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

's 85th Birthday with the N.Y. Philharmonic & Zubin Mehta (Nov. 14, 1985) *

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

in Concert, A Classical Jazz Christmas with Wynton Marsalis (Dec. 22, 1989) *

in Concert, A Little Night Music (Oct. 14, 1990) *Mozart Bicentennial Birthday Serenade (Jan. 27, 1991) *New York Philharmonic 150th Anniversary (Sep. 7, 1992) *New York City Opera: '' La traviata'' (Mar. 28, 1995) *A Celebration of the American Musical (Apr. 7, 1997) *New York Philharmonic & Jazz at Lincoln Center: Ellington at 100 (Apr. 7, 1999) *New York City Ballet: Tchaikovsky's ''

'' (May 5, 1999) *The Gershwins' ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', itse ...

'' with the New York City Opera (May 2, 2002) *Lincoln Center Theater ''

Contact Contact may refer to: Interaction Physical interaction * Contact (geology), a common geological feature * Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye * Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects * ...

'' (Sep. 1, 2002) *Jazz at L.C. Grand Opening of Frederick P. Rose Hall “One Family of Jazz”, (Oct. 18, 2004) *Jazz at Lincoln Center: “Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit” (Sep. 17, 2005) *A Lincoln Center Special: “30 Years of Live from Lincoln Center” (May 25, 2006) *New York City Ballet: ''

Romeo + Juliet Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a pries ...

'' (May 1, 2007) *New York City Opera, ''

Madam Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...

'' (Mar. 20, 2008) *

Joshua Bell Joshua David Bell (born December 9, 1967) is an American violinist and conductor. He plays the Gibson Stradivarius. Early life and education Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, to Shirley Bell, a therapist, and Alan P. Bell, a psychologis ...

with Friends @ The Penthouse (Jun. 13, 2010) *Wynton at 50 (Oct. 13, 2011) *New York Philharmonic: Bernstein and Gershwin New Year's Eve (Dec. 31, 2011) *

@ The Penthouse (Apr. 6, 2012) *One Singular Sensation! Celebrating Marvin Hamlisch (Dec. 31, 2012) *Rodgers & Hammerstein's ''

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

'' (Apr. 26, 2013) *

in Concert: Go Back Home (May 24, 2013) *New York Philharmonic Gala with

(Dec. 31, 2013) *

Richard Tucker Richard Tucker (August 28, 1913January 8, 1975) was an American operatic tenor and cantor. Long associated with the Metropolitan Opera, Tucker's career was primarily centered in the United States. Early life Tucker was born Rivn (Rubin) Ticke ...

at 100: An Opera Celebration (Jan. 10, 2014) *

in Concert (Mar. 28, 2014) *

: The Songs of Randy Newman (Apr. 4, 2014) *

: Moving Forward (Apr. 11, 2014) *

The Nance ''The Nance'' is a play written by Douglas Carter Beane. It involves the lives of burlesque performers during the 1930s. A "nance" was a camp stock character in vaudeville and burlesque. The play is a production of Lincoln Center Theater that p ...

at the Lyceum Theatre (Oct. 10, 2014) *

Opera Gala: A New Century (Jan. 23, 2015) * Billy Porter: Broadway & Soul (Apr. 3, 2015) *

Norm Lewis Norm Lewis (born June 2, 1963) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in Europe, on Broadway, in film, television, recordings and regional theatre. Productions that he has been involved in include ''Dessa Rose'', ''Miss Saigon'', '' T ...

: Who Am I? (Apr. 10, 2015) *Curtain Up: The School of American Ballet Workshop Performances (Aug. 7, 2015) *New York Philharmonic Opening Gala with

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, ...

(Sep. 24, 2015) *Kern & Hammerstein's ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

'' with The New York Philharmonic (Oct. 16, 2015) * Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton (Oct. 30, 2015) *James Lapine: Act One (Nov. 13, 2015) *Sinatra: Voice for a Century (Dec. 18, 2015) *New York Philharmonic New Year's Eve: La Vie Parisienne (Dec. 31, 2015) *50 Years of

Mostly Mozart The Mostly Mozart Festival is an American classical music festival based in New York City. Venues The festival presents concerts with its resident ensemble, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, principally at David Geffen Hall of the Lincoln C ...

(Feb. 3, 2016) *From Bocelli to Barton: The Richard Tucker Opera Gala (Feb. 5, 2016) *Lincoln Center At the Movies presents: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Nov. 3, 2016) *Lang Lang's New York Rhapsody (Nov. 25, 2016) *Joshua Bell: Seasons of Cuba (Dec. 16, 2016) *New York Philharmonic's New Year's Eve 2016: Enchanted Evening (Dec. 31, 2016) *

Falsettos ''Falsettos'' is a sung-through musical with a book by William Finn and James Lapine, and music and lyrics by Finn. The musical consists of '' March of the Falsettos'' (1981) and '' Falsettoland'' (1990), the last two installments in a trio o ...

(Oct. 27, 2017)

Home media

Traditionally, ''Live from Lincoln Center'' has never been made available on home video due to rights issues. A notable exception was a series of selected classic episodes licensed to

Paramount Home Video Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global. The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...

and released under the "Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Presents" banner through its Bel Canto Video division in the late '80s. Kultur International Films also released a few episodes on videocassette without any branding.

References

External links

*
''Live from Lincoln Center''
at

*
"Goberman Leaving Lincoln Center"
by Mark Schubin, sportsvideo.org, June 8, 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Live from Lincoln Center PBS original programming 1976 American television series debuts 1980s American television series 1990s American television series 2000s American television series 2010s American television series Lincoln Center Peabody Award-winning television programs Television series by WNET Television shows filmed in New York City 2020s American television series