New York City Ballet has announced the program for the Opening Night Benefit on Tuesday, November 24 at 7 p.m., which will mark the Company’s first performance in their newly renovated home, the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. The one-time-only program will feature all of the Company’s principal dancers and will open with Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH, choreographed for NYCB in 2008.
The highlight of the evening will be a world premiere ballet by Peter Martins to John Adams’ Naive and Sentimental Music. A long-time champion of contemporary American music, this will be Martins’ ninth ballet to a score composed by Adams. The ballet will feature costumes by fashion designer Liliana Casabal of Morgane Le Fay, her first designs for a ballet performance. Martins will choreograph the ballet for 26 of the Company’s principal dancers.
Chairmen for the Opening Night Benefit are Jane Carroll, Barbara and Brad Evans, and Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin. Over the past year, the Company’s home at Lincoln Center has undergone a major renovation to refurbish and modernize this historic venue. Created for George Balanchine and New York City Ballet, the theater opened on April 20, 1964, and was originally called the New York State Theater. The theater was renamed the David H. Koch Theater in 2008 in recognition of Mr. Koch’s $100 million gift to the theater’s capital campaign.
Tickets for the performance only are priced from $20 to $115 and are available at the David H. Koch Theater Box Office, by calling Center Charge at 212-721-6500, or online at www.nycballet.com.
Benefit tickets, which include a pre-performance cocktail reception, and post-performance supper ball, are available for $1,500, $2,000, and $5,000, or in tables of ten for $15,000, $20,000 and $50,000. Tickets for the pre-performance cocktail reception and performance only are also available for $250 each. Benefit-priced tickets are available through the NYCB Special Events Office at 212-870-5585.
The David H. Koch Theater is located on the Lincoln Center Plaza at Broadway at 63rd Street. For general information on tickets for any New York City Ballet performance, call 212-870-5570, or visit www.nycballet.com.
The world premiere of Peter Martins' new ballet is made possible by contributions from members of the New Combinations Fund. Additional funding for new choreography is provided by The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation and the Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Endowment Fund.
New York City Ballet’s programming is made possible in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Recovery Act, and the New York State Council on the Arts.
New York City Ballet’s musical leadership is endowed in part by the Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro Fund for Musical Excellence.
The creation and performance of works by Peter Martins is funded in part by an endowment gift from the Solomon family, given in loving memory of Carolyn B. Solomon.
New York City Ballet’s performances of works by George Balanchine are supported in part by the Balanchine Production Fund, an endowment created through The Campaign for New York City Ballet.
American Airlines is New York City Ballet’s Preferred Airline.
