2
Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street
WELCOME Park Avenue Armory strives to engage audiences with eclectic, immersive, and thought-provoking works that are in direct dialogue with the Armory’s unconventional spaces, whether it is the soaring Wade Thompson Drill Hall or the intimate period rooms. And with its pristine acoustics and austere elegance, the Board of Officers Room is like no other in offering the chance to enjoy the art of the recital and music-making in the most personal of settings. Our celebrated Recital Series returns this fall with a slate of virtuosic performances by world-class artists and musicians. We opened the series with a program by “essentially lyric” (Opera News) tenor Paul Appleby and “brilliant” (The New York Times) pianist Conor Hanick, who made their Armory debuts with a program of German lieder. Admired for his interpretive depth, vocal strength, and range of expressivity, Appleby showcased his strong commitment to the repertoire with songs by Schubert, Schumann, Beethoven, and Berg. Baritone Will Liverman brought his “velvet voice” (NPR) and “nuanced, heartfelt storytelling” (The Guardian) to the Armory for October’s program alongside pianist Myra Huang for a program highlighting Black composers and writers as well as works from the traditional classical music canon. Liverman performed songs by Black composers Brian McKnight, Damien Sneed, Margaret Bonds, and H. Leslie Adams. The program also included works by Ravel, Rachmaninoff, and Strauss. Charismatic American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton partners with the incomparable Jake Heggie on tonight’s program of Brahms, Schubert, and Heggie, with special attention to female composers. Recipient of the Beverly Sills Artist Award, Richard Tucker Award, BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition (both Main and Song Prizes), and a Grammy nomination, Barton is navigating a huge career on the opera and recital stage. “Leader of a new generation of opera stars” (The New York Times), Barton brings this leadership to what promises to be stirring and engaging performances. After a challenging year and a half, it is special to once again fill the Armory’s resplendent Board of Officers Room with music, art, and life. We hope you enjoy these magical moments in music. Rebecca Robertson Founding President and Executive Producer Pierre Audi Marina Kellen French Artistic Director
2021 RECITAL SERIES IN THE RESTORED BOARD OF OFFICERS ROOM
JAMIE BARTON, mezzo-soprano JAKE HEGGIE, piano friday, november 19, 2021 at 8pm sunday, november 21, 2021 at 3pm Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory
The Recital Series is supported in part by The Reed Foundation and the Howard & Sarah D. Solomon Foundation. Support for Park Avenue Armory’s artistic season has been generously provided by the Charina Endowment Fund, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Foundation, the Marc Haas Foundation, the Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds Foundation, the Leon Levy Foundation, the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, the Richenthal Foundation, and the Isak and Rose Weinman Foundation. The artistic season is also made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional support has been provided by the Armory’s Artistic Council.
2021 SEASON SPONSORS
PROGRAM Jake Heggie The Breaking Waves, no. 3 “Music” Henry Purcell/Benjamin Britten “Music for a While” from Oedipus, Z. 583 no. 2 Franz Schubert “An die Musik,” D. 547 “Gretchen am Spinnrade,” D. 118 “Rastlose Liebe,” D. 138 Florence Price “The Poet and His Song” Lili Boulanger “Attente” Amy Beach Three Browning Songs, no. 2 “Ah, Love, But a Day” Nadia Boulanger “S’il arrive jamais” Florence Price “Hold Fast to Dreams” Johannes Brahms “Unbewegte laue Luft,” op. 57, no. 8 Junge Lieder I, op. 63, no. 5 “Meine Liebe ist grün” “Von ewiger Liebe,” op. 43, no. 1 Intermission Jake Heggie What I Miss the Most... (East Coast Premiere) Order (by Joyce DiDonato) Time (by Patti LuPone) Action (by Sister Helen Prejean) Music (by Ruth Bader Ginsburg) You (by Kathleen Kelly) Of Gods and Cats In the Beginning Once Upon a Universe Iconic Legacies: First Ladies at the Smithsonian 1. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT: Marian Anderson’s Mink Coat 2. MARY TODD LINCOLN: Abraham Lincoln’s Hat 3. JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS: White House Christmas Card, 1963 4. BARBARA BUSH: The Muppets This performance is approximately 1 hour 35 minutes including a 15-minute intermission.
2
Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street
ABOUT THE PROGRAM This evening’s program covers a range of songs, spanning the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries. Their musical settings take their cue from the poems, which are like mini-dramas, and all deal with topics of love and connection. The recital begins with two about the freeing power of love. The first is Jake Heggie’s “Music,” whose poignant text was written by Sister Helen Prejean, best-known for her 1993 book Dead Man Walking, subsequently turned into both a film and an opera. Using the sparest of means, Prejean underscores the prisoner’s humanity: through the miraculous power of music, he is restored briefly to “the land of the living.” The song matches the simplicity of this utterance, beginning and ending with an unadorned, blues-inflected vocal line, the piano joining midway to illustrate the prisoner’s transcendent experience. Benjamin Britten repainted Henry Purcell’s “Music for a While” with a thicker brush, doubling the ascending, repeating bassline to illustrate the weight of the “eternal bands” shackling the dead and give a sense of time suspended. Britten enhances the harmonies with jazzy colors, exaggerates Purcell’s word painting of the snakes and whip dropping away, and builds to a dramatic finish that magnifies Purcell’s liberating message.
Price’s setting, the rocking accompaniment provides a sense of the “hours of toil,” as well as the pealing bell that marks their end, and the “rebellious passions [that] rise and swell” against life’s hardships. The vocal ascent at the end of each verse shows the speaker transcending the mundane through music. The next three songs are settings of poetry about the ephemerality of life and love. Lili Boulanger was drawn to the dreaminess of Maeterlinck’s Symbolist language and Debussy’s musical style. The unresolved chords in “Attente” create a sense of movement without direction reflecting the poem’s unfulfilled expectation, a state of limbo Lili knew well from the chronic illness that took her life all too soon. The vocal line climaxes on the words “Whose lilies do not bloom,” which may be a veiled reference to her own unrealized potential. In Robert Browning’s poem “Ah, Love, But a Day,” the speaker frets over whether her love will change, like the seasons. In Amy Beach’s song, the keys and character do indeed change. Each time the vocalist exclaims “Ah love!” she strives higher, and her hope that love will last is revealed when minor gives way to major.
The final two songs show another side of love, the allconsuming obsession it becomes if unrequited.
Nadia Boulanger composed “S’il arrive jamais” with her teacher (and likely lover) Raoul Pugno. Émile Verhaeren’s poem expresses anxiety that the love the speaker shares with another may someday turn to pain, and suggests in that case, they should choose death. The song’s dramatic musical sweep matches the poem’s single run-on sentence, ending in the lovers’ imagined journey following “one soaring path, our souls bathed in sunlight,” and “exaltedly go to our death.”
In Goethe’s “Gretchen am Spinnrade,” the speaker is filled with longing, futilely awaiting her lover’s arrival. Schubert makes her suspense audible, as the accompaniment mimics the spinning wheel, turning incessantly like her disquieting thoughts.
Langston Hughes’ spare poem counsels that one should “Hold Fast to Dreams” because life has no meaning without them. As in Lili Boulanger’s song, Debussy’s impressionistic musical style clearly influenced Florence Price’s expressive musical setting.
Goethe’s “Rastlose Liebe” reflects his dozen years-long love for a married woman, memorialized in 7000 letters. Goethe matches the restlessness in nature with emotional tumult, and Schubert underscores this with a propulsive musical setting.
The three Brahms songs present a natural landscape that either matches or masks an inner psychic landscape.
In the next set, Schubert’s “An die Musik” extends this theme of music’s revitalizing power, his exquisitely artless setting proving the poet Schober right in saying that music “has kindled my heart to the warmth of love.”
The next set is by women composers presently experiencing a long-overdue renaissance in performances and recordings. Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s “The Poet and His Song” returns to the theme of music as respite from suffering. In Florence
Georg Friedrich Daumer’s poem “Unbewegte laue Luft” contrasts the stillness of nature with the suppressed yearning the speaker feels, and Brahms’ song reflects this incongruity. The ascent to the climax argues persuasively for the urgent fulfillment of this desire, and the ethereal, pianissimo ending suggests it has indeed been achieved.
armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory
3
In Robert and Clara Schumann’s youngest son Felix’s poem “Meine Liebe ist grün,” nature magnifies the love the speaker feels. Brahms’ song bustles with the sheer ebullience of love he himself felt for Felix’s mother. Like “Gretchen am Spinnrade,” Brahms’ “Von ewiger Liebe” tells a story about a love as secure as Gretchen’s is tenuous. The dark setting in August Heinrich Hoffman von Fallersleben’s poem reflects the lover’s anxiety over what others may say about their relationship. When his lover responds that their love is strong and will withstand adversity, the relief he feels is palpable, represented musically by the melody’s rhythmic displacement against the harmony. What I Miss the Most… is comprised of answers to the title posed as a question, when the world shut down in March 2020. Heggie’s five songs capture not only what the authors had to say but a sense of who they are. The opera singer Joyce DiDonato wrote about receiving the sudden order to shelter in place. The edgy accompaniment reflects shock at the change in all our lives, the recurring turn figure in the vocal melody, the sense of being stuck in one spot. After a quiet middle section suggesting a period of waiting and reflection, the return of the opening is the resumption of activity (though no one at that time could have imagined how far into the future that would be).
The dramatic songs in the cycle Iconic Legacies: First Ladies at the Smithsonian are based on iconic items housed at the museum related to four of our First Ladies. The first is Eleanor Roosevelt describing the mink coat Marian Anderson wore while she sang before a huge crowd at the Lincoln Memorial, a performance Eleanor Roosevelt helped to realize. References to “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” abound, and the climactic line is: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” The second is Mary Todd Lincoln responding to the hat adorned with a mourning band in memory of their deceased son, worn by her husband the night he was assassinated. The third is Jacqueline Kennedy recalling the Christmas card she and her husband signed the day of his assassination – the trivial juxtaposed with the tragic. The fourth is Barbara Bush describing her literacy campaign and the Sesame Street Muppets, a lively conclusion to a recital about love and connection. —Dr. Anne-Marie Reynolds Music History Professor, The Juilliard School
The Broadway star Patti LuPone reflected on the opportunity to spend time with her family. Heggie’s setting reflects her positive attitude, knowing and feeling grateful for what’s most important in life. The expansive possibilities Sister Helen Prejean initially contemplated after the shutdown are suggested by the music’s broad sweep, but her conscience soon kicked in, and she worried about the unfairness of prisoners suffering unequally in the pandemic. The increasing tension in the accompaniment reflects her desire to take action and help. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg missed “music made by many,” and the coming together “in unison,” which is precisely how the song ends. This statement is all the more poignant since we lost her soon after she wrote it. Pianist and conductor Kathleen Kelly noted endearing details about the people she loves, visible during the shutdown only on a two-dimensional screen, and the longing caused by that limitation. Heggie’s song reflects the significance of each minute observation and the profound emotion contained in such simple statements as “I see you see me.” Of God and Cats is a playful pair of songs, the first about how the cat got its purr, and the second about God as a naughty boy.
4
Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street
ABOUT THE ARTISTS JAMIE BARTON
Critically acclaimed by virtually every major outlet covering classical music, American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton is increasingly recognized for how she uses her powerful instrument offstage – lifting up women, queer people, and other marginalized communities. Her lively social media presence on Instagram and Twitter serves as a hub for conversations about body positivity, diet culture, social justice issues, and LGBTQ+ rights. She is proud to volunteer with Turn The Spotlight, an organization working to identify, nurture, and empower leaders among women and people of color – and in turn, to illuminate the path to a more equitable future in the arts. In recognition of her iconic performance at the Last Night of the Proms, Barton was named 2020 Personality of the Year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards. She is also the winner of the International Opera Awards Readers’ Award, Beverly Sills Artist Award, Richard Tucker Award, and both Main and Song Prizes at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Barton’s 2007 win at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions launched a major international career that includes leading roles at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bayerische Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Houston Grand Opera, and the Met. Praised by Gramophone as having “the sort of instrument you could listen to all day, in any sort of repertoire,” Barton has appeared with Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax at Tanglewood, and in recital across the U.S. and U.K., including engagements at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and The Kennedy Center. Her solo albums include All Who Wander, which received the 2018 BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award, and Unexpected Shadows, recorded with composer Jake Heggie.
JAKE HEGGIE
“Arguably the world’s most popular 21st century opera and art song composer” (The Wall Street Journal), Jake Heggie is best known for his acclaimed operas Dead Man Walking, Moby-Dick, It’s A Wonderful Life, Three Decembers, Two Remain, and If I Were You. The operas and his more than 300 art songs have been performed extensively on five continents, championed by some of the world’s most beloved artists. Dead Man Walking has received 70 international productions and two live recordings since its premiere in 2000, making it the most widely performed American opera of our time. The Metropolitan Opera has announced a bold new production of Dead Man Walking for a future season, to be directed by Ivo van Hove and conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Heggie is currently at work on his 10th opera, INTELLIGENCE, conceived and created with librettist Gene Scheer and director/choreographer Jawole Zollar, commissioned by Houston Grand Opera. Songs for Murdered Sisters, a song cycle to poetry by Margaret Atwood for baritone Joshua Hopkins, recently received its premiere in an acclaimed film by director James Niebuhr, streamed by Houston Grand Opera and released on Pentatone. Last season featured the world premiere of Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope (texts by Gene Scheer), a dramatic song cycle performed by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and violinist Daniel Hope with string quartet. Recorded live by Pentatone, the work was commissioned to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz. Pentatone also recently released Unexpected Shadows, featuring superstar mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, cellist Matt Haimovitz and Heggie in a recital of the composer’s songs. Jake Heggie lives in San Francisco with his husband, Curt Branom.
armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory
5
TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS JAKE HEGGIE (1961 – ) The Breaking Waves, no. 3 “Music” Text by Sister Helen Prejean For almost a year I didn’t know He could have music on death row When I found out I sent the tape player and headphones And the next day, he told me: “I listened to music all night long” He drank music like a thirsty man He joined the land of the living that night I felt his joy. I feel it still.
HENRY PURCELL (1659 – 1695) BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913 – 1976) “Music for a While,” from Oedipus, Z. 583 no. 2 Text by John Dryden and Nathaniel Lee, from Oedipus Music for a while Shall all your cares beguile: Wond’ring how your pains were eas’d, And disdaining to be pleas’d, Till Alecto free the dead From their eternal bands, Till the snakes drop from her head And the whip from out her hands.
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797 – 1828) An die Musik, D. 547 Text by Franz von Schober
To Music
Du holde Kunst, in wieviel grauen Stunden, Wo mich des Lebens wilder Kreis umstrickt, Hast du mein Herz zu warmer Lieb entzunden, Hast mich in eine beßre Welt entrückt!
O sublime art, in how many gray hours, when the wild tumult of life ensnared me, have you kindled my heart to warm love, have you carried me away to a better world!
Oft hat ein Seufzer, deiner Harf entflossen, Ein süßer, heiliger Akkord von dir Den Himmel beßrer Zeiten mir erschlossen, Du holde Kunst, ich danke dir dafür!
Often a sigh, escaped from your harp, a swift, solemn chord from you, has opened the heaven of better times for me— o sublime art, I thank you for it!
6
Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street
Gretchen am Spinnrade, D. 118 Text by Johann W. von Goethe
Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel
Meine Ruh’ ist hin, Mein Herz ist schwer, Ich finde sie nimmer Und nimmermehr.
My peace is gone, my heart is heavy, never shall I find peace ever more.
Wo ich ihn nicht hab’, Ist mir das Grab, Die ganze Welt Ist mir vergällt.
Where he is not, there is my grave, all the world is bitter to me.
Mein armer Kopf Ist mir verrückt, Mein armer Sinn Ist mir zerstückt.
My poor head is crazed, my poor wits are torn apart.
Nach ihm nur schau ich Zum Fenster hinaus, Nach ihm nur geh’ ich Aus dem Haus.
Only for him do I gaze from the window, only for him do I go from the house.
Sein hoher Gang, Sein’ edle Gestalt, Seines Mundes Lächeln, Seiner Augen Gewalt.
His superior walk, his noble form, his mouth’s smile, his eyes’ power.
Und seiner Rede Zauberfluß, Sein Händedruck, Und ach, sein Kuß!
And his words— their magic flow, the press of his hand, and ah, his kiss!
Mein Busen drängt Sich nach ihm hin. Ach, dürft’ ich fassen Und halten ihn,
My heart craves for him, ah, might I grasp and hold him,
Und küssen ihn, So wie ich wollt, An seinen Küssen Vergehen sollt!
and kiss him, as I would wish, and upon his kisses I should die!
Meine Ruh’ ist hin, Mein Herz ist schwer.
My peace is gone, my heart is heavy.
Please turn page quietly. armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory
7
Rastlose Liebe, D. 138 Text by Johann W. von Goethe
Restless Love
Dem Schnee, dem Regen, Dem Wind entgegen, Im Dampf der Klüfte Durch Nebeldüfte, Immer zu! Immer zu! Ohne Rast und Ruh!
Against the snow, the rain, the wind, in the mist of the ravines, through the scent of fog, ever on! Ever on! Without rest and peace!
Lieber durch Leiden Wollt ich mich schlagen, Als so viel Freuden Des Lebens ertragen.
I would rather through suffering fight myself, than so many joys of life endure.
Alle das Neigen Von Herzen zu Herzen, Ach, wie so eigen Schaffet das Schmerzen!
All the inclining of heart to heart, ah, how curiously that creates pain!
Wie soll ich fliehen? Wälderwärts ziehen? Alles vergebens! Krone des Lebens, Glück ohne Ruh, Liebe, bist du!
Where shall I flee? To the forest move? All in vain! Crown of life, happiness without peace, love, this you are!
FLORENCE PRICE (1887 – 1953) The Poet and His Song Text by Paul Laurence Dunbar A song is but a little thing, And yet what joy it is to sing! In hours of toil it gives me zest, And when at eve I long for rest; When cows come home along the bars, And in the fold I hear the bell, As Night, the shepherd, herds his stars, I sing my song, and all is well. My days are never days of ease; I till my ground and prune my trees. When ripened gold is all the grain. I labor hard, and toil and sweat, While others dream within the dell; But even while my brow is wet, I sing my song, and all is well. Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot, My garden makes a desert spot; Sometimes a blight upon the tree Takes all my fruit away from me; And then with throes of bitter pain Rebellious passions rise and swell; But—life is more than fruit or grain, And so I sing, and all is well.
8
Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street
LILI BOULANGER (1893 – 1918) Attente Text by Maurice Maeterlinck
Expectation
Mon âme a joint ses mains étranges À l'horizon de mes regards; Exaucez mes rêves épars Entre les lèvres de vos anges!
My soul has joined its strange hands To the horizon of my sight; Make my scattered dreams come true Between the lips of your angels!
En attendant sous mes yeux las, Et sa bouche ouverte aux prières Éteintes entre mes paupières Et dont les lys n’éclosent pas;
For now under my weary eyes, And its mouth open to the prayers Unlit between my eyelids And whose lilies do not open;
Elle apaise au fond de mes songes, Ses seins effeuillés sous mes cils, Et ses yeux clignent aux périls Éveillés au fil des mensonges.
It appeases in the depth of my dreams, Its breasts picked off under my eyebrows. And its eyes blink at the perils Born at the same time as the lies.
AMY BEACH (1867 – 1944) Three Browning Songs, no. 2 “Ah, Love, But a Day” Ah, Love, but a day, And the world has changed! The sun’s away, And the bird estranged; The wind has dropped, And the sky’s deranged; Summer has stopped. Look in my eyes! Wilt thou change too? Should I fear surprise? Shall I find aught new In the old and dear, In the good and true, With the changing year? Thou art a man, But I am thy love. For the lake, its swan; For the dell, its dove; And for thee — (oh, haste!) Me, to bend above, Me, to hold embraced.
Please turn page quietly. armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory
9
NADIA BOULANGER (1887 – 1979) S’il arrive jamais Text by Emile Verhaeren
Should It Ever Occur
S’il arrive jamais Que nous soyons, sans le savoir, Souffrance ou peine ou désespoir, L’un pour l’autre; s’il se faisait Que la fatigue ou le banal plaisir Detendissent en nous l’arc d'or du haut désir; Si le cristal de la pure pensée Doit en nos coeurs tomber et se briser, Si malgré tout, je me sentais Vaincu pour n’avoir pas été Assez en proie à la divine immensité De la bonté; Alors, oh! serrons-nous comme deux fous sublimes Qui sous les cieux cassés, se cramponnent aux cimes Quand même—et d’un unique essor, L’âme en soleil, s’exaltent dans la mort.
Should it ever occur That we unwittingly become Pain, sorrow or despair For one another; if it ever were That fatigue or banal pleasure Loosened up the golden bow of high desire; If the crystal of pure thought In our hearts should ever fall and break, If, in spite of it all, I felt Defeated for not having been Sufficiently touched by the divine immensity Of kindness; Then, oh, let us embrace like two sublime madmen Who under broken skies still hang on to the summit— And in one soaring path, Our souls bathed in sunlight, exaltedly go to our death.
FLORENCE PRICE (1887 – 1953) Hold Fast to Dreams Text by Langston Hughes Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow.
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833 – 1897) Unbewegte laue Luft, op. 57, no. 8 Text by Georg Friedrich Daumer
Mild, Unagitated Air
Unbewegte laue Luft, Tiefe Ruhe der Natur; Durch die stille Gartennacht Plätschert die Fontäne nur. Aber im Gemüte schwillt Heißere Begierde mir, Aber in den Adern quillt Leben und verlangt nach Leben. Sollten nicht auch deine Brust Sehnlichere Wünsche heben? Sollte meiner Seele Ruf Nicht die deine tief durchbeben? Leise mit dem Ätherfuß Säume nicht, daherzuschweben! Komm, o komm, damit wir uns Himmlisches Genüge geben!
Mild, unagitated air, Nature in deep repose; In the still garden night Only the fountain splashes. But in my soul swell More ardent desires, But in my veins surges Life and craves life. Should not more ardent Wishes exalt your breast too? Should my soul's call Not deeply thrill your soul? Softly, on ethereal feet, Float to me, do not tarry! Come, oh come, that we may give Each other heavenly satisfaction!
10
Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street
Meine Liebe ist grün, op. 63, no. 5 Text by Felix Schumann
My Love is Green
Meine Liebe ist grün wie der Fliederbusch, Und mein Lieb ist schoen wie die Sonne, Die glänzt wohl herab auf den Fliederbusch Und füllt ihn mit Duft und mit Wonne, Meine Seele hat Schwingen der Nachtigall Und wiegt sich in blühendem Flieder, Und jauchzet un singet vom Duft berauscht Viel lieberstrunkene Lieder.
My love is green like the lilac bush, And my beloved is fair like the sun! It shines upon the lilac bush And fills it with fragrance and delight. My soul has wings of the nightingale And floats in the blossoming lilac, And shouts and sings, overcome by the fragrance, Many songs that are drunk with love.
Von ewiger Liebe, op. 43, no. 1 Of Eternal Love Text by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben Dunkel, wie dunkel in Wald und in Feld! Abend schon ist es, nun schweiget die Welt. Nirgend noch Licht und nirgend noch Rauch, Ja, und die Lerche, sie schweiget nun auch.
Dark, how dark it is in the forest and field! Night has fallen, the world is now silent. Nowhere a light and nowhere smoke. Yes, and the lark is now silent, too.
Kommt aus dem Dorfe der Bursche heraus, Gibt das Geleit der Geliebten nach Haus, Führt sie am Weidengebüsche vorbei, Redet so viel und so mandcherlei:
From the village yonder there comes the young lad, taking his beloved home. He leads her past the willow bushes, talking much, and of many things:
“Leidest du Schmach und betrübest du dich, Leidest du Schmach von andern um mich, Werde die Liebe getrennt so geschwind, Schnell wie wir früher vereiniget sind. Scheide mit Regen und scheide mit Wind, Schnell wie wir früher vereiniget sind.”
“If you suffer shame and if you grieve, if you suffer disgrace before others because of me, then our love shall be ended ever so fast, as fast as we once came together; it shall go with the rain and go with the wind, as fast as we once came together.”
Spricht das Mägdelein, Mägdelein spricht: “Unsere Leibe, sie trennet sich nicht! Fest is der Stahl und das Eisen gar sehr, Unsere liebe ist fester noch mehr.
Then says the maiden, the maiden says: “Our love can never end! Strong is steel and iron, yet our love is stronger still.
Eisen und Stahl, man schmiedet sie um, Unsere Liebe, wer wandelt sie um? Eisen und Stahl, sie können zergehn, Unsere Liebe muß ewig bestehn!”
Iron and steel, they can be forged over, but our love, who can change this? Iron and steel can disintegrate, but our love must remain forever!”
Please turn page quietly. armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory
11
JAKE HEGGIE (1961 – ) What I Miss the Most… (East Coast Premiere) Order Text by Joyce DiDonato The order comes swiftly, whispered yet firm: Be Quiet. Be Silent. And come Return. The accompanying light shines stark, harsh and true: Unequal. Hollow. All Torn-Through. The aching moment awakens, resonant and pure: Grieve. Rest. And now . . . Breathe sure. The new dawn arrives, hopeful yet stern: Renew. Refresh. And All Return. Time Text by Patti LuPone What I miss the most in this unprecedented time is… huh. What do I miss? I have Time in the fullness of the word. Time to reflect on my life and how I live it. Improvements are definitely in order. But I don’t think I miss anything. I’ve been given Time. Time with my family, home safe and all together. Time to look out at Mother Nature, to marvel at the glory she presents us every day. I miss a paycheck and that’s scary. But, if I weigh the need to work and Time with loved ones I don’t miss anything. Action Text by Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ At first, when it hit mid-March, I thought: Glee! I get to be home to plant flowers Home to read books To have hours for meditation Reflection For me…
12
But conscience, that moral membrane Makes me porous Susceptible To the cries of prisoners Crowded Locked down And anxious families Cut off Cut out What can one person do? Guilt is not a bad thing. It can be a sort of WD40 Greasing my moral gears to act: Do something. Do something! DO SOMETHING! Music Text by Ruth Bader Ginsburg One of the things I miss: Music made by many in unison. Virtual collaboration, good as it is, pales in comparison. You Text by Kathleen Kelly There you are. Your voice, your hair. The frayed neck of my old shirt draping the rise of your collarbone. No one else. It’s you, it’s all of your things. You look up to the right when you search for a word, You look down with a smile, Then straight at the camera. Your wide eyes. I see you see me. You purse your lips to tell me what you will not say. I thought I would say, it’s a sad substitution, But my fatigued eyes would gaze at you all day. At night, you move across the screen of my eyelids, In the morning, you call. Your hand is in your hair. You look away, through that other window. I bow toward the screen, I take a long drink of your invisible breath.
Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street
Of Gods and Cats Text by Gavin Dillard In the Beginning In the beginning was the cat And the cat was without purr... The ether stirred and there was milk, And the cat saw that it was good, It was good... A hand stretched forth across the milk And scratched behind the cats ears And it felt good... Then the firmament shook And there was produced a paper bag! And the cat went forth into the bag And seeing that it was good, She fell asleep purring. Once Upon a Universe Once when God was a little boy His mother caught Him breaking His toys And gluing them back together again With prayers and incantations. “Don’t play with Your creations,” she admonished him. “Amen.” But He went right on building temples Only to destroy them with vast armies Of ant-like people. Creating new planets and wiping them out With their on ignominious waste products. At the end of eternity His mother shook her cosmic finger And insisted that He clean up His universe, “Or there'll be no bliss for you, young God! Amen.” He swept the entire mess into the nearest black hole And fell asleep sucking His divine thumb. Allelu... Alleluia!
Please turn page quietly. armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory
13
Iconic Legacies: First Ladies at the Smithsonian Text by Gene Scheer 1. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT: Marian Anderson’s Mink Coat Listen! Listen! Marian Anderson is singing of thee. Beyond compromise, Beyond recrimination, Beyond the anger of a divided nation Marian Anderson is singing. Wearing this elegant mink, she stood on the steps beneath Lincoln’s stony stare, intoned our nation’s hymn and let freedom ring and ring and ring. Oh what a sound! Of thee I sing. There are some paths no map will ever trace. But, from Lincoln’s steps to Charleston’s “Amazing Grace” I think about what she showed us that day: No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. No one. Who are we? Beyond compromise, Beyond recrimination, Beyond the anger of a divided nation Marian Anderson is singing of thee.
Around his hat he tied a mourning band. Spoke through tears, but – somehow – Did not understand. “Oh, husband! Oh, my Abraham!” I said “Our son, our world, our William is dead.” I am drowning, but will not die. Rip the stars from out the sky. The ship is lost and you pretend We’ll find our way, the pain will end. Your measured gestures mock me. Words of kindness feel like crimes. In a world where this can happen Only madness rhymes. 3. JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS: White House Christmas Card, 1963 Jack walked into the room and said: “Diamonds! Minks and diamonds! That’s what they’ll be wearing in Dallas.” I looked up from signing a Christmas card: “What would you like me to do?” He said: “Let me help you choose.” I was delighted! We’d never done this before. The beige and white dress? No? The blue and yellow suit? Maybe? The pink Chanel?
2. MARY TODD LINCOLN: Abraham Lincoln’s Hat
“Yes! Yes!” he said “Wear that. With the hat.”
Your measured gestures mock me. Words of kindness feel like crimes. In a world where this can happen Only madness rhymes.
Before I left the room, I said: “Jack, I just started the Christmas cards. There… add your name.”
I am drowning, but will not die. Rip the stars from out the sky. The ship is lost and you pretend We’ll find our way, the pain will end. Your measured gestures mock me. Words of kindness feel like crimes. In a world where this can happen Only madness rhymes.
Fifty hours later, I walked back into the bedroom Wearing the pink Chanel suit he had chosen Covered in his blood. And there it was, signed by both of us: A Christmas card propped on the table Like a question mark. Oh Jack, what would you like me to do?
He wore this hat the day he died. A grieving nation cried. But long before—for me— He wore it as an elegy.
14
Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street
4. BARBARA BUSH: The Muppets This is Pete. He looks like a piano, but wait… It’s magic! A squiggle, a curve, a line blossoms into a letter, a letter into a word. Then words that rhyme and phrases like “Once upon a time.” It’s magic! The phrase becomes the mountain you’re climbing that—oh, my goodness!— might not be a mountain at all! But an incredibly fleet, not petite, very sweet dinosaur named Pete, who wakes and takes you on his shoulders where the water splashes and flows and tickles the end of your nose with a drip, drip, drop and a tiny tap. And all of this happens from your mother’s lap. Imagine! You can travel anywhere. And it all begins with “Once upon a time.” Four little words. Imagine you could not read them to your child. Something must be done, I thought. Which is how I made my way to Sesame Street. Surrounded by dozens of muppets you discover your cup it’s overflowing with possibility. Fabric, buttons and thread. Dreams woven from Jim Henson’s head. An alphabet of riffs and dreams. And suddenly you’re on the incredibly fleet, not petite, very sweet dinosaur named Pete whose feet treat you to a ride to the gate through a berry patch. There’s a sign on the latch. And for the first time—all by yourself— You read the words: “Once upon a time.” Thanks, Pete!
armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory
15
ABOUT PARK AVENUE ARMORY Part palace, part industrial shed, Park Avenue Armory fills a critical void in the cultural ecology of New York, supporting unconventional works in the performing and visual arts that cannot be fully realized in a traditional proscenium theater, concert hall, or white wall gallery. With its soaring 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall and an array of exuberant period rooms, the Armory enables a diverse range of artists to create, students to explore, and audiences to experience epic, adventurous, relevant work that cannot be done elsewhere in New York. When the pandemic set in, the Armory dedicated itself to continue to provide support to the artistic community. By taking advantage of vast expanse of the Wade Thompson Drill Hall, the Armory created a very safe Social Distance Hall, for which it commissioned four new works by Bill T. Jones and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company; David Byrne, Christine Jones, and Steven Hoggett; Jason Moran and Laurie Anderson; and Robert Icke. The works were presented between March and July 2021 and provided thousands of hours of creativity and employment to a devastated cultural sector, which had lost 70% of its job base. Programmatic highlights from the Wade Thompson Drill Hall include Ernesto Neto’s anthropodino, a magical labyrinth extended across the Drill Hall; Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s harrowing Die Soldaten, in which the audience moved “through the music”; the event of a thread, a site-specific installation by Ann Hamilton; the final performances of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company on three separate stages; an immersive Macbeth set in a Scottish heath with Kenneth Branagh; WS by Paul McCarthy, a monumental installation of fantasy, excess, and dystopia; a radically inclusive staging of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion staged by Peter Sellars and performed by Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker; eight-time Drama Desk-nominated play The Hairy Ape, directed by Richard Jones and starring Bobby Cannavale; Hansel & Gretel, a new commission by Ai Weiwei, Jacques Herzog, and Pierre de Meuron that explored publicly shared space in the era of surveillance; FLEXN and FLEXN Evolution, two Armorycommissioned presentations of the Brooklyn-born dance-activists group the D.R.E.A.M. Ring, created by Reggie “Regg Roc” Gray and director Peter Sellars; Simon Stone’s heralded production of Yerma starring Billie Piper in her North American debut; The Let Go, a site-specific immersive dance celebration by Nick Cave; Satoshi Miyagi’s stunning production of Antigone set in a lake; Sam Mendes’ critically acclaimed production of The Lehman Trilogy; and the Black Artists Retreat hosted by Theaster Gates, which included public talks and performances, private sessions for the 300 attending artists, and a roller skating rink. In its historic period rooms, the Armory presents more intimate performances and programs, including its acclaimed Recital Series, which showcases musical talent from across the globe within the intimate salon setting of the Board of Officers Room; the Artists Studio series curated by MacArthur “Genius” and jazz phenom Jason Moran in the newly restored Veterans Room, which features a diverse array of innovative artists and artistic pairings that reflect the imaginative improvisation of the young designers and artists who originally conceived the space; a Public Programming series that brings diverse artists and cultural thought-leaders together for discussion and performance around the important issues of our time viewed through an artistic lens; and the Malkin Lecture Series that presents scholars and writers on topics related to the social, political, and aesthetic history of the building. Among the performers who have appeared in the Recital Series and the Artists Studio in the Armory’s restored Veterans Room or the Board of Officers Rooms are: Christian Gerhaher; Ian Bostridge; Jason Moran; Lawrence Brownlee; Barbara Hannigan; Lisette Oropesa; Roscoe Mitchell; Conrad Tao and Tyshawn Sorey; Rashaad Newsome; and Krency Garcia (“El Prodigio”). Highlights from the Public Programming series include: symposiums such as Carrie Mae Weems’ day-long event called The Shape of Things, whose participants included Elizabeth Alexander, Theaster Gates, Elizabeth Diller, and Nona Hendryx; a day-long Lenape Pow Wow and Standing Ground Symposium held in the Wade Thompson Drill Hall, the first congregation of Lenape Leaders on Manhattan Island since the 1700s; salons such as the Literature Salon hosted by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, whose participants included Lynn Nottage, Suzan Lori-Parks, and Jeremy O. Harris, and a Spoken Word Salon co-hosted with the Nuyorican Poets Cafe; and most recently, 100 Years | 100 Women, a multi-organization commissioning project that invited 100 women artists and cultural creators to respond to women’s suffrage.
16
Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street
Current Artists-in-Residence at the Armory include two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage; Obie winner and Pulitzer short-listed playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Carmelita Tropicana; Reggie “Regg Roc” Gray and the D.R.E.A.M. Ring; singer and composer Sara Serpa; Tony Award-winning set designer and director Christine Jones and choreographer Steven Hoggett; and Mimi Lien, the first set designer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. The Armory also supports artists through an active commissioning program including such artists as Bill T. Jones, Lynn Nottage, Carrie Mae Weems, Michel van der Aa, Tyshawn Sorey, Raashad Newsome, Julian Rosefeldt, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, and others. The Armory also offers creativity-based arts education programs at no cost to thousands of students from underserved New York City public schools, engaging them with the institution’s artistic programming and outside-the-box creative processes. Annually, more than 5,000 young adults from 50+ under-resourced public schools attend a dedicated student matinee of each Armory production with workshops by Master Teaching Artists provided in the classroom and at the site. In seven partner schools, Teaching Artists facilitate in-depth semester- or year-long residencies that support the schools’ curriculum. Youth Corps, the Armory’s year-round paid, monitored internship program, begins in high school and continues into the critical post-high school years, providing interns with over 14,000 hours per year of mentored employment, job training, and skill development, as well as a network of peers and mentors to support their individual college and career goals. The Armory has undertaken an ongoing $215-million renovation and restoration of its historic building designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron, with Platt Byard Dovell White as Executive Architects.
PARK AVENUE ARMORY BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman Emeritus Elihu Rose, PhD Co-Chairs Adam R. Flatto Amanda J.T. Riegel President Rebecca Robertson
Vice Presidents Ken Kuchin Pablo Legorreta Emanuel Stern Treasurer Gwendolyn Adams Norton
Vice Chair Wendy Belzberg
Founding Chairman, 2000–2009 Wade F.B. Thompson
Marina Abramović Sir David Adjaye OBE Abigail Baratta Martin Brand Joyce F. Brown Cora Cahan Hélène Comfort Paul Cronson Tina R. Davis Marc de La Bruyère Emme Levin Deland Sanford B. Ehrenkranz David Fox Roberta Garza
Pierre Audi, Marina Kellen French Artistic Director
armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory
Andrew Gundlach Marjorie L. Hart Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Edward G. Klein, Major General NYNG (Ret.) Mary T. Kush Ralph Lemon Heidi McWilliams Jason Moran Joel Press Janet C. Ross Joan Steinberg Mimi Klein Sternlicht Deborah C. van Eck Peter Zhou Directors Emeriti Harrison M. Bains, Jr. Angela E. Thompson
17
PARK AVENUE ARMORY STAFF Rebecca Robertson, Founding President and Executive Producer Pierre Audi, Marina Kellen French Artistic Director
Jason Moran, Curator, Artists Studio Tavia Nyong’o, Curator, Public Programming
ARTISTIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING Michael Lonergan, Producing Director Seth Shepsle, General Manager, Programming Jessica Wasilewski, Senior Producer Jenni Bowman, Producer Darian Suggs, Associate Director, Public Programming Samantha Cortez, Program Coordinator
Liz Bickley, Wednesday Derrico, Covid Compliance Team Managers Sheree Campbell, Matt Crastree, Brittany Hazeldine, Patricia Roques, Covid Compliance Team
ARTISTIC PRODUCTION Paul King, Director of Production Claire Marberg, Deputy Director of Production Nicholas Lazzaro, Technical Director Lars Nelson, Technical Director ARTS EDUCATION Cassidy L. Jones, Chief Education Officer Monica Weigel McCarthy, Director of Education Aarti Ogirala, Associate Director of Education, School Programs Chelsea Emelie Kelly, Director of Youth Corps Sharlyn Galarza, Special Projects Coordinator Drew Petersen, Education Special Projects Manager Kate Bell, Donna Costello, Alexander Davis, Asma Feyijinmi, Hawley Hussey, Larry Jackson, Hector Morales, Peter Musante, Drew Petersen, Leigh Poulos, Neil Tyrone Pritchard, Vickie Tanner, Teaching Artists Emily Bruner, Nancy Gomez, Stephanie Mesquita, Ashley Ortiz, Catherine Talton, Teaching Associates Rosemarie Albanese, Wilson Castro, Daniel Gomez, Maxim Ibadov, Teaching Assistants Mohamed Adesumbo, Yao Adja, Zeinebou Dia, Taylor Maheia, Oscar Montenegro, Jason Quizhpi, Angela Reynoso, Silas Rodriguez, Youth Corps BUILDING AND MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS Jenni Kim, Chief Operating Officer Marc Von Braunsberg, Director of Operations Aurelio Roman, Director of Facilities Patricia English, Security Director Chris Sperry, Facilities Manager Darrell Thimoleon, Office Manager William Say, Superintendent Leandro Dasso, Mayra DeLeon, Mario Esquilin, Jeferson Avila, Olga Cruz, Jazmin Dominguez, Howard Johnson, Kariema Levy, Cristina Moreira, Tyrell Shannon, Maintenance Staff Oku Okoko, Director of IT Bobby Wolf, Senior House Manager Daniel George, House Manager Alexandra Ortiz, Assistant House Manager
CAPITAL PROJECTS AND ARCHIVES Kirsten Reoch, Director of Capital Planning, Preservation, and Institutional Relations David Burnhauser, Collection Manager DEVELOPMENT Melanie Forman, Chief Development Officer Charmaine Portis, Executive Assistant to the Chief Development Officer Sam Cole, Director of Development Rachel Risso-Gill, Senior Director of Individual Giving Jennifer Ramon, Associate Director of Individual Giving Breanna Foister, Associate Director of Special Events Michael Buffer, Database Manager Kaitlin Overton, Manager of Institutional Giving Yejin Kim, Special Events Coordinator Adithya Pratama, Individual Giving Coordinator EXECUTIVE OFFICE Lori Nelson, Executive Assistant to the President Nathalie Etienne, Administrative Assistant, President’s Office Simone Elhart, Project Manager FINANCE Susan Neiman, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Christy Kidd, Controller Khemraj Dat, Accountant MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS and BOX OFFICE Lesley Alpert-Schuldenfrei, Director of Marketing Nick Yarbrough, Senior Digital Marketing Manager Allison Abbott, Press and Editorial Manager Joe Petrowski, Director of Ticketing and Customer Relations Monica Diaz, Box Office Manager Sara Salt, Box Office Shift Lead Anne Amundson, Janel Ridley, Mary McDonnell, Sienna Sherman, Box Office PRESS REPRESENTATIVES Resnicow + Associates, Inc. PRODUCTION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Sarah Billinghurst Solomon and Matthew Epstein, Artistic Consultants for Vocal Recitals Steinway & Sons Brian Hanshaw, Production Assistant S. Watson, Lighting
Zipporah Aguasvivas, Jacqueline Babek, Emma Buford, Catie Carlisle, Stephanie Cobb, Sarah Gallick, Daniel Gomez, Eboni Green, Nariah Green, Kevin Joyce, Saygin Karadurak, Sandra Kitt, Christine Lemme, Beth Miller, Drew O'Bryan, Katy O'Connor, Regina Pearsall, Kedesia Robinson, Eileen Rourke, Heather Sandler, Jessica Sandler, Kin Tam, Kathleen White, Ushers
18
Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street
NEXT AT THE ARMORY THE SHAPE OF THINGS december 1 – 31, 2021
A New Commission by Park Avenue Armory Carrie Mae Weems, an artist who has consistently and poignantly addressed the conditions of race in the United States, will create a multi-work installation and series of performances titled The Shape of Things. Weems’ unflinching gaze at what she describes as the “pageantry” and “circus-like” quality of contemporary American political life find form in a series of large-scale installations and a cyclorama (a panoramic image on the inside of a cylindrical platform) of six to eight projections of new and existing film footage where Weems addresses the turmoil of current events and the “long march forward.” Suggestive of a 19th-century carnival with dioramas based on spontaneous street memorials, peep shows, and a Pepper’s Ghost, The Shape of Things is an incisive, powerfully emotional, and critical reflection on events both deeply embedded in American culture and history and the explosive events of the past year. “[Carrie Mae Weems] has made her career creating spaces for contemplation in the place of absence, rooting a troubled present in a painful past with projects that feel resolutely forward-looking and idealistic.” —The New York Times
LAND OF BROKEN DREAMS december 9 – 11, 2021
The Shape of Things is accompanied by Land of Broken Dreams, an ambitious, three-day convening that will activate the Armory with a wide range of presentations and talks with invited artists, readings by poets, singers, dancers, and discussions by scholars on the most urgent issues of the day on Thursday, December 9 through Saturday, December 11. There will also be three concerts with Somi, Vijay Iyer, and Terri Lyne Carrington and Lisa Fischer. For program and tickets, visit armoryonpark.org or call 212-933-5812, Monday through Friday 10am to 6pm.
ASSEMBLY february 16 – march 6, 2022
The Armory’s 2022 Wade Thompson Drill Hall programming begins in February with Assembly, a multifaceted commission by interdisciplinary artist Rashaad Newsome. As the title implies, the exhibition is a communion of multiple art forms spanning the artist’s work for over a decade, including artificial intelligence, sculpture, CGI, assemblage, and holography. Through the artist’s creative exhibition design, the iconic Drill Hall, once used as a site for soldiers to practice, is converted into Newsome’s mothership, which concurrently acts as an installation, performance space, and classroom. As visitors enter, they are confronted with video-mapped walls pulsing with computer-generated imagery surrounding a 40-foottall hologram sculpture and a 350-seat theater. At the center of all of this is Being, the second generation of Newsome’s AI progeny whose voice acts as the exhibition’s soundscape. When not reading their poetry, Being invites visitors to take workshops that combine lecture, critical pedagogy, dance, storytelling, and mindfulness meditation, bringing new possibilities for reflection and an enhanced academic experience for all people. For seven evenings, the theater will come alive with the premiere of Newsome’s new performance featuring live poetry, music, vocalists, and dancers from across the globe-–presenting contemporary movements that synthesize vogue fem with the traditional dance from their territories. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit armoryonpark.org.
armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory
19
JOIN THE ARMORY FRIEND $100 $70 is tax deductible » Members-only pre-sale or preferred access for performance tickets » Free admission for you and a guest to visual art installations » Invitations to visual art VIP preview parties, plus admission to installations for two » Discount on Historic Interiors Tours*** » Discounts at local partnered restaurants » 20% discount on Members Subscription Packages*
SUPPORTER $250 $200 is tax deductible All benefits of the Friend membership plus: » Fees waived on ticket exchanges* » Two free tickets to Historic Interiors Tours *** » Discount on tickets to the Malkin Lecture Series, Artists Talks, and Public Programs*
ASSOCIATE $500 $370 is tax deductible All benefits of the Supporter membership plus: » Access to concierge ticket service » Free admission for two additional guests (a party of four) to Armory visual art installations » Two free passes to an art fair**
BENEFACTOR $1,000 $780 is tax deductible All benefits of the Associate membership plus: » Recognition in Armory printed programs » No wait, no line ticket pick up at the patron desk » Handling fees waived on ticket purchases* » Invitation for you and a guest to a private Chairman’s Circle event » Two complimentary tickets to the popular Malkin Lecture Series*
CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE starting at $2,500
Chairman’s Circle members provide vital support for the Armory’s immersive arts and education programming and the restoration of our landmark building. In grateful appreciation of their support, they receive unique and exclusive opportunities to experience the Armory and interact with our world-class artists.
AVANT-GARDE starting at $350
The Avant-Garde is a forward-thinking group for individuals in their 20s to 40s. An Avant-Garde membership offers a deeper, more intimate connection to the unique and creative concepts behind the Armory’s mission.
ARTISTIC COUNCIL
The Artistic Council is a leadership group that champions and supports groundbreaking “only at the Armory” productions with the world’s most sought-after artists. Members get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how works are brought to life by taking part in monthly events that include intimate discussions with artists, private performances, and special travel opportunities. This group is by invitation only and is generously supported by Cartier.
LEGACY CIRCLE
The Armory’s Legacy Circle is a group of individuals who support Park Avenue Armory through a vitally important source of future funding, a planned gift. These gifts will help support the Armory’s outside-the-box artistic programming, Arts Education Programs, and historic preservation into the future. Members of the Legacy Circle are invited to special behind-the-scenes events and intimate receptions to enrich their Armory experiences. Each membership applies to one household, and one membership card is mailed upon membership activation.
For more information about membership, please contact the Membership Office at (212) 616-3958 or members@armoryonpark.org. For information on ticketing, or to purchase tickets, please contact the Box Office at (212) 933-5812 or visit us at armoryonpark.org. *Subject to ticket availability **Certain restrictions apply ***Reservations required
20
Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street
PARK AVENUE ARMORY ARTISTIC COUNCIL Co-Chairs Noreen Buckfire Caryn Schacht and David Fox Heidi and Tom McWilliams
Anne-Victoire Auriault/ Goldman Sachs Gives Abigail and Joseph Baratta Wendy Belzberg and Strauss Zelnick Sonja and Martin J. Brand Elizabeth Coleman Hélène and Stuyvesant Comfort Caroline and Paul Cronson Emme and Jonathan Deland Jennie L. and Richard K. DeScherer Krystyna Doerfler Lisa and Sanford B. Ehrenkranz The Lehoczky Escobar Family Adam R. Flatto Kim and Jeff Greenberg Barbara and Andrew Gundlach Anita K. Hersh Wendy Keys Ken Kuchin and Tyler Morgan Almudena and Pablo Legorreta
Christina and Alan MacDonald Jennifer Manocherian Kim Manocherian Gwen and Peter Norton Lily O’Boyle Valerie Pels Amanda J.T. and Richard E. Riegel Susan and Elihu Rose Janet C. Ross Stacy Schiff and Marc de La Bruyère Diane and Tom Smith Joan and Michael Steinberg Emanuel Stern Mimi Klein Sternlicht Jon Stryker and Slobodan Randjelović Deborah C. van Eck Bob Vila and Diana Barrett Mary Wallach Peter Zhou and Lisa Lee
Wendy Belzberg and Strauss Zelnick Emme and Jonathan Deland Adam R. Flatto Ken Kuchin Heidi McWilliams Gwen Norton
Amanda Thompson Riegel Rebecca Robertson and Byron Knief Susan and Elihu Rose Francesca Schwartz Joan and Michael Steinberg
LEGACY CIRCLE Founding Members Angela and Wade F.B. Thompson Co-Chairs Lisa and Sanford B. Ehrenkranz Marjorie and Gurnee Hart
SUPPORTERS Park Avenue Armory expresses its deep appreciation to the individuals and organizations listed here for their generous support for its annual and capital campaigns. $1,000,000 + Charina Endowment Fund Citi Empire State Local Development Corporation Marina Kellen French Barbara and Andrew Gundlach Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Peter L. Malkin and The Malkin Fund, Inc. Richard and Ronay Menschel New York City Council and Council Member Daniel R. Garodnick New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
New York State Assemblymember Dan Quart and the New York State Assembly The Pershing Square Foundation Susan and Elihu Rose The Arthur Ross Foundation and J & AR Foundation Joan Smilow and Joel Smilow* The Thompson Family Foundation Wade F.B. Thompson* The Zelnick/Belzberg Charitable Trust Anonymous
armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory
$500,000 to $999,999 Bloomberg Philanthropies Lisa and Sanford B. Ehrenkranz Almudena and Pablo Legorreta The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Adam R. Rose and Peter R. McQuillan Donna and Marvin Schwartz Emanuel Stern
21
$250,000 to $499,999 American Express Michael Field and Doug Hamilton Adam R. Flatto Ford Foundation Howard Gilman Foundation Ken Kuchin and Tyler Morgan The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation Marshall Rose Family Foundation
$100,000 to $249,999 The Achelis and Bodman Foundations R. Mark and Wendy Adams Linda and Earle Altman Booth Ferris Foundation Sonja and Martin J. Brand Hélène and Stuyvesant Comfort Caroline and Paul Cronson Marjorie and Gurnee Hart The Hearst Foundations Kirkland & Ellis LLP Mary T. Kush Leonard & Judy Lauder Fund Mr. and Mrs. Lester Morse National Endowment for the Arts New York State Assembly New York State Council on the Arts Stavros Niarchos Foundation Gwendolyn Adams Norton and Peter Norton Donald Pels Charitable Trust Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Mrs. Arthur Ross The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation Caryn Schacht and David Fox Stacy Schiff and Marc de La Bruyère Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust Joan and Michael Steinberg M K Reichert Sternlicht Foundation Mr. William C. Tomson Deborah C. van Eck The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
$25,000 to $99,999 The Avenue Association Abigail and Joseph Baratta Emma Bloomberg The Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Foundation Noreen and Ken Buckfire The Cowles Charitable Trust Emme and Jonathan Deland
22
Jennie L. and Richard K. DeScherer Krystyna Doerfler The Lehoczky Escobar Family Andrew L. Farkas, Island Capital Group & C-III Capital Partners Lorraine Gallard and Richard H. Levy Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation Barbara and Peter Georgescu Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Kim and Jeff Greenberg Janet Halvorson Anita K. Hersh Karen Herskovitz Kaplen Brothers Fund The Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation George S. Loening Christine and Richard Mack Marc Haas Foundation Andrea Markezin Press and Joel Press Lily O'Boyle Slobodan Randjelović and Jon Stryker Katharine Rayner Rhodebeck Charitable Trust Genie and Donald Rice Amanda J.T. and Richard E. Riegel Rebecca Robertson and Byron Knief The Shubert Foundation Sydney and Stanley S. Shuman Amy and Jeffrey Silverman Sanford L. Smith Michael and Veronica Stubbs TEFAF NY Tishman Speyer Robert and Jane Toll VIA Art Fund Bob Vila and Diana Barrett Mary Wallach Peter Zhou and Lisa Lee Anonymous (4)
$10,000 to $24,999 AECOM Tishman Judy Hart Angelo Anne-Victoire Auriault / Goldman Sachs Gives Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation Harrison and Leslie Bains Marian and Russell Burke Elizabeth Coleman Con Edison Luis y Cora Delgado William F. Draper Caryl S. Englander Teri Friedman and Babak Yaghmaie
Kiendl and John Gordon Allen and Deborah Grubman Lawrence and Sharon Hite Peter Huntsman The Charles & Lucille King Family Foundation Suzie and Bruce Kovner Bill Lambert Leon Levy Foundation Christina and Alan MacDonald Shelly and Tony Malkin Steve and Sue Mandel Kim Manocherian Danny and Audrey Meyer Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation The Donald R. Mullen Family Foundation, Inc. Nardello & Co. Beth and Joshua Nash PBDW Architects Michael Peterson Joan and Joel I. Picket Anne and Skip Pratt The Reed Foundation Deborah and Chuck Royce Fiona and Eric Rudin May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc. Mrs. William H. Sandholm Lise Scott and D. Ronald Daniel Dr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Sculco Brian S. Snyder Howard & Sarah D. Solomon Foundation Allen and Meghan Thorpe Barbara D. Tober Cristina Von Bargen and Jonathan McHardy Samuel and Kathryn Weinhoff Anonymous (5)
$5,000 to $9,999 Amy and David Abrams Katie Adams Schaeffer Jody and John Arnhold Jay Badame Franklin and Marsha Berger Mortimer Berkowitz Sara and Mark Bloom Leslie Bluhm and David Helfand Nicholas Brawer Catherine and Robert Brawer James-Keith Brown and Eric Diefenbach Dr. Joyce F. Brown, President, Fashion Institute of Technology Patricia Brown Specter Arthur and Linda Carter Mayree Clarke and Jeff Williams Betsy Cohn Sissel Cooper and Peter Bos Joyce B. Cowin Jessie Ding
Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street
Jeanne Donovan Fisher Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg Foundation Leland and Jane Englebardt Dr. Nancy Eppler-Wolff and Mr. John Wolff Mike and Beth Fascitelli The Felicia Fund Andrew and Theresa Fenster Candia Fisher Mary Ann Fribourg Bart Friedman and Wendy A. Stein The Georgetown Company Sylvia Golden and Warren Friedman Cecilia Greene and Paul Verbinnen George and Patty Grunebaum Agnes Gund Mimi and Peter Haas Fund Molly Butler Hart and Michael D. Griffin Cynthia and Stephen Ketchum Fernand and Nicole Lamesch Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Chad A. Leat Denise Lefrak Robert Lehman Foundation Gail and Alan Levenstein Lili Lynton and Michael Ryan Linda Macklowe James C. Marlas and Marie Nugent-Head Marlas Joyce F. Menschel Moncler USA Inc. Enid Nemy, Dorothy Strelsin Foundation Jesse and Stéphanie Newhouse Michael and Elyse Newhouse David Orentreich, MD / Orentreich Family Foundation Susan Porter Preserve New York, a grant program of Preservation League of New York The Ripple Foundation Ida and William Rosenthal Foundation Chuck and Stacy Rosenzweig Reed Rubin and Jane Gregory Rubin Seymour and Robyn Sammell Eva Sanchez-Ampudia and Cyrille Walter Susan and Charles Sawyers Hillary Schafer and Mark Shafir Claude Shaw and Lara MeilandShaw Dan Simkowitz and Mari Nakachi Lea Simonds Ted Snowdon Dr. and Mrs. Eugene E. Stark, Jr. Beatrice Stern
The Jay and Kelly Sugarman Foundation Michael Tuch Foundation L.F. Turner Mr. and Mrs. Jan F. van Eck Christine van Itallie Anastasia Vournas and J. William Uhrig Saundra Whitney Isak and Rose Weinman Foundation, Inc. Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW @ Annenberg Gary and Nina Wexler Lynne Wheat Brian and Jane Williams W. Weldon and Elaine Wilson Maria Wirth Lisa and David Wolf Cynthia Young and George Eberstadt Bruce and Lois Zenkel Judy Francis Zankel Anonymous
$2,500 to $4,999 Abigail Kirsch Catering Allen Adler and Frances Beatty Susan Heller Anderson Jeff Arnstein and Michael Bellante Francesca Beale Jonathan and Marjaleena Berger Stephanie Bernheim Carolyn S. Brody Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Brown Annabel Buckfire Amanda M. Burden Mary and Brad Burnham Marissa Cascarilla Sommer Chatwin Mr. and Mrs. Joel Citron Dominick Coyne and Michael Phillips Ellie and Edgar Cullman Joshua Dachs / Fisher Dachs Associates Antoinette Delruelle and Joshua L. Steiner Anne Delaney Peggy and Millard Drexler Family Foundation Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Jamshid and Mashid Ehsani Deborah and Ronald Eisenberg Foundation Jared Feldman Edmée and Nicholas Firth Megan Flanigan Ella M. Foshay and Michael B. Rothfeld Gwen and Austin Fragomen Eleanor Friedman and Jonathan J. Cohen The Garcia Family Foundation Emanuel E. Geduld
Martin and Lauren Geller Mr. and Mrs. Andrew S. Georges Elizabeth Granville-Smith Robert S. Gregory Ian and Lea Highet Johanna Hudgens and Matthew Wilson Peter Imber and Ali Zweben Imber James Ingram Jeff and Hollye Jacobs Judith Jadow Ann Jones Jeanne Kanders Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation Adrienne Katz Nancy Kestenbaum and David Klafter The David L. Klein, Jr. Foundation Zachary Kline Kameron Kordestani Douglas and Judith Krupp George & Lizbeth Krupp John Lambert and Ramona Boston Barbara and Richard Lane Suydam Lansing Lazarus Charitable Trust Elliot Levenglick Phyllis Levin Gina Giumarra MacArthur Charles and Georgette Mallory Iris Z Marden Judith and Michael Margulies Marian Goodman Gallery Joanie Martinez-Rudkovsky Bonnie Maslin Nina B. Matis Diane and Adam E. Max* Peter and Leni May Robin and Dennis McNeil Constance and H. Roemer McPhee Claire Milonas Barbara and Howard Morse Saleem and Jane Muqaddam Aida Murad Nancy Newcomb and John Hargraves Peter and Susan Nitze Nancy and Morris W. Offit Kathleen O'Grady Robert Ouimette and Lee Hirsch Zubatkin Owner Representation Madison J. Papp Lee and Lori Parks Richard and Rose Petrocelli Geri Pollack Phyllis Posnick and Paul Cohen Mr. and Mrs. Michael and Kalliope Rena Diana and Charles Revson Diana and John Rice Richenthal Foundation Alexandra Robertson
Rose Brand Deborah Rose Marisa Rose and Robin van Bokhorst Marjorie P. Rosenthal Susan Rudin Bonnie J. Sacerdote Jane Fearer Safer Susan Savitsky Paul H. Scarbrough, Akustiks, LLC. Sabina and Wilfred Schlumberger Caroline Schmidt-Barnett Louisa Serene Schneider Benjamin Schor & Isabel Wilkinson Schor Nicholas and Shelley Schorsch Sara Lee and Axel Schupf Douglas Schwallbe and Nancy Lorenz Jack Shainman Emilia Sherifova Stephanie and Fred Shuman Denise Simon and Paulo Vieiradacunha Laura Skoler Shelley Sonenberg Daisy M. Soros Stephen and Constance Spahn Leila Maw Straus Studio Institute Ellen and Bill Taubman Thomas and Diane Tuft Union Square Events Mrs. William J. vanden Heuvel Andrew E. Vogel and Véronique Mazard Shelby White Kate Whitney and Franklin Thomas Francis H. Williams and Keris A. Salmon Andrea Winter and Daniel Mintz Amy Yenkin and Robert Usdan Toni Young Freya Zaheer and Whit Bernard Zubatkin Owner Representation, LLC Anonymous (5)
$1,000 to $2,499 Marina Abramović Elliot and Nancy Alchek David Alge and Nan Mutnick David and Anne Altchek Eric Altmann Diane Archer and Stephen Presser Ms. Regula Aregger John and Jennifer Argenti Assouline-Lichten Foundation Jenny & Michael Baldock Diana Barco Enrica and Fabrizio Bentivoglio
armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory
D’arengi Stephen Berger and Cynthia Wainwright Judy and Howard Berkowitz Reid Berman Elaine S. Bernstein Katherine and Marco Birch Hana and Michael Bitton Boehm Family Foundation Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Richard and Susan Braddock Mark and Anne Brennan John and Elaine Brouillard Spencer Brownstone Matthew Buten and Beth Brownstein Cora Cahan Michael Carlisle and Sally Peterson Thomas and Ann Charters Alexandre and Lori Chemla Orla Coleman and Rikki Tahta Bradley A. Connor Alexander Cooper Krista and James Corl Sophie Coumantaros Mimi Ritzen Crawford Andrew and Abby Crisses L. Jay Cross Charles and Norris Daniels John Charles and Nathalie Danilovich Richard and Peggy Danziger Tina R. Davis Richard and Barbara Debs Thomas and Elizabeth Dubbs Christopher Duda David and Frances Eberhart Foundation Karen Eckhoff Inger McCabe Elliott Patricia Ellis Cristina Enriquez-Bocobo Dasha Epstein Mr. and Mrs. Thomas N. Farmakis Femenella & Associates, Inc. Robert and Kimia Finnerty Walter and Judith Flamenbaum Gail Flatto Barbara G. Fleischman Kristin Gamble Flood Michael and Jill Franco Betsy Frank Peter Frey and Carrie Shapiro Kara Gaffney Ross Bruce and Alice Geismar Stephen Georges David and Susan Getz Sarah Jane and Trevor Gibbons Ryan Gillum Gregory Gilmartin Stuart and Alice Goldman Mrs. Leila Govi Nina DeKay Grauer Jan M. Guifarro Frances and Gerard Guillemot
23
Kathleen and Harvey Guion Nohra Haime Patricia G Hambrecht Lana and Steve Harber Cathy Harrison Stan Harrison and Margot Steinberg Thomas Hartman In memory of Maria E. Hidrobo Kaufman William T. Hillman Bruce Hoffman Mr. Joseph C. Hoopes, Jr. Amy and Tom Houston Pamela Howard Peter Hunt William and Weslie Janeway Morton and Linda Janklow Christopher and Hilda Jones Hon. Bruce M. Kaplan and Janet Yaseen Kaplan Jennie Kassanoff Kay Kimpton Walker and Sandy Walker Claire King Jon David Kirwin Jana and Gerold Klauer Major General Edward G. Klein, NYNG (Ret.) Phyllis L. Kossoff Kate Krauss Geraldine Kunstadter Barbara Landau Judith and G Langer Christopher and Alida Latham Ralph Lemon Alexia and David Leuschen Jane Lombard John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Susanne Mackiw Match65 Larry and Mary McCaffrey Peter McCann Toni B. & Martin McKerrow Rebecca Gold Milikowsky Larry Morse and Sharon Bowen Naveen and Courtney Nataraj Lisbeth Oliver Arlena Olsten Dr. Catherine Orentreich Peter and Beverly Orthwein Katherine Peabody Brian and Emilia Pfeifler Natalya Poniatowski David and Leslie Puth Martin and Anna Rabinowitz Jennifer Reardon Nathalie Solange Regnault Jill Reiter and Eric Riha Milbrey Rennie Anthony and Susan Roberts David and Meg Roth Patty Sachs Shelby Saer Eva Sanchez-Ampudia Charles H. Schilling
24
Jonathan and Rachel Schmerin Pat Schoenfeld Robert Schroeder and Karen Brooks Amy Schulman Laura Schwartz and Arthur Jussel Gil Shiva Adrianne and William Silver Bonnie Simon Albert Simons III Donna Snow and Michael Rubinoff Martha S. Sproule Squadron A Foundation Stacy, Passionate about the Arts Colleen Stenzler Tricia Stevenson Bonnie and Tom Strauss Stella Strazdas and Henry Forrest Elizabeth Stribling and Guy Robinson Jos Stumpe and Karen van Bergen Kris Togias Maria Vecchiotti Caroline Wamsler and DeWayne Phillips Arete Warren Mati Weiderpass and Nikolas Chen Michael Weinstein Lauren and Andrew Weisenfeld Katherine Wenning and Michael Dennis Audrey Zucker Anonymous (4) List as of October 28, 2021 * Deceased
Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street
ABOUT THE BOARD OF OFFICERS ROOM “The restoration of the Park Avenue Armory seems destined to set a new standard, not so much for its scale, but for its level of respect and imagination.” —The New York Times The Board of Officers Room is one of the most important historic rooms in America and one of the few remaining interiors by Herter Brothers. After decades of progressive damage and neglect, the room completed a revitalization in 2013 by the architecture team at Herzog & de Meuron and executive architects Platt Byard Dovell White Architects to transform the space into a state-of-the-art salon for intimate performances and other contemporary art programming. The Board of Officers Room is the third period room at the Armory completed (out of 18) and represents the full range of design tools utilized by the team including the removal of accumulated layers on the surfaces, the addition of contemporary lighting to the 1897 chandeliers, new interpretations of the stencil patterns on areas of loss, the addition of metallic finishes on new materials, new programming infrastructure, and custom-designed furniture.
The room’s restoration is part of an ongoing $215-million transformation, which is guided by the understanding that the Armory’s rich history and the patina of time are essential to its character. A defining component of the design process for the period rooms is the close collaboration between architect and artisan. Highly skilled craftspeople working in wood, paint, plaster, and metals were employed in the creation of the building’s original interiors and the expertise—and hand—of similar artisans has been drawn upon for the renovation work throughout. Park Avenue Armory acknowledges that the Lenape Nation is the original owner of the land on which we stand.
The renovation of the Board of Officers Room was made possible through the generosity of The Thompson Family Foundation. Cover photo by James Ewing.
armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory
5
armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory
3
