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.
For the 2024 Season, the Recital Series focuses on the sheer power and beauty of the human voice, with thoughtfully curated programs of lieder, art song, and contemporary works that take the art form in bold new directions in the hands of some of today’s most exciting musical interpreters.
February welcomes Trinidadian soprano Jeanine De Bique to the Armory for a rare New York appearance; joined by pianist Warren Jones, she displays her artistic versatility and endless wealth of color and nuance with a global program of French melodies, American art songs, and folk songs from the Caribbean. One of the most gifted and distinguished lyric tenors of his generation, American tenor Matthew Polenzani comes to the Board of Officers Room in May with pianist Ken Noda for a program of lieder and art songs by Schubert, Finzi, Schumann, and Ives. This fall, soprano Leah Hawkins returns to the Armory to share her journey into self, with works by composers and arrangers including Jasmine Barnes, Peter Ashbourne, Joel Thompson, and Jorell Williams. Lebanese American tenor Karim Sulayman brings his inventive programming to the Armory this October; featuring wide ranging works from Monteverdi, Britten, and Purcell to Takemitsu, Layale Chaker, and traditional Sephardic songs, this intimate recital with guitarist Sean Shibe inspects the artists’ own ethnic identities through song that at once was seen to exotify but through playful juxtaposition subverts that narrative into one of celebration. Finally, soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan makes her highly anticipated return to the Board of Officers Room to close out the 2024 Recital Series; she performs a program of works by Zorn, Scriabin, and Messiaen with pianist Bertrand Chamayou that is sure to captivate Armory audiences once again.
Over the past decade of recitals at the Armory, we are proud to have held more than 120 intimate performances by almost 250 internationally renowned musicians, including 16 important North American, US, and New York debuts including the North American recital debuts of pianist Igor Levit and tenor Allan Clayton as well as the US recital debut of soprano Barbara Hannigan. We have also been proud to serve as the locale for 17 premieres by contemporary composers, including works by Michael Hersch, Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, John Zorn, Dai Fujikura, Michael Gordon, Jake Heggie, Chris Cerrone, Viet Cuong, and others.
This year’s lineup offers audiences even more chances to enjoy the intimacy of a beautiful range of chamber music experiences performed by artists with a highly distinctive international profile, in one of the only spaces that could provide such a personal encounter—the Board of Officers Room. We hope you join in our excitement for witnessing these magical moments in music.
Rebecca Robertson
Adam R. Flatto Founding President and Executive Producer
Pierre Audi
Anita K. Hersh Artistic Director
SEASON SPONSORS
2024 RECITAL SERIES IN
THE RESTORED BOARD OF OFFICERS ROOM
LEAH HAWKINS, soprano KEVIN MILLER, piano
friday, september 13, 2024 at 8:00pm sunday, september 15, 2024 at 3:00pm
The Recital Series is supported, in part, by the Howard & Sarah D. Solomon Foundation.
Support for Park Avenue Armory’s artistic season has been generously provided by the Thompson Family Foundation, Charina Endowment Fund, the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, The Shubert Foundation, Wescustogo Foundation, 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 Marc Haas Foundation, Mary W. Harriman Foundation, the Reed Foundation, the Leon Levy Foundation, the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW @ Annenberg, The Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Foundation, the Richenthal Foundation, and the Isak and Rose Weinman Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the Armory’s Artistic Council. Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature as well as the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council under the leadership of Speaker Adrienne Adams.
Cover image by James Ewing.
PROGRAM
Doris Akers, arr. Jasmine Barnes “Sweet, Sweet Spirit”
Francis Poulenc
“C’est ainsi que tu es” from Métamorphoses
Jorell Williams “Runaway”
Lili Boulanger from Clairières dans le ciel
I. Elle était descendue au bas de la prairie
II. Elle est gravement gaie
IV. Un poète disait
VII. Nous nous aimerons tant
IX. Les lilas qui avaient fleuri
eden ahbez, arr. Jorell Williams “Nature Boy”
Francis Poulenc “Les chemins de l’amour”
Intermission
Jorell Williams
Joel Thompson
Jasmine Barnes
“Advantage” from Runaway
Taubenlieder
I. Scarf
II. Heart to Heart
III. Exit
IV. Dawn Revisited
Proverb
I. If You Can
II. The Tree
III. Hurry Hurry
Peter Ashbourne from Fi Mi Love Have Lion Heart
II. Liza
V. Nobody’s Business
This program is approximately 75 minutes including a 15-minute intermission.
This concert is being recorded by WQXR for future broadcast on 105.9 FM and streaming on wqxr.org.
C’EST AINSI QUE TU ES / THAT IS HOW
YOU ARE
Lately I’ve been on what feels like an interminable dive into who I actually am versus who or what I’m perceived to be. Much of my seeking is thanks to the “awakening” of 2020, and the nature of the press and performance opportunities offered to me then and since. No matter the content of the music or the interview, my identity is often a topic of discussion. And the more I’ve spoken about it, the more “othered” I’ve felt. I’ve found the labels and expectations all too restrictive. I’d simply like to be ME. So who am I?
As a baseline of sorts: I am quite emotional and spiritually sensitive. My inner “knowing” has been and remains my compass, even when I am foolish enough to doubt it. I am silly and approachable, though at times awkward and reserved. I am passionate about making people feel seen, heard, and appreciated. My love of humanity is what fuels me and my art.
I am / we are not “other.”
This program is a collection of 20th and 21st century music that speaks to my journey and features music that I find beautiful and entrancing. There are works by American composers and poets, and French composers and poets—many of them women and many of them Black. There are texts in English and a dialect of English, French, Yoruba, and Swahili. Many of the creators are good friends and colleagues, and some have written music specifically for me. Some of the material is linked thematically and harmonically, and some of the creators share similar backgrounds. These connections, while intentional, are inconsequential. We do not need themed programs to showcase certain artists and artistry; they should be regularly programmed. I do not seek to celebrate what should be and should have always been the norm. When we do, it reinforces the idea that one group is the standard and anything outside of it is not.
“Sweet, Sweet Spirit” is a traditional gospel song by Doris Akers arranged by Jasmine Barnes into the style of a concert spiritual. The message is a straightforward one, and the song serves as a blessing and cleansing of the space and of the program.
“C’est ainsi que tu es” became the “title” of this recital because of its relevance to my experience, but also because I believe it and “Les chemins de l’amour” are two of the most beautiful and sensual mélodies ever written.
Jorell Williams’ “Runaway”* for solo piano captures the anxiety of someone who is searching for answers. Williams’ arrangement of eden ahbez’s “Nature Boy” reminds us that love is the greatest gift of all, while his “Blue Lullaby”* finds someone adrift in the world, unaware that change is just around the corner.
Lili Boulanger composed Clairières dans le ciel towards the end of her very short life. The songs, from Francis Jammes’ poetic cycle, Tristesses, express the complex emotions attached to lost love. She carefully set the moody, ethereal, and ambiguous qualities of the symbolist texts.
The title of Taubenlieder (Dove Songs) by Joel Thompson began in jest but stuck, as the composer wanted to honor Rita Dove, Poet Laureate of the United States from 1993 to 1995 and Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2004 to 2006. In the four songs, it fashions a narrative through which the singer encounters a scarf that triggers memories of important crossroads in her past, which then affirms her decision to “wake up and see” the present and the future in front of her.
Jasmine Barnes gifted me Proverb for my Marian Anderson Award Recital in 2023. While searching for text, I came across a database of African proverbs, and a few immediately spoke to both of us. They are life lessons and reminders to trust ourselves and the universe.
Peter Ashbourne’s song cycle Fi Mi Love Have Lion Heart takes traditional Jamaican folk tunes and sets them for soprano and piano. He flirts with atonality and joins complexity with playfulness. “Liza” and “Nobody’s Business” are examples of this marriage.
*premiere
I hope you resist the urge to compare this or any other program to something else you have experienced. I hope you allow artists and art to just ... be.
Thank you for being here.
— Leah Hawkins, soprano
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
LEAH HAWKINS
Soprano Leah Hawkins is the recipient of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2024 Beverly Sills Artist Award and a graduate of their Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Additional honors include the Marian Anderson Award, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Women in Classical Music Career Advancement Award, and a Richard Tucker Foundation Career Grant.
Highlights of the 24/25 season include her San Francisco Symphony debut in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem conducted by Esa Pekka-Salonen, and a return to Arizona Opera for her highly anticipated titular role debut in Aida. On the concert stage she returns to The Philadelphia Orchestra for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, joins The Apollo Orchestra as a guest soloist in a concert of Verdi Arias, and returns to Park Avenue Armory for a self-curated recital entitled C’est ainsi que tu es or That is how you are, which is “a glimpse into my ongoing journey of finding, accepting, and living as my truest self.” Future engagements include debuts with La Monnaie / De Munt and The Dallas Opera, along with returns to the Metropolitan Opera and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Last season, Hawkins returned to the Metropolitan Opera as the Soprano Soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, and performed Musetta in La bohème with The Philadelphia Orchestra, both conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Other season engagements included a role debut in Anthony Davis’ X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (Louise/Betty) with the Metropolitan Opera and Seattle Opera. In the spring, she made her role and house debut at Dutch National Opera in a new production of Il tabarro (Giorgetta) directed by Barrie Kosky. On the concert stage she performed the Dvořák Requiem with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
KEVIN MILLER
Grammy nominated American pianist and collaborator Kevin J. Miller is acclaimed for his dynamically artful performances. Recent collaborations include recitals with international artists, Lawrence Brownlee, Joseph Calleja, Nadine Sierra, John Holiday, Will Liverman, and Leah Hawkins. Miller also prepared soprano Jessye Norman for performances of Laura Karpman’s production of Ask Your Mama, which was performed at Carnegie Hall. He can be heard on piano on the recording Been in da Storm So Long, which features baritone Kenneth Overton. He can also be heard on Lawrence Brownlee’s recent release Rising
Miller studied at the Mannes College of Music, where he received a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano. He continued his studies at the University of Michigan School of Music, where he received both a Master of Music degree and the Artist Diploma in Collaborative Piano under the tutelage of Martin Katz.
Miller has held music staff positions at major opera houses across the country including The Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, LA Opera, Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Cincinnati Opera, and Opera Theater St. Louis.
TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS
DORIS AKERS (1923 – 1995)
“Sweet, Sweet Spirit” (1962)
Written by Doris Akers, arranged by Jasmine Barnes
There’s a sweet, sweet spirit in this place, And I know that it’s the spirit of the Lord; There are sweet expressions on each face, And I know they feel the presence of the Lord. Sweet Holy Spirit, Sweet Heavenly Dove, Stay right here with us, filling us with Your love. And for these blessings we lift our hearts in praise; Without a doubt we’ll know that we have been revived, When we shall leave this place.
FRANCIS POULENC (1899 – 1963)
“C’est ainsi que tu es” from Métamorphoses, FP121 (1943)
Text by Louise de Vilmorin (1902 – 1969)
Ta chair d’âme mêlée Chevelure emmêlée, Ton pied courant le temps, Ton ombre qui s’étend Et murmure à ma tempe.
Voilà, c’est ton portrait, C’est ainsi que tu es Et je veux te l’écrire Pour que la nuit venue Tu puisses croire et dire Que je t’ai bien connue.
“That is how you are” from Metamorphosis English translation by Richard Stokes
Your flesh, mingled with soul, Your tangled hair, Your feet pursuing time, Your shadow which stretches And whispers close to my temple. There, that is your portrait, That is how you are, And I shall write it down for you So that when night comes, You may believe and say That I knew you well.
LILI BOULANGER (1893 – 1918)
Clairières dans le ciel (1914)
Texts by Francis Jammes (1868–1938)
I. Elle était descendue au bas de la prairie
Elle était descendue au bas de la prairie et, comme la prairie était toute fleurie de plantes dont la tige aime à pousser dans l’eau, ces plantes inondées je les avais cueillies. Bientôt, s’étant mouillée, elle gagna le haut de cette prairie-là qui était toute fleurie. Elle riait et s’ébrouait avec la grâce dégingandée qu’ont les jeunes filles trop grandes. Elle avait le regard qu’ont les fleurs de lavande.
II. Elle est gravement gaie
Elle est gravement gaie. Par moments son regard se levait comme pour surprendre ma pensée. Elle était douce alors comme quand il est tard le velours jaune et bleu d’une allée de pensées.
IV. Un poète disait
Un poète disait que lorsqu’il était jeune, il fleurissait des vers comme un rosier des roses. Lorsque je pense à elle, il me semble que jase une fontaine intarissable dans mon cœur.
Comme sur le lys Dieu pose un parfum d’église, comme il met du corail aux joues de la cerise, je veux poser sur elle, avec dévotion, la couleur d’un parfum, qui n’aura pas de nom.
VII. Nous nous aimerons tant
Nous nous aimerons tant que nous tairons nos mots, en nous tendant la main, quand nous nous reverrons. Vous serez ombragée par d’anciens rameaux sur le banc que je sais où nous nous assoierons. Donc nous nous assoierons sur ce banc tous deux seuls … D’un long moment, ô mon amie, vous n’oserez … Que vous me serez douce et que je tremblerai …
IX. Les lilas qui avaient fleuri
Les lilas qui avaient fleuri l’année dernière vont fleurir de nouveau dans les tristes parterres. Déjà le pêcher grêle a jonché le ciel bleu de ses roses, comme un enfant la Fête-Dieu. Mon cœur devrait mourir au milieu de ces choses car c’était au milieu des vergers blancs et roses que j’avais espéré je ne sais quoi de vous. Mon âme rêve sourdement sur vos genoux. Ne la repoussez point. Ne la relevez pas de peur qu’en s’éloignant de vous elle ne voie combien vous êtes faible et troublée dans ses bras.
Glades in the sky (1914)
Engish translations by Richard Stokes
I. She had reached the low-lying meadow
She had reached the low-lying meadow, and, since the meadow was all a-blossom with plants that like to grow in water, I had picked these flooded flowers. Soon, soaking wet, she reached the top of that blossoming meadow. She was laughing and gasping with the gawky grace of girls who are too tall. Her eyes looked like lavender flowers.
II. She is solemnly cheerful
She is solemnly cheerful. At times she looked up, as if to catch what I was thinking. She was gentle then, like at dusk the yellow-blue velvet of a path of pansies.
IV. A poet said
A poet said that when he was young he blossomed with verse, like rose-trees with roses. When I think of her, an endless spring seems to babble in my heart.
As God places a church-scent on the lily and coral on the cheeks of the cherry, I wish to place, devotedly, on her the colour of a scent that shall have no name.
VII. We shall love each other
We shall love each other so, that we shall be silent as we hold out hands when we next meet. You will be shaded by old branches on the bench where I know we shall both sit down. And so we shall sit down on this bench, we two alone... For a long while, my friend, you will not dare... How gentle you will be with me and how I shall tremble...
IX. The lilacs which had flowered last year
The lilacs which had flowered last year shall flower again in melancholy beds. Already the slender peach has strewn the blue sky with its pinks, like a child at Corpus Christi. My heart should die amid these things, for it was amid the orchard’s whites and pinks that I had hoped from you I know not what. My soul dreams secretly upon your lap. Do not reject it. Do not raise it up, for fear that drawing away from you it might see how frail you are and troubled in its arms.
EDEN AHBEZ (1893 –
1918)
“Nature Boy” (1948)
Text by eden abhez, made popular by Nat King Cole
There was a boy
A very strange, enchanted boy
They say he wandered very far
Very far, over land and sea
A little shy and sad of eye
But very wise was he
And then one day
A magic day he passed my way
And while we spoke of many things
Fools and kings
This he said to me:
“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn Is just to love and be loved in return.”
FRANCIS POULENC (1899
“Les chemins de l’amour” (1940)
Text by Jean Anouilh (1910 – 1987)
Les chemins qui vont à la mer
Ont gardé de notre passage
Des fleurs effeuillées
Et l’écho sous leurs arbres
De nos deux rires clairs.
Hélas! des jours de bonheur, Radieuses joies envolées,
Je vais sans retrouver traces
Dans mon coeur.
Chemins de mon amour,
Je vous cherche toujours, Chemins perdus, vous n’êtes plus Et vos échos sont sourds.
Chemins du désespoir, Chemins du souvenir,
Chemins du premier jour, Divins chemins d’amour.
Si je dois l’oublier un jour, La vie effaçant toute chose, Je veux dans mon coeur qu’un souvenir
Repose plus fort que l’autre amour.
Le souvenir du chemin, Où tremblante et toute éperdue, Un jour j’ai senti sur moi brûler tes mains.
– 1963)
The Paths of Love English translation by Richard Stokes
The paths that lead to the sea Have retained from our passing The flowers that shed their petals And the echo beneath their trees
Of our clear laughter.
Alas! no trace of those happy days, Those radiant joys now flown, Can I find again In my heart.
Paths of my love, I search for you ceaselessly, Lost paths, you are no more And your echoes are muted. Paths of despair, Paths of memory, Paths of our first day, Divine paths of love.
If one day I must forget, Since life obliterates everything, I wish for my heart to remember one thing, More vivid than the other love, To remember the path Where trembling and quite distracted, I one day felt on me your passionate hands.
JOEL THOMPSON (1988 – )
Taubenlieder (2024)
Texts by Rita Dove (1952 – )
Scarf
Whoever claims beauty lies in the eye of the beholder has forgotten the music silk makes settling across a bared neck: skin never touched so gently except by a child or a lover. Heart to Heart It’s neither red nor sweet. It doesn’t melt break or harden, so it can’t feel pain, yearning, regret.
It doesn’t have a tip to spin on, it isn’t even shapely— just a thick clutch of muscle, lopsided, mute. Still, I feel it inside its cage sounding a dull tattoo: I want, I want— but I can’t open it: there’s no key. I can’t wear it on my sleeve, or tell you from the bottom of it how I feel. Here, it’s all yours, now— but you’ll have to take me, too.
Exit
Just when hope withers, the visa is granted. The door opens to a street like in the movies, clean of people, of cats; except it is your street you are leaving. A visa has been granted, “provisionally”-a fretful word. The windows you have closed behind you are turning pink, doing what they do every dawn. Here it’s gray; the door to the taxicab waits. This suitcase, the saddest object in the world. Well, the world’s open. And now through the windshield the sky begins to blush, as you did when your mother told you what it took to be a woman in this life.
Dawn Revisited
Imagine you wake up with a second chance: The blue jay hawks his pretty wares and the oak still stands, spreading glorious shade. If you don’t look back, the future never happens. How good to rise in sunlight, in the prodigal smell of biscuits— eggs and sausage on the grill. The whole sky is yours to write on, blown open to a blank page. Come on, shake a leg! You’ll never know who’s down there, frying those eggs, if you don’t get up and see.
JASMINE BARNES (1991 –
)
Proverb (2023)
Sayings of Zimbabwean, Hausa, Yoruba and Swahili origin, with music and additional text by Jasmine Barnes
I. If You Can
Zimbabwean Proverb
“If you can walk, you can dance; if you can talk, you can sing.”
Nothing is too difficult that diligence can’t bring.
II. The Tree
Hausa and Yoruba Proverbs
“You must live within your sacred truth”
“No one can uproot the tree which God has planted”
“Igi tí Ọlọ run bá gbìn, kò sẹ ni tó lè fàá tu.”
PETER ASHBOURNE (1950
– )
Fi Mi Love Have Lion Heart (2001)
Five Jamaican folk songs, arranged by Peter Ashbourne
Liza
Ev’rytime me‘memba Liza,
Water come a mi eye.
When mi ‘memba mi nice gal Liza, Water come a mi eye.
Oh, come back Liza, come back gal, Water come a mi eye.
When mi look upon Sarah daughter, When mi look upon Vie
And mi memba mi nice gal Liza, Water come a mi eye.
Come back Liza, come back gal.
Dry the cry from mi eye.
Come back Liza come back gal, Water come a mi eye.
Nobody’s Business (but me own)
Solomon granpa gawn an Ecuador, Lef him wife an pickney out a door
Nobody’s business but him own.
Solomon granma swear she naw go beg, Tiefweh all bra ’Sammy fowl an egg Nobody’s business but she own. Nobody’s business, business, Nobody’s business but me own.
If ah married to a Nayga man, An ’ah lef him for a Chiney man. Nobody’s business but me own
If me even old like Taggoram, An ’me wan ’fi pose as twenty-one
Nobody’s business but me own
III. Hurry Hurry Swahili Proverb
The hare so swift, the tortoise moves slow
The hare couldn’t wait to get up and go
So when race began the hare ran top speed
The tortoise took his time, all the time that he‘d need.
The hare got tired, took a little nap
The tortoise kept moving, never looking back
The hare woke up ready to pick up the pace
But to the hare’s surprise the tortoise won the whole race
“Hurry hurry has no blessing”
“Haraka haraka haina baraka”
Liza
Every time I remember Liza, I start to cry (water comes to my eye).
When I remember my nice girl, Liza, I start to cry (water comes to my eye).
Oh come back Liza, come back, girl, I start to cry (water comes to my eye)
When I look upon Sarah’s daughter
When I look upon Vie
And I remember my nice girl, Liza, I start to cry (water comes to my eye).
Come back Liza, come back, girl.
Dry the tears from my eye.
Come back Liza, come back girl, I start to cry (water comes to my eye).
Nobody’s Business (but my own)
Solomon’s grandpa went to Ecuador
Left his wife and children outside It’s nobody’s business but his own.
Solomon’s grandma swears she is not going to beg
She stole all of brother Sammy’s chickens and eggs, It’s nobody’s business but her own.
Nobody’s business, business, Nobody’s business but my own.
If I was married to a Negro man, And I left him for a Chinese man, Nobody’s business but my own.
If I’m even old like an old ram goat
And I want to pretend I’m twenty-one, It’s nobody’s business but my own.
ABOUT THE RECITAL SERIES
Park Avenue Armory presents more intimate performances and programs in its acclaimed Recital Series, which showcases musical talent from across the globe in an intimate salon setting. Performed in the restored Board of Officers Room—which The New York Times has called “one of the most intimate and ideal spaces for vocal recitals”—these enchanting musical moments utilize the pristine acoustics and intimate scale intended by many composers while invoking the Salon culture of the Gilded Age. The 2024 Recital Series focuses on the sheer power and beauty of the human voice, with thoughtfully curated programs of lieder, art song, and contemporary works that take the art form in bold new directions in the hands of some of today’s most exciting musical interpreters. Since its inception in 2013, the series has held the debuts of many world-class artists, including: the North American recital debuts of pianist Igor Levit, soprano Sabine Devieilhe, tenors Ilker Arcayürek and Allan Clayton, baritones Benjamin Appl and Roderick Williams, clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer, and cellist István Várdai; the North American solo recital debuts of tenor Michael Spyres and mezzo soprano Emily D’Angelo; the US Recital debuts of sopranos Barbara Hannigan and Anna Lucia Richter and baritone Thomas Oliemans; and the New York debuts of pianist Severin von Eckardstein and the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam.
The Recital Series has programmed the world premieres of: Roger Reynolds’ FLiGHT, performed by the JACK Quartet; Michael Hersch’s “…das Rückgrat berstend,” performed by violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and cellist Jay Campbell; and Chris Cerrone’s Ode to Joy, performed by Sandbox Percussion and commissioned by the Armory. Actor Charlotte Rampling and cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton gave the US premiere of The Night Dances on the series in 2015, which brought together Benjamin Britten’s suites for solo cello and poetry by Sylvia Plath; WiederAtherton returned to the Armory in 2017 for the North American premiere of Little Girl Blue, a program that reimagined the music of Nina Simone. New York premieres include: Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s In the Light of Air and Shades of Silence performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble; Dai Kujikura’s Minina, John Zorn’s Baudelaires, and a new arrangement of
Messiaen’s Chants de terre et de ciel, also performed by ICE; Michael Gordon’s Rushes performed by the Rushes Ensemble; Michael Harrison’s Just Constellations performed by Roomful of Teeth; David Lang’s depart, Gabriel Jackson’s Our flags are wafting in hope and grief and Rigwreck, Kile Smith’s “Conversation in the Mountains” from Where Flames A Word, Louis Andriessen’s Ahania Weeping, Suzanne Giraud’s Johannisbaum, David Shapiro’s Sumptuous Planet, Benjamin CS Boyle’s Empire of Crystal, and Ted Hearne’s Animals (commissioned by Park Avenue Armory), all performed by The Crossing under conductor Donald Nally; John Zorn’s Jumalatteret sung by soprano Barbara Hannigan with pianist Stephen Gosling; and Viet Cuong’s Next Week’s Trees, performed by Sandbox Percussion.
Additional notable programs include performances by: baritone Christian Gerhaher with pianist Gerold Huber; the Flux Quartet ; tenor Ian Bostridge with pianist Wenwen Du ; pianist David Fray; soprano Lisette Oropesa with pianist John Churchwell countertenor Andreas Scholl with harpsichordist Tamar Halperin; soprano Kate Royal with pianist Joseph Middleton; pipa player Wu Man and the Shanghai Quartet; tenor Lawrence Brownlee with pianists Myra Huang and Jason Moran; mezzo soprano Isabel Leonard with pianist Ted Sperling; soprano Nadine Sierra with pianist Brian Wagorn; soprano Rosa Feola with pianist Iain Burnside; cellist Nicolas Altstaedt; tenor Paul Appleby with pianist Conor Hanick; baritone Will Liverman with pianist Myra Huang; mezzo soprano Jamie Barton with pianist and composer Jake Heggie; new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound; French period choir and chamber orchestra Ensemble Correspondances under the direction of harpsichordist and organist Sébastien Daucé; baritone Justin Austin and pianist Howard Watkins; soprano Ying Fang with pianist Ken Noda; baritone Stéphane Degout with pianist Cédric Tiberghien; pianist Pavel Kolesnikov in a two-night residency featuring Bach’s Goldberg Variations and a program entitled Celestial Navigation, inspired by Joseph Cornell’s orrery of the same name; soprano Julia Bullock with pianist John Arida; and mezzo soprano Kate Lindsey with pianist Justina Lee.
NEXT IN THE SERIES
KARIM SULAYMAN & SEAN SHIBE
OCTOBER 8 & 10
Lebanese-American tenor Karim Sulayman displays his sensitive and intelligent musicianship, riveting stage presence, beautiful voice, and inventive programming in a varied program of works examining the relationship of East and West performed with guitarist Sean Shibe. Featuring wide ranging works from Monteverdi, Britten, and Purcell to Takemitsu, Layale Chaker, and traditional Sephardic songs, this intimate recital inspects the artists own ethnic identities through song that at once was seen to exotify but through playful juxtaposition subverts that narrative into one of celebration.
BARBARA HANNIGAN & BERTRAND CHAMAYOU
DECEMBER 12
Canadian soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan makes her highly anticipated return to the Board of Officers Room with another dazzling program with pianist Bertrand Chamayou that beautifully spotlights her standing at the forefront of creation, embodying music with an unparalleled dramatic sensibility and adding a kind of virtuosity and artistry that contemporary music has rarely seen before.
NEXT AT THE ARMORY
ARTISTS STUDIO
EJ HILL: ANTHEMS FOR THE RESOLUTE WHEN THE SKY IS EMPTY
SEPTEMBER 20 & 21
Through a practice that includes writing, music, painting, and sculpture, EJ Hill tells untold stories and provides visibility for those who have been historically ignored, focusing on everyday experiences that intermingle public struggle, endurance, trauma, joy, and resilience. His work interrogates how society’s deeply held prejudices and inequalities continue to position Black, brown, and queer bodies as targets of violence. The performance artist comes to the Veterans Room with a team of his primary collaborators to create an evening of song, storytelling, and sonic exploration. Collectively, they weave together their individual influences and practices to offer musical constellations which sprawl the space between disaster and desire. With [jef]Frey Michael Austin, Carson Childs, Quincie Mychelle Lewis, and Alexander Margarite.
INDRA’S NET
SEPTEMBER 23 –
OCTOBER
6
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
One of the most unique and influential artists of our time, Meredith Monk returns to the Armory with her latest creation, an immersive work that is part performance, part installation, inspired by Indra’s Net, a parable that illustrates life’s interconnectedness. Following an initial concert performance of the work at Mills College in 2021 and a world premiere at the Holland Festival in 2023, this monumental creation receives a full production in its highly anticipated North American premiere. Monk, together with members of her extraordinary Vocal Ensemble, a sixteen-piece chamber orchestra, and an additional eight-member chorus, offers an interplay of music, movement, and architecture to embody celestial, earthly, and human realms through sound, video, and performance. The resulting production serves as a beacon to affirm life and a sense of connection to each other and all living things.
MAKING SPACE AT THE ARMORY CANTO DE TODES / SONG FOR ALL OCTOBER 19
Singer and performance artist Dorian Wood exhibits a 12-hour composition and installation inspired by a lyric written by the late Chilean singer and songwriter Violeta Parr. Combining both live performances with a chamber quartet and pre-recorded movements, the durational work mixes a genre-defying canon of folk, pop, and experimental music of Central and Latin America. This Armory commission spotlights timely issues of migration and emphasizes the urgency of folk music as a vessel for social change, punctuated by concurrent readings, screenings, conversations, and collaborations curated by film scholar Michael Gillespie and the Tierra Narrative poetry collective. Presented in collaboration with the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present.
ARTISTS STUDIO RADHA BLANK
NOVEMBER 18 & 19
Playwright, director, producer, and actress Radha Blank is a born and raised New Yorker, harnessing the city’s living history and culture—the immigrant communities, ethnic groups, working-class folks, and struggling artists—to inspire her work as a storyteller and an artist. With writing credits that include her play SEED and popular TV series She’s Gotta Have It, Empire, and The Get Down, Blank also won the directing award at the Sundance Film Festival for her semi-autobiographical feature film The 40-Year-Old Version, which was named one of 2020’s top films by The New Yorker and both New York Times critics. She continues the artistic throughline of that project and its lead character, who vacillated between the worlds of hip-hop and theater to find her true voice, with a new mixtape performed live in the Veterans Room.
DEAR LORD, MAKE ME BEAUTIFUL
DECEMBER
3 – 14
WORLD PREMIERE, AN ARMORY COMMISSION
MacArthur Fellow and sought-after choreographer and dancer Kyle Abraham unleashes his signature style—a unique blend of modern dance techniques ranging from ballet to hip hop—in the world premiere of a new evening-length work. Featuring a large ensemble of dancers with whom he has collaborated from across the country, plus Abraham himself, this Armory commission includes an innovative visual design created by Cao Yuxi (JAMES) and an Armory-commissioned score composed and performed live by the critically acclaimed new music ensemble yMusic to explore the growing sensitivities of life and transition, and nature and humanity, in our chaotic world. The underlying choreography employs layers of counterpoint to find intimacy and evoke ideas of empathy and constant change, fueling an evocative new dance work that migrates through the fragility of time and an ever-changing ecology.
ABOUT PARK AVENUE ARMORY
Part palace, part industrial shed, Park Avenue Armory supports 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—reminiscent of 19th-century European train stations—and an array of exuberant period rooms, the Armory provides a platform for artists to push the boundaries of their practice, collaborate across disciplines, and create new work in dialogue with the historic building. Across its grand and intimate spaces, 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.
The Armory both commissions and presents performances and installations in the grand Drill Hall and offers more intimate programming through its acclaimed Recital Series, which showcases musical talent from across the globe within the salon setting of the Board of Officers Room; its Artists Studio series curated by Jason Moran in the restored Veterans Room; Making Space at the Armory, a public programming series that brings together a discipline-spanning group of artists and cultural thought-leaders around the important issues of our time; and the Malkin Lecture
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chairman Emeritus
Elihu Rose
Co-Chairs
Adam R. Flatto
Amanda J.T. Riegel
President
Marina
Series that features presentations by scholars and writers on topics related to Park Avenue Armory and its history. In addition, the Armory also has a year-round Artists-in-Residence program, providing space and support for artists to create new work and expand their practices.
The Armory’s creativity-based arts education programs provide access to the arts to thousands of students from underserved New York City public schools, engaging them with the institutions artistic programming and outside-the-box creative processes. Through its education initiatives, the Armory provides access to all Drill Hall performances, workshops taught by Master Teaching Artists, and in-depth residencies that support the schools’ curriculum. Youth Corps, the Armory’s year-round paid internship program, begins in high school and continues into the critical post-high school years, providing interns with 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 is undergoing a multi-phase renovation and restoration of its historic building led by architects Herzog & de Meuron, with Platt Byard Dovell White as Executive Architects.
Edward G. Klein, Brigadier General NYNG (Ret.) Ralph Lemon
Dabie Tsai
Avant-Garde Chair
Adrienne Katz
Directors Emeriti
Harrison M. Bains
Angela E. Thompson*
Wade F.B. Thompson* Founding Chairman, 2000-2009
Pierre Audi
Anita K. Hersh Artistic Director
PARK AVENUE ARMORY STAFF
Rebecca Robertson Adam R. Flatto Founding President and Executive Producer
Pierre Audi Anita K. Hersh Artistic Director
ARTISTIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING
Michael Lonergan Senior Vice President and Chief Artistic Producer
Kevin Condardo General Manager, Programming
Rachel Rosado Producer
Samantha Cortez Producer
Darian Suggs Associate Director, Public Programming
Kanako Morita Company Manager/Associate Producer
Oscar Peña Programming Coordinator
ARTISTIC PRODUCTION
Paul E. King Director of Production
Claire Marberg Deputy Director of Production
Nicholas Lazzaro Technical Director
Lars Nelson Technical Director
Mars Doutey Technical Director
Rachel Baumann Assistant Production Manager
ARTS EDUCATION
Cassidy L. Jones Chief Education Officer
Monica Weigel McCarthy Director of Education
Aarti Ogirala Associate Director of Education, School Programs
Biviana Sanchez School Programs Manager
Nadia Parfait Education Programs Manager
Ciara Ward Youth Corps Manager
Bev Vega Youth Corps Manager
Milen Yimer Youth Corps Assistant
Drew Petersen Education Special Projects Manager
Emily Bruner, Donna Costello, Alexander Davis, Asma Feyijinmi, Hawley Hussey, Larry Jackson, Drew Petersen, Leigh Poulos, Neil Tyrone Pritchard, Vickie Tanner Teaching Artists
Wilson Castro, Shar Galarza, Daniel Gomez, Nancy K. Gomez, Maxim Ibadov, Amo Ortiz Teaching Associates
Arabia Elliot Currence, Victoria Fernandez, Sebastian Harris Teaching Assistants
Felipe Aguirre, Marc Keven Chaudry, Moon Emigli, Lia Fortune, Raven Garcia, Melina Jorge, Yenupaak Konlan, Nephthali Mathieu, Sofia Maza, Kailo Meng, Alan Munoz, MJ Polanco, Elijah Tejeda Youth Corps
BUILDING OPERATIONS
Karen Quigley Vice President of Capital Projects and Facilities
Marc Von Braunsberg Director of Operations and Security
Samuel Denitz Director of Facilities
Xavier Everett Security/Operations Manager
David Burnhauser Collection Manager
Emma Paton Administrative and Office Coordinator
Williams Say Superintendent
Olga Cruz, Leandro Dasso, Mayra DeLeon, Jeferson Avila, Felipe Calle, Jose Campoverde, Branden Fell, Jacob Garrity, Jonathan Mays, Tyrell Shannon Castillo Maintenance Staff
Jason Moran Curator, Artists Studio
Tavia Nyong’o Curator, Public Programming
DEVELOPMENT
Patrick Galvin Chief Development Officer
Alan Lane Director of Development
Caity Miret Executive Assistant to the Chief Development Officer
Jessica Pomeroy Major Gifts Officer
Chiara Bosco Manager of Individual Giving
Angel Genares Director of Institutional Giving
Hans Rasch Manager of Institutional Giving
Margaret Breed Director of Special Events
Séverine Kaufman Manager of Special Events
Michael Buffer Director of Database and Development Operations
Maeghan Suzik Development Coordinator
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
Lori Nelson Executive Assistant to the President
Nathalie Etienne Administrative Assistant, President’s Office
Simone Elhart Rentals and Project Manager
FINANCE, HR, AND IT
Judy Rubin Chief Financial Officer
Tejal Patel Controller
Khemraj Dat Accounting Manager
Zeinebou Dia Junior Accountant
Oku Okoko Director of IT
Jorge Sanchez IT Helpdesk Administrator
MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS, AND AUDIENCE SERVICES
Tom Trayer Chief Marketing Officer
Nick Yarbrough Associate Director of Digital Marketing
Dileiny Cruz Digital Marketing Coordinator
Allison Abbott Senior Press and Editorial Manager
Mark Ho-Kane Graphic Designer
Joe Petrowski Director of Ticketing and Customer Relations
Monica Diaz Box Office Manager
John Hooper Assistant Box Office Manager
Jordan Isaacs Box Office Lead
Victor Daniel Ayala, Fiona Garner, Meghan Lara Hrinkevich, Sarah Jack, Matthew Kamen, Emma Komisar, Michelle Meged, Caleb Moreno, Arriah Ratanapan, Ester Teixeira Vianna, Miciah Wallace Box Office Associates
Caitlin O’Keefe, Anne Wolf Tour Guides
Natasha Michele Norton Director of House Management
Clayton McInerney House Manager
Becky Ho, Cody Castro Assistant House Managers
Aiyana Greene, Beth Miller, Christina Johns, Christine Lemme, Eboni Greene, Eileen Rourke, Glori Ortiz, Jacqueline Babek, Joseph Balbuena, Kin Tam, Mariel Mercedes, MJ Ryerson, Naomi Santos, Naz Black, Neda Yeganeh, Raven Garcia, Regina Pearsall, Sarah Gallick, Sebastian Harris, Yanitza Chan, Yao
Adja, Zoë Rhinehart Ushers
Resnicow + Associates Press Representatives
PRODUCTION ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Sarah Billinghurst Solomon Consultant for Vocal Recitals
Steinway & Sons
JOIN THE ARMORY
Become a Park Avenue Armory member and join us in our mission to present unconventional works that cannot be fully realized elsewhere in New York City. Members play an important role in helping us push the boundaries of creativity and expression.
FRIEND $100
$64 is tax deductible
• 10% discount on tickets to all Armory tours and performances*
• 20% discount on member subscription packages*
• Invitations to member preview party for visual art installations
• Complimentary admission for two to visual art installations
• Discounts at local partnered restaurants
SUPPORTER $250
$194 is tax deductible
• All benefits of the Friend membership plus:
• Fees waived on ticket exchanges*
• Two free tickets to Armory Public Tours***
• Invitation to annual Member event
ASSOCIATE $500
$348 is tax deductible
All benefits of the Supporter membership plus:
• Complimentary admission for two additional guests (total of four) to visual art installations and member preview party
• Two free passes to annual fairs held at the Armory, such as TEFAF, The Art Show, Salon Art + Design, etc.**
• Access to the Patron Lounge at select productions
BENEFACTOR $1,000
$824 is tax deductible
All benefits of the Associate membership plus:
• Recognition in the Armory printed programs
• Access to the Membership Hotline for ticket assistance
• No-wait 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 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 are provided 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 group for adventurous art enthusiasts in their 20s to early 40s. Members enjoy an intimate look at Armory productions, as well as invitations to forward-thinking art events around New York City.
*Subject to ticket availability **Certain restrictions apply ***Reservations required For information on ticketing, or to purchase tickets, please contact the Box Office at (212) 933-5812 or visit us at armoryonpark.org. For more information about membership, please contact the Membership Office at (212) 616-3958 or members@armoryonpark.org. Each membership applies to one household, and one membership card is mailed upon membership activation.
ARTISTIC COUNCIL
The Artistic Council is a leadership group that champions and supports groundbreaking “only at the Armory” productions.
Chair
Lisa Miller
Anne-Victoire Auriault/Goldman Sachs
Gives
Abigail and Joseph Baratta
Noreen and Ken Buckfire
Jeanne-Marie Champagne
Hélène and Stuyvesant Comfort
Caroline and Paul Cronson
Courtney and Jonathan Davis
Jessie Ding and Ning Jin
Lisa and Sanford B. Ehrenkranz
The Lehoczky Escobar Family
Adam R. Flatto
LEGACY CIRCLE
Roberta Garza and Roberto Mendoza
Lorraine Gallard and Richard H. Levy
Barbara and Peter Georgescu
Kim and Jeff Greenberg
Lawrence and Sharon Hite
Samhita and Ignacio Jayanti
Wendy Keys
Irene Kohn
Fernand Lamesch and Maria Pisacane
Almudena and Pablo Legorreta
Christina and Alan MacDonald
Andrew Martin-Weber and Beejan Land
John and Lisa Miller
Lily O’Boyle
Valerie Pels
Amanda J.T. and Richard E. Riegel
Susan and Elihu Rose
Janet C. Ross
Caryn Schacht and David Fox
Stephanie and Matthew Sharp
Brian S. Snyder
Joan and Michael Steinberg
Emanuel Stern
Slobodan Randjelović and Jon Stryker
Merryl and James Tisch
Mary Wallach
Saundra Whitney
Anonymous (2)
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 out-the-box artistic programming, Arts Education Programs, and historic preservation into the future.
Founding Members
Angela and Wade F.B. Thompson*
Co-Chairs
Lisa and Sanford B. Ehrenkranz
Marjorie and Gurnee Hart
Members
The Estate of Ginette Becker
Wendy Belzberg and Strauss Zelnick
Emme and Jonathan Deland
Lisa and Sanford B. Ehrenkranz
Adam R. Flatto
Roberta Garza
Marjorie and Gurnee Hart
Anita K. Hersh*
Ken Kuchin
Heidi McWilliams
Michelle Perr
Amanda J.T. Riegel
Rebecca Robertson and Byron Knief
Susan and Elihu Rose
Francesca Schwartz
Joan and Michael Steinberg
Angela and Wade F.B. Thompson*
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
Adam R. Flatto
Marina Kellen French
Barbara and Andrew Gundlach
Anita K. Hersh Philanthropic Fund
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*
Sanford L. Smith*
The Thompson Family Foundation
Wade F.B. Thompson*
The Zelnick/Belzberg Charitable Trust
Anonymous (3)
$500,000 to $999,999
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Lisa and Sanford B. Ehrenkranz
Almudena and Pablo Legorreta
Adam R. Rose and Peter R. McQuillan
Marvin and Donna K Schwartz
Emanuel Stern Anonymous $250,000 to $499,999
American Express
Abigail and Joseph Baratta
Courtney and Jonathan Davis
Jessie Ding and Ning Jin
Michael Field and Doug Hamilton
Roberta Garza
Kim and Jeff Greenberg
Samhita and Ignacio Jayanti
Ken Kuchin and Tyler Morgan
The Rockefeller Foundation
Marshall Rose Family Foundation
Mrs. Janet C. Ross
Anonymous
$100,000 to $249,999
The Achelis and Bodman Foundations
R. Mark and Wendy Adams
Linda and Earle Altman
Blavatnik Family Foundation
Booth Ferris Foundation
Hélène and Stuyvesant Comfort
Caroline and Paul Cronson
Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
Marjorie and Gurnee Hart
Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
The Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Lester Morse
New York State Assembly
Stavros Niarchos Foundation
The Pinkerton Foundation
Slobodan Randjelović and Jon Stryker
Amanda J.T. and Richard E. Riegel
Rebecca Robertson and Byron Knief
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Daniel and Joanna S. Rose
Caryn Schacht and David Fox
Matthew and Stephanie Sharp
The Shubert Foundation
Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust
Joan and Michael Steinberg
Mr. William C. Tomson
Peter Zhou and Lisa Lee
Anonymous
$25,000 to $99,999
Amy and David Abrams
Jody and John Arnhold
Sarah Arison
The Avenue Association
Melanie Bouvard and Matthew Bird
Jeanne-Marie Champagne
The Cowles Charitable Trust
Dalio Philanthropies
Cora and Luis Delgado
Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg Foundation
Andrew L. Farkas & Island Capital Group LLC
Lorraine Gallard and Richard H. Levy
Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation
Barbara and Peter Georgescu
John R. and Kiendl Dauphinot Gordon
Mindy and Jon Gray
Agnes Gund
Janet Halvorson
Robert and Monica Hanea
Howard Gilman Foundation
The Keith Haring Foundation
Suzie and Bruce Kovner
Fernand Lamesch and Maria Pisacane
The Lehoczky Escobar Family
Christina and Alan MacDonald
Christine and Richard Mack
Marc Haas Foundation
Andrew Martin-Weber and Beejan Land
John and Lisa Miller
National Endowment for the Arts
New York State Council on the Arts
Katharine Rayner
Rhodebeck Charitable Trust
Genie and Donald Rice
The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation
Orville Schell
Sydney and Stanley S. Shuman
Amy and Jeffrey Silverman
Denise Littlefield Sobel TEFAF NY
Terra Foundation for American Art
Tishman Speyer
Barbara D. Tober
Jane Toll and Robert Toll* Mary Wallach
Wescustogo Foundation
Anonymous (5)
$10,000 to $24,999
AECOM Tishman
Anne-Victoire Auriault / Goldman Sachs Gives
Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation
Gabrielle S Bacon Foundation
Harrison and Leslie Bains
Agnieszka and Witold Balaban
Mercedes Bass
Noreen and Ken Buckfire
Amanda M. Burden
Mary and Brad Burnham
Sergey G Butkevich
Tim Cameron
Betsy and Edward Cohen
Con Edison
Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation
Antoinette Delruelle and Joshua L. Steiner
Jeanne Donovan Fisher
William F. Draper
Bart Friedman and Wendy A. Stein
Elliot Friman
Sarah Jane and Trevor Gibbons
Harkness Foundation for Dance
Lawrence and Sharon Hite
Claire King
Judy and Leonard Lauder
Leon Levy Foundation
May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc.
Danny and Audrey Meyer
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
Lily O’Boyle
O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation
Michael Peterson
Joan R. and Joel I. Picket
Kathryn Ploss
Susan Porter
The Reed Foundation
Fiona and Eric Rudin
Mrs. William H. Sandholm
Christine Schwarzman
Cynthia and Tom Sculco
Denise Simon and Paulo Vieira da Cunha
Brian S. Snyder
Howard & Sarah D. Solomon Foundation
Dabie Tsai
Susan Unterberg
Deborah C. van Eck
Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW @ Annenberg
Saundra Whitney
Maria Wirth
Anonymous (4)
$5,000 to $9,999
Donald Allison and Sumiko Ito
Barbara Goldstein Amster
Gina Argento
Page Ashley
Stephanie Bernheim
The Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Foundation
Nicholas Brawer
Dr. Joyce F. Brown and Mr. H. Carl McCall
David Bruson
Trevor Buchanan
Cindy and Tim Carlson
Arthur and Linda Carter
Orla Coleman and Rikki Tahta
Judith-Ann Corrente
David L. Klein, Jr. Foundation
David Schwartz Foundation, Inc.
FX and Natasha de Mallmann
Jennie L. and Richard K.* DeScherer
The Felicia Fund
Andrew and Theresa Fenster
Nicholas Firth and Sophie de Brignac
Ella M. Foshay and Michael B. Rothfeld
Jill and Michael J. Franco
Amandine Freidheim
Mary Ann Fribourg
Buzzy
Joanie
Beth and
Jesse and Stéphanie Newhouse
David Orentreich, MD / Orentreich Family Foundation
Richard and Rose Petrocelli Marnie Pillsbury
Anne and Skip Pratt
Preserve New York, a grant program of Preservation League of New York
Phyllis Posnick and Paul Cohen
Rajika and Anupam Puri
Janine and Steven Racanelli Richenthal Foundation
Laura and Gerald Rosberg
Ida and William Rosenthal Foundation
Marjorie
Valerie Rubsamen and Cedomir Crnkovic Jane Fearer
Savitsky Philip Schmerbeck/Herzog & de Meuron USA
Sara Lee and Axel Schupf
Schwartz Foundation Inc.
Seger, PBDW Architects
Lea Simonds
Daisy M. Soros
Melissa Stewart
Michael and Veronica Stubbs
Peter van Egmond Rossbach
George Wang and Shanshan Xu
Michael Weinstein
Gary and Nina Wexler
Cynthia Young and George Eberstadt
Toni Young
Elham Yousefi
Samiah Zafar and Minhaj Patel
Zubatkin Owner Representation, LLC
Anonymous (4)
$2,500 to $4,999
Allen Adler and Frances Beatty
Fabrizio and Enrica Arengi Bentivoglio
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
Atema
College
Bechara
and Sally Peterson Lori and Alexandre Chemla The Clarence Westbury Foundation David and Peri
Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany New
Ellie and Edgar Cullman Carol and David Domina Jason Drucker and Joseph Ortiz
and Joel Ehrenkranz
and Ronald Eisenberg Foundation
Eppler-Wolff
Dasha
and Matthew Wilson
Phyllis Hyde
Shujaat Islam and Fay Sardjono Adrienne Katz
James and Stephanie Kearney
Lee Kern
Jana and Gerold Klauer
Meghan Klopp
Kameron Kordestani
Douglas and Judith Krupp
Lizbeth & George Krupp
Camille and Dennis LaBarre
Dominique Laffont
Sophie Laffont
Julia Ledda Harrison LeFrak
Kim Lovejoy, EverGreene Architectural Arts
Stephen Ludwig Jeffrey and Tondra Lynford Robert S. MacDonald
& Ian Madover Bonnie Maslin
B. Matis Peter and Leni May Mr. and Mrs. Matthew McLennan
Ryan McNaughton and Anastasia Antoniev
Constance and H. Roemer McPhee
Israel Meir & Steve Rivera
Joyce F. Menschel
Virginia A. Millhiser
Saleem and Jane Muqaddam
New England Foundation for the Arts
Anthony Napoli and Gary Newman
Susan and Peter* Nitze
Gwendolyn Adams Norton and Peter Norton
Stephen Novick
Susan Numeroff
Ellen Oelsner
Kathleen O’Grady
Arlena Olsten
Patsy Orlofsky
Peter and Beverly Orthwein
Gregory Ostling and Angela Tu
Robert Ouimette and Lee Hirsch
Ji Park Kwak
Lee and Lori Parks
Sanjay and Leslie Patel
Dennis Paul Louis and Barbara Perlmutter
Stan Ponte
Jennifer Reardon
Diana and Charles Revson
Dale Riedl and Adam Dworkin
Susan Rudin
Danielle Ryan
Kevin and Pascaline Ryan
Leslie Rylee
Sana Sabbagh
Sadler’s Wells
Susan and Charles Sawyers
Benjamin Schor & Isabel Wilkinson Schor
Lisa Schultz
Shelley Sonenberg
Stephen and Constance Spahn
Squadron A Foundation
Michael and Marjorie Stern
Leila Maw Straus
Stella Strazdas and Henry Forrest
Studio Institute
A. Alfred Taubman Foundation
Felicitas Thorne
Mr. and Mrs. David Tomasello
Thomas and Diane Tuft
Zachary Kress Turner
Union Square Events
Glenn Van Orden
Julia Moody
David and Casey Moore
D. and Roseline Neveling
Stephanie
Nancy Newcomb and John Hargraves
Lynn Nottage and Tony Gerber Dr. Catherine Orentreich
Candace Platt
Robert A Press MD
Prime Parking Systems
David and Leslie Puth Constanza Quezada
Pierre-Antoine Raberin Martin and Anna Rabinowitz
Joseph Risico David Ritter
and Heidi Roberts
John and Lizzie Robertshaw Thomas Rom
and Elisa Rosen
Chuck and Stacy Rosenzweig
and Dan Rottenstreich
Whitney Rouse Julia and John Ryan Will W. Sachse and Carolyn M. Hazard
John and Shelby Saer Alexander and Sarah Saint-Amand
David and Elizabeth Saltzman
Andres and Lauren Santo Domingo
Herbert A Satzman
Paul H. Scarbrough, Akustiks, LLC.
and Louise Schliemann
Pat Schoenfeld
Victoria Schorsch Halsey Schroeder
David and Whitney Schwartz
Laura Schwartz and Arthur Jussel
The Binkley-Sebring Fund
He Shen & Michelle Mao Lauryn Siegel
Adrianne and William Silver
Simon Charitable Trust
Brooke and William Sinclair
Mary and Alok Singh
Laura Skoler Ileene Smith and Howard Sobel Charlotte Snyder
Andre Spears and Anne Rosen
Consuelo Pierrepont Spitler
Lane Associates Heating and Cooling
Marianna and Angelos Stergiou
Michael G Stewart
Bonnie and Tom Strauss
Robert Taft and J. Philip Moloney
Danielle Taubman
Juliet Taylor and James Walsh
Jennifer Tipton
Jean Troubh
Amelia & Steven Usdan
Dan
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-ofthe-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.
The renovation of the Board of Officers Room was made possible through the generosity of The Thompson Family Foundation.
