SPAC is Open

SPAC

Reawakens!

George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Photo courtesy of SPAC.

The amphitheater stage comes alive with appearances by New York City Ballet and The Philadelphia Orchestra

After more than a year of a shuttered, silent amphitheater stage, Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) lifts the curtain on its 2021 season, inviting audiences back to its beautiful grounds for live performances by resident companies New York City Ballet, The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. A popular concert lineup presented by Live Nation including performances by Trey Anastasio and Dave Matthews Band and worldclass productions including the musical Man of La Mancha by Opera Saratoga will round out the summer cultural offerings. More than just a performance, a visit to SPAC is an immersive experience combining the Center’s natural setting – the perfect confluence of man-made and natural beauty – with world-class artistry. SPAC events will be presented in compliance with the current guidelines from the Governor of New York to ensure the health and safety of artists, audience members and staff. For more information, please visit spac.org/covid-guidelines.

HIGHLIGHTS! NEW YORK CITY BALLET “NYCB ON AND OFF STAGE”

An intimate, up-close look at selected excerpts from the Company’s extraordinary repertory of ballets. Never before been presented for Saratoga audiences, NYCB On and Off Stage will showcase two distinct programs suitable for audiences of all ages. Both programs will feature an ensemble of fifteen New York City Ballet dancers in costume performing excerpts from the Company's worldrenowned repertory, alongside insights from Principal Dancers and live musical accompaniment provided by pianists from NYCB. The presentations will be approximately 75 minutes long with no intermission. “Bringing this intimate presentation to SPAC marks an emotional and historic moment for us and our community. Not only are we thrilled to once again see live dance on our stage, but we also have the opportunity to experience highlights from the company’s repertory in a completely fresh and new way for the first time in our 55-years together,” says Elizabeth Sobol, President and

CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts

Center. "Our devoted ballet fans and newcomers alike, will delight in seeing excerpts from Balanchine's most iconic works and some of the company's beloved story ballets, alongside unique commentary directly from the NYCB Principal Dancers."

SHORT STORIES:

July 14 & July 15 • 7:30 p.m. July 17 • 2 p.m. Short Stories explores beloved narrative ballets like Firebird, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Western Symphony, Fancy Free, and The Concert.

ALL BALANCHINE:

July 15 • 2 p.m. July 16 • 7:30 p.m. July 17 • 7:30 p.m. All Balanchine illuminates the expansive repertory of Founding Choreographer George Balanchine with excerpts from masterworks including Apollo, The Four Temperaments, Agon, Jewels, and Who Cares?.

THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA

The Philadelphia Orchestra returns to Saratoga Springs for a diverse week of performances, highlighted by seven SPAC premieres. Led by The Philadelphia Orchestra’s acclaimed Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, performances will be 90 minutes in length, without intermission. “From the opening notes of a Mozart Piano Concerto, with Yannick himself at the piano, to a closing concert featuring Joshua Bell in Beethoven’s sublime Violin Concerto – and powerful SPAC premieres by women and BIPOC composers – throughout the week, we will savor every sweet and precious note of the Orchestra’s 2021 residency,” added Sobol. August 11 • 8 p.m. For The Philadelphia Orchestra’s opening night, Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin will simultaneously play and conduct Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12, followed by the SPAC premiere of Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1, the first symphonic work by a Black woman to be played by a major American orchestra when it was premiered by the Chicago Symphony in 1933. August 12 • 8 p.m. The evening opens with the SPAC premiere of Seven O’clock Shout, composed as a tribute to frontline workers during the pandemic, by composer Valerie Coleman, followed by Bach’s Double Concerto in D minor with Concertmaster David Kim and violinist Juliette Kang. The evening concludes with Brahms’ lyrically lush, Symphony No. 1. August 13 • 8 p.m. The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Composerin Residence Gabriela Lena Frank mixed elements from western classical and Andean folk music traditions in Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout. The work will receive its SPAC premiere alongside the Mozart’s clarinet concerto, performed by Philadelphia Orchestra Principal clarinetist Ricardo Morales. Another SPAC premiere and a piece that is “unjustlyunderperformed” according to Maestro Seguin, Louise Farrenc’s stunning Symphony No. 2 closes the evening. August 14 • 8 p.m. Joshua Bell returns to SPAC to perform the illustrious Beethoveen Violin Concerto. A new arrangement for string orchestra of Florence Price’s lovely Adoration opens, while Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 – a work written when the composer was just 17, that has never before been performed at SPAC– closes The Philadelphia Orchestra’s residency in Saratoga.

Visit spac.org for tickets and more

details or call 518-584-9330. SS