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THE 2011 RIVER TO RIVER® FESTIVAL UNVEILS ROBUST SCHEDULE
OF COMPLETELY FREE MUSIC, DANCE, FILM AND CULTURAL EVENTS
Visit this page for the Detailed Listings
Putting a spotlight on artists whose work is synonymous with New York City, The 10th Annual River To River® Festival today unveiled a stellar line-up of completely free events that include Patti Smith, Rufus Wainwright, Laurie Anderson, STREB, Sean Lennon and a tribute to The Bottom Line. Founded in 2002 to help revitalize Lower Manhattan after September 11th, with support from the Festival’s Founding and Title Sponsor, American Express, The River To River Festival has since become a cultural institution, drawing hundreds of thousands of people each year to venues along downtown’s spectacular waterfront, including the World Financial Center, The Seaport, Battery Park City’s Rockefeller Park, Castle Clinton National Monument, The Elevated Acre at 55 Water Street, and more. Since its inception, over seven million people have attended more than 700 festival events.
As it marks its tenth season, organizers said the festival is evolving from a summer-long series of diverse events to a more ambitious, densely packed, month-long festival showcasing a curated roster of New York icons as well as world-class artists. Reflecting this vision, this summer will see the debut of several new flagship events including: Extraordinary Moves, a weeklong celebration of dance at the World Financial Center; a production of Shakespeare’s Henry V performed at Castle Clinton and Castle William on Governor’s Island; and Come Out and Play, a series of participatory games that will activate the streets of Lower Manhattan.
“This year’s River To River Festival boasts an extraordinary mix of artists who either call New York City home or who have been inspired by the city’s incredible creativity and vitality,” said Sam Miller, President of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), the new lead partner of River To River Festival. “The high-caliber of talent on display promises to take the festival to exciting new heights this summer.”
With major support from American Express and the Alliance for Downtown New York, the 10th Annual River To River Festival marquee events include:
- The festival kicks off at the World Financial Center Winter Garden with the annual Bang on a Can Marathon, a FREE 12-hour extravaganza of innovative music, including performances by an incredible collection of some of the world’s most astonishing musicians: the Bang on a Can All-Stars with Philip Glass, Asphalt Orchestra, Glenn Branca, Athelas Wind Ensemble with Frode Andersen, JACK Quartet, Signal, Sun Ra Arkestra and more. (June 19)
- Castle Clinton National Monument in Battery Park welcomes rising jazz star Vijay Iyer (June 23), Laurie Anderson with Bill Laswell (June 30), Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond (July 7), and rock legend Patti Smith (July 14)
- With tall ships as a backdrop, The Seaport showcases the world’s top indie music stars with Sean Lennon’s new band, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger (June 24), Lower Dens and Dirty Beaches (July 1), The Wake, with guests, Weekend (July 8), and The Radio Dept. and Asobi Seksu (July 15).
- The early evening concert series at Rockefeller Park, complete with stunning Hudson River sunset, includes Rosanne Cash, Dar Williams, and Marshall Crenshaw leading a star-studded celebration of The Bottom Line (June 22), R&B singer/songwriter Chrisette Michele (June 29), Poets House presents celebrated poets (TBA) and special musical guests Jose James with flutist Bobbi Humphrey (July 6), and a tribute to WNYC’s Jonathan Schwartz led by John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey with a stellar collection of the world’s finest singers (July 13)
- In the soaring World Financial Center Winter Garden, Rufus Wainwright, New York City Opera singers, and pianist Kevin Murphy perform excerpts from his opera Prima Donna, which will premiere at New York City Opera in spring 2012, as well as his favorite arias (June 28)
- The World Financial Center presents Extraordinary Moves, a weeklong celebration of dance through movement, visual art and film including the world premiere of Human Fountain by STREB, the New York premiere of Judy Dennis’s The Dancer Films inspired by the popular “Dancer” cartoons of Jules Feiffer, and an exhibit of the Pulitzer-prize winning cartoonist’s original “Dancer” drawings (July 9-17)
- One of the city’s best outdoor screening series returns with Movie Nights On The Elevated Acre, showcasing classic New York features paired with indie shorts screened on an open-air rooftop plaza overlooking the East River. The lineup includes: Desperately Seeking Susan (June 20), The Godfather: Part II (June 27), and The Brother From Another Planet (July 11)
- New York Classical Theatre presents Shakespeare’s Henry V at two Castles – Castle Clinton in Battery Park and Castle William in Governors Island with a free ferry service provided by Statue Cruises carrying audiences between the two locations.
- Come Out And Play will activate the streets of Lower Manhattan with a series of interactive games that allow audiences to play and interact with the city and each other (June 19-July 16)
- As part of Make Music New York, audiences will download an iPhone app that will enable them to become part of a large-scale performance of Aaron Siegel’s GROUP (June 21st)
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