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Staging a revolution in song

Performances that embrace truth and freedom

Lincoln Center’s American Songbook uplifts contemporary and legendary storytellers who are unabashedly themselves while inspiring others to do the same. On March 13, the earth-shaking powerhouse Justin Vivian Bond performs songs from the hippy counterculture at The Appel Room. In honor of Women's History Month, AFROPUNK returns to Lincoln Center with a musical and poetic tribute to Phillis Wheatley Peters, author and figurehead for the abolitionist movement. Soon after, the incomparable Deaf Broadway brings Jonathan Larson’s RENT to the stage, vividly performed in American Sign Language.

Artists who dare to dream of a better future

Experience groundbreaking voices and projects that redefine what’s possible, on stage and off. Afrofuturist Nona Hendryx opens this year’s series with an evening of music integrating human and machine as co-artist. LGBTQIA+ icons, the Indigo Girls, ignite David Geffen Hall, performing their timeless anthems and sharing the stories behind them. Rising folk star Crys Matthews performs protest songs with depth and exquisite clarity—for free at the Atrium on March 30. For two nights at The Appel Room, the Obie Award-winning jazz musical, Running Man, gets a full concert performance at this overdue recording of its cast album.

Music that unites us all

The artistry on our stages reflects musical genres as wide and diverse as the American people. Following a turn as a finalist on The Voice, countertenor John Holiday shines bright in a solo concert of classical and pop selections at The Appel Room. Artist-activist Jeremy Dutcher shares his latest album, Motewolonuwok—a moving exploration of contemporary Indigeneity and his place within it. Then on April 6, the Unscripted Live interview series celebrates the Freedom to Dance with career-spanning interviews with Melba Moore and Kathy Sledge, whose voices have both shaped the liberating power of dance music.

Honoring American visionaries

Free

Unscripted Live with Melba Moore and Kathy Sledge

April 6 at the David Rubenstein Atrium

Choose-What-You-Pay

Echoes of Freedom: A Tribute to Phillis Wheatley Peters

March 22 at The Appel Room

Explore more

Thanks to Our Supporters

Hip-Hop and contemporary arts programming made possible by Nike

American Songbook is supported by PGIM, Global Asset Management

Corporate Support is provided by Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc.

Additional support is provided by Barbara H. Block

American Songbook

March 12–April 12, 2024

American Songbook reflects experiences of people across our nation in a celebration of a shared musical inheritance by some of the most fearless and exciting storytellers in song today. Honoring a host of complexities central to the American experiment, this year’s series focuses on historic change-makers and contemporary artist-advocates—embracing individuality and personal identity through performance. The vitality and conviction of this year’s series, entirely free or choose-what-you-pay, offers proof of a thriving, and ever-growing American Songbook. Join us as we write today’s chapter together.

Past Seasons

American Songbook 2023
A Place You Belong

With the guidance of the writer, filmmaker, producer, and multiple Tony Award-winning director George C. Wolfe, four of NYC's influential but long-lost performance spaces and dance clubs were resurrected on the Lincoln Center campus. Midtown's Latin jazz mecca, the Palladium Ballroom; SoHo's pioneering disco, Paradise Garage; Harlem's home of the Lindy Hop, the Savoy Ballroom; and the West Village's historically significant cabaret, Café Society, were brought back to life through shows spotlighting modern performers honoring the traditions of these iconic venues.

American Songbook 2022
A World of Voices

The 24th season of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series (and the first back on campus since 2020) featured performers whose diverse global artistic heritage deeply informs their creative expression. These musicians—hailing respectively from Honduras, Mexico, India, Guinea, China, Sudan, Venezuela, Tunisia, and Guatemala—each dazzled with a unique vision in their fields of musical theater, pop, Western and Eastern classical, rock, jazz, and folk. At-large, the 2022 series emphasized the significance of globalization in today's music and the incredible exchange of cultures, American and beyond, that plays a part in music-making.

Thanks to Our Supporters

Hip-Hop and contemporary arts programming made possible by Nike

American Songbook is supported by PGIM, Global Asset Management

Corporate Support is provided by Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc.

Additional support is provided by Barbara H. Block

Plan Your Visit

This year’s American Songbook performances will be presented in one of four venues across the Lincoln Center campus: David Geffen Hall, David Rubenstein Atrium, The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center, or the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Please check the event page carefully to determine the correct venue for that performance.

Contact us

For tickets and box office information, please contact CenterCharge at 212-721-6500 on Monday–Saturday 10:00 am–8:00 pm and Sunday noon–6:00 pm.

For general inquiries about this year's American Songbook, contact Guest Experience at 212-875-5456 or [email protected].

Learn more about the venues

David Geffen Hall

10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023 / View map
Home to the New York Philharmonic and our Welcome Center, David Geffen Hall is the gateway to the Lincoln Center campus. The state-of-the-art Wu Tsai Theater was designed with optimized acoustics and sightlines in mind, resulting in a more unified and intimate relationship between audience and performer. Learn more »

American Songbook event at David Geffen Hall: "When We Were Writers": Indigo Girls

David Rubenstein Atrium

61 West 62nd Street, New York, NY 10023 / View map
The David Rubenstein Atrium is where arts and democracy converge—committed to the values of radical welcoming, artistic innovation, open exchange of ideas, audience and artist intimacy, and community partnership. Learn more »

American Songbook events at the Atrium: Jeremy Dutcher's Motewolonuwok, Crys Matthews, Unscripted Live with Melba Moore and Kathy Sledge, and The Each Kindness Suite

The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center

10 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019 / View map
Based on the design of a Greek amphitheater, The Appel Room has one of New York City’s most dramatic and breathtaking backdrops: a 50’ by 83’ wall of glass overlooking Central Park, Columbus Circle, and the Manhattan skyline. Learn more »

American Songbook events at The Appel Room: Nona Hendryx: Songs from the Nonaverse and other Dream Machines, Justin Vivian Bond, John Holiday, Echoes of Freedom: A Tribute to Phillis Wheatley Peters, and Cast Album Project: Running Man

Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Broadway at West 60th Street, 5th floor, New York, NY 10019 / View map
Located on the fifth floor of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in the Deutsche Bank Center at Columbus Circle, Rose Theater is the venue’s largest performing arts space. It features three levels, sleek wood veneer seating boxes, and moveable stage towers that can be configured for a theater-in-the-round or a traditional proscenium look. Learn more »

American Songbook event at the Rose Theater: Jonathan Larson's RENT by Deaf Broadway

Parking

To reserve parking near David Geffen Hall or the David Rubenstein Atrium, call 212-721-6500 or visit the Parking Reservations website. For parking near Jazz at Lincoln Center, call 212-490-3460.

Accessibility

Lincoln Center’s approach to accessibility mirrors our commitment to transform performing arts spaces to be more inclusive of our audiences’ identities and access needs by design, not as an afterthought or add-on.

Learn more about the accommodations at this year's venues:
David Geffen Hall
David Rubenstein Atrium
The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center
Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Health & Safety

Face masks are encouraged, but not required. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is also not required; however, we encourage everyone to remain up to date on vaccinations before attending. If you have been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 10 days, a high quality, well-fitting face covering is required at all times.  

Click here for more information.

The 2024 season has come to a close.
To access exclusive benefits, explore membership today.

Our goal is to continue exploring new ticketing practices together as a community to make our performances more accessible to more people and to center equity and inclusion in every aspect of our field. All American Songbook performances are FREE or Choose-What-You-Pay. Please refer to the dedicated event page of the show you’d like to attend to confirm ticketing options.

Free General Admission Events

American Songbook performances at the David Rubenstein Atrium are available for FREE via General Admission—first-come, first-served. Advance reservations are not required for these events; just show up! While we'll do our best to accommodate as many guests as possible, we cannot guarantee admission.

Free Fast Track Option

In addition to General Admission, all performances at the David Rubenstein Atrium offer a FREE Fast Track reservation option, giving priority entry into events. Reservations for Fast Track will open every Monday at noon for that week's events and can be reserved on this page. While event admission is not guaranteed, Fast Track reservation holders will have priority over the General Admission line up until 30 minutes before show time. We recommend arriving an hour before show time to ensure entry into the event. Please check the event's dedicated web page to confirm if Fast Track is available for the performance you'd like to attend.

Choose-What-You-Pay Events

American Songbook performances held at David Geffen Hall, The Appel Room, and the Rose Theater are available on a Choose-What-You-Pay basis. With Choose-What-You-Pay ticketing, you decide what's right for you. We offer a suggested ticket price, as well as options to pay more or less. The minimum ticket price is $5.00.

3 Ways to Buy Tickets

There are three ways to purchase Choose-What-You-Pay and full-price tickets.

1. Book online from the event's dedicated web page.
2. Call CenterCharge at 212-721-6500 from Monday–Saturday 10:00 am–8:00 pm and Sunday noon–6:00 pm.
3. Book in-person at the Alice Tully Hall box office (Broadway and 66th Street) or the David Geffen Hall box office from Monday–Saturday 10:00 am–6:00 pm and Sunday noon–6:00 pm.

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Staging a revolution in song

Performances that embrace truth and freedom