The fourth edition of Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival returns this week, with its now-familiar eclectic mix of musical events spread across the Lincoln Center campus and beyond. As in past years, Festival director Jane Moss has assembled a hand-picked collection of musical experiences that may at first glance seem to have little to do with one another. But, beneath the surface they all share a spiritual dimension, be it overtly religious or abstract. To paraphrase Arvo Pärt, from whom the White Light Festival gets its name: It’s what you bring to it.
Highlights of this year’s festival include:
- Oct. 31–Nov. 2: The return of The Manganiyar Seduction, which wowed us on the first White Light Festival
- Nov. 3: Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI exploring music of the Balkans
- Nov. 4: The Cleveland Orchestra performing choral music by Beethoven and Messiaen
- Nov. 12: Leipzig’s legendary boys choir, the Thomanenchor, who we saw earlier this year
- Nov. 13-14: Anna Caterina Antonacci singing music of the Italian baroque
- Nov. 19: JACK Quartet performing Georg Friedrich Haas’ Third Quartet—in complete darkness
- Nov. 21-23: Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, as performed by the Mark Morris Dance Group
I’ll be kicking things off tonight with music by Grawemeyer Award-winning Dutch composer Michel van der Aa at the Manhattan Center Ballroom, featuring the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, ICE, and soloists. Tickets for this and most other events are available on the White Light website, or at the Lincoln Center box office.