Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. We have some more free summer programming that you can add to your calendar. Moving from Little Island, up the Hudson River Greenway to the Upper west side at Lincoln Center. The Performing Arts venue will launch this year's edition of Summer For The City starting on June 11th. It's summer long festival of free events across Lincoln Square. Joining me now is Jordana Leigh, vice president of artistic programming for Lincoln Center. Hi, Jordana.

Jordana Leigh: Hi, Alison. It's so good to be back. How are you?

Alison Stewart: I am doing great. It's nice to talk to you as well. You read the press release, but there's one line that stood out. It says, "A season grounded in the city's global cultural traditions, innovative spirit, and a deep sense of community." How are the city's diverse traditions central to this year?

Jordana Leigh: We at Lincoln Center, want our community to be the center of what we do. I think our summer programming, Summer For The City, is really the crown jewel of all of our programming. I am so excited to be sharing about what we're doing. We want that to reflect all of New York. You have everything from our opening night, which is with Robert Glasper, and Alain Pérez, who is from Cuba. The funny thing is they actually met in Cuba at a jazz fest and now they're going to be performing on the same stage together, opening up our festival.

Then we move on to Brazil Week. We have a whole week celebrating Brazilian culture and art. With that, we start off with the Multi-Grammy award winning artist, Lenine, and we bookend it with the pop sensation, Liniker. We see that we want to have celebration of all different styles of music and culture, so we have I Am the Band, which is celebrating women instrumentalists, who have really changed how we understand popular music, including artists like Wendy & Lisa, who performed with Prince, or Bobby hall, who worked with Marvin Gaye. Then we have some amazing vocalists who are joining as well, such as Bridget Everett. It's so much that's there for you. I can go on. I can go on.

Alison Stewart: I want to go back to Brazil Week. Tell me a little bit about Brazil Week. We have some music from Os Mutantes. Actually, let's play a little bit and we can talk about it on the other side.

Jordana Leigh: Wonderful.

[MUSIC - Os Mutantes: A Minha Menina]

Alison Stewart: Jordana, that sounds like a party already.

Jordana Leigh: The whole week is going to be a giant party. We have jam packed from family programming on Saturday. All the way through the whole week, we have amazing artists. Actually, that project is a collaboration with Brazil Summerfest, who's been a longtime partner. That's actually one of the core elements of what we do is we partner up with different organizations across the city to help us curate and bring in the right artists that will really speak to our writ large New York City.

Alison Stewart: I understand there's going to be a theatrical work based on a Sanskrit epic. Who's involved? This is exciting.

Jordana Leigh: That is the Mahabharata and that is a multiple hour performance. That piece, actually, you come, you experience a bit of the theatrical pie, you take a break, you go have something to eat, and then you come back and you enjoy it a little bit more. It is an amazing storytelling piece. It is for our Indian community, a piece that people know this story. It is really something that we're very proud to be presenting. It is just an example of the diversity of the different styles of work that you're going to be seeing here with us.

Alison Stewart: I am speaking with Jordana Leigh, vice president of artistic programming at Lincoln Center about this year's Summer For The City. Their free festival running from June 11th through August 9th. The American Modern Opera Company is going to put together something called Run AMOC* Festival. All right. Who's the American Modern Opera Company?

Jordana Leigh: Actually, you were just speaking to Zack Winokur, who is part of-

Alison Stewart: Oh.

Jordana Leigh: -American Modern Opera Company. You can come and see his curation at Little Island, and then come up and see his artistic vision here. It is going to be a total of 12 productions, 10 New York City premieres, amazing opera artists, including Anthony Roth Costanzo, so many powerful voices, and it's all in different styles. We really hope that people get a chance to experience this.

Alison Stewart: Summer For The City happens all across Lincoln Center's campus and all kinds of spaces. We hosted an event for the Public Song Project last year in a converted driveway on Columbus Avenue. How are you using the space this year?

Jordana Leigh: Our disco ball is back so you can come and dance underneath the stars-

Alison Stewart: That's so exciting.

Jordana Leigh: -with all of our amazing programming there. We will still have Damrosch Park. I don't know if you saw, but we have a big announcement that after this summer, we're going to start renovating that space and to make it even more open to the public and the community, so please come. There is space for everyone. We also have inside our halls. Inside the David Geffen Hall, we have our Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center returning with Jonathan Hayward as our musical Director. There is many touch points to come and enjoy. Also, it's all free or Choose-What-You-Pay.

Alison Stewart: The events are free. I should mention that to people. Why is that important to the concept of this festival?

Jordana Leigh: It's been important to the concept of the festival. Historically, even before Summer For The City started, we've had a long history of doing free programming, but since the last few years when we started Summer For The City, and now recently with even in our halls, we really want to break down that barrier to access Lincoln Center. We feel like we want to make sure that the programming reflects New York City, the price point is accessing New York City, and that people feel welcome.

Part of that is taking away that economic barrier for you to come and enjoy New Lincoln Center. We have all of our outdoor programming is free. All of our indoor programming that is produced by Lincoln Center, be it during the summertime or throughout the year is Choose-What-You-Pay.

Alison Stewart: I did want to follow up on the announcement that you made. We just glossed over it there. There's going to be this huge new center built, a $335 million project. Tell us what's planned.

Jordana Leigh: They are already on our website, lincolncenter.org, or actually if you go on even our Instagram page, you can see renderings of what it's going to look like. The idea is for the last few years we've been talking to our community, especially our neighbors just across Amsterdam Ave. about what would bring them to Lincoln Center and to literally tear down that white every tower wall.

We are looking at really how to make this space a much more community oriented space. The design is really attractive and really beautiful. It is going to be a state of the art, amazing space outdoors for our programming. Also, a park that really welcomes people and so that you can enjoy it throughout if there is a performance or not.

Alison Stewart: Summer City is happening June 11th through August 9th at Lincoln Center. Where can people find information, RSVP, check it out?

Jordana Leigh: Summerforthecity.org is the great place to find everything. Actually, if people sign up on Monday, I believe they can do a fast track, so they can actually get guaranteed entry into our summer programming. Even though it's free, you can actually sign up in advance, and that way we make sure that you get in, because we know sometimes those lines are long.

Alison Stewart: Jordana Leigh is the vice president of artistic programming. She has been walking us through Summer For The City at Lincoln Center. It starts on June 11th through August 9th. We will see you there, Jordana.

Jordana Leigh: Thank you so much. Good luck with the pledge drive.