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Lincoln Center Visionary Artist: Rubén Blades
Each season, Lincoln Center honors one extraordinary artist whose impact, vision, and values embrace the transformative power of the arts across many of the disciplines represented on campus. Beginning October 2024, we celebrate the living legend, Rubén Blades, one of the most distinguished musicians of our time.
A prolific composer, recording artist, actor, and former Minister of Tourism and presidential candidate in his native Panama, the 23-time GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY Award winner and Latin GRAMMY Hall Of Fame inductee revolutionized Latin music by making it a vehicle for stories that center social justice and the lived experiences of people across Latin America. His musical innovations are celebrated worldwide, expanding the definitions of what Afro-Cuban music can be. Recognized for his work across genres, Blades has appeared in over 50 films and has garnered three Emmy nominations and an ACE AWARD as best actor in a movie or mini-series.
Lincoln Center’s season-long celebration features an exploration of Blades’ Brazilian music influences in a performance with Brazil’s Boca Livre and the Editus Ensemble with Jazz at Lincoln Center; the U.S. premiere of his large-scale musical work Maestra Vida, a soaring, genre-defying urban drama centered on the Latin American lived experience, performed with the New York Philharmonic; a display at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts tracing his artistic journey entitled From Panama to New York: The Musical Journey of Rubén Blades; and screenings of his 1985 breakout film performance Crossover Dreams with Film at Lincoln Center and his 2018 documentary Rubén Blades Is Not My Name.
Upcoming Events
May 14 at 6:00 pm
Lincoln Center Visionary Artist: Rubén Blades
Crossover Dreams Screening and Q&A
Lincoln Center Presents
In collaboration with Film at Lincoln Center
May 14 at 6:00 pm
Walter Reade Theater
MUSIC
FILM
TALK
Past Events
March 31 at 7:30 pm
Lincoln Center Visionary Artist: Rubén Blades
Maestra Vida
Rubén Blades with members of the New York Philharmonic
Lincoln Center Presents
In collaboration with New York Philharmonic
March 31 at 7:30 pm
Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall
March 30 at 7:30 pm
Lincoln Center Visionary Artist: Rubén Blades
Maestra Vida
Rubén Blades with members of the New York Philharmonic
Lincoln Center Presents
In collaboration with New York Philharmonic
March 30 at 7:30 pm
Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall
November 06 at 7:30 pm
Lincoln Center Visionary Artist: Rubén Blades
Rubén Blades Is Not My Name (Yo No Me Llamo Rubén Blades)
Lincoln Center Presents
November 06 at 7:30 pm
David Rubenstein Atrium
FILM
October 19 at 7:30 pm
Lincoln Center Visionary Artist: Rubén Blades
Rubén Blades with Boca Livre & Editus Ensemble
Lincoln Center Presents
In collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center
October 19 at 7:30 pm
Rose Theater
October 18 at 7:30 pm