The Kennedy Center's 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert, which was taped in the Concert Hall on Tuesday, September 14, is being broadcast across the nation on Friday, October 1 at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS Video App.
Echoing "An American Pageant for the Arts," the 1962 event conducted by Leonard Bernstein, this special celebration and re-launch of live, in-person performing arts in America is hosted by six-time Tony Award® winner Audra McDonald with special guest Caroline Kennedy and feature the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO). The concert is directed and choreographed by Emmy Award® winner and Tony Award® nominee Joshua Bergasse and features newly announced conductors JoAnn Falletta, Steven Reineke and Thomas Wilkins, Herman Cornejo, Randall Goosby, Cassandra Trenary, Tony Yazbeck, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Ray Chen, Robert Glasper, Joshua Henry, Bettye LaVette, Kelli O'Hara, Gaby Moreno, Zhu Wang, the original cast of David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori's Soft Power, and more will be making appearances and performing throughout the night.