How to Go Behind the Scenes at New York’s Lincoln Center

Sitting in the second tier of the Wu Tsai Theater in David Geffen Hall, I’m asked to put my hands together and clap as loudly as I can. On the count of three, I do as I’m told, hear an initial ‘thunk’, and listen as the sound lingers in the air.

“Did you hear that?” my guide, Gerri Brioso, asks, pointing towards the rippling wood lining the walls of the auditorium. I look around the sweeping three-tiered theatre, in which the audience sits around the stage. From up here, the hall feels grand but surprisingly intimate; it’s hard to imagine the room was once plagued by poor acoustics.

This is the home of the New York Philharmonic, and the opening stop on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. For 75 minutes, Gerri is going to show me the spaces that are normally off-limits to audiences. The tour varies depending on what’s happening that day — which means there’s always the possibility of catching a rehearsal or seeing stage crews preparing for a performance — but it’s an unusually intimate way to experience one of New York’s most famous cultural institutions.

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The concert hall where I’m standing was the first building to open at Lincoln Center in 1962, giving the New York Philharmonic its own space for the first time since the orchestra was founded in 1842. The building initially held 2,800 seats in a room designed for just 2,200, creating major acoustic problems. However, during a $550 million (£415,580,000) renovation between 2020 and 2022, 500 seats were removed and the proscenium arch was taken away, allowing the audience to sit around the stage.

“It was a gut job,” Gerri tells me. “Everything changed other than the ceiling.” Now the undulating wood panels lining the auditorium reflect sound back into the room, allowing it to resonate rather than disappear. At the back, a digital organ is encased in twisted wood, another sculptural detail designed to shape the sound. “For years, the orchestra members were flying blind,” Gerri says. “Now they can finally hear themselves. It only took 60 years, but we finally got it right.”

Spanning several blocks on the Upper West Side, the 16-acre Lincoln Center is home to the New York City Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera, the Chamber Music Society and performing arts schools including Juilliard and the School of American Ballet. Gerri, who had an extensive career in television before she began leading tours there, tells me she’s out at one of these iconic venues almost every night of the week — “especially during ballet season.” As a child, she trained at the School of American Ballet before quitting to play baseball. She returned to dance in college and hasn’t stopped since.

“There’s always something happening here,” she tells me. With ‘choose-what-you-pay’ shows and programmes inviting schoolchildren from across the city to see the New York City Ballet perform live, anyone has the opportunity to experience incredible art. “It’s luxury for everyone,” she says.

After viewing David Geffen Hall from the audience, Gerri takes us backstage. The corridor is quiet, but I can almost hear the commotion that must fill it before a performance. I take a moment to stand in the spot where some of the world’s greatest musicians have waited to make their Philharmonic debut, and exhale. Minutes earlier, I was sitting among the audience; now I’m on the other side of the curtain, looking out at the stage. The hall feels different from here: larger, somehow, but also more intimate. And after everything I’ve heard about the building’s troubled acoustics, there’s something lovely about knowing that the musicians who stand on this stage can finally hear themselves play.

In Conversation With Nicole Zuraitis

The Grammy Award-winning jazz singer shares what it’s like to perform at the Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club and her other go-to live music venues in the city.

Zoe Bell: Why is Dizzy’s Club such an iconic venue?

Nicole Zuraitis: You can experience the rich history of Black American music while taking in one of the world’s most recognisable skylines.

ZB: Where do you like to watch live music in NYC?

NZ: I love Birdland on 44th Street. It’s an amazing club that’s been around for many years. Or you could go uptown to Smoke or downtown to Smalls and Mezzrow.

ZB: What’s your favourite post-show spot?

NZ: For a celebratory cocktail, I’d choose Dirty French, or Aman for its luxurious setting and jazz.

ZB: What do you love about performing in New York?

NZ: A New York audience is quick; they’re witty, passionate, emotional. They can recognise a faker from a mile away, so you have to bring your all the entire time.