Below, you can view a photo slideshow from the GlobalFEST event this year at Lincoln Center. See our coverage of their event last year here. Photos were taken by Sean Fitzpatrick:
January 2026 Highlights:
- Under the Radar returns to Lincoln Center with Benevolence (January 7 – 18), an intimate storytelling experience exploring community and legacy, and Birdie (January 14 – 18), a genre-defying multimedia reflection on migration and human resilience.
- David Geffen Hall heats up with the 23rd-annual globalFEST (January 11), featuring an eclectic array of musical discoveries from today’s hottest international sounds to styles born and bred in the U.S.This year’s featured artists include: Al-Qasar (Morocco, France), Dale Watson & His Lone Stars with Special Guest Celine Lee (Texas, U.S.), David Rivera & La Bámbula (Puerto Rico), Insun Park & Generals (South Korea), Maria Mazzotta (Italy), The Naghash Ensemble (Armenia), Nidia Góngora (Colombia), Raiatea Helm (Hawai’i, U.S.), Saami Brothers featuring Ustad Naseeruddin Saami (Pakistan), and Vopli Vidopliassova (Ukraine).
- Renowned choreographer Pam Tanowitz makes her triumphant return to Lincoln Center with Pastoral, an evening-length work created in collaboration with composer Caroline Shaw and painter Sarah Crowner (January 11-13).Originally choreographed to Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony, the piece now features Shaw’s new score, reinterpreting Beethoven’s themes. Crowner’s large-scale abstract designs frame the choreography, resulting in a concise, multi-layered production that blends dance, contemporary music, and visual art around Beethoven’s vision of the natural world.
- Lincoln Center highlights the iconic traditions of singer-songwriters at the David Rubenstein Atrium, honoring coffeehouse originals, folk innovators, and genre-bending indie artists. Songwriter/Storyteller (January 22 – 31) features six groundbreaking musicians, showcasing the craft and narrative artistry at the heart of their work.This year’s artists include: No-No Boy (January 22), Luna Li (January 23), River Whyless (January 24), Dámaris Bójor (January 29), Wild Pink (January 30), and Miriam Elhajli (January 31).
- Lincoln Center and New Latin Wave celebrate the 40th anniversary of Philip Glass’s Songs from Liquid Days, with the album’s first staged revival in decades (January 25). Released in 1986, this six-track concept album forever changed the landscape of contemporary music.This special concert features The Philip Glass Ensemble, founded by the composer in 1968, alongside Latine guest artists, offering a focused, cross-generational look at the album’s visionary spirit and lasting impact. Special guests include: Darian Donovan Thomas, Magos Herrera, Sasha Gutiérrez, Melisa Bonetti, Kayla Viviana, Angel Raii Gomez, Britt Hewitt, and the Ivalas Quartet.
- Produced in collaboration with Shore Art Advisory, Lincoln Center presents renowned artist Carrie Mae Weems’s newest multimedia work, Contested Sites of Memory—a unique blend of live music, spoken word, and video art installation—for two powerful nights in Alice Tully Hall (January 29 – 30).
You can browse the full schedule of this season’s events: HERE.
About GlobalFEST for 2026
The cultural catalysts at globalFEST have been promoting the world’s greatest musicaltraditions for over 20 years. This annual festival features an eclectic array of musicaldiscoveries from today’s hottest international sounds to styles born and bred intheU.S.The New York Timescalls the festival, “a joyful and often raucous celebration ofdiversity and culture.” The blockbuster, ten-sets-in-one-night evening returns to DavidGeffen Hall for their annual full-theater takeover at Lincoln Center, populating all the floors of the building with soul-stirring performers from across the planet and aroundthe corner. This year’s featured artists include:Al-Qasar (Morocco, France), DaleWatson & His Lone Stars with Special Guest Celine Lee (Texas, U.S.), David Rivera& La Bámbula (Puerto Rico), Insun Park & Generals (South Korea), Maria Mazzotta(Italy), The Naghash Ensemble (Armenia), Nidia Góngora (Colombia), Raiatea Helm(Hawai’i, U.S.), Saami Brothers featuring Ustad Naseeruddin Saami (Pakistan), andVopli Vidopliassova (Ukraine)
Banner Image: GlobalFest 2026. Image Credit – Sean Fitzpatrick
Lincoln Center
In 2019, new leadership at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts set a strategic direction for our work with a renewed focus on equity and service to all of New York City. In the spring of 2020, we committed to hold ourselves accountable in ways we believe will help us be part of positive change in our community. These commitments remain at the forefront of our work every day. As tectonic societal shifts around social justice continue, our progress in this area is the most important measurement of our contributions to the well-being of all New Yorkers.