WNYC personality John Schaefer engages director Heiner Goebbels, Columbia University Professor of Music George E. Lewis, and composer Missy Mazzoli in a conversation about the complexities of themes in DE MATERIE.

Dutch contemporary composer Louis Andriessen is joined by pianist Jason Moran for an evening spotlighting these jazz influences as well as other improvisations. This artfully-curated set for two pianos gives a contemporary context to musical improvisation, moving this extemporaneous art form from its origins in the time of Bach and Beethoven to the modern age.

Visionary director Heiner Goebbels stages this monumental work in a highly-imaginative production that infuses the work's journey through a sequence of non-narrative tableaus with stunning visual imagery to help convey its meaning, with references to Mondrian and Madame Curie as well as floating zeppelins and a flock of sheep. The International Contemporary Ensemble takes on the sonically varied score.

Hear a preview of three of these soon-to-be opera greats from the program – soprano Clarissa Lyons, mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb, and tenor Kang Wang – in intimate evenings of song in the Board of Officers Room.

Having released nine of his own albums in addition to over 30 recordings with others, Moran has garnered international acclaim including a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Album in 2014. He inaugurates the Veterans Room with a performance of works for solo piano, commemorating the auspicious occasion with a live recording for future release.

In collaboration with the Aspen Institute Arts Program, the Park Avenue Armory has gathered artists, writers and cultural commentators to share their unique, ongoing, and evolving engagements with African American history. Moderated by writer and podcast host Stacia Brown, participants include vocalist and composer Imani Uzuri, multi-media artist Jasmine Murrell, novelist and playwright Darryl Pinckney, photographer and professor Deborah Willis, and writer Carl Hancock Rux.

Baritone Roderick Williams makes his North American recital debut with a performance of Schubert’s 'Swan Song,' elucidating the songs with interspersed poetry and readings by Jenny Agutter for a poignant and heartfelt evening that could only be felt in the perfectly intimate setting of the Board of Officers Room.

Lisette Oropesa has been taking the opera world by storm. She performs a program of Spanish art songs as well as works by Schubert and Schumann, offering audiences the chance to get to know this star on the rise in one of the only spaces that could provide such an intimate encounter – the Board of Officers Room.

Among his most beloved works, J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations is a towering keyboard masterpiece with a life of its own, with themes, harmonies, and contrapuntal strands of the musical sequence that await the creative imagination of both performer and listener to connect them. Igor Levit, who made his impressive North American recital debut at the Armory in 2014, interprets this classic composition in an installation created by seminal artist Marina Abramović.

Iconic performance artist Laurie Anderson expands upon her work fusing storytelling and technology, creating an installation and performance piece that examines lost identity, memory, and the resiliency of the human body and spirit.