Premiere added to spring season!

[Alexandra]

This just in:

NEW YORK CITY BALLET

ADDS FOURTH WORLD PREMIERE

TO SPRING 2004 SEASON

In Addition to Previously Announced Works by

Boris Eifman, Peter Martins, and Christopher Wheeldon,

Nine-Week Season to Include a Second Premiere by Mr. Martins

New York City Ballet has announced that its spring 2004 season will feature a second world premiere ballet by Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins. The new ballet joins the three previously announced world premieres on the season calendar, by St. Petersburg-based choreographer Boris Eifman, NYCB Resident Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, and Mr. Martins.

The new addition to the spring season, Eros Piano, will premiere during the American Music Festival. The ballet, choreographed by Peter Martins, is set to music for piano and orchestra by John Adams; the costumes are by Holly Hynes, NYCB’s Director of Costumes, and the lighting is by Mark Stanley, NYCB’s Lighting Director.

The previously announced ballet by Mr. Martins, Chichester Psalms, is also part of the American Music Festival. The ballet is set to choral music by Leonard Bernstein; the score will be sung by The Juilliard Choral Union, a community-based symphonic chorus composed of 100 volunteer singers. The costumes are by Catherine Barinas, and the lighting by Mr. Stanley.

Eros Piano and Chichester Psalms will both premiere on Wednesday, June 2, at 8 p.m., and will also be performed on Friday, June 4, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, June 5, at 2 p.m.; and Sunday, June 6, at 3 p.m.

-more-

For the Russian Music Festival, St. Petersburg-based choreographer Boris Eifman will create a new work, Musagète, set to music by Tschaikovsky and Bach. Mr. Eifman is the founder, artistic director, and choreographer of the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, for which he has created over 40 ballets. Musagète, his first work created for an American company, has scenery and costumes designed by Slava Okunev and lighting designed by Mr. Stanley. It will premiere on Friday, June 18, at 8 p.m., and will also be performed on Saturday, June 19, at 8 p.m.; Tuesday, June 22, at 7:30 p.m.; and Thursday, June 24, at 8 p.m.

The first premiere of the season, Christopher Wheeldon’s Shambards, was performed for the first time on May 8, during the European Music Festival. Shambards is set to a commissioned score by Scottish composer James MacMillan and is Mr. Wheeldon’s tenth work for NYCB. The scenery is by Michael Nagle, the costumes are by Ms. Hynes, and the lighting by Mr. Stanley. The fourth and final performance of Shambards this season will be on Friday, May 21, at 8 p.m.

Tickets for NYCB’s spring 2004 season, which runs from April 27 through June 27, are available online at www.nycballet.com, through Ticketmaster at 212-307-4100, and at the New York State Theater box office.

The New York State Theater is located on the Lincoln Center Plaza at Columbus Avenue at 63rd Street. For general information on tickets for any New York City Ballet performance, call 212-870-5570, or visit www.nycballet.com.