Lyle Lovett
Photograph: Michael WilsonLyle Lovett
Photograph: Michael Wilson

The best Lincoln Center Out of Doors events in 2015

Take in some superb concerts and dance performances at the annual free outdoor festival at Lincoln Center

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When we hear the words Lincoln Center, we usually think of an imposing Upper West Side cultural bastion. But in warm-weather months, the performing-arts hub's offerings become a lot more accessible. Case in point: The annual Lincoln Center Out of Doors series, which caters to a whole different crowd than the Lincoln Center Festival, hosting free summer concerts by a rad array of crowd-pleasing artists, ranging from old-school R&B purveyors to country crooners and groovetastic Latin ensembles. Read on for a rundown of some this year's finest Lincoln Center Out of Doors offerings by date, and see why we named it one of the best free things to do in NYC this summer.

RECOMMENDED: Full guide to Lincoln Center Out of Doors

Lincoln Center Out of Doors events

  • Music
  • Rock and indie
Muscle Shoals All-Star Band
Muscle Shoals All-Star Band
Bassist David Hood and guitarist Jimmy Johnson, charter members of the famed Muscle Shoals rhythm section, join special-guest singers for a booty-moving rock & soul extravaganza kicking off this year's Lincoln Center Out of Doors offerings.
  • Dance
  • Contemporary and experimental
The innovative tap group Dorrance Dance performs "The Blues Project Revisited," its soul-stirring collaboration with the astonishing folk/blues musician Toshi Reagon and her band, BIGLovely.
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  • Dance
  • Modern
Lincoln Center's vast central plaza will be awhirl with the athletic wheelchair dancers of Heidi Latsky Dance in a performance celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Wheels up!
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  • Dance
  • Modern
Three powerful institutions gather for this blockbuster evening: the Afro-Caribbean-inflected postmodern choreographer Garth Fagan and his troupe; dance icon Carmen de Lavallade performing a recent work, The Creation; and the Harlem's Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble, which raises its collective voice in praise.
  • Music
  • Jazz
Full Band Electric Counterpoint + Dither and friends
Full Band Electric Counterpoint + Dither and friends
Brooklyn contemporary-classical guitar quartet Dither hosts a promising evening featuring the group's collaborations with avant-rockers including ex–Sonic Youth–er Lee Ranaldo and Yo La Tengo, and a version of Steve Reich's Electric Counterpoint led by Bang on a Can member Mark Stewart. Also on hand are Baltimore electronic-music provocateurs Matmos.
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  • Music
  • Folk, country and blues
  • price 4 of 4
Lyle Lovett can shuffle through American music genres with well-trained ease. Few of his contemporaries can switch from Count Basie swing to mournful gospel and then add a prison spiritual, as if collecting bonus points. At this Lincoln Center Out of Doors season closer, Lovett plays with his 12-piece ensemble, the Large Band.
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