From Yale Schwarzman Center:
NEW HAVEN, CT—Yale Schwarzman Center launched its Fall 2026 season with a day-long celebration that transformed the iconic Commons into a roller rink and featured a performance by Montreal-based contemporary skate company Le Patin Libre in collaboration with locally based roller skating events and lessons provider, Skateport, CT.
Known for blending the speed and athleticism of skating with the expressive movement of contemporary dance, Le Patin Libre offered performances and opportunities for visitors to experience the rink firsthand, inviting audiences to see the landmark space in an entirely new way.
The opening event ushers in a season of performances, conversations, culinary experiences, immersive installations, and community gatherings featuring artists and cultural leaders from around the world.
"Fall 2026 reflects a breadth of artistic experiences that Yale Schwarzman Center is uniquely positioned to present—from internationally renowned performers and cultural leaders to programs that invite audiences directly into the creative process," said Rachel Fine, executive director, Yale Schwarzman Center. "Together, these programs offer
robust opportunities for discovery and connection across disciplines, cultures, and communities."
On Sept. 29, in partnership with the Shubert Theatre, MacArthur Fellowship-winning icon Taylor Mac reunites with Obie Award-winning composer Matt Ray to present An Evening from the Queer Songbook—a presentation that invites all to reflect on queer lineage. Actor, opera singer, and drag star Le Gateau Chocolat joins Mac and Ray to celebrate on the night of the release of Bark of Millions, an original, illustrated songbook.
Schwarzman Sessions return this fall with conversations designed to spark collaboration and move ideas into action. A featured event brings actress and writer Zoe Kazan '05 to
Yale ahead of the Netflix premiere of her adaptation of John Steinbeck's East of Eden, offering audiences a behind-the-scenes look at the process of translating a literary classic
to the screen. Kazan's visit also includes a screening of the first episode of the series followed by a talk back with co-showrunner, writer, and executive producer Kazan and
Yale University Senior Lecturer in Humanities, English and Associate Director of Public Humanities Karin Roffman.
Other Schwarzman Sessions will feature conversations with Rwandan writer, actor, and stage director Dorcy Rugamba; Holly Hermes, Bissell Director of the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs; art market economist Magnus Resch; and artist and director Janani Balasubramanian alongside artist, educator, and astrophysicist Dr. Natalie Gosnell.
On Oct. 28, actor, artist, fashion innovator, and seven-time Tony Award-winning producer Jordan Roth returns to Yale Schwarzman Center for a conversation about his
new book, Radical Acts of Unrelenting Beauty.
"This season is remarkable for its range of artists from across the globe," said Jennifer Harrison Newman, associate artistic director, Yale Schwarzman Center. "From participatory to immersive, these distinctive artistic offerings invite audiences into their worlds in ways that spark curiosity and connection. From Aaron Taylor-Kuffner's Gamelatron, Sonic Immersion, to Bijayini Satpathy's boundary-pushing dance to Asma
Khan's storytelling through food—these programs bring international scope to our doorsteps here in New Haven."
Returning series to the fall season also include Secret Film Society, EveryBody Dances, and the Tasting Series.
The Fall 2026 season programs also include:
● Long Wharf Theatre kicked off its year-long Artistic Congress at Schwarzman Center on September 8 as part of their State of the Union, bringing together
artists, organizers, and community members to the realities of the current political moment and how civic participation through the arts helps imagine a better future together (September 8).
● Grammy award-winning Dan Zanes and Haitian-American jazz vocalist/music therapist Claudia Zanes join forces with up-and-coming gospel singer Tyree Austin to host a Dance Party for families in the Underground. An interactive
celebration of family music, the night will feature singing, dancing, and songs from their Smithsonian Folkways records and the Dan Zanes and Friends catalog (October 3).
Previously announced highlights:
● Multi-disciplinary artist Aaron Taylor Kuffner's Gamelatron, Sonic Immersion, a kinetic sculpture featuring 36 hand-tuned bronze and steel gongs and eight metal keys in The Dome (September 1-October 10).
● Renowned operatic soprano and citizen artist Camille Zamora brings collaborators Pablo Estigarribia and Héctor Del Curto for an exploration of tango, bolero, and canción as metaphors for loss, memory, and renewal—timed intentionally to the season's turn toward darker days and Día de los Muertos (September 25).
● Mandolinist, Grammy® Award–winner, MacArthur grant recipient, and composer Chris Thile presents A Solo Evening of Music with Chris Thile—a selection of pieces drawn from his two-volume recordings of J.S. Bach's Sonatas and Partitas,
alongside his own compositions blending compositional rigor, folk storytelling and brilliant improvisation (September 26).
● Yale Global Table, a collaboration between the Yale Schwarzman Center, Yale MacMillan Center, and Yale Hospitality, returns with trailblazing restaurateur Asma Khan. Her award-winning London restaurant, Darjeeling Express, is recognized for its revolutionary all-female kitchen and her commitment to culinary activism and grassroots social and environmental causes (November 3).
● Ruckus presents Songs of Eternity: Early American Hymns of Hope in Times of Crisis, an exploration of the depths of one of America's earliest repertoires: the New England Hymn (October 22–23).
● Renowned Odissi dancer and master teacher Bijayini Satpathy (November 21).
● Lebanese-American tenor Karim Sulayman and pianist Tom Poster perform their cycle of French songs of the Belle Époque (November 30).
● The season concludes with the Pink Martini All-Stars, a holiday performance of music that blends influences from classical music, jazz, traditional pop, and Latin music (December 11).
Unless otherwise noted, all programs are free and open to the public, underscoring Yale Schwarzman Center's mission to serve as an inclusive cultural commons where artists, students, scholars, and members of the wider community can come together through shared experiences.
A complete calendar of events is available at schwarzman.yale.edu.
About Yale Schwarzman Center
Based in New Haven, Connecticut, and located in the historic heart of the Yale University campus, Yale Schwarzman Center is a commons for university life where art, culinary, and
wellness experiences converge to build bridges, nurture creativity, and foster kinship and belonging. Positioned at the crux of social cohesion, creativity, and self-expression, the
Center includes several flexible spaces in which members of the Yale and New Haven communities engage through free, public programming that ranges from the intimate to
the grand. The Center's iconic building was constructed in 1901 and rebirthed in 2022 following a renovation by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, and is recognized for excellence
by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. The Center has recently been the site for world premieres and commissions by Nathalie Joachim, Bryce Dessner, Ash Fure, Christopher Cerrone, Ted Hearne, Carolyn Yarnell, and Andrew Norman, among many other artists. The Center's impact extends well beyond its walls through programming and programmatic partnerships within its home city and across the country.
schwarzman.yale.edu
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