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The 92nd Street Y has revealed a new lineup of American Songbook concerts, including the signature Lyrics & Lyricists series, as part of the 2026/27 Tisch Music Season. Patti LuPone: A Life in Notes opens the season on October 1, followed by evenings with Tituss Burgess (October 26) and LaChanze (February 22).
92NY’s acclaimed L&L series continues its decades-long exploration of the artists behind the American Songbook with celebrations of legendary singer-songwriter and activist Joan Baez featuring Andréa Burns (November 7–9), musical pioneer Ray Charles with Brandon Victor Dixon (March 13–15), and Broadway and film songwriter Stephen Schwartz (June 12–14), whose works have become woven into the fabric of American culture. The L&L season also includes one-night-only special events with prolific singer/songwriter Stephin Merritt (December 18), and Tony Award-winners Shaina Taub (January 28) and Jason Robert Brown (March 1).
AMERICAN SONGBOOK & LYRICS & LYRICISTS – 2026/27 SEASON
All Concerts In Person
Thu, Oct 1, 7:30 pm
Broadway royalty and triple Tony Award winner Patti LuPone opens the new Tisch Music season with a one-night-only concert of the songs that have been touchstones in her remarkable life on and off the stage. Celebrated for her iconic performances on Broadway in Company, Gypsy, Evita, and more, LuPone dips into a personal songbook blending the musical theater anthems she owns with intimate standards and classic pop in a show that weaves songs and stories together in one unforgettable night.
Conceived by Scott Wittman
Music direction and arrangements by Joseph Thalken
Written by Jeffrey Richman
Mon, Oct 26, 7:30 pm, from $55
Vocals that range from poignant to powerhouse in a near four-octave range … shapeshifting talents that swing from the Netflix smash Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt to showstopping roles in Broadway musicals from Guys & Dolls to The Little Mermaid to a star turn in Oh, Mary! … Titus Burgess brings his singular artistry to our stage for a kaleidoscopic evening of songs and stories.
Lyrics & Lyricists | DIAMONDS AND RUST: The Artistry and Activism of Joan Baez
Featuring Andréa Burns
Sat, Nov 7, 5 pm | Sun, Nov 8, 2 pm | Mon, Nov 9, 7:30 pm
The music of singer-songwriter and activist Joan Baez, the “Queen of Folk,” did more than fill the airwaves in the 1960s – it became the soundtrack to an era. Baez – who gave her very first performance in New York City on 92NY’s stage on November 5, 1960 – sang songs of protest and social justice that not only spoke to the moment, they fueled a new direction in music, introducing the songwriting of an unknown Bob Dylan to the mainstream, and more.
Broadway veteran Andréa Burns (In the Heights, On Your Feet!, The Notebook) shares her love for musical theater with a passion for the female singer-songwriters of her youth, Baez among them. She leads this new Lyrics & Lyricists show, performing the blend of originals, traditional folk, and covers that became Baez’ signature – indelible songs like “Diamonds and Rust,” “Love Song to a Stranger,” “We Shall Overcome,” “House of the Rising Sun,” “It Ain’t Me Babe,” “Farewell Angelina,” and more — in a beautiful celebration of one of music’s most influential voices.
Lyrics & Lyricists Special Event | An Evening with Stephin Merritt
Fri, Dec 18, 7:30 pm
The singer-songwriter behind the influential indie pop band the Magnetic Fields and more, Stephin Merritt was recently named one of The New York Times’ “30 Greatest Living American Songwriters” alongside icons including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and Taylor Swift. He joins us for a rare solo concert of his witty, subversive, brilliant music bearing influences from Phil Spector to Stephen Sondheim to ABBA, all delivered with a captivating blend of deadpan humor and emotional honesty.
Lyrics & Lyricists Special Event | An Evening with Shaina Taub
Tue, Jan 28, 7:30pm
“How will we do it when it’s never been done?” “How will we find a way, where there isn’t one?” Shaina Taub sang those words in Broadway’s Suffs. She also wrote them, leading to her becoming the first woman without a co-writer to win Tony Awards for both the book and score of a Broadway musical.
Taub is one of the most in-demand talents in musical theater today – playing Emma Goldman in the hit Lincoln Center revival of Ragtime, launching the national tour of Suffs, writing lyrics for the musical version of The Devil Wears Prada (music by Elton John) – currently on stage in London. A trailblazing singer, songwriter, and playwright whose catchy, hook-filled music is inspired as much by Stevie Wonder and Joni Mitchell as by Broadway giants, she is everything exciting and impactful in musical theater right now.
Mon, Feb 22, 7:30 pm
LaChanze is a force of nature. Her powerhouse vocals, magnetic stage presence, and deep humanity have resonated with audiences on Broadway and beyond for nearly four decades. From her early performance in Sondheim’s Company to the star turn as Celie that earned her a Tony Award for The Color Purple, LaChanze brings an electrifying presence to everything she touches. She joins us for a rare NYC concert, performing a career-spanning program of songs she makes her own.
Lyrics & Lyricists Special Event | An Evening with Jason Robert Brown
Mon, Mar 1, 7:30 pm
The dazzlingly talented triple Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade, The Bridges of Madison County, The Last Five Years) returns to our stage following his ecstatic sold-out show in 2024. He’ll perform songs and share behind-the scenes stories from his songbook of some of contemporary Broadway’s most acclaimed shows, as he previews others: his newest project, an adaptation of Andrew Sean Greer’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Less, and his eagerly awaited musical adaptation of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – headed for Broadway.
Lyrics & Lyricists | WHAT’D I SAY: The Genius of Ray Charles
Featuring Brandon Victor Dixon
Sat, Mar 13, 5 pm | Sun, Mar 14, 2 pm | Mon, Mar 15, 7:30 pm
One of the most towering figures in the history of music, Ray Charles channeled the pleasure and pain of the human experience in songs blending blues, gospel, R&B, rock, country, and jazz, and genre-spanning music that famously dubbed him the man who “mixed Sunday morning with Saturday night.”
Broadway star Brandon Victor Dixon (Hamilton, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Color Purple, Motown: The Musical) has been performing the music of Ray Charles for more than 20 years, originating the role of Charles in the 2007 music Ray Charles Live! at The Pasadena Playhouse, reprising it in the Broadway-bound-but-unrealized Unchain My Heart, and sharing along the way how exploring Charles’ musical genius shaped his own artistic growth. In this all-new Lyrics & Lyricists show, Dixon captures Charles’ complex personal story and sings his unforgettable songs: “Georgia On My Mind,” “Unchain My Heart,” “Hit the Road Jack,” “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “I Got a Woman,” “What I’d Say,” and more in a dazzling, all-new celebration of a global icon.
Lyrics & Lyricists | SPARK OF CREATION: The Music and Lyrics of Stephen Schwartz
Featuring Stephen Schwartz
Sat, Jun 12, 5 pm | Sun, Jun 13, 2 pm | Mon, Jun 14, 7:30 pm
Wicked. Pippin. Godspell. Some of Broadway’s biggest hits and most enduring shows have been built upon the songs of Stephen Schwartz. Add his music and lyrics for Disney and DreamWorks animated films, including The Prince of Egypt, Enchanted, and Pocohontas, and Schwartz’s songbook of hits across theater and film is nearly unrivaled.
The triple Oscar and four-time Grammy winner joins us for a celebration of his work and performances of his smash hits, including “Defying Gravity” “For Good,” “Corner of the Sky,” “Day by Day,” “Colors of the Wind,” “When You Believe,” and more. And he shares the stories only a creator can tell — about starting with a blank page and ending with songs that live in our hearts forever.
