Millennium Stage

Norah Jones. Juanes. Levine School of Music Senior Singers' Chorale. The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. National Theatre of the Deaf. Where else but the Millennium Stage can you find such an array of artists? For free? Every day? Since its inception in March 1997, the Millennium Stage has presented more than 26,000 performers from all 50 states and more than 40 different countries to nearly 2 million people--some of whom are experiencing the arts for the first time. Launched as part of the Performing Arts for Everyone Initiative, some 400 people stop by every day to catch performers at 6 p.m. The second birthday celebration of the Millennium Stage on April 1, 1999 marked the Kennedy Center's arrival on the cutting edge of art and technology as performances appeared on the Internet for live hour-long broadcasts. So if you can't make it to the Kennedy Center but can make it to your computer, you can watch artists live on the Millennium Stage every day at 6 p.m. ET. If you miss a performance, you can find it in our broadcast archives using the Millennium Stage Explorer. In April 2002, Millennium Stage partnered with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress (LOC) to develop Homegrown: The Music of America. From April to November each year, outdoor concerts of the best performers this country has to offer in specific regional genres are performed once a month on Neptune Plaza at the LOC. The Millennium Stage is also a significant participant in various local festivals, including the National Cherry Blossom Festival and the Smithsonian Institution's Folklife Festival on the National Mall. And no Kennedy Center festival--such as AmericArtes, Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival, the Holiday Celebration,Prelude Festival featuring the annual Open House Arts Festival--would be complete without performances on the Millennium Stage.