The January 2020 Dandelion Chandelier Luxury Events Calendar for The Arts and Culture is a curated list of ballet and modern dance performances and classical concerts. Plus opera and jazz concerts and art museum exhibits in January 2020. It’s the best in the arts and culture in January 2020. For the full January 2020 Luxury Calendar, click here.
the best in the arts and culture in january 2020
The start of a new year often symbolizes new beginnings and firsts. In the world of the arts this month, there will be many firsts, including new operas such as Ellen West at the Prototype Festival. And the official start of the winter season for the New York City Ballet.
There will also be lots of new and first-time art museum exhibitions. This includes the first extensive presentation of Naum Gabo‘s work in the UK. And the first exhibit tracing the legacy of the western Sahel, Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara at the MET.
For those who love classics, though, no worries – there will be plenty of performances in January 2020 of beloved traditional works. For example, Giselle is at the Opéra Bastille. And there’s a survey of Edward Hopper in Switzerland.
performing arts and culture january 2020
1. best dance events in january 2020
The Royal Ballet heads to an enchanted world of princesses, fairy godmothers and magical spells. Its latest production is The Sleeping Beauty, Petipa’s classic ballet set to Tchaikovsky’s glorious music – Jan 9 – 16
The highly acclaimed Booking Dance Festival returns for its eighth annual extravaganza at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The Festival features five hours of dance. This year’s edition will highlight 30 dance companies, over 250 dancers, 40 choreographic works and two world premiers – Jan 11
Complexions Contemporary Ballet Company at The Joyce Theater in New York will present the world premiere of Love Rocks set to music by the iconic Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter, Lenny Kravitz – Jan 21 – Feb 2
The best in arts and culture in January 2020: ballet performances by Complexions at the Joyce. Courtesy Photo.
The New York City Ballet kicks off its winter season at the David H. Koch Theater with Stravinsky & Balanchine. The program will feature one of Balanchine’s rarely-performed works, Danses Concertantes – Jan 21 – Mar 2
The ultimate romantic ballet, Giselle is at the Opéra Bastille – Jan 31 – Feb 15
2. best classical music concerts in january 2020
The Cartagena International Music Festival sees the Columbian city opening some of its most charming colonial spaces to the public for performances. There will be classical musicians from around the world with live performances and masterclasses for young artists – Jan 4- 12
Juilliard’s Focus Festival will highlight works by women born in the wake of the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment – Jan 24 – 31
National Sawdust’s FERUS Festival will include More Beautiful Than Words Can Tell, a musical investigation of trauma from mezzo-soprano Lucy Dhegrae – Jan 10 – 15
The best in arts and culture, ballet performances, and classical concerts in January 2020: Lucy Dhegrae Ferus Festival. Courtesy Photo.
The New York Pops returns to the timeless work of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II with a classical concert that covers all 11 of their classic collaborations, including Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music – Jan 24
3. best opera performances in january 2020
The new opera Ellen West at the Prototype Festival plunges into the emotional, psychological, and physical challenges of a woman struggling with perceptions of her body, her relationship with food, and the world closing in around her – Jan 9 – 19
The best arts and culture opera performance in January 2020: Ellen West at the Prototype Festival. Courtesy Photo.
On the stage at the Royal Opera is La bohème, the iconic story of young would-be artists and their lovers – Jan 10 – May 27
La Traviata returns to the Metropolitan Opera with two casts of stars. Sopranos Aleksandra Kurzak and Lisette Oropesa share the role of Violetta, the opera’s tragic heroine. Opposite tenors Dmytro Popov and Piero Pretti alternate as her ardent lover, Alfredo. And baritones Quinn Kelsey and Luca Salsi share the role of Alfredo’s stern father, Germont – Jan 10 – Mar 19
Berlioz’s compelling take on the Faust legend, La Damnation de Faust, returns to the Metropolitan Opera for the first time in a decade – Jan 25 – Feb 8
4. best jazz and new music concerts this january 2020
This year’s WinterJazzfest will feature some of the best jazz concerts in January 2020. The program shines a spotlight on the wide-ranging career of artist-in-residence drummer and composer Mark Guiliana. And honors the legendary hard-bop drummer Art Blakey and the jazz legacy of Detroit – Jan 9 – 18
The best arts and culture, classical and jazz concerts, and ballet performances in January 2020: WinterJazz fest. Courtesy Photo.
This winter season, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will revisit two of its most-acclaimed original pieces with Wynton Marsalis. The JLCO will perform Untamed Elegance and God’s Trombones. Inspired by a poetic take on traditional Black American church sermons, Spiritual Sounds and The Jazz Age is also on the program – Jan 10 – 11
Lincoln Center’s American Songbook Series provides cozier encounters with both classical and Broadway talent. Including Stephanie Blythe as her drag-king persona, Blythely Oratonio and the 2019 Tony winners André De Shields and Ali Stroker – Jan 22 – Feb 29
Saxophonist Ted Nash will present the world premiere of his latest work, Transformation. It will feature award-winning actor and the artist’s personal friend Glenn Close at Jazz at Lincoln Center – Jan 30 – Feb 1
visual arts and culture in january 2020
1. best art museum exhibits in europe, middle east and africa in january 2020
The Royal Academy of Arts will present an exhibition devoted to Picasso’s imaginative and original uses of paper. Bringing together over 300 works from Picasso’s entire 80-year career, Picasso and Paper will explore the ways in which the artist worked both on and with paper – Jan 25 – Apr 13
The Tate St. Ives will host the first extensive presentation of Naum Gabo‘s sculptures, paintings, drawings and architectural designs in the UK for over 30 years – Jan 25 – May 3
The magical Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Switzerland will host a survey of Edward Hopper featuring paintings made between the 1910’s and 1960’s – Jan 26 – May 17
The best art museum exhibits in Switzerland in January 2020: Edward Hopper’s wife, Josephine N. Hopper. Courtesy Photo.
Bringing together the work of over 40 leading artists, designers and musicians, Mushrooms at London’s Somerset House looks at fungi’s colorful cultural legacy. As well as the promise it offers to re-imagine our relationship with the planet – Jan 31 – Apr 26
2. best art museum exhibits in north america in january 2020
Looking for food art that you actually can eat? The exhibit Fruit and vegetable salad at the Whitney Museum of American Art will present fresh fruit and vegetables as formal objects on pedestals in an untitled work by Darren Bader. Once ripe, the produce will be chopped, sliced, shaved, and diced into a salad to be served to visitors – Jan 15 – Feb 17
The best art museum exhibits in January 2020: Darren Bader Untitled sculpture at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York.
Tschabalala Self: Out of Body at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston is the artist’s largest exhibition to date. It will include her signature paintings of people in and around Harlem, where she was born and raised. The figures in her work often appear to split open or fold into one another – Jan 20 – Jul 5
Kehinde Wiley’s triumphant Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps comes face to face with the nineteenth-century painting on which it is based: Jacques-Louis David’s Bonaparte Crossing the Alps at the exhibit Jacques-Louis David Meets Kehinde Wiley at the Brooklyn Museum – Jan 24 – May 10
The best art museum exhibits in January 2020: Jacque-Louis David meets Kehinde Wiley at the Brooklyn Museum. Courtesy Photo.
Sculptor Tishan Hsu is getting his first U.S. survey. Tishan Hsu: Liquid Circuit at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles features 30 wall reliefs, sculptures, drawings, and media works. The show will travel to New York’s Sculpture Center after its run in Los Angeles – Jan 26 – Apr 19
Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the first exhibition of its kind to trace the legacy of the western Sahel – Jan 30 – May 10
3. best art museum exhibits in asia in january 2020
Singapore’s Gardens By The Bay will be illuminated with both outdoor and indoor light installations later this month. Japanese art collective teamLab is combining technology and art for the #FutureTogether exhibition in honor of Singapore’s bicentennial – Jan 16 – Mar 31
The best art museum exhibits in January 2020: FutureTogether in Singapore. Courtesy Photo.
In his first solo presentation of 2020, Cao Fei, one of China’s leading contemporary artists, will be presenting 浮槎 Fú Chá during Singapore Art Week. The large-scale kinetic sculpture installation is part of the Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Commission at the National Gallery Singapore. Later this year, the artist will be at the Serpentine Gallery in London and UCCA Beijing – Jan 17 – Oct 25
the best in the arts and culture in january 2020
That’s it. Some of the top ballet and modern dance performances, classical and jazz concerts in January 2020. Our top picks for the best new events in the world of the arts and culture in January 2020. Have a dazzling month.
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Jillian Tangen is the Head of Research at Dandelion Chandelier and a former Senior Research Analyst at McKinsey & Co and Analyst at Shearman & Sterling. She is an avid fan of Nordic design, having owned an independent lifestyle store and sales agency focused on emerging Scandinavian design. Jillian lives in New York and is married with three young children. She loves cross-country skiing, the New York Rangers, reading, travel and discovering new brands.
Join our community
For access to insider ideas and information on the world of luxury, sign up for our Dandelion Chandelier newsletter. And see luxury in a new light.