Arts centre to open on Yasgur's farm July 1

The music of Rachmaninoff, not Hendrix, will be heard at the opening of a new arts centre built on the site of the original Woodstock concert.

The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, located about 130 kilometres northwest of New York City, has announced its July 1 opening night lineup.

Internationally renowned Chinese pianist Lang Lang and four-time Tony Award-winning singer Audra McDonald will both take the stage, joining the New York Philharmonic conducted by Bramwell Tovey, music director of the Vancouver Symphony.

A fireworks display by Grucci, the firm responsible for the pyrotechnics at U.S. presidential inaugurations and the Olympics in Salt Lake City, will cap the evening.

After the classical kickoff, the new facility is scheduled to host a two-day jazz festival in late July, curated by hit vocalist Dianne Reeves, and a two-day Woodstock anniversary concert in August. The lineups for these events will be announced in April.

"It is my fondest hope that this performing arts centre will recapture the magic of this historic site and make our region one of the country's top performing arts destinations," said Alan Gerry, the local millionaire who purchased parts of the famed Yasgur farm and started a foundation to build the arts centre.

Organizers behind the new centre in Bethel, New York (which is actually about 64 km southwest of Woodstock itself) hope to attract a range of audiences by featuring diverse acts, from classical to rock to country.

The centre's massive new concert stage will seat 4,800 in a pavilion and accommodate a further 12,000 on the lawn.

The new stage is located near the actual site of the stage where guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, British band the Who, U.S. rocker Janis Joplin and other iconic '60s-era acts performed during the 1969 Woodstock Festival.