This fall marks an especially exciting season for art and music in New York, says the independent curator and artistic director. Here, Sachs shares this month’s must-sees.

Performa 19 biennial

Performa is a leading performing arts institution in New York; for this year’s biennial, which runs through November 24, it commissioned 20 artists and over 300 collaborators, activating 36 different venues around the city. Highlights include: American sculptor and video artist Paul Pfeiffer’s live, 50-man marching band performance at the Apollo Theater; American artist and poet Bunny Rogers’s transformation of a public high school; and Thai video and multimedia artist Korakrit Arunanondchai’s work at Harlem Parish Church (Arunanondchai’s art was also on display at this year’s Venice Bienniale).

akhnaten at the met

A new production of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten has arrived at the Metropolitan Opera, with performances through December 7. The opera stars countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo.

MoMA & Met breuer

After more than six months’ worth of renovations, the Museum of Modern Art has finally opened the doors to its new and expanded galleries, featuring, among many other works, the provocative art of Pope.L. Meanwhile, Latvian artist Vija Celmins’ first retrospective in over 25 years is on at the Met Breuer through January 12.

the chelsea special

In the city’s gallery-filled Chelsea neighborhood, Pace has just opened a sprawling eight-story building; American Neo-Conceptualist artist Peter Halley is opening a new multi-roomed installation at Greene Naftali; and conceptual post-black artist Rashid Johnson’s large exhibition of recent works at Hauser & Wirth opens November 12.

David Lynch

American filmmaker David Lynch opens his first painting show at Sperone Westwater, on Bowery, on through December 21. Though he is known for his movies Lynch was actually a painter before turning to film!

Looking ahead

Mega British director Richard Jones’s new theater production, Judgement Day, opens at the Park Avenue Armory in early December.

Roya Sachs is currently the curator of Lever House Art Collection and co-founder of TRIADIC, a creative house focused on cross-disciplinary arts. She is an Editor at Large for Air Mail