09/28/2009
May and June, 2009 saw the addition of the following organizations to the Tessitura Network:
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
The Network’s growth in the university sector continued with the addition of the University of Georgia Performing Arts Center as a licensee. Winner of a number of awards, the UGA PAC is home to two performance halls and multiple music series throughout the year featuring the Atlanta Symphony, and other orchestras and artists from around the country and around the world.
FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER
The Film Society of Lincoln Center bills itself as America’s pre-eminent film presentation organization. The Film Society of Lincoln Center was founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, to recognize and support new filmmakers, and to enhance awareness, accessibility and understanding of the art among a broad and diverse film going audience. Each year they welcome an audience of over 200,000 film aficionados, and are perhaps best known for their presentation of the annual New York Film Festival.
ARTS AT EMORY
The Arts at Emory University programs bring students, faculty, world-renowned guest artists, and audiences together in a spirit of collaboration and discovery. Whether one chooses a course of study in the arts at Emory or chooses to attend a music, theater, or dance performance, an art exhibition, poetry reading, or film screening, the imagination will be stirred. Explore the Arts at Emory, nourish your creativity, and discover the experience of limitless possibilities. Arts at Emory joins the Network as a sublicensee of the Woodruff Arts Centre in Atlanta.
CENTER OF CREATIVE ARTS (COCA)
Located in the Gateway City of St. Louis, the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) has been providing meaningful arts experiences to St. Louisans and their families for two decades. COCA has become the largest multidisciplinary arts institution and one of the most valuable community assets in the St. Louis metropolitan area. It has been recognized by the community as "Best Arts Organization" in St. Louis by the Riverfront Times. At COCA, you will find performances... classes... art galleries... summer camps... places to hold your special event... exhibits... a world of learning, a world of the arts.
BENAROYA HALL
May also saw the addition of Benaroya Hall, a sublicense of the Seattle Symphony. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, Benaroya Hall houses two performance halls in a complex that is thoroughly integrated into downtown Seattle. Occupying an entire city block at the very core of the city, the development celebrates the vital role of performance events while maintaining the continuity of commercial life along one avenue and providing a much-needed public space, in the form of a terraced garden, along another.
PITLOCHRY FESTIVAL THEATRE
Adding to our ever expanding list of United Kingdom licensees, the Pitlochry Festival Theatre of Scotland was established after World War II through the perseverance and vision of one man, John Stewart. Today, Pitlochry presents a full schedule of plays, concerts, talks, tours, active arts and a host of other activities at their site. The 2009 summer season played to their strength, with six productions offering superb entertainment and the familiar Festival Theatre trademarks of fantastic costumes, beautiful sets and thrilling performances from a very talented company.
KAUFMAN CENTER
The Kaufman Center in New York is a multi-purpose organization which houses three divisions at its midtown Manhattan location – the Merkin Concert Hall, with a full program ranging from classical to cutting edge; the Lucy Moses School, one of the country's most respected community schools for the arts; and the Special Music School, a public school for musically gifted children from grades K–8, a special partnership between the New York City Department of Education and the Kaufman Center.
The Lucy Moses School provides a multi-faceted arts education for children and adults at all levels of skill and experience. Its programs include classes and private lessons in music, theater and dance. The Merkin Concert Hall’s new season includes a healthy dose of musical theater. They premiere new works by contemporary composers, as well as welcoming back long-time favorites. The Special Music School provides students with an integrated approach to curriculum, with rigorous musical training and academic guidance in a holistic context.
DOWNSTAGE PERFORMANCE SOCIETY
In July, we were joined by Downstage Performance Society in Calgary.
The EPCOR Centre in Calgary continued to grow its group of sublicensee organizations, with the addition of the Downstage Performance Society, a theatre and performance company dedicated to the production of “provocative Canadian performance.” The company mounts new and established Canadian plays and performances that explore socially or politically charged themes.
Downstage is now in its fifth season of work. The company is taking to performance spaces throughout the city to explore a myriad of topical issues through a variety of performance modes, with the hopes of attracting audiences from Calgary and beyond who seek entertaining, enlightening and provocative performances.