Virginia Arts Festival

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The Virginia Arts Festival is a Norfolk-based non-profit arts presenter which serves southeastern Virginia, offering dozens of performances during the spring and throughout the year. Virginia Arts Festival performances have included international ballet companies, along with modern, contemporary, and ethnic dance companies; world-renowned soloists and ensembles in musical genres including classical, jazz, world, folk, rock, blues, bluegrass, country, and pop; opera; theater and cabaret; and collaborative productions with local arts organizations like the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. [1]

Contents

History

City of Norfolk and a group of arts patrons, seeking to increase local tourism during the spring "shoulder season," [2] approached Robert W. Cross in 1995 to create a performing arts festival that would serve as a cultural destination for the region. Cross produced the first Virginia International Waterside Arts Festival on 1997, presenting an 18-day festival featuring such performers as Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Mark Morris Dance Group, contemporary composer/performer Steve Reich, and jazz legends Ramsey Lewis and Billy Taylor. The 1997 Festival also saw the creation of the first Virginia International Tattoo, an international display of military bands, drill teams, and pipe and drum corps. [3]

After four successful years, in 2001 the name was officially changed to the Virginia Arts Festival. [4]

The Washington Post has called the Virginia Arts Festival the "Tidewater Tanglewood." [5] From a two-week festival in its first year, the festival has tripled in size and attendance. In 2016, the Virginia Arts Festival celebrated its 20th Anniversary season, presenting 72 ticketed performances throughout the region from mid-April through June, with patrons traveling from 49 states and 13 countries. [6]

Education

Reaching tens of thousands of students every year, the Virginia Arts Festival offers year-round arts education programs, presenting special student matinee performances and aligning visiting performing artists with area schools for master classes, in-school workshops, and demonstrations. [7] According to their 2016 Annual Report, the organization's education programs reached 39,644 area school children during the 2015–16 season. [8]

Commissions

The Festival's John Duffy Institute for New Opera seeks out and supports the work of opera composer/librettist teams by providing professional mentorship and a professional process for the development of their new work, with the intent to see the works through to full productions. [9] In May, 2016, the Festival will present the world premiere of Kept: a ghost story, a world premiere performances of the new opera Kept: a ghost story, at Norfolk's Attucks Theatre. Created by composer Kristin Kuster and librettist Megan Levad, the work was developed over a three-year process through the Duffy Institute. Additional new operas are currently in the development phase and will receive their premieres in 2018 and beyond. [10]

In addition to its commissions through the Duffy Institute, the Virginia Arts Festival has commissioned 18 works of music, dance, and opera:

Recordings

Virginia Arts Festival performances have been recorded for the Naxos label, including the Festival-commissioned song cycle by Rappahannock County, [24] Stravinsky's Les Noces and The Soldier's Tale , [25] and the Schoenberg transcriptions of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde and Songs of a Wayfarer . [26] Additionally, the Festival's presentation of Peter and the Wolf: A Special Report was recorded for NPR Classics. [27]

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References

  1. ↑ "Virginia Arts Festival Executive Director Rob Cross - Coastal Virginia Magazine - April 2015 - Virginia Beach, VA". www.coastalvirginiamag.com. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  2. ↑ "Cross Reflects on 20th Anniversary of Virginia Arts Festival | VEER Magazine :: Hampton Roads arts, culture, entertainmen, beer, wine, travel, diningVEER Magazine :: Hampton Roads arts, culture, entertainmen, beer, wine, travel, dining". veermag.com. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  3. ↑ Norfolk, City of. "Virginia Waterfront International Arts Festival Makes its Debut on April 24". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  4. ↑ "Archives: the Daily Press - ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY TOPS BILL FOR VA. ARTS FESTIVAL GARRISON KEILLOR, MOSCOW BALLET ALSO IN SHOW'S LINEUP". pqasb.pqarchiver.com. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  5. ↑ Hurwitz, Sol (2006-04-19). "Tidewater Tanglewood". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  6. ↑ "Cross Reflects on 20th Anniversary of Virginia Arts Festival | VEER Magazine :: Hampton Roads arts, culture, entertainmen, beer, wine, travel, diningVEER Magazine :: Hampton Roads arts, culture, entertainmen, beer, wine, travel, dining". veermag.com. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  7. ↑ Villarreal, Ignacio. "Pat and Doug Perry endow Artistic Director position of Virginia Arts Festival". artdaily.com. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  8. ↑ "Virginia Arts Festival 2016 Annual Report" (PDF).
  9. ↑ "Giving Life to New Opera: the John Duffy Composers Institute" . Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  10. ↑ "Megan Levad, Kate Angus & Joe Pan". Berl's Brooklyn Poetry Shop. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  11. ↑ Knudson, Dewey. "Review: Dance Theater of Harlem jazzes up ballet in a fresh, if uneven, performance". Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  12. ↑ Vincent, Mal. "Review | "Ben-Hur" score is unexpected, daring". Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  13. ↑ "Ricky Ian Gordon-Mark Campbell Musical Rappahannock County to Debut in April 2011 | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  14. ↑ Annas, Teresa. "Mark Morris Dance Group to perform original 'Romeo & Juliet'". Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  15. ↑ Annas, Teresa. "Virginia Arts Fest features 'hot' women, kicks off Tuesday". Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  16. ↑ Smith, Steve (2008-04-29). "Chamber Music Society's Premieres for Joan Tower's 'Simply Purple' and 'Trio Cavany'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  17. ↑ Virginian-Pilot, The. "Composer's first opera, 'Pocahontas,' should appeal to all". Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  18. ↑ "Jamestown Anniversary Brought Out Creativity". tribunedigital-dailypress. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  19. ↑ "A Dreamy Marriage Of Theater And Music". tribunedigital-dailypress. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  20. ↑ "The Online Library | New Music USA". library.newmusicusa.org. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  21. ↑ "The Online Library | New Music USA". library.newmusicusa.org. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  22. ↑ "Gershwin's World: Conductor Robert Sadin talks about Herbie Hancock". www.jimnewsom.com. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  23. ↑ "Memory Inspires Music". tribunedigital-dailypress. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  24. ↑ "Sunday Afternoon at the Opera - Gordon: Rappahannock County | wwuh.org". wwuh.org. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  25. ↑ Ashley, Tim (2016-04-16). "STRAVINSKY The Soldier's Tale". www.gramophone.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  26. ↑ Ashley, Tim (2016-12-19). "MAHLER Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. Das Lied von der Erde". www.gramophone.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  27. ↑ "'Peter And The Wolf' Npr Spoof To Premiere". tribunedigital-dailypress. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
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