The other night Dennis DeYoung, former lead singer of Styx, had a performance on New Jersey's public television station. During the pledge broadcast, he was also in the studio and he sang to the callers and his voice sounded really great. He's one of the performers next season who I'm most excited about.
This year, we've posted an online brochure with information and music samples from our performers for both the Kimmel Center Presents season and the Broadway at the Academy season. I think Edward Scissorhands looks like a beautiful production; I still remember being amazed at Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake when I watched the Tony awards during its year.
Everyone at the Kimmel Center, but especially our Programming Department, would love to hear what you think of our next season—good and bad.
why was the Vocal Arts series scrapped from the new season?
Thanks for your question Mete. Going into our 5th season of programming we took a hard look at what has been successful and what has not using a variety of criteria. The first, of course, is artistic excellence. We strive to present artists of the highhest quality no matter the genre of music. To whit, this past weekend 3 concerts were presented: The Boston Symphony, Mavis Staples & Taj Mahal and The Chieftains - all stellar artists or ensembles.
The second criteria is ticket sales. In order to present a successful concert for both artists and audiences and to keep our doors open, the question must be asked "will X, Y or Z artist sell enough tickets in order for the concert to be worth the risk?" It makes no sense to have the best talent in the world that noone comes to hear.
The third is fundraising support, i.e. will X, Y or Z artist generate enough corporate, individual or foundation support to cover any gap in concert costs vs ticket sales?
Our vocal series which, over the years had allowed us to present such artists as Renee Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Ben Heppner has certainly met criteria #1 but the series has not been able to find the audience or fundraising support in the numbers required to sustain it. Witness the January recital by Thomas Hampson - a virtuoso performance by a star singer - which we had to move from Verizon Hall to Perelman Theater.
Unfortunately we had to make the decision that a vocal series is not a viable option for us at this point in time. That is not to say, however, that you will never hear the world's great vocalists on our stages. We will strive to present great singers on an individual basis in the future. Stay tuned!