Local and Industry News
The Knight Foundation, as part of the Knight Arts Challenge, has given $3.7 million to twenty organizations. Recipients include:
- BankAtlantic Foundation ($100,000), to expand a program that partners nonprofit organizations with schools
- Florida Grand Opera ($200,000), to support "Opera Free-For-All," a program to identify and cultivate new patrons by holding a drawing for free tickets to Carmen
- Lightbox at Goldman Warehouse ($400,000), to help create an arts incubator in the Wynwood Arts District, with space for offices, rehearsal and performance space, and recording studios
- Miami City Ballet ($900,000), to restore live orchestra during the 2010-2013 seasons
- Miami Lighthouse for the Blind ($125,000), to expand a program where participants develop job skills by writing, performing, and producing songs under the tutelage of skilled professionals
- Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs ($20,000), to launch cultureclassifieds.com, an online classified posting site for the local community where artists and groups can list items to buy/sell, post job openings, share resources, and post notices of workshops, conferences, or other activities
- New World Symphony ($75,000), to support the Sound and Sight Video Series, where classical music is accompanied by projected video or images
- Arsht Center ($200,000), to continue Free Gospel Sundays for another two years
- Sweat Records ($150,000), to expand workshops at the store, and to develop an e-commerce site showcasing local music and goods
Florida Stage will be moving from Manalapan to the Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center in July, to be closer to its subscriber base. They will reduce next year's season from five to four shows, to accommodate Kravis Center productions and Palm Beach Opera rehearsals previously scheduled to take place in the Rinker next season.
GableStage will be moving in to the Coconut Grove Playhouse, which has been dark for the past three years. They intend to use a $20 million Miami-Dade capital improvements bond to replace the existing theater with a 300-seat theater, and room for a 600-seat theater to be built later (the existing facade will be retained).
Symphony
Louise Nippert has donated $85 million to the Cincinnati Symphony. The gift will help maintain the orchestra as a major, full-time orchestra, and keep the orchestra in the pit for Cincinnati Opera and Cincinnati Ballet.
Musicians of the Sarasota Orchestra have reached agreement on a new contract. The new two-year agreement calls for a 2.5 percent pay cut in the first year, with a 2.5 percent bonus in the second year if fundraising goals are met. The agreement also raises pay for part-time extra musicians and establishes formal participation in the Sarasota Music Festival.