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About Us • History & Mission • Board • Staff • FAQ • Press Room • Archives • Employment • Arts Links • HOME |
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The Celebrity Series of Boston
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The Celebrity Series Mission |
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To present the best in the performing arts to the broadest possible audience, to create new works that bring artists and audiences together, and to engage young audiences in artistic experiences through performing arts-based education and community service programs.
The Celebrity Series has enhanced the quality of life in Greater Boston for more than 65 years by providing a wide range of artistic experiences onstage, in classrooms, and in other locations throughout the city and surrounding communities. Dynamic programs like Boston Marquee, What Makes It Great? and Family Musik are dedicated to supporting gifted performing artists and to connecting diverse audiences to the rich, rewarding world of artistic expression. Celebrity Series presentations often include premieres of new works of music and dance—many commissioned by the Series. And as a leading provider of arts-in-education programs, the Series builds innovative energetic partnerships with area schools and community organizations and engages new audiences of all ages.
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History |
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Established by Aaron Richmond in 1938, the Series has evolved into New England's major presenting organization with over 100 performance and outreach activities annually.
From its inception the Celebrity Series became a mainstay of Boston's cultural life with performances by Ignace Jan Paderewski, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Vladimir Horowitz, Jascha Heifitz, Lily Pons, Francois Poulenc, the Trapp Family Singers, Isaac Stern, Andres Segovia, Marian Anderson, Martha Graham and Company, Yehudi Menuhin, Glenn Gould, Burl Ives, Rudolf Serkin, Van Cliburn, Maria Callas, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the Bolshoi Ballet, Maurice Chevalier, the Joffrey Ballet, the Israel Philharmonic, Ravi Shankar, Olivier Messiaen, Marilyn Horne, Dizzy Gillespie, Victor Borge, Beverly Sills, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Jacqueline du Pre, Twyla Tharp Dance and Luciano Pavarotti.
Many nationally and internationally recognized artists have made their Boston debuts with the Celebrity Series. They include the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Yo-Yo Ma, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Emmanuel Ax, and Leontyne Price.
Each season from October to May, the Celebrity Series presents more than 50 multi-cultural and international artists and performing ensembles to audiences in the greater Boston area. By utilizing a number of different performance venues throughout the Boston area, each year the Celebrity Series presents programs of classical music, modern and classical dance, jazz, folk, world music, family music and multi-media performances.
Organizationally, the Celebrity Series has operated under a number of umbrellas. In
1953-54, it affiliated with Boston University and took the name, the Boston University Celebrity Series. In 1984, the Celebrity Series changed affiliations and moved its operations under the auspices of the Wang Center for the Performing Arts (now Citi Performing Arts center) a not-for-profit institution. Then, in 1989, the Celebrity Series incorporated as an independent, non-profit institution with its own Board of Directors and an annual budget of over $3 million (now between $6 million and $7 million). After 18 years of operating with the title sponsorship support of Bank of Boston, BankBoston, FleetBoston Financial, and Bank of America, the Celebrity Series begins the 2007-2008 season operating under its incorporated name, Celebrity Series of Boston.
Leadership of the Celebrity Series has remained consistent over its lifetime. In 1958, Aaron Richmond hired Walter Pierce as a Programming Associate. He later became Executive Director and guided the Series from a "mom and pop"-style presenter to a fully-staffed, not-for-profit organization. In 1986, Mr. Pierce hired Martha H. Jones as the Series' Director of Marketing. She later became General Manager, and, in 1996, when Mr. Pierce retired his full-time post, Martha Jones was appointed Executive Director. Ms. Jones is increasing the impact of the Celebrity Series on Boston audiences through the creation of new outreach programs, the presentation of innovative dance programs and the commissioning of new works. The Celebrity Series currently has 24 full-time staff members. |
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Boston Marquee |
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The Celebrity Series Boston Marquee series, which grew out of the Celebrity Series' Emerging Artists series, was inaugurated in the 2000-2001 season. Boston Marquee aspires to provide new creative opportunities for Boston artists and to offer rich, new experiences for Boston audiences by commissioning new works, encouraging artistic collaborations and making resources available to artists. Among the artists who have appeared on Boston Marquee are pianists Judith Gordon and Craig Smith, mezzo-soprano Jan Curtis, dancer Julie Ince Thompson, the Boston Trio, Sol y Canto, the Nicola Hawkins Dance Company, violinist Stefan Jackiw, Either/Orchestra, Boston Camerata, pianist David Deveau, Borromoeo String Quartet, Richard Stoltzman, New England String ensemble, and Emmanuel Music.
Boston Marquee/Emerging Artists Series Archive, 1992-present
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Collaborations |
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The Celebrity Series regularly collaborates with other Boston-area arts organizations to enrich Boston's cultural offerings. Most often these collaborations take the form of co-presentations. Past and present collaborative partners include The Wang Center for the Performing Arts (now Citi Performing Arts Center) , World Music, Broadway in Boston, Dance Umbrella, the Boston Early Music Festival, and the Handel and Haydn Society. |
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ARTS, EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY PROGRAM |
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The Celebrity Series operates one of the most extensive education and community service programs in New England. The Celebrity Series Arts, Education and Community Program has grown from a small, school-based ticket giveaway program reaching 200 people a year to an innovative outreach program reaching over 22,000 individuals each year with a series of residency programs, masterclasses, workshops and interactive concerts for students, families, seniors, and special needs groups. The Celebrity Series works with more than 450 community-based organizations who each month receive mailings detailing upcoming Arts, Education and Community Program activities and ticket programs in which they are able to participate.
Between 90,000 and 100,000 individuals attend Celebrity Series concerts each year, with an additional 20,000 individuals participating in the Arts, Education and Community Program. While participants come from as far north as Maine and as far south as New Jersey, the majority come from the greater Boston metropolitan area. The Celebrity Series - through the Arts, Education and Community Program - ensures that its audience is ethnically diverse and includes people from all age groups and socio-economic backgrounds.
The focus of the Arts, Education and Community Program is to reach out to underserved communities in order to make the performing arts accessible to as many people as possible. In addition to the many projects designed to bring the performing arts to a broader audience, the Arts, Education and Community Program makes $10 tickets available for Celebrity Series performances to a large number of community groups, students, senior citizens and special needs individuals.
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AILEYCAMP BOSTON |
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AileyCamp Boston is a six-week, summer day camp that combines dance instruction with personal development workshops, creative communication classes and field trips. Based on a structural model provided by the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation as a template for camps across the country, the AileyCamp program is designed to help develop students self-respect, confidence, discipline and imagination while fostering an appreciation for the joy of dance. The goal is not to train students to be professional dancers, but to challenge the participants and to strengthen their self-esteem. |
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MEMBERSHIP |
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The Celebrity Series of Boston is a member in good standing of the following organizations:
ArtsBoston
Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP)
Boston Dance Alliance
Chamber Music America
Dance USA
Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau (GBCVB)
Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA)
Music Accord
New England Presenters
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CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON LINKS |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Board of Directors and Overseers
Performance Archive 1938-Present
Aaron Richmond Biography
Partial list of pre-Celebrity Series concerts presented by Aaron Richmond
Home Page |
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Copyright © 2008 Celebrity Series of Boston, Inc. All Right Reserved
Celebrity Series of Boston, 20 Park Plaza, Suite 1032, Boston, MA 02116 • (617) 482-2595 - CelebrityCharge (617) 482-6661 |
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