Laurie Anderson

By Randy Gener

NEW YORK CITY |  There will be a surprise winner. We don’t yet know who. The one clue we’ve been handed is that its an industry award for exemplary service to the field of professional presenting. Can you guess?

No matter. #APAPNYC has booked its 2017 award winners, whose identities were announced. Based on nominations by colleagues in this particular field, four winners have been selected by an APAP panel of national arts leaders and arts presenters.

Another group, North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents (NAPAMA) has committed to presenting two awards to its agents and presenters at the same APAP event.

screen-shot-2017-01-06-at-11-48-47-pmWhat is APAP, did you say? It’s a marketplace for performing arts professionals.  It is a networking forum. For most of the year, it focuses on professional development and leadership programs.  It invites speakers to New York to examine in a public setting the ins and outs of creative collaboration, pitching yourself as artists (dance, music, theater, tours, museums, you name it), what it means to be a presenters and producers, and how to tap into new works that are currently in development or recently completed and ready to tour.  The letters stands for Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and it’s based in Washington, D.C.

And what is APAPNYC|2017?  In the culture of arts presenting, it’s an excuse every winter to get everybody to Manhattan to see artsy shows and entertainment showcases. Geared toward presenters, artists, managers, agents and emerging arts leaders, APAP’s New York conference dedicates itself to supporting a robust performing arts industry and the professionals who work within it.  Learn more about the January 6–10, 2017 edition of APAPNYC.org. (Other sources:APAP365.org, Twitter @APAP365 and Facebook facebook.com/APAPNYC.)

At a New York luncheon noon on Monday, January 9, the association’s annual showcase get together will recognize a number of artists, agents and arts managers for their service to the performing arts, avid culturistsas whom APAP claims have had “a significant impact on the industry and on communities worldwide.”  Ben Vereen will be the emcee.

This year’s APAP awards and recipients include:

THE SIDNEY R. YATES AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ADVOCACY ON BEHALF OF THE PERFORMING ARTS:
Michael Alexander, executive director, Grand Performances

Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson

THE WILLIAM DAWSON AWARD FOR PROGRAMMATIC EXCELLENCE AND SUSTAINED ACHIEVEMENT IN PROGRAMMING:
Mary Rose Lloyd, director of Artistic Programming, The New Victory Theater

THE AWARD OF MERIT FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN PERFORMING ARTS:
Laurie Anderson, American avant-garde composer, musician and film director

 

Managers and artists (those NAPAMA types) have named their own winners to be presented by David Wannen, president of NAPAMA. And they are:

NAPAMA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESENTING:
Michele Roberge, former executive director of the Carpenter Performing Arts Center at California State University, Long Beach.

NAPAMA Liz Silverstein Award for Excellence as an Agent/Manager
Laura Colby, director, Elsie Management

Performing arts presenters are typically found in three varieties:

  • Those attached to a college, university, or other educational institution, with performances usually taking place on campus;
  • Those that are an administrative branch of a theater or concert hall, usually presenting performances only in that space;
  • Those that are independently administered outside any specific venue, usually renting multiple venues for performances.

Said Mario Garcia Durham, president and CEO of APAP. “These recipients inspire and motivate our field to continue to grow and change, showing the strength and influence the arts can have in our communities, schools and cultural landscapes, and how important and influential the arts can be.”

As for the surprise award winner? The advance program did not reveal who, Neither did any of the press releases.  If you belong in this coven of presenters, stay tuned. —icultworld

 

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CultureofOneWorld.org is a NYC-based production, event and media project devoted to U.S. news, foreign diplomacy, cultural issues, innovative art projects and journalism in the public interest. Learn more about the proprietor at MediaKit.RandyGener.org

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