MUSIC HALL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS Annual Report 2014-2015 Table of Contents I. Introduction A. History B. Mission C. Structure II. Our Work: Music Hall’s 2014-15 Season A. Programming B. Education 1. Annual High School Assembly Program 2. World Dance Outreach and Master Classes 3. Jazz Vocal Education Program. 4. Lincoln Center’s Jazz for Young People 5. Grow Up Great! Education Program III. Financial Information A. Background and Current Situation B. Planning for the Future C. Financial Solvency and Fiscal Responsibility D. Current Needs – Music Hall Building IV. The People behind the Scenes A. Management B. Board of Trustees V. Attachments Partner Organizations Calendar of Events - Highlights I. Introduction I. A. History Music Hall Center opened in 1928, a product of the vision and commitment of Matilda Dodge Wilson. Former owner of the Dodge Motor Car Company, Mrs. Wilson also built Meadowbrook Hall in the late 1920’s and helped found what is now Oakland University. Along with these brick-and-mortar legacies, she left the enduring example of her commitment to inclusion and respect for all people. Her celebration of the rich diversity of Southeast Michigan’s population has served as a guiding principle to Music Hall throughout the decades, and continues to do so. Music Hall was the first legitimate theater to welcome people of all ethnicities to enter and participate. The theater has 1731 seats, a fully outfitted stage, an orchestra pit, dressing rooms and administrative offices. Its design and construction were noted by the world as state-of- the-art upon opening. The main stage hosts 100 - 120 events per year. Music Hall has been the home to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Cinerama, Michigan Youth Theater, and Michigan Opera Theater. In 2007, a concession space was converted and became the Jazz Café. An intimate space of 110 seats, it presents over 120 live jazz events annually and features a mix of student groups, local and regional artists, and national stars. The main stage attracts 125,000 to 140,000 attendees annually; the Jazz Café approximately 60,000. I. B. Mission The historic Music Hall provides the Detroit community with innovative and quality performing arts programming and education that reflects and attracts the diverse mix of cultures that make up Southeast Michigan. Music Hall is Detroit’s ‘People’s Theater’ – the place for consistently high quality but non-elitist performances and performing arts education with an emphasis on dance, theater and music, particularly jazz. Music Hall aims to be the most accessible, inclusive and culturally diverse institution in the country. Music Hall provides the Detroit community with a mixing bowl of innovative and quality performing arts programming and education that reflects and attracts the diverse mix of cultures that make up Southeast Michigan. Of the 200+ annual events conducted here, more than half showcase regional artists and organizations. Music Hall’s programming is tailored to its mission. Each of our dance, music and theatre performances, drawn from all corners of the globe, is specially selected for its ability to connect and engage with Metro Detroit’s rich mix of cultures. In addition, Music Hall produces five youth education programs in music, dance and theater, which touch the lives of over 22,000 children (approximately 1/4 of Detroit’s total student population) annually. Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts 350 Madison Avenue Detroit MI 48226 - www.musichall.org Page 3 I. C. Structure Music Hall is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation governed by an 80-member board comprised of community leaders, and led by a 14-member Executive Committee including 6 officers and a professional staff. The staff is comprised of the President and Artistic Director, 21 full-time artistic, operations and development professionals and approximately 220 part-time staff of ushers, stagehands, bartenders, servers, cooks, electricians, marketing, maintenance staff and artists. Music Hall’s budget averages $4MM annually. II. Our Work: Music Hall’s 2014-2015 Season II. A. Programming While Music Hall serves all of Southeastern Michigan, it is quintessentially a City of Detroit institution. Our programming reflects the full spectrum of diversity that is Detroit. In addition, Music Hall’s collaborations with over 200 fellow non-profit organizations provide a strong foundation for Detroit’s ongoing renaissance. (List of featured partner organizations attached). It’s a fact that over the last century Detroit has contributed more to the performing arts than any other single community in the world. The city’s rich musical and performing arts heritage is unparalleled -- jazz, blues, rock, techno, hip-hop, and of course the Motown sound. Music Hall has been a part of this history and celebrated this heritage since the day we opened our doors. We are members in various performing & cultural arts organizations including Creative Many, Cultural Arts Alliance, CultureSource, Detroit Entertainment District Association, and Paradise Valley Workshop Committee, and are recipients of support from the Michigan Council for the Cultural Arts. We have long established relationships with local vendors for the arts. We provide performance opportunities each year for more than 4,000 local artists and provide many local business opportunities for various local companies. Music Hall has always preferred Detroit based vendors for all events and will continue its policy of doing so as an offered strength in our community. We also have strong relationships with several national, regional and local artists, agents and artist promoters. Music Hall’s programs, services, and activities are exemplified in the following list. Each category contains a few examples from this year’s season that demonstrates Music Hall’s diverse programming strategy. [Please see also our ‘Season At A Glance’ Calendar Highlights at bottom.] Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts 350 Madison Avenue Detroit MI 48226 - www.musichall.org Page 4 Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts 350 Madison Avenue Detroit MI 48226 - www.musichall.org Page 5 *Music Hall collaborated with Wayne State University to produce the fifth Complexions Detroit Summer Intensive 2015. This two-week program was sold out at 125 students and culminated with a performance of all students and six Company members on the Music Hall main stage. II.B. Education Our complimentary education programs, focused mainly on Detroit Public Schools (DPS) students ages 4-18, reached over 22,000 youth in southeast Michigan in 2014-15. Our outreach demographic is 86% African American, 7% Hispanic American, 2% Arab American, 1% Asian American and 4% Anglo American. The programs are established for all ability levels. Key components of our education work are: II.B.1. High School Assembly Program Our 2014 Assembly was based on our stage presentation of the classic Stephen King story ‘Carrie’ onstage in January 2014. It focused on anti-bullying awareness and mitigation, and was entitled ‘Broken Mirrors: Bullies and Bystanders’. ‘Carrie: The Musical’ was first adapted for the stage in 1988 and revived Off-Broadway in 2012. We partnered with Oakland University’s excellent Department of Music, Theater, and Dance to stage this production. In conjunction with the performances, we developed and toured a High School Assembly program focused on anti-bullying awareness and mitigation. It was entitled ‘Broken Mirrors: Bullies and Bystanders’. The ‘Bully Board’: a 30’ diorama that accompanied the touring High School Assembly Program The ‘Carrie’ theme resonates strongly in our contemporary culture, as schools and communities strive to raise awareness of what has become a widespread threat in the youth community - a threat that is all too often headline news. Using the performing arts as a vehicle for change, we engaged the exceptionally talented and well-established musical artist Mike Ellison to helm the High School Assembly component of our Carrie presentation. Study guides and supporting materials were distributed to the classroom instructors prior to their scheduled Assembly dates, establishing a baseline level of familiarity with the material. The Assembly explored extensively the topic of bullying, considering the various forms and degrees of the problem, how it typically begins and then escalates, and offering tools and techniques for recognizing and stopping it in typical situations. The Program did not shy from touching on some of the tragic outcomes of recent years. It also placed bullying on a spectrum that featured historical and present-day instances of more extreme versions of bullying, including genocide. The instructor team, professional artists all, communicated these serious themes in ways that resonated with their target audience. Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts 350 Madison Avenue Detroit MI 48226 - www.musichall.org Page 6 In fall 2015, this program featured the work of the choreographer & visual artist Shen Wei, a Chinese native. It explored the complex ideas of political repression and artistic freedom as well as compared and contrasted the east-west conceptions of creative expression. 2013 - 15 HS Assembly Schools Exhibit Locations Cass Technical High School Detroit DTE Corporate Lunchroom Central High School Detroit Compuware Corporate Lunchroom Dearborn High School Dearborn Arts League, Carr Center Denby High School Detroit Detroit International Academy for Young Flint High School Women Detroit Detroit School of Arts Detroit Warren High