The College of Charleston will partner with the Coastal Community Foundation and the Charleston Regional Alliance for the Arts to conduct a series of public conversations designed to bring forth recommendations on how to sustain symphonic music in the greater Charleston community.
College of Charleston President George Benson and Blackbaud, Inc. President Marc Chardon will co-chair a steering committee that will develop recommendations based upon input from the public discussion sessions.
“The involvement of the two co-chairs, Marc Chardon and George Benson, shows how deeply the arts affect us all,” says steering committee member George Stevens, president of the Coastal Community Foundation. “Both co-chairs depend on talented, creative employees who could work anywhere in the world. Maintaining a community of arts organizations, not just the Symphony, but the Symphony and others, makes the choice of Lowcountry living possible in the minds of these talented folks. That such busy leaders apply themselves to this effort shows just how seriously we should take the connection between the arts, the economy, and our own lives.”
The effort is endorsed by Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley.
“I am thrilled that the College is partnering with the Coastal Community Foundation and the Regional Alliance for the Arts to lead this important effort,” Riley says. “Charleston has a long and rich cultural heritage, and symphonic music is at its heart. Our symphony orchestra has struggled financially for many years, and we must find a way to ensure that the future of this art form is on a sound financial footing.”
The public sessions are designed to accomplish the following objectives: (1) to inform the community about the resources necessary to support a professional symphony orchestra; (2) to educate participants on how other comparably sized communities successfully support such orchestras; and (3) to gauge the public’s desire for a symphony orchestra in the city and how willing the public is to provide support.
“Charleston is a much richer community with a symphony orchestra than without one; for example, musicians from the symphony have been essential in providing fine arts instruction to the College’s students,” says Benson. “I hope that through this effort we can both educate the community and generate enthusiastic support for the future of live symphonic music.”
The public sessions will be held in locations around Charleston during the month of June. The first session is scheduled for 9 a.m.-Noon, Wednesday, June 16, at the College of Charleston’s Stern Student Center. Additional sessions will take place in the Kiawah Island/Seabrook and Mount Pleasant/Daniel Island areas.
“Great symphonies thrive on great community involvement,” says Chardon. “We need to build a dialog and hear the community’s voice, so we welcome attendance at these sessions by all who value live symphonic music.”
Find out more at http://president.cofc.edu/symphony/index.php
