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One Civic Square Carmel, IN 46032
Contact: Nancy Heck
E-Mail: nheck@carmel.in.gov
Phone: (317) 571-2494
Nancy Heck
The
Department of Community Relations
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City of Carmel
One Civic Square Carmel, IN 46032
News Release
Date:
June 3, 2008
Contact:
Nancy Heck
(317) 571-2494
Release:
Immediate
Feinstein Foundation to
Locate its Headquarters in Regional Performing Arts Center
Carmel, IN - Internationally known
pianist and vocalist
Michael Feinstein and
Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard announced today that the
Feinstein Foundation for the Education and Preservation of
The Great American Songbook would locate its headquarters in
the Regional Performing Arts Center in Carmel, Indiana.
Feinstein and Mayor Brainard were joined by Mickey Maurer,
Chairman of the Board, The National Bank of Indianapolis, in
making this important economic development announcement for
the region.
The Foundation’s museum-quality collections were begun by
Feinstein while he served as assistant to
Ira Gershwin. The
collection has been greatly expanded since that time and is
currently located in Los Angeles. The Feinstein Foundation
is “dedicated singularly to the mission of preserving and
increasing appreciation of the Great American Songbook for
present and future generations.” Among its activities are to
create and execute educational curricula for schools,
educational events, performances, and historical
presentations to students of all ages, that helps cultivate
an appreciation of this genre of music; to obtain, protect,
preserve, document, catalog and archive musical scores,
sheet music, records, valuable manuscripts, memoirs,
biographies, stories and all other significant historical
material related to The Great American Songbook.
The 1,600-seat Music Hall in the Performing Arts Center will
serve as national headquarters for the Feinstein Foundation,
serving as exhibit, office and facility space for the
collection, curating, conservation, study, and exhibition of
the Feinstein Collection and materials related to the Great
American Songbook. Collection materials will be available to
scholars, and on a more limited basis to students and the
general public.
The Michael Feinstein Foundation and the Carmel Performing
Arts Foundation will collaborate to develop local, regional,
and national programming related to the Great American
Songbook. These events will include educational programming
for schoolchildren and adults, and master classes with
leading interpreters of the Great American Songbook serving
as master teachers and mentors to new generations of
singers. In addition, periodic competitions and showcases
for young singers of the Great American Songbook will be
held in the Music Hall along with an annual Great American
Songbook Festival featuring celebrity performers.
“People in the entire Indianapolis region should be pleased
and proud that the Feinstein Foundation chose to relocate
its collections and programs to the Indianapolis area, after
also considering moving to Las Vegas and other major
cities,” said Mayor Brainard. “Locating the collections and
programs of the Great American Songbook here makes a
profound and lasting contribution to the cultural resources
already located in Indianapolis, helping to attract new
tourist and visitor dollars to the region,” Mayor Brainard
added.
As the birthplace of Cole Porter and Hoagy Carmichael and
many other notable composers and musicians, Indiana has a
strong claim to being a center of American popular music. In
addition to the musical programming planned for the
Performing Arts Center, changing exhibitions and displays of
the Indianapolis arts studies have shown that more than $300
million a year is generated by the arts community. Adding
another cultural draw like the Feinstein Collection in the
Regional Performing Arts Center in Carmel contributes
another significant attraction to bring those outside
tourist and visitor dollars to Indianapolis.
The Music Hall is expected to be complete in the fall of
2010. The Feinstein Foundation and Great American Songbook
collection will be located on the third floor of the
facility in previously unprogrammed space. It will include
more than 6,000 square feet of space. In addition, there
will be some exhibits in other public spaces in the building
for the enjoyment of the general public.
For more information about the Foundation, please contact
Doris Anne Sadler, Executive Director, at (317) 201-8363 or
sadlerdat@aol.com.
For more information about Michael Feinstein visit
http://michaelfeinstein.com
For more information about the Gershwins, visit
http://www.gershwin.com
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