The experience of sharing space with a virtuoso performer is unparalleled, and is something perhaps we all took for granted until the covid pandemic descended upon the world. As difficult as it was, it gave the Green Music Center the opportunity to lead with our values, one of which is to support artists in their art making. You have made this possible.
With your support, thousands of audience members descended on the Weill Hall + Lawn as we presented our summer lineup. And as the 2021- 22 season unfolded, artists shared their delight at being able to perform, many for the first time since the covid pandemic began. Providing this opportunity for performers to share their craft is helping to keep the arts alive, which are essential to our well being.
In addition, your support has helped artists create new works. The Green Music Center commissioned an exciting new work that makes its world premiere on April 14. Wicked Bodies (Sonoma) by Liz Lerman is a breathtaking theater, dance, and multimedia piece that she created over two and a half years with deep engagement from the communities of Sonoma County and designed specifically to be performed at the Green Music Center’s Weill Hall. We hope you will join us for this thoughtful piece that provides timeless insights to our community.
Artists have a lot to offer students of all ages when they step off the stage to engage with them in discussions, demonstrations, and workshops that address the big issues we’re all facing. Suddenly the subjects of study come to life – students gain perspective and discover that their classes are teaching ideas that artists are addressing every day in their work. The theories are put into practice, the equations come to life, and the words fly off the page to inspire new ways of thinking.
You are making these types of moments happen for grade school through university students. Woven into many of the contracts we have with artists are sessions that directly engage faculty and staff, and bring the artists out into the communities to bolster the programs in our K-12 schools. This work matters. Thank you!
Your financial contributions helped us to bring performers to stages, classrooms, community centers, and zoom rooms across our region, energizing us and reminding us that the performing arts are essential to our wellbeing. You help us all develop a sense of empathy through exposure to cultures outside of our own. And your loyal generosity fills our halls with joy, contemplation, hope, and understanding. From the Beach Boys to Madeleine Peyroux, from Michael Mwenso to Apollo’s Fire, from Dianne Reeves to the Kronos Quartet, thank you for helping us foster the beauty and magic that happens when artists perform for and engage with you.
