Funding Appeal for The Relentless Pursuit of Ice by Max Langert, Punchkin Repertory at FronteraFest, January 2014

Posted at IndieGoGo on December 15:

PunchkinRepVideo from Jessica on Vimeo.

(*) Funding Appeal: Classic Theatre San Antonio Moves to the Woodlawn Black Box

Classic Theatre San Antonio is moving to the Woodlawn Theatre black box in January, 2014, and needs $4000 to renovate that space, especially for relocation of the air conditioning ducts.  They've appealed via Indiegogo for contributions of funds, under the difficult-to-locate title 'Expand the Box for Classic.'  Click either logo to go to that page, which features a video posted by Rick Malone about the Classic's five-year history (inexplicably, with no mention of the relocation project).

 

Video: Center Stage, Austin, 2013

Posted by Cassie Padgett on

Funding Appeal for Devised Theatre: Florence by Gale Theatre Company, December 6 - 15, 2013

A video by Ráchel Lowery to support the

(click to go to IndieGoGo page)

funding appeal for

Florence

by Gale Theatre Company
December 6 - 15, 2013 in Sparky Pocket Park
3701 Grooms Street in the Hyde Park neighborhood, Austin - click for map



Hi there! We’re Gale Theatre Company. We make new devised theatre here in Austin, Texas and we need your help to bring our first season to life.

What is devised theatre? Well, it means that we start in the room with actors, physical training, ideas, and NO SCRIPT. We build a universe from scratch and make shows in the moment. It is a big process that involves immense collaboration and trust. We love what we do.

Katherine Wilkinson, our Artistic Director, has been teaching, performing, and directing all around the world (USA, Australia, India, Greece) for the last 6 years. Celina Chapin has been choreographing new work internationally as well and most recently trained at the American Dance Festival and with Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Dance. Their diverse backgrounds and shared love for physical theatre inspired the creation of Gale Theatre Company.

GALE from Ráchel Lowery on Vimeo.
wwww.galetheatrecompany.com

Gale Theatre Co is dedicated to making work that is aesthetically arresting, emotionally compelling, physically daring, and dedicated to the unending power of live performance. Why do we need your help? Gale Theatre Co has begun building its first season and we need support to make it happen. We are currently in rehearsal for 2 brand new shows.

The first, Florence, is an ensemble-devised work about Florence Lawrence, the first movie star. Florence is a co-production between Gale,Bottle Alley Theatre, and the City of Austin. Show dates: December 6-9 & 12-15, 8pm, Sparky Pocket Park, Austin. TICKETS ON SALE NOV
Our second show, WK, is a play about first loves. It is also ensemble devised and will premiere at the New Orleans Fringe in November. Out of 150 applications, WK was one of 24 chosen by the Fringe. WK will return to Austin in January and have a three-week run at the Vortex.
Show dates:

NOLA Fringe, The Old Firehouse718 Mandeville St. BUY TICKETS HERE

11/21 @ 7pm, 11/22 @11pm, 11/23 @ 5pm, 11/24 @7pm

The Vortex, 2307 Manor Rd, Austin. TICKETS ON SALE HERE IN JANUARY

1/17-1/19 @ 8pm, 1/23-1/26 @ 8pm, 1/30-2/2 @ 8pm

Funding Campaign for The North Plan by Jason Wells, Street Corner Arts, Austin

The company's seeking to raise $4,000 for the production via

(Click to go to Indiegogo page)

The North Plan is Street Corner Arts' return to the fast-paced, politically-charged world of Jason Wells, writer of their 2011 hit Men of Tortuga. This pitch-black comedy will have its regional premiere at Hyde Park Theatre (511 W. 43rd St.) in Austin, Texas from December 6 to December 21, 2013.

The North Plan tells the story of Carlton Berg, a bureaucrat for the U.S. State Department, who runs off with the top secret enemies list of a ruthless faction that has seized power in Washington creating a state of martial law. Unfortunately for Carlton, the chase has come to an end in a police station in the Ozarks town of Lodus, Missouri. With a pair of Department of Homeland Security agents on the way, Carlton's last hope arrives in the form of fellow prisoner Tanya Shepke, a motor-mouthed redneck who's turned herself in for drunk driving and has a penchant for raising hell.

The revolution will not be televised but it will have a soundtrack: Lynyrd Skynyrd. And it starts right now!

Street Corner Arts began with an idea (over a glass of good whiskey as all good ideas do): what if theatre could exist as a conversation between audience and actors, addressing current topics that affect the average person in an accessible way. That is the challenge which we always place before ourselves. By helping us to fund this project, you are becoming an active participant in that conversation. You are allowing us to continue to present collaborative, relevant, and engaging theatre to the Austin community.

Click to go to the Indiegogo page for more information and to contribute.

City of Austin Releases List of 2014 Cultural Funding Allocations Totaling More Than $7 Million

Barbara Sparks of the City of Austin Cultural Arts Division has contacted applicants with details of the 2014 decisions of City allocations. She writes, "This summer the City received 211 applications - 189 for Core Funding Programs, 22 for the Cultural Expansion Program (CEP), and 4 were new to the process. CEP applications were reviewed and scored by a peer review panel and those receiving a score of 75 or greater were then recommended by the Austin Arts Commission for funding." 

These grants are funded by a percentage of the collections of the hotel and occupany tax (about 20%; most of the rest goes to support the Convention and Visitors Bureau).

The list is a very long one and totals $7,043,697. Largest grants are to the Austin Children's Museum ($200,000), The Austin Theatre Alliance (Paramount and State Theatres) ($197,500) and the Zach Theatre ($197,500), in each case totaling about 2.8% of the total. Other leading recipients are the Austin Symphony Orchestra ($190,000), Long Center ($190,000), Ballet Austin ($190,000), Theatre Action Project (now Creative Action, focused on schools)($190,000), Austin Film Society ($187,500), Conspirare ($185,000), Austin Museum of Art ($182,500), One World Theatre ($175,000), Austin Lyric Opera ($172,500), the Mexicarte Museum ($151,347), Tapestry Dance ($140,000), Austin Creative Alliance (in its own right, $132,000), Austin Classical Guitar Society ($118,136) and the Rude Mechs ($100,000).

Click here to see the full list of 2014 allocations

Video Appeal: Support Robert Matney's Fight Against Cancer, via YouCaring

A few weeks ago, Robert Matney- actor, technology designer, and all-around extraordinary person was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma that had spread to his lymphatic system. In 2008, Rob was diagnosed with bladder cancer. Rob beat it. Last year, a pulmonary embolism tried to do its worst. But Rob beat that, too.

Rob started his new fight the day after Lowell Bartholomee and Beth Burns of Hidden Room Theatre shot this. We want to help get some of his medical bills out the way so he can win this one, too. Any contribution means the world to Rob, his family, his friends, and his future friends family family. Because he's awesome. Please click on the YouCaring image to go to the contribution page.

There will be a benefit performance of Hidden Room's THE TAMING OF THE SHREW at York Rite Theatre (311 West 7th Street 78701) on June 30 and a "tent revival" benefit at The Off Center (2211 Hidalgo 78702) in late July. Go to youcaring.com/matneyvscancer for benefit details and to make a contribution to the medical bill fund.

Rob constantly proves himself to be a treasure among people. We want to make sure that stays true for many years to come. Thank you!

Matching Capital Grant Challenge: Austin Playhouse's New Theatre

Austin Playhouse's funding appeal at

   About This Campaign


After ten years in our previous home, a renovated warehouse at Penn Field, we found ourselves paying almost $150,000 a year in rent - and the rent was about to rise even more. We started looking for a place to build a permanent home for Austin Playhouse and found an ideal location at the Mueller Austin redevelopment. (http://www.muelleraustin.com/)



We have been raising funds for over two years to build a new home at Mueller adjacent to the new Austin Children's Museum. We have made significant progress, raising almost $1 million in individual contributions. The project is now fully permitted and shovel ready. We expect to break ground this summer.



Thanks to a $25,000 matching grant from the Carolyn Rice Bartlett Charitable Foundation, all new building fund donors through June 13, 2013 will have their gifts matched up to our $25,000 goal! We're launching this campaign to reach new donors, especially those in the Austin arts community, who would like to see their impact doubled.


If you have the capacity and would like to donate at a higher level than those listed with this campaign, please contact us directly to hear about naming opportunities: development@austinplayhouse.com.

We welcome multi-year pledges too!



We believe that Austin needs another first-class facility, built by and for artists with a long-term stake in this community. We're asking for your support. Thank you.


As Austin Playhouse is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, all donations are fully tax-deductible!

More information available at the Austin Playhouse IndieGoGo page. . . .

Kickstarter Appeal from Steve Moore for 'Adam Sultan,' Celebrating Austin's Theatre Community, Mortality and This Moment in Time

 



How would you as an Austin theatre artist want to be remembered decades from now? Steve Moore explains the rationale for his play Adam Sultan, scheduled to open at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre at the end of March and asks for your support.

Adam Sultan is a real person here in Austin - a composer, performer, teacher, friend. At the moment, he is still alive.

You can select your own memento and lend it to Steve and the Physical Plant Theatre Company, as many of us already have. You can also donate toward the $4900 the company needs to produce the show. Click HERE or on either Kickstarter logo for further information and to pledge.

 

Adam Sultan is a play slated to open in Austin on March 28th - just about two months from now.
The play centers around a real person in the world named Adam Sultan. Great guy. Lives here in Austin. He's a musician, composer, dancer, storyteller, actor, and teacher.

We imagine Adam's life about forty years in the future. It's the year 2052, and Adam is in his eighties. Many of his dearest friends have died, including his wife -- and much has changed. Including Adam. Over the years he's gone from happy and adventurous to cranky and withdrawn, in large part because the community he was once a part of has disintegrated around him. That's where we begin.

One day, seemingly at random, an exact puppet version of Adam arrives at his apartment. It can't see Adam and can't hear him, but it is definitely alive. It walks, eats, drinks, and sleeps. And it's living some version of Adam's own life....


Go to the Kickstarter page for more information. . . .

Funding Appeal: Vodka, F***ing and Television by Maxsym Kurochkin, Breaking String Theatre

Breaking String's artistic director Graham Schmidt and director Liz Fisher appeal via Kickstarter for $4200, about a third of the budget for Vodka, F***ing and Television by Maxsym Korochkin, to be staged at the Hyde Park Theatre in Austin November 29 - December 15. Click the Kickstarter logo to go to the donations page for more information and to donate.

A writer struggles with his vices, in a twisted comedy by one of Russia's finest living playwrights, Maksym Kurochkin.

• Launched: Oct 24, 2012 Goal: $4200
• Funding ends: Nov 21, 2012

NEW RUSSIAN DRAMA!

Vodka, F***ing and Television by Maksym Kurochkin, directed by Liz Fisher, translated by John J. Hanlon is a hit play by one of Russia's greatest living playwrights, and it's being staged by Breaking String Theatre Co. in Austin, Texas. Facing a nervous breakdown, our hero - a struggling writer - resolves to quit the vices that are holding him back.

The twist?

In a move worthy of Tim Burton, Kurochkin propels actors and audience into a strange fantasy, and transforms the three vices - vodka, f***ing and television - into full-fledged characters. Each vice gets a chance to justify its presence in the hero's life, or get the boot. With a sexy script, mind-blowing design and performances from one hell of a creative team, this show promises to make a splash.


Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Theatre Action Project Receives $103,400 Grant to Work with Incarcerated Youth

Theatre Action Project Awarded $103,400 Grant from

Impact Austin to Support Program for Incarcerated Youth

This week Theatre Action Project (TAP) was awarded a $103,400 grant by Impact Austin. The grant will fund Theatre Action Project’s New Stages Youth Theatre Ensemble for students between the ages of 14 and 20 who have been released from the juvenile detention system. Impact Austin is a charity which combines annual donations from its members and gives multiple grants each June to local nonprofit organizations. The New Stages Youth Ensemble, which begins in September, will work together to create original plays about their experiences and will tour their shows and perform for more than 2,000 Austin area youth at schools and churches annually. A social worker will be a part of the program which will meet twice weekly at a halfway house. Youth members of the New Stages Youth Ensemble will receive compensation for their creative work with the program.

Ena Brant, Casework Manager with the Gardner Betts Juvenile Detention Center, talked about the goals for the New Stages. “The program will offer critical services to youth who have been released from our residential facility as they develop their skills in self-expression, learn to work as a productive member of an ensemble, and learn to use their experiences and imaginations to positively affect their community.

A check presentation to Theatre Action Project will take place Monday, June 18 at 9 a.m. at Theatre Action Project offices 701 Tillery, Suite A14, Austin, TX 78702.
 
About Theatre Action Project: Theatre Action Project uses the creative arts to activate the academic, social and emotional development of young people. Through interactive classroom performances, after school residencies and community based programs, TAP's team of professional teaching artists inspire youth to be creative artists, courageous allies, critical thinkers and confident leaders in their community.

About Impact Austin: Impact Austin is a 501(c)(3) public charity made up of women seeking to transform lives in the Austin area through high-impact and lifelong giving. The only membership requirements are to be female and donate $1,000 each year. Impact Austin combines the annual donations from members and gives large grants each year to local worthy causes selected by the members. Grant applications are accepted in each of the following focus areas: culture, environment, education, family, and health and wellness. Collectively, we are changing the face of philanthropy in Austin www.impact-austin.org.
 

- Creative arts and education for social change -

www.theatreactionproject.org

Funding Appeal from the DA! Theatre Collective for DayBoyNightGirl at the Rollins Theatre

Just Say "DA!" - About DA! Theatre Collective

DA! Theatre Collective is proud to announce that we will soon be debuting our latest original show, DAYBOYNIGHTGIRL, at Central Texas' premiere performing arts facility, THE LONG CENTER! For one exciting week, June 6 - 10 at the Rollins Theatre, we will showcase the talents of our entire team (plus several incredible guest artists) for the full-length premiere of DAYBOYNIGHTGIRL, a multi-disciplinary production freely adapted from a magical 19th Century short story by illustrious Scottish author George MacDonald.

[To see developmental footage of DAYBOYNIGHTGIRL from earlier workshop incarnations, go to the video below at 16:48.]

This Indie-Go-Go campaign will specifically "Go-Go" towards compensating the work of the incredible artists on our team! Paying local artists a decent wage for their work is a core value that we chose to inherit from our beloved parent company, Hyde Park Theatre. The goal is $2012 by June 17. Please click on the IndieGoGo symbol to go to the fundraiser page where you can contribute and view the perks we're offering.

"Da" means “yes” in Russian. Yet DA! is more than a word and more than a company; it is a way of life. Rooted in contemporary Russian acting and movement theory, DA! Theatre Collective believes in the power of intention and the value of hard work --and that Austin, Texas in the 21st century is the very best place and time to be doing this hard work.

Click 'Read more' for additional information -- or go to the fundraiser page

H-E-B Donates $150,000 to Fund Zach's Rain Garden and Children's Program

H-E-B Grants $150,000 to Topfer Theatre Children’s Rain Garden and Theatre for Youth summer camps

H-E-B Corporation is supporting ZACH Theatre with a $150,000 leadership gift, theatre officials announced today. The Children’s Rain Garden at the new Topfer Theatre will bear the company’s name, and H-E-B will also be the title sponsor of ZACH’s Summer Camp and Scholarship Program for youth.

“We are excited to continue our support of ZACH because of the great work they do to open the minds and creative energy of our future leaders, as well as what they do to support our local economy, including employing local artists in and around Austin,” says Jeff Thomas, Senior Vice President and General Manager of H-E-B Central Texas.

The H-E-B Children’s Rain Garden, being constructed on the grounds of the new Topfer Theatre, celebrates the natural surroundings of the theatre on Lady Bird Lake, and will be an outdoor hub for child-centered family fun including special events associated with ZACH’s productions for youth. Pervious paving will allow rain water to filter into the soil, while native grasses and flowers like Prairie Blazing Stars, Tall Asters, Little Bluestems, Big and Gulf Muhlys and Chile Pequins will help filter out pollutants and provide habitat for birds, bats, and bees.

“We are thrilled to partner with H-E-B, one of our community’s most dedicated corporate citizens,” says ZACH’s Managing Director Elisbeth Challener. “Their major gift supporting ZACH demonstrates their vision and leadership for the future of our region.”

H-E-B will be the title sponsor of ZACH’s Summer Camp and Scholarship program, an 11-week summer camp in the performing arts that provides scholarships for children who otherwise could not afford to participate. The camps offer process-oriented, production-based instruction and provide opportunities to explore, develop, apply, and refine expression through performance in a supportive environment with instructors who are professional theatre artists and experienced drama teachers. ZACH’s youth programs help young people build life skills and character. For more information, go to www.zachtheatre.org.

About ZACH Theatre Founded in 1933, ZACH is the longest running theatre company in Texas, serving more than 170,000 adults and youth annually. ZACH creates its own nationally recognized dramatic, musical and comedic productions that elevate, motivate and stimulate the human spirit under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Dave Steakley and Managing Director Elisbeth Challener. Now in its 78th season, ZACH continues to expand and engage with Austin, adding a third theatre to its Central Austin performance campus. The 420-seat, 26,000-square-foot Topfer Theatre will nearly double ZACH’s capacity while retaining its hallmark intimate theatre-going experience upon its completion in the fall of 2012 following a $22 million campaign. Visit www.zachtheatre.org for more information.

ZACH Theatre is sponsored, in part, by Applied Materials, Austin American-Statesman, Time Warner Cable, Austin News TV 36, The Dell Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Strong Events, OnRamp, The Mitchell Group Consulting, Kirk Tuck Photography and Holiday Inn, Lady Bird Lake. Also, by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division, which believes an investment in the arts is an investment in Austin’s future.

[photo by Eric Scott: Jeff Thomas, H-E-B; Sylvia Cardiel, Austin Community College; Bobbi and Mort Topfer. )

Kickstarter Appeal from Uprise! Productions: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf

Received directly and followed up on-line:

We are producing a theatrical production of Ntosake Shange's For colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf. There are seven women cast in the production. We would like to be able to pay these women as much as possible for the time, effort, and talents they are contributing to this production. At the present time, we do not have the funding to pay these women anywhere near what they are worth. This Kickstarter will help us to provide a base salary of $300 or more for each actress. These women will have rehearsed over 90 hours a piece in preparation for this production. If you do the math, that comes out to $3.33/hr. Your support will not only help to pay these women a decent wage, but to let them know their efforts and talents are deeply appreciated by you. The production itself is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Click on the image below to go to the Kickstarter page and video:

From Director/Producer Zell Miller III, August 9:

For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Zell Miller, III, and I am the artistic director of Uprise! Productions and the director of Ntozake Shange’s “for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf”. We are a small non-profit, but we try not to allow the all mighty dollar to dictate the work that we bring to our amazing community. For those of you know me or my work, you know that I give, give and then give more to this community. You know that I have done tons of things in this community over the years and a lot of it has been for reduced rates, or free. I have never asked before, but now I’m asking.

I’m asking that you please help us find a way to pay these 7 amazing women a base rate for this production. As of today, we have 19 days left on our Kickstarter. We will easily meet our goal if 350 people donate $5 or 174 people donate $10. Please support and help us pay these amazing women. If you are in the Austin area, please come see the show at the Vortex, August 25 through Sept 10^th. I don’t ask, but I’m asking now. Please help us.

Thank you, Zell Miller, III

The Creative Fund Launches, June 28

Found on-line at Twitter and at www.Tribeza.com:

The Creative Fund
Tuesday, June 28
6-8pm
Malverde Restaurant

A group of like-minded, passionate individuals decided to launch the Creative Fund so they could fund performing arts programs all over Austin. Attend this public launch event and help this project reach its goals by becoming new members. Light bites and drink specials will be provided by the lovely Malverde. To RSVP, email thecreativefund@gmail.com.

Future website of The Creative Fund: www.thecreativefundatx.org/

@CreativeFund Austin, TX

The Creative Fund will start making breakthrough works of art happen in any venue in Austin. Launching June 28th, 2011.

http://www.facebook.com/thecreativefund

From Facebook:

Founded	June 2011
Location	Austin, TX

Company Overview	The Creative Fund is a collective group of like-minded, arts-focused, passionate individuals coming together to support emerging and innovative arts organizations and individuals. The Creative Fund was born out of a love to support local arts.
Description	Board Members: Scott Lawrence, Board Chair KD Hausenfluck, Vice Chair Michael McGill, Treasurer Emily Torgerson, Secretary Amy Holloway, Austin Creative Alliance Board Appointee Dave Floyd, Membership Chair Michelle Alvarez-Olson, Membership Chair Pat Butcha, Program Chair Ariel Zarate-Carmona, Program Chair Reed Arnos, Fundraising Chair Katie Osbourne Dustin Little
General Information	The Creative Fund operates under the umbrella of the Austin Creative Alliance (ACA), a 501c3 corporation. All cash and in-kind donations collected by The Creative Fund are processed through ACA and are considered tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Mission	Our mission is to fund new and innovative performing arts at any venue in Austin.

Email	TheCreativeFund@gmail.com
Website	http://www.TheCreativeFundATX.org

Forum for the Arts Community: Crisis and Opportunity, June 7

Received on-line:

Austin Creative Alliance and Wyatt Brand Public Relations

sponsor a forum:

Crisis and Opportunity: An open, structured dialogue

Tuesday, June 7 from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.

(with potential break-out discussions until 8:30 pm)

Mexican American Cultural Center Auditorium,600 River Street (click for map)

WEB: www.austincreativealliance.org http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=213895341978226

In light of recent transitions and critical issues cropping up in some of Austin's nonprofit arts and cultural institutions, Austin Creative Alliance has organized an open, structured dialogue in which any interested community member is invited to participate.

Their goal is to engage in a constructive process to address recent events, underlying issues, national trends, and proposed solutions with a specific outcome: to arrive at an honest and progress-centric document that we will issue to the community at large.

Topics will be collected on their Facebook event page and via email (dialogue@austincreativealliance.org) and then combined in advance to reflect the will and interest of engaged participants and ground-rules will be provided to give us the best chance of a productive process.

Subject to change, here are some initial topics they envision:

• Should the current economic climate tighten belts or drive innovation?

• What is the role of a trustee?

• To what degree should organizations be accountable to the public?

• How can non-profits understand and implement a new social/experience economic model?

• How does Austin’s creative economy/climate reflect national trends?

• What is the future of the non-profit model?

Austin Creative Alliance envisions this format being the basis for an ongoing series to address critical topics as they arise, as well as bringing in expert speakers to facilitate topic-centric discussions.

Arts Reporting: The Austin Lyric Opera in Crisis, by Paul E. Robinson

A thoughtful account and analysis by Paul Robinson at his blog www.theartoftheconductor.com, May 25:

The Austin Lyric Opera in Crisis: No Easy Answers!

by Paul E. Robinson

The news just keeps getting worse from opera companies across the United States. As the economy ever so slowly rights itself after a devastating recession, ticket buyers and generous donors are hard to find. Endowments have taken a tremendous hit from the stock market collapse. The New York City Opera has been struggling for years and recently announced that it would have to leave Lincoln Center in order to cut costs and remain in business. David Gockley, the San Francisco Opera’s highly-regarded General Director, said that his company was feeling the heat and needed to do some radical restructuring. While Texas has weathered the recession better than most states, the Austin Lyric Opera (ALO) finds itself in serious financial turmoil. General Director Kevin Patterson handed in his resignation in the face of a growing deficit.

ALO Repertoire: Popular Mix too Much for Austin?

Austin is neither New York nor San Francisco, either in size or in the importance of its opera company; it is, however, a vibrant and growing major population center (the Austin Metro area is about 1.4 million people) and problems facing its opera company are fairly representative of what’s facing cities all over the country.

The ALO’s current budget is $4.3 million and its season is comprised of three main stage productions – presented at the Long Center for the Performing Arts, with each opera given four performances. In addition, there are some smaller events and the ALO also runs the Armstrong Community Music School.

Under Kevin Patterson as General Director and Richard Buckley as Principal Conductor, the ALO has developed a reputation for excellent work and for deftly mixing standard fare with off-beat contemporary repertoire. This past season the ALO offered Jonathan Dove’s wonderful opera “Flight,” and the previous season it mounted a production of Chabrier’s rarely-heard opera, “L’Etoile”. In 1997, it presented Philip Glass’ “Waiting for the Barbarians.” One of the AOL’s most enjoyable productions in recent years was an Austin-oriented version of “Die Fledermaus (The Bat).” As travelers to Austin probably know, one of the city’s prime tourist attractions is the daily emergence downtown, at sundown, of something like 1.5 million bats from under the Congress Street bridge.

On the whole, the ALO has given the community a consistently high quality of sophisticated and entertaining repertoire. Although there are few recognizable names among the singers, the mostly young and mostly American singers have been well-chosen and Buckley’s presence in the pit has guaranteed well-rehearsed and well-executed performances. Such quality comes at a price, however, and it is a price that the Austin community apparently is no longer either able to, or prepared to pay.

Several years ago the ALO moved from the Bass Hall on the University of Texas campus to the new Long Center downtown and the move was expected to be a boost for the company. The Bass Hall had 2,900 seats and the Dell Hall in the Long Center only 2,400. With fewer seats to fill, the ALO still averaged only about 45% capacity.

Read more at Robinson's blog The Art of the Conductor . . . .