Performing Arts

Full Schedule Now Available >>>

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts has accepted the S.C. Arts Commission's invitation to make South Carolina the site of the National Symphony Orchestra's 2008 American Residency. The announcement was made after the unveiling of the Arts Commission's new logo September 10 at the 2007 Statewide Arts Conference in Newberry, where approximately 150 arts leaders from across the state convened for two days of training workshops and networking events.

Between February 8 and 16, 2008, Orchestra members will participate in five orchestral concerts and dozens of educational and outreach activities throughout the state. The orchestral schedule is as follows:

Presenters requested the Orchestra for a variety of activities, including in-school ensembles, clinics, master classes, pre-concert events, community service performance and arts education advocacy. The Orchestra is fulfilling as many of those requests as logistics, scheduling and budgetary limitations allow.

Presenters sometimes offer new ideas for activities. For example, a composition teacher at the University of Maine requested an NSO ensemble to perform his students' compositions, critiquing them from the point of view of professional instrumentalists, explaining what worked and didn't work in terms of instrumental writing.

The National Symphony Orchestra's South Carolina Residency is supported by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Chamber Music and Outreach Events are made possible in part by the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund of the Kennedy Center. Additional funding for the 2008 American Residency Program is provided by the Arcadia Foundation.

For more information, please contact Jeanette Guinn (803-734-8677) at the SC Arts Commission.

More about the Performing Arts