SEATTLE SYMPHONY’S COMMUNITY STAGES FUND OPENS THE BENAROYA HALL STAGE TO LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS
APPLICATIONS OPEN JANUARY 25, 2021
Seattle, WA — The Seattle Symphony is excited to launch the Community Stages Fund, which will provide sponsored and heavily subsidized use of Benaroya Hall’s stages and digital streaming infrastructure to organizations of the Pacific Northwest that comprise the region’s diverse cultural landscape. The past year has seen the Symphony embrace many firsts, from building a new streaming service to bringing its season online. Livestreaming concerts has been the Symphony’s lifeline in an unrelenting pandemic, and creating this digital space for audiences to gather is what has allowed the organization to continue serving its community while in-person concert experiences have not been possible. Now the Symphony looks not only to share music with the Seattle community and beyond, but also to use its digital platform to amplify the voices of the Pacific Northwest and give back to the organizations who have helped to shape and grow the region’s cultural landscape.
The Community Stages Fund is an initiative that welcomes nonprofit organizations to the Benaroya Hall stage. It aims to support nonprofit organizations through providing fully sponsored or heavily subsidized use of the performance and backstage spaces of Benaroya Hall and access to digital streaming equipment and production crew.
The initiative will serve organizations within the Pacific Northwest who do not have access to technology or spaces of their own to produce digital content, which impacts not only their ability to connect with audiences but also their ability to fundraise. Additionally, as the systemic inequities that impact BIPOC communities have been made even more apparent by the coronavirus pandemic, the Symphony’s Community Stages Fund seeks to bridge these gaps and support the diverse organizations of the Pacific Northwest region by providing a digital platform and live stage to share their work.
“We in the performing arts industry are in the fight for our profession due to the impact of COVID-19, with artists and organizations across every genre experiencing unrecoverable losses,” says Krishna Thiagarajan, President & CEO of the Seattle Symphony. “The Seattle Symphony’s Community Stages Fund helps ensure that our city’s diverse communities gain equitable access to our performance venues. We are eager to share our lessons learned and assist other organizations in utilizing this space and technology that will help them to reach their audiences in Seattle and beyond.”
“It is heartening to have the support of Maryanne Tagney, who believes in the enormous impact the Community Stages Fund can bring to Seattle’s cultural and artistic scene,” shares Seattle Symphony Vice President of Development Maria Kanakis Yang. “In launching this initiative, the Symphony has found a way to join together with our colleagues in the region. We look forward to bringing to life a diverse selection of presentations this year, and we are excited for the fund’s future as we develop invaluable collaborations throughout our community.”
Organizations interested in a Community Stages Fund grant can apply starting January 25, 2021 at seattlesymphony.org/communitystages. First round applications are due by February 8, 2021, with additional applications accepted on a rolling basis. Initial participants will be announced by March 1, 2021. The selection committee will consist of Seattle Symphony leadership in addition to leaders from partners within the Symphony’s Community Connections program. Selection will be prioritized based on demonstrated need of the organization as well as service to racially diverse communities. The Seattle Symphony looks forward to celebrating the multitudes of genres, performance styles and voices of the Pacific Northwest.
For questions about the application process, please contact community.stages@seattlesymphony.org.
The Seattle Symphony’s Community Stages Fund is generously underwritten by the Tagney Jones Family Fund at Seattle Foundation.
SEATTLE SYMPHONY
Led by Music Director Thomas Dausgaard, the Seattle Symphony unleashes the power of music, brings people together and lifts the human spirit. Recognized as one of the “most vital American orchestras” (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label. With a strong commitment to new music and a legacy of over 150 recordings, the orchestra has garnered five Grammy Awards, 26 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. The Symphony performs in Benaroya Hall in the heart of downtown Seattle from September through July, reaching over 730,000 people annually through live performances and radio broadcasts.
###