Engaging the Community
In response to Yvonne’s question to my Day 2 post:
Yes – we have started this type of idea of a “cultural incubator.” A few years ago, the DSO renovated historic Orchestra Hall and added the Max M. Fisher Music Center that houses the Music Box Theater and The Jacob Bernard Pincus Music Education Center (the permanent home of the DSO’s Civic Youth Ensembles). We also built an office building and parking structure on the campus as well. The “cultural incubator” concept came from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s partnership with the Detroit Public School System and the Detroit School of Arts – a vision of Peter Cummings, Mark Volpe and Al Glancy.
As part of the capital campaign, the DSO purchased the lots directly west of our building and donated the land to Detroit Public Schools with the understanding that they would build the Detroit School of Arts. Detroit Public Television joined the partnership – adding a classical and jazz radio station as well as state-of-the-art television studios. This concept is unique – a symphony orchestra purchasing land, giving it to school system, the school system building a new high school for the fine and performing arts, and the community changed.
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