Spring brings thoughts of a new season

Well, we've had a very busy season with 40+ artists and ensembles visiting our stages over the past seven months. And just as it starts to wind down with the Modlin Center Great Performances series (three events and counting!), I get to immerse myself in a whole new roster of artists and ensembles in preparation for the 2008-2009 season.

Believe it or not, patrons are already begging to know who and what we have scheduled for next season. And, I'm happy to report, there will be a shorter waiting period than normal. Big news (imagine drum roll here): we will announce our season one month early! So, instead of waiting until July, when the summer feels like it's half-way done, we'll be announcing our new season, too much fanfare, on June 1.

The majority of my March, April and May will be spent gathering information from our resident departments and programs, researching the visiting artists on our Great Performances series and working with our fabulous designer Susan to create a season brochure unlike any before. And there is a lot of information to collect and sort through. I'll look at hundreds of artist photographs, searching for just the right ones to make the attraction "pop" off the page and grab your attention. I'll wade through bios, performance reviews, promotional material...all to put together the best descriptions possible to tempt you into buying tickets to our events!

In addition to what I gather for our print brochure, I also need another whole set of material for our Web site, which also launches June 1. This includes audio and video clips and links to our artists own sites. And I work with another designer to make our Web site mesh with our print brochure. So, as you can see, there is much happening around my office. And there are so many wonderful people involved in this process, and I couldn't get all this done without their help, especially Jen who has been unbelievable at gathering information for me.

So, give us a few more months to put everything together. Look for a few teasers in the coming months, and then our full announcement on June 1. I can guarantee there will be something in it for everyone!