Yamaha Tapped to Provide Pianos for New Baryshnikov Arts Center
BUENA PARK, CA (October 28, 2005) — More than three decades after his arrival in the United States, dancer, choreographer and artistic visionary Mikhail Baryshnikov remains a vital force. This fall, his latest opus comes to life: not a dance, but an institution, the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) in New York.
Located in the multi-venue performing arts complex 37 ARTS on West 37th Street in Manhattan, the center has been designed to feature interdisciplinary experimentation and collaboration in dance, music, film, acting, design and the visual arts. Emerging artists will find opportunities there to develop their craft, and lesser-known ones to find the spotlights they deserve.
“There’s all this talent in New York, but it’s so expensive to create something here,” says pianist and Yamaha artist Pedja Muzijevic, BAC’s music director and a longtime touring partner of Baryshnikov’s. “Most performing arts organizations present, but very few produce here. To produce, you have to have a rehearsal space for a month or two months to create something. There will be a lot of projects that will be developed here in a smaller setting, be it dance, theater or any other art form, that will then go elsewhere on tour.”
Baryshnikov and Muzijevic have chosen Yamaha as the official piano of the new center, and the facility will feature two C7 concert grand pianos along with an upright model and a Clavinova digital piano for rehearsals. “When Misha asked me to be the music director of the center, I immediately proposed to go with Yamaha, and they kindly agreed,” Muzijevic says, using the familiar form of Baryshnikov’s given name. “Their pianos are incredibly well crafted, with great variety of tone, and very reliable. But perhaps what really places Yamaha ahead of others is incredible personal attention and care artists get from Yamaha Artists Services staff and technicians.”
BAC comprises two floors of studios, with 17- and 19-foot ceilings, respectively, and a floor in between that will house the offices of the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation and space to be rented to other arts groups. One of the studios is divided into two equal spaces with a retractable wall, and can open into a black box theater. 37 ARTS also houses three Off-Broadway theaters that are owned and managed by the West 37th Street Group.
Born in Latvia, Baryshnikov rose to prominence as a member of the Kirov Ballet before defecting to the United States in 1974 and dancing with the American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet. He created the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation in 1979, became an American citizen in 1986, co-founded the White Oak Dance Project with Mark Morris in 1990, and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2000. As an indication of his versatility, younger audiences may be most familiar with him from his recurring appearances on HBO’s Sex and the City.
“Whether it is onstage at the center of attention, or offstage collaborating with dancers and other artists, the piano will be a critical element in many of the performances and workshops we plan to present at the new center,” Baryshnikov says. “I view this as only the first stage in a very rewarding relationship between our organization and Yamaha.”
This past June, with the center still under construction, Muzijevic and violinist Jennifer Frautschi welcomed about 75 patrons with a recital in one of the new studios. With the sunset glowing in the background, they offered a program of Fauré, Schumann and Ravel. In late autumn 2005, BAC will play host to three similar concerts to kick off an ongoing series sponsored by Movado – The Movado Hour, which Muzijevic describes as “short concerts of great music that audiences can enjoy in a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere, maybe even while sipping coffee or a drink.”
“There will be no formal grand opening, no champagne bottle broken,” Muzijevic says. The Brentano Quartet will appear during the last week in November; he and Frautschi will play again after that; and the third event will be a visit from the St. Lawrence Quartet.
“I feel chamber music has moved so far away from its birthplace, which is really a living room,” Muzijevic says. “Music that was meant to be played in a small room will never project well in Carnegie Hall. I thought it would be great to have these concerts in the surrounding in which they were meant to be played.”
This building is really Misha’s dream and he's worked hard for many years to make it happen," Muzijevic says. "He is there every day and it's been great to see it become a reality."
For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Piano Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.
(L-R) Yamaha artist Pedja Muzijevic; Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. Coordinator James Steeber; Mikhail Baryshnikov; and Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. Director Stan Zielinski pause for the camera during a recent meeting at the company's Manhattan Piano Salon. Baryshnikov's new arts center will use Yamaha pianos exclusively.
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“There’s all this talent in New York, but it’s so expensive to create something here,” says pianist and Yamaha artist Pedja Muzijevic, BAC’s music director and a longtime touring partner of Baryshnikov’s. “Most performing arts organizations present, but very few produce here. To produce, you have to have a rehearsal space for a month or two months to create something. There will be a lot of projects that will be developed here in a smaller setting, be it dance, theater or any other art form, that will then go elsewhere on tour.”
Baryshnikov and Muzijevic have chosen Yamaha as the official piano of the new center, and the facility will feature two C7 concert grand pianos along with an upright model and a Clavinova digital piano for rehearsals. “When Misha asked me to be the music director of the center, I immediately proposed to go with Yamaha, and they kindly agreed,” Muzijevic says, using the familiar form of Baryshnikov’s given name. “Their pianos are incredibly well crafted, with great variety of tone, and very reliable. But perhaps what really places Yamaha ahead of others is incredible personal attention and care artists get from Yamaha Artists Services staff and technicians.”
BAC comprises two floors of studios, with 17- and 19-foot ceilings, respectively, and a floor in between that will house the offices of the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation and space to be rented to other arts groups. One of the studios is divided into two equal spaces with a retractable wall, and can open into a black box theater. 37 ARTS also houses three Off-Broadway theaters that are owned and managed by the West 37th Street Group.
Born in Latvia, Baryshnikov rose to prominence as a member of the Kirov Ballet before defecting to the United States in 1974 and dancing with the American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet. He created the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation in 1979, became an American citizen in 1986, co-founded the White Oak Dance Project with Mark Morris in 1990, and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2000. As an indication of his versatility, younger audiences may be most familiar with him from his recurring appearances on HBO’s Sex and the City.
“Whether it is onstage at the center of attention, or offstage collaborating with dancers and other artists, the piano will be a critical element in many of the performances and workshops we plan to present at the new center,” Baryshnikov says. “I view this as only the first stage in a very rewarding relationship between our organization and Yamaha.”
This past June, with the center still under construction, Muzijevic and violinist Jennifer Frautschi welcomed about 75 patrons with a recital in one of the new studios. With the sunset glowing in the background, they offered a program of Fauré, Schumann and Ravel. In late autumn 2005, BAC will play host to three similar concerts to kick off an ongoing series sponsored by Movado – The Movado Hour, which Muzijevic describes as “short concerts of great music that audiences can enjoy in a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere, maybe even while sipping coffee or a drink.”
“There will be no formal grand opening, no champagne bottle broken,” Muzijevic says. The Brentano Quartet will appear during the last week in November; he and Frautschi will play again after that; and the third event will be a visit from the St. Lawrence Quartet.
“I feel chamber music has moved so far away from its birthplace, which is really a living room,” Muzijevic says. “Music that was meant to be played in a small room will never project well in Carnegie Hall. I thought it would be great to have these concerts in the surrounding in which they were meant to be played.”
This building is really Misha’s dream and he's worked hard for many years to make it happen," Muzijevic says. "He is there every day and it's been great to see it become a reality."
For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Piano Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.
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