“The Tucson Symphony Orchestra, The Loft Cinema and the Children’s Museum Tucson have been awarded $60,000 grants from the Arizona Commission on the Arts—the largest amounts given for the 2017 fiscal year,” writes Cathalena Burch in Sunday’s (7/24) Arizona Daily Star (Tucson). “The state commission handed out nearly $2.3 million in grants, double what it gave out last year after lawmakers kicked in $1.5 million from the so-called rainy day fund…. The arts commission said the [TSO’s] new family focused programming, including concerts centered on the music of animated films … contributed to helping the TSO secure the larger grant. The grant also will support future artistic programming from TSO music-director-designate José Luis Gomez, who will program his first season in 2017-18. [President and CEO Mark] Blakeman said the commission was impressed by Gomez’s interest in bringing Latin-flavored music to Tucson. Blakeman said the grant is an affirmation that the TSO is on the right track in changing its narrative ‘of who we are and what we are doing and what we are sharing with the community,’ especially in its family programming that is reaching audiences ‘that don’t look like the typical symphony audiences.’ ”
Posted July 26, 2016
