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REPORT We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the many of you who have supported Town Hall over the past several months. It is especially appreciated right now, when we, along with all other concert venues and theaters, have been closed. We remain busy and want to take this opportunity to bring you up to date with all things Town Hall.
MELAY ARAYA BECOMES TOWN HALL’S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR We are excited to welcome Melay Araya as the new Artistic Director of Town Hall. Having worked with Melay over the past couple of years, we are delighted she has taken the reins and will, along with Larry Zucker, lead the Hall as we enter our second century. You can read more about Melay and what she envisions for Town Hall in this newsletter.
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN UPDATE The first phase of our Centennial Campaign—the restoration and lighting of the façade on 43rd Street—was completed earlier this year. Our plan for hosting a lighting ceremony remains on hold, but our thanks to everyone who was involved in making this project a great success. For the next phase, the renovation of the mezzanine, we are thrilled to announce that the New York City Council and the Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer have awarded Town Hall a grant of close to $1 million. To date, we have raised over $350,000 from individuals and organizations to support this project. We are so grateful for our City Council Member Keith Powers who spearheaded the effort as well as Speaker Corey Johnson, Finance Director Council Member Daniel Dromm and the Women’s Caucus. The renovation includes the expansion of the women’s room along with an additional ADAcompliant restroom. It presents an opportunity not only to upgrade the property, but also to vastly improve our visitors’ experience. The Continued on page 12
Melay Araya becomes Town Hall’s Artistic Director We are proud to announce Melay Araya as the new Artistic Director at The Town Hall. Since 2018, Araya previously served in the joint role of Associate Artistic Director and Archivist. Melay is best known as the co-creator of our “virtual meetinghouse” and the host of CENTURY OF STORY AND SONG, Town Hall’s digital series featuring the highlights of its storied history.
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am honored to accept this position and continue in the legacy of The Town Hall. I plan to bring our history into sharp focus and use our stories as a launching pad to a second century of adult education and risk-taking programming. When the League for Political Education hired Robert Erskine Ely in 1906 to direct the institution, they chose him because of the work he did in Cambridge as a co-founder of Prospect Union, a community-based center for education with instruction from Harvard students and professors. In fact, the League set out to make programming free and available to all interested New Yorkers. It is in this spirit that I pledge to build on Town Hall’s legacy of being the “Hall for All” by continuing our free and accessible digital humanities programming for our city and — as recent events have demonstrated— the world. This programming will include civics lessons, teach-ins on social justice issues, reading clubs, humanities lectures and tributes to some of the more surprising finds in our history including a calisthenics class once held in the hall. Our “virtual meetinghouse” has reminded us that the history of Town Hall is not confined to 43rd Street. Before the League had a space, they used other halls. Furthermore, Town Hall has a great history of free, outdoor programming. The arts community is working with parks and other public spaces to bring the arts to the public. The Town Hall will present concerts in our local parks and gardens, as they are extensions of our own space. It has also reminded us that we must meet people where they are. Great art and cultural work is coming from the outer boroughs. Collaborating with other venues will bring us closer to the spaces and institutions that serve diverse communities. This season we will begin to bring our own programming to the parks, not only those in our vicinity. This brings me to an important position I am taking as The Town Hall reaches its centennial. The Town Hall is the home of great debuts. From Marian Anderson to Isaac Stern, Nina Simone to Bob Dylan, The Hall has been the place for young artists to present themselves to a large and sophisticated audience. The Town Hall is where downtown came uptown, where uptown came downtown, and where artists the world over brought their groundbreaking work. The great debuts at our hall also account for much of the diversity in our history. We continue in that tradition by providing digital platforms for up-and-coming artists in THIS season and by committing to creating incubator programs and debut competitions in the seasons to come.
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We have been thrust into the unknown. While the near future of our physical space remains unclear, we know there are great opportunities for us digitally. Our virtual “meetinghouse” has opened our platform to programs we simply could not otherwise bring to the hall. This is our chance to take risks — to break young, experimental artists, to expand our programming in other mediums from The Town Hall’s history (dance, visual art, film) and to hold live-streamed, audience-free concerts. We are adapting and finding creative ways to provide our audience with quality content. This fall’s schedule will combine free events such as Century of Story and Song, with paid programming such as live performances, both streamed from our hall, and from artist’s home countries. Later this season, “The Town Hall Presents” will continue in the hall with rescheduled concerts as well as new programs including literary events and academic workshops. We kicked off our season on September 8th with a program honoring world-renowned performers and activists Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, featuring their three children. We have events highlighting The League for Political Education and the New York suffrage movement, the documentary Town Bloody Hall (1979), Sun Ra’s live album Concert for the Comet Kohoutek (1973), voting rights history and more. Please stay tuned for further information. In the face of a pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests, and political and social upheaval all over the world, The Town Hall will provide education and arts to a public so in need of illuminating content. Under my artistic direction, The Town Hall will be a space for education, where we can all learn about racial justice, disability justice, environmental justice, LGBTQIA justice, immigrant justice and labor justice. This is not a time to sit on the sidelines or program in hushed tones. The Town Hall opens its platform to our community, to those who need and deserve to be heard, and to all people and institutions who are committed to changing the world and ourselves. Society is advancing and our role in it must be clear. As Octavia Butler wrote in Parable of the Sower (1993):
Since joining The Town Hall as Associate Artistic Director and Archivist, Melay Araya has presented a paper on Nina Simone’s Town Hall debut at New York University’s Black Portraitures Conference, spoke on a panel at the university’s Institute of African American Affairs & Center for Black Visual Culture and most recently spoke about The Town Hall’s archive at the Alliance for Media and Culture’s Open Archive Initiative. Araya has represented The Town Hall on WNBC Weekend Today in New York and WNYC’s All Of It with Alison Stewart. Prior to joining The Town Hall, Araya worked as a researcher and archivist, and produced short films. An artist with three decades of experience, Ms. Araya continues to study, compose, record and perform. Over the last three months, with the hall closed, Araya has been hosting Century of Story and Song, The Town Hall’s digital program spotlighting its history.
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“All that you touch you change All that you change changes you” Let it be true at The Town Hall. We commit ourselves to our greater community, to equality, to beauty, to truth.
– Melay Araya
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UPCOMING EVENTS AT THE TOWN HALL Sun, Sep 13 | LIVESTREAM
Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone Live from Florence, Italy Presented by The Town Hall & Hershey Felder Present | Tickets start at $55
Wed-Thu, Sep 16-17 | LIVESTREAM
Tue, Oct 13 | LIVESTREAM The Town Hall Presents
Louis Armstrong’s Heart of Rhythm with author Ricky Riccardi Century of Story & Song | Free Livestream.
The Town Hall Presents
Thu, Oct 22 | LIVESTREAM
Mali at a Crossroads
The Town Hall Presents
A two day teach-in with scholars and activists on the ground. Tickets are free with registration.
Sat, Sep 19 | LIVESTREAM
David Bromberg Quintet 75th Birthday Celebration Presented by WXPN Presents | Tickets start at $30
The 50th Anniversary of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye Broadway by the Year® Sep 14 | Revisits Musicals of 1947 Oct 5 | Revisits Musicals of 1935 Oct 26 | Revistis Musicals of 1956 Nov 16 | Revisits Musicals of the 1940s Livestream tickets are free with registration.
Sep 17 | What Does Democracy Mean? Sep 24 | Who Are The Troublemakers In Our Democracy? Oct 1 | Do We Really Elect Our Own President? Oct 8 | What Should America Do for the Joads? Oct 15 | Personal Liberty And The Modern State? Oct 22 | Should We Plan for Social Security? Oct 29 | What Are We Preparing to Defend? Nov 5 | What Kind of Peace Must We Have? Nov 12 | Is an Economic Plan for World Peace Available? Nov 19 | Lemuel Boulware On Profit Sharing Dec 3 | Will A $100 Pension Provide Real Security? Dec 10 | Will the Machine Dominate Man? Dec 17 | Should the US Open It’s Doors to Displaced Persons Now? Dec 24 | Will Unionization Promote Industrial Recovery? From the Archives. Premiering on The Town Hall Youtube channel.
Tue, Oct 27*
Passenger Presented by Bowery Presents | Tickets start at $30
Wed, Oct 28*
Francis Cabrel Presented by Metropolitan Entertainment Presents | Tickets start at $55
Sat, Oct 31 | LIVESTREAM The Town Hall Presents
A Blue Moon Halloween: Sun Ra and The Comet Kohoutek Century of Story & Song | Free Livestream.
Wed, Nov 4*
Eva Ayllón: 50th Anniversary Concert Tickets start at $69
Fri, Nov 6*
Kenny Wayne Shepherd: The Traveler Tour with Special Guest Samantha Fish Presented by Live Nation | Tickets start at $35
Tue, Sep 22 | LIVESTREAM The Town Hall Presents
Town Bloody Hall with Chris Hegadus and film scholar Professor Mia Mask
Tue, Nov 17* The Town Hall Presents
Miguel Poveda Part of Flamenco Festival NY 20 | Tickets start at $35
Thu, Sep 24 | LIVESTREAM
Wed-Thu, Nov 18-19*
The Town Hall Presents
A Special Evening of Music with Nathaniel Rateliff with Special Guests Sam Evian and Hannah Cohen
Screening of Fandango on The Wall Followed by post-show interactive Q&A with Arturo O’Farrill and Director Varda Bar-Kar.
Presented by Bowery Presents | Tickets start at $45
Tickets are free with registration.
Thu, Oct 1 | LIVESTREAM The Town Hall Presents
Black People Are My Business: Toni Cade Bambara’s Practices of Liberation A teach-In with Professor Thabiti Lewis Tickets are free with registration.
Tue, Oct 6 | LIVESTREAM The Town Hall Presents
The League for Political Education and Early 20th Century Activism with Lauren Santangelo and Paula Austin
Sun, Nov 22* | TWO SHOWS!
Havasi Presented by Symphonic Concert Management Ltd. | Tickets start at $57
Tue-Wed, Dec 29-30* The Town Hall Presents
John Cameron Mitchell & Stephen Trask | Return to The Origin Of Love Produced by ArKtype / Thomas O. Kriegsmann | Tickets start at $50
Thu, Jan 14
An Evening with Paula Poundstone Presented by Martin Media | Tickets start at $48
Century of Story & Song | Free Livestream.
*Due to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), dates are subject to change.
A Call for Action Next year, The Town Hall will celebrate its 100th anniversary. On the cusp of our centennial, we are all going through a series of cataclysmic events that have shaken our world. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed deep-seated discrimination and injustices resulting in a clarion call and demand for a more just and equitable world. How we address these events will be recorded in history and judged by future generations. It is most fitting that we, The Town Hall community, rededicate ourselves to the original purpose of the Hall: to educate all people, understanding that an informed populace is the best way forward. Knowledge and truth will transform us all. We will continue to present the multi-dimensional array of programs for which we are known, reflecting the diversity of cultures throughout our great city: music, dance, films and lectures from all over the world. At the same time, we are committed to putting today’s concerns into the proper context. To that end, we have chosen to undertake four new important actions:
Additional Civic Programs We will educate ourselves and our community with additional civic programs. We are excited to announce that Melay Araya has become our Artistic Director and we are pleased to know she is programming our virtual Town Hall now and for the future, when we reopen. Throughout our centennial year, we will create discussions, and present conversations about historic events and important issues. These “Teach-Ins” will encourage us examine our responsibilities as good citizens and to become active in reducing discrimination.
New Curriculum for our Arts in Education Building on Town Hall’s rich history of educational programming, we have partnered with Spark Impact to create a social justice curriculum, initially for the New York City Department of Education and leading to the work we are doing in the neighborhood, at senior centers. Our hope is that this will enable us to reach more students
By Lawrence Zucker, Executive Director of Town Hall
in more places than ever before. This program will foster self-expression by engaging students in multidisciplinary artmaking around intersectional, social-justice issues in their lives, inspired by events and materials from Town Hall’s history.
Expanded Mentorship Program We will undertake an expanded mentoring program to train members of a new generation who express an interest in not-for-profit theater, music and dance. Our current summer internship program of nearly twenty years is made up of almost 70 percent Black and Latino children from NYC public schools. We will augment next year’s program, taking the most dedicated student interns and placing them in a year-long paid position. We will also be partnering with other arts organizations, theatres and dance companies while utilizing the city’s schools and social services.
Audience Diversification We are committed to building a more inclusive audience through our programing and marketing. Having a myriad of programs does not mean we can automatically attract diverse attendees. We will continue to develop ticketing policies that make programs even more accessible to the widest range of audiences; understanding the culture and economics of our city. We will work with our marketing team, publicists, and box office and ticketing services partners to ensure we reach and bring to the Hall a broader group of fans and followers. Our hope is that these actions are catalysts for positive change. To quote the late Congressman John Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.” Town Hall eagerly looks forward to sharing more great music, the spoken word, films and programs about our world and the struggles for equality. We hope that you will be able to join all of us at The Town Hall for this exciting journey. Stay healthy and safe. 5
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Town Hall & Con Edison Celebrate Six NYC Students in Black History Month Virtual Awards Ceremony on June 29 In our 23rd Annual Black History Month Celebration—made possible through the generous continued support of Con Edison—Town Hall hosted a series of free live performances for New York City Public School students and their teachers, a hands-on workshop at a middle school in Manhattan, and a poster and essay contest which encouraged students to think critically about the performances and express themselves through writing and visual arts. For the live performance series, Town Hall welcomed 58 New York City schools, with 4,800 students and teachers, to experience the incredible work of Brooklyn-based contemporary dance company Urban Bush Women (UBW). UBW works from a woman-centered perspective and as members of the African Diaspora community to bring the undertold histories and stories of disenfranchised people to light through dance. For many students, this was their first time attending a live performance and visiting a historic theater in the heart of New York City. Students received study guides several weeks before the shows, which provided information about the themes in each dance and the history of its choreography. UBW performed four original dances, and our student groups ranging from Grades 2-12 were responsive and engaged by the incredible work of the ensemble! For PS 347 in Manhattan, the fun and learning continued as dancers from UBW held a participatory workshop for students in 7th and 8th grade. UBW explored some of the dances that the students had seen at Town Hall, explaining and demonstrating the styles of dance that inspired each piece, and even teaching the students some of their own choreography.
All of the students who attended these events were invited to participate in a poster and essay contest, which we held virtually this year. Six winners were selected out of 60 entries from talented elementary and middle school students across the city! Each of our winners were awarded $50 and a certificate of merit at our annual awards ceremony — held over Zoom on June 29 — where our winners were individually honored for their exemplary work in the company of their families, teachers, and the Town Hall staff. We were thrilled to celebrate the four beautiful, imaginative posters and two thoughtful essays. Town Hall is proud to present our Black History Month programming every year, and we are so grateful to the artists, teachers, and students who share their work with us.
Makayah Workman
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Black History Month Continued from page 6 “What I love about Town Hall is that this theater is right inside the NYC theater district. No matter where you are in the world, you know about this epicenter as a place where high, important art is born. For Town Hall to be a part of this hub of great art making and say: we’re going to carve out time to showcase art that is about black history for 23 years, because this is also really important. And who more important to share it with than New York city school children?”
- Chanon Judson Johnson
Anthony Chi
Co-Artistic Director of Urban Bush Women
Black History Month Poster & Essay Contest Winners Jaylin Sloane PS 21K 5TH GRADE TEACHER: MICHELE GOUDY
Anthony Chi JHS 227K 8TH GRADE TEACHER: VAUGHAN DANVERS
Gloria’Gisselle Wade PS 21K 5TH GRADE TEACHER: MICHELE GOUDY
Raphael Chang M103 5TH GRADE TEACHER: CLARA BELLO
Kelvin Deng JHS 227K 8TH GRADE TEACHER: VAUGHAN DANVERS
Makayah Workman PS 21K 3RD GRADE TEACHER: MICHELE GOUDY Kevin Deng
Education Highlights
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Education Highlights
Town Hall Partners with Spark Impact to Design Social Justice Curriculum Town Hall has been an integral part of New York City’s cultural life since 1921 with performances and educational programs for people of all ages. At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of women still lacking the right to vote could feel a national cultural shift coming. They decided there needed to be a place to educate all people to make informed decisions at the ballot box. These suffragists built Town Hall as New York’s public forum — a place for discourse, reflection, and artistic expression. Town Hall is deeply committed to its founding values, and to the integral role of the arts in cultivating platforms of self-expression and advocacy. A person who is heard and has space to express themselves is empowered to do the same for their peers and community.
Since the fall of 2019, Town Hall has been working with Spark Impact, a consulting group, to develop a Social Justice curriculum to be implemented by Town Hall Teaching Artists in partnership with New York City middle and high schools. The goal of the program is to inspire students to find their individual voices through multidisciplinary artmaking by engaging with critical and intersectional social justice issues in their lives, reflected in Town Hall’s own history. In keeping with Town Hall’s legacy of support for artist activists the curriculum will offer residencies that focus on racial justice, economic justice, immigration, women’s rights and suffrage. Town Hall will most likely be conducting our education programs remotely in the fall, and the Education Team is excited to continue with developing this social justice curriculum!
Storytellers Lab on Rikers Island In October 2019, Town Hall Teaching Artists Chesney Snow and Hannah Allen co-facilitated Storytellers Lab on Rikers Island in partnership with the NYC Department of Corrections. During a two-week intensive residency, a cohort of young men ages 18-21 met for two hours every day for a series of lessons that encouraged them to explore topics related to self and group identity, personal narratives, and storytelling. Chesney and Hannah used poetry, literature, song lyrics, physical and image theatre, and Town Hall’s own rich history of social justice to foster skills in communication, public speaking and presentation. Over the course of the residency, participants created pieces based on their individual experiences and identities in the form of narratives, poems, and letters. At the end of the program, the men shared their stories with other 8
detainees and with Rikers personnel. Every young man who participated in the program received a copy of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow and a hard copy of their cohort’s booklet of creative writing, which also included a section of reentry resources and tools. “We’re doing something that’s really different, because it’s not just about creating scenes — it’s really about exploring the art of storytelling, helping to create a platform for them to express themselves poetically, to express their own stories. When I go through the Town Hall and I see all of these artists who I’ve admired — a lot of them spent their lives on the front lines, really going to where arts were needed the most. So I think in order to continue that legacy, we have to go where we are needed the most.”
– Chesney Snow, Teaching Artist
Town Hall Welcomes New Trustee Jacobo AlmuiĂąa With over 20 years of experience in the Finance industry that have taken him to live in three countries and two continents and to travel extensively across Latin America, Jacobo AlmuiĂąa learned to grow his appreciation for diversity and multicultural environments. Jacobo grew up in Spain where he lived until the age of 25. He joined JPMorgan right after graduation and moved to London and later New York where, after a few years, he joined Banco Santander to launch the Structured Products franchise. A year ago he joined the Project & Acquisition Finance team, leader in its class in the North America league tables. Jacobo is passionate about art and culture, particularly music (he is an avid jazz listener and opera fan), and loves to learn about the history of New York City through its architecture. Jacobo graduated in Business and Economics from Universidad Pontificia Comillas and earned an MBA by MIT Sloan. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.
Town Hall Welcomes Ellen Miller-Wachtel Ellen Miller-Wachtel recently retired as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Major League Baseball. She had overall responsibility for the legal/business affairs for Major League Baseball special events/concerts, advertising, marketing, community affairs, consumer product licensing, and activities of the MLB offices outside of the United States. She joined MLB in 2004. Previously she was General Counsel of Sony Online Entertainment, an online game production and distribution company. Before joining Sony Online, she was Sr. Vice President and General Counsel of Radio City Productions, which produces and presents live entertainment, for 5 years. Earlier she was at NBC for 10 years, where she had legal responsibility for certain sports and entertainment matters. Ellen was in private legal practice with a mid-sized entertainment firm after a few years at Shearman & Sterling following graduation from law school (Columbia University School of Law and Boston College Law School). She graduated from Cornell University. She is the Chair of the Board of INCLUDEnyc (formerly Resources for Children with Special Needs, Inc.), a not-for-profit organization which provides information, advocacy and assistance to youth with disabilities. She is also an active board member of TheaterWorksUSA. She is a member and mentor in the Women in Sports and Events organization. She also acts as a mentor for Cornell University students and members of the military transitioning to civilian work. Ellen is married to Alan Wachtel, M.D. and has three children and three grandchildren.
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CENTENNIAL VISION CAMPAIGN
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o support our efforts for our 100th Anniversary, we are launching our Centennial Vision Campaign.
Built in 1921 by the League of Political Education — a woman’s suffragist organization— Town Hall served as New York’s first all-inclusive meetinghouse for discussing important issues. For nearly 100 years, it has been the home of renowned educational and literary programs as well as innovative live music and performing arts. Proclaiming “it doesn’t matter who you are, or where you are from . . . you are welcome,” Town Hall opened its doors to provide a forum for the lively exchange of ideas and open discussion about public affairs. Almost immediately, its acoustics, designed for conversation, were also recognized to be among the finest in New York City for music and the performing arts. The COVID-19 health crisis brought New York City and the world at large to a near standstill. Town Hall’s schedule of live performances and educational programs have been postponed or cancelled for the time being. We expect to remain dark for the rest of 2020 and perhaps well into 2021. In the midst of all this, Town Hall will mark its Centennial in 2021. Normally, such a momentous occasion would be cause for celebration and include festivities to honor our founding, our history, and most importantly, our future. Not knowing what public gatherings will look like in 2021, we are preparing to host more intimate events including virtual participation. Unfortunately, these smaller events will lack press coverage that would have bolstered fundraising.
We know this, our future rests on the same principles that precipitated our founding 100 years ago. Our watchwords, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,” shine brightly on our recently renovated façade. In this time of social distancing, the idea of a meetinghouse is being transformed, but the need for community and interaction has never been greater. Opening minds and lifelong learning play important roles in our culture and our democracy, and understanding our history is crucial to finding the best way forward. To commemorate our founding and secure our future, Town Hall has embarked on a Centennial Vision Campaign. The campaign will support our virtual meetinghouse, the expansion of our educational offerings, and help us preserve our history for future generations. By investing in Town Hall now, you will give us institutional capacity to survive today and envision new and exciting possibilities for the years ahead.
Virtual Meetinghouse After nearly a 100-year commitment to education, artistry, and truth — the Hall is temporarily shuttered. The very idea of “meeting” has had to evolve. And so, Town Hall is working to create a vibrant “virtual meetinghouse” online. We will continue to present a robust calendar of events for engagement, education and entertainment. As always, all are welcome. Currently, we are presenting live online programming, “Century of Story and Song,” “Broadway by the Year,” and our “Summer Reading Club.” You can help us achieve this critical goal by designating your gift to building our virtual meetinghouse. It will enable us to explore new avenues and reconfigure projects to merge our mission with limitations on group gathering for the foreseeable future.
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CENTENNIAL VISION CAMPAIGN Continued from page 10
Education Programs Town Hall firmly believes in the power of arts education. In addition to our mission of providing artistic engagement and social justice learning opportunities to NYC public school students, Town Hall also offers these same opportunities to senior populations in the NYC area, as well as young men detained on Rikers Island. We also invite over 4,800 students to Town Hall for a free performance in February celebrating Black History Month. As the world has changed, we are creating online, virtual programming so that we can engage participants wherever they are. Your donation will help give students and seniors the opportunity to share their stories and voices and express themselves using the arts as a catalyst for social change.
Digital Archives Town Hall is engaged in an ongoing archival project to preserve, digitize, contextualize, and disseminate our rich history through an online platform that will be available to scholars, historians and the general public. The Town Hall digital archive will be a permanent resource that highlights our hall as a landmark institution in the development of adult education and as a renowned venue for the introduction of new ideas, artists and art forms. We are partnering with New York Public Library, the National Archives, and the Library of Congress to aid in digital preservation. Your contribution will help us to take our rich history online to engage, educate and share stories from our past.
circumstances will mean for the arts community as a whole and for our mission as a beacon of education and artistic expression. No one is certain when we will be able to gather again, but if there’s one thing Town Hall has always done well, it is to adapt to changing times and challenging moments! Town Hall is well equipped to expand our online presence and create innovative programs for a virtual “town hall� broadening our reach far beyond our four walls and our world-famous stage. With your support, we can become stronger and meet these challenges rapidly and creatively. As an organization, our strength lies in members and supporters who share our dedication to innovative education and live programming. Right now, your commitment to Town Hall is especially meaningful. If you can, please give to The Town Hall today. Together we can ensure the sustainability, diversity and vibrancy of arts and culture for current and future generations of Town Hall patrons. We are all eager to welcome you back to live performances, but in the meantime, please join us virtually at thetownhall.org.
Over the past few months we quickly adapted to the current reality of social distancing. More recently, our thoughts have turned to what these
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Board of Trustees Officers Tom Wirtshafter, President Marvin Leffler, President Emeritus Susan Zohn, Executive Vice President Alfred H. Horowitz, Vice President Bruce Leffler, Vice President Andrew T. Miltenberg, Treasurer Phyllis Putter Barasch, Secretary
Trustees Jacobo AlmuiĂąa Anne Frank-Shapiro David F. McCarthy Rita Robbins Madhu Southworth Nevin Steinberg Ellen Miller-Watchel Executive Director Lawrence C. Zucker Artistic Director Melay Araya Director of Administration, Subscriptions & Membership Helen Morris Director of Marketing Jeff Mann Development Manager Barbara Matovu Digital Media Manager Alex Koveos Box Office Manager Angel Rodriguez Technical Director Bill Dehling Chief Engineer Steve Franqui House Manager Richard Looney Advisory Council Kathleen Rosenberg, Chair Nancy Berman Shauna Denkensohn Sandy Horowitz Elizabeth Iannizzi Zita Rosenthal Rhoda Rothkopf Arts in Education Advisory Council Dr. Charlotte K. Frank, Chair Dr. Sharon Dunn Michael Fram Gary Hecht Ernest Logan Dr. Lisa Mars Dr. Eloise Messineo Dr. Pola Rosen Leona Shapiro George Young
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Town Hall Update
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modernization will allow us to increase the number of toilets and sinks, replace ancient plumbing and fixtures with stateof-the-art eco-friendly, water-saving fixtures. They will meet new sustainability standards and provide better traffic flow to accommodate guests more quickly.
IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS We hope that you are staying safe and sound during these times. It is important that we all take every precaution to remain healthy during this crisis. In normal times, we would be telling you about our upcoming Gala, announcing this year’s Friends of the Arts Awardees and inviting you join us for the event in late October. Well, this is anything but a normal time and hosting a live concert performance, and spending an evening with each other over cocktails and dinner, is just not possible right now. So, we will start planning our Centennial Gala for next year and keep you up to date as those plans are finalized. If you are interested in learning more about how you can participate in our centennial celebration, please reach out to Tom Wirtshafter at twirtshafter@thetownhall.org or Marvin Leffler at mleffler@thetownhall.org. For information on supporting Town Hall, please visit, thetownhall.org/donate. On behalf of everyone at The Town Hall, thank you for your interest and support. We look forward to welcoming you back as soon as possible. In the meantime, we hope you will join us at the virtual Town Hall.
M E MBERSHIPS Since 1921, Town Hall has been New York’s gathering place where people from all walks of life can come together to engage in the arts. Our Sustaining Memberships offer exclusive benefits including: Advance ticket access Access to the best seats in the Hall Complimentary and discounted tickets Invitations to special events, artists’ meet and greets and our Annual Friends of the Arts Gala
By becoming a Sustaining Member, you are helping Town Hall continue our rich tradition of bringing the widest range of voices and performers from all over the world to New York City audiences. Your support helps us preserve and keep our century-old building in good working order and present our arts education programming in the New York City public schools, here at the Hall, and throughout our community.
Enjoy the exclusive benefits of becoming a Town Hall Member. SUSTAINING MEMBERSHIPS
SPONSOR
PARTNER
PRODUCERS CIRCLE
All Members Receive Special Recognition in the Town Hall Programs
SEAT HOLDER
212.997.1003 ext. 10 membership@thetownhall.org
MEMBER
Director of Administration, Memberships, and Subscriptions
FRIEND
Helen Morris
SUPPORTER
For more information on how to join, contact:
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Advance Ticket Access Notification of presale and discounts for concerts and Events
Member discounts at local restaurants Access to Patron Circle Seats Reserved seats to Town Hall Presents concerts and other select events (with special pricing, when available)
Complimentary tickets to select Town Hall Presents shows & events Complimentary tickets to Town Hall Gala Special Invitations to sound check or dress rehearsal Seat plaque in The Hall Complimentary Advertisement in Town Hall Gala Journal Invitations to an Artist Meet & Greet after a select Town Hall Presents concert
Private Guided Tour with The Town Hall President Named Sponsorship of a Town Hall Presents Concert
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All tickets are subject to availability, tickets do not include Broadway by the Year®
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