Cultural Facilities Fund Repairs Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall
April 17, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077 (cell)
kabbruzzese@massdevelopment.com
Greg Liakos, Mass. Cultural Council, 617-858-2720
greg.liakos@state.ma.us
Bernadette Horgan, BSO, 617-638-9280
bhorgan@bso.org
MassDevelopment and the Massachusetts Cultural Council have provided a $141,868 Cultural Facilities Fund grant to the Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc. (BSO) for the repair of Ozawa Hall on the Tanglewood campus in the Berkshires. The brick and wood structure seats 1,200 people and serves as an important performance venue for chamber music concerts, recitals from world-renowned visiting artists and for the Tanglewood Music Center. The BSO is using grant funds to repair the masonry, exterior envelope, and roof of the building and restore deteriorated waterproofing.
“Tanglewood draws visitors from around the world to the Berkshires every summer, stimulating the economy and providing a unique and exceptional concert experience,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “We are pleased to provide this grant to repair the Ozawa Hall, an essential piece of the Tanglewood environment.”
Founded in 1881, the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is the world’s largest orchestral operation, widely recognized for presenting repertoire of extraordinary depth and breadth and performing at the highest level of artistry. Tanglewood, on 526 acres of the former Tappan family estate in Lenox and Stockbridge, is the BSO’s summer music festival, attracting more than 350,000 music lovers from around the world for 10 weeks of concerts and recitals by the BSO, eminent guest musicians, and popular artists. Established in 1936 by former BSO Music Director Serge Koussevitzky, Tanglewood comprises the Berkshire’s oldest and most visible cultural attraction, and one of the world's preeminent summer music festivals. Ozawa Hall provides a venue for Tanglewood Festival's solo and chamber music performances. The facility also provides rehearsal space and acts as a recording facility. It seats up to 750 audience members on the orchestra level and an additional 450 in the two balconies, plus hundreds more on the adjacent lawn.
“The BSO is extremely grateful to receive a Cultural Facilities Fund grant, which will fund repairs to Seiji Ozawa Hall, a true gem among American concert halls and an important rehearsal and performance space for the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSO’s academy for advanced musical study,” said BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe. “This grant helps to ensure that Tanglewood – a venue that generates more than $60 million annually in economic activity – will remain one of the world’s most attractive and popular summer music festivals. We applaud the Governor and the Legislature for their investment in the cultural community by creating the Cultural Facilities Fund, recognizing the great need among cultural organizations, both large and small, and how this funding will drive economic activity in the Commonwealth.”
MassDevelopment and the Massachusetts Cultural Council administer the Cultural Facilities Fund, an initiative of the Commonwealth to increase public and private investment in cultural facilities throughout the state. Created by the Massachusetts Legislature in 2006, the Fund offers capital, feasibility, technical assistance, and systems replacement grants for eligible nonprofits engaged in the arts, humanities, or interpretive sciences. The Fund has awarded more than $55 million in grants to cultural organizations across Massachusetts. For more information, visit the MassDevelopment and Massachusetts Cultural Council websites.
MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2013, MassDevelopment financed or managed 350 projects generating investment of more than $2.4 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 7,000 jobs and build or rehabilitate 800 residential units.
