NEW JUDITH AND BURTON RESNICK EDUCATION WING OPENS THIS WEEKEND, PROVIDING INSPIRATIONAL NEW SPACES AT CARNEGIE HALL FOR PROGRAMS SERVING YOUNG MUSICIANS, STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND FAMILIES

The Resnick Education Wing officially opens to the public with WMI’s first-ever Family Day this Sunday, September 21, a free day beginning at 11 a.m., filled with engaging, educational and fun musical activities for children (recommended ages 3-12) and their caregivers. Following performances by the Itty Biddies, Hot Peas ‘N Butter, or Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem. Families will explore a “sound playground” with Polygraph Lounge; try their hands at conducting; record musical samples in a mobile recording studio; take part in a sing-along or family songwriting session; make instruments they can take home and play; and other fun surprises. [NOTE: As of September 9, the September 21 Family Day event is sold out.]

Carnegie Hall’s Family Day caps a weekend of invited events for Carnegie Hall constituents celebrating the completion of the new education wing. The weekend kicks off tomorrow, Thursday, September 18 at 5:45 p.m. with an official ribbon cutting ceremony at a special event welcoming New York City music educators. Soprano Martina Arroyo, NYC Department of Education Chancellor Carmen Fariña, and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl will participate, welcoming teachers and helping to officially open the new spaces.

“Education lies at the absolute center of what we do and the way we think about everything at Carnegie Hall,” said Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hall’s executive and artistic director. “With the opening of the new Resnick Education Wing, we will finally have inspirational spaces designed for music education at the Hall that match the aspirational qualities of our programs. It will be wonderful to welcome the public as well as teachers, students, and young musicians, inviting them to make music in the same building as so many of the world’s greatest artists throughout its history. The addition of the wing will be truly transformational for us, ensuring that Carnegie Hall remains a place as important to the future of music as it has been to the past.”

Expanded Programming in Carnegie Hall’s Resnick Education Wing
Throughout the 2014–2015 season, audiences will be invited to enjoy expanded programming in the Resnick Education Wing. The wing’s Weill Music Room will become the Manhattan location for free Carnegie Kids concerts for children ages 3–6 (the free citywide series will also continue to be offered in community venues in the other four New York City boroughs). Upcoming Carnegie Kids performances in the Weill Music Room include: Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower (November 8); Songs for Unusual Creatures (January 11); The Itty Biddies (February 7); and Emily Eagen (May 31).

Ticket holders to Carnegie Hall Family Concerts for children, ages 5–12, will enjoy free pre-concert activities in the education wing. Upcoming Family Concerts include performances by Ladysmith Black Mambazo (October 19; Zankel Hall) and Steven Reineke and The New York Pops (December 21; Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage). A Broadway-themed Family Concert completes the 2014–2015 series (April 18; Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage).

Complementing their recital and concert appearances at Carnegie Hall next year, three extraordinary artists will offer master classes for young performers in the education wing, events that are open to the public. South African jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim will work with solo pianists and small piano ensembles (October 18), acclaimed mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato will present a series of three master classes for opera singers (February 21–23), and celebrated pianist Richard Goode will explore Debussy’s Preludes in a master class for young pianists (March 27). These events are part of WMI’s series of intensive workshops and training opportunities for young professional musicians, ages 18–35. Additional projects in this series next season include The Song Continues, the series of master classes and recitals dedicated to the art of the vocal recital, led by mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, joined by mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and pianist Warren Jones; and Tallis Scholars: Renaissance Masterworks, a choral workshop with Peter Phillips and the Tallis Scholars. Young musicians participating in The Song Continues and Tallis Scholars: Renaissance Masterworks projects will rehearse and study in the education wing prior to their final performances at Carnegie Hall and the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola.

Ensemble ACJW—the prestigious two-year fellowship program which prepares some of the finest young professional musicians in the US for careers that combine musical excellence with teaching, community engagement, advocacy, and leadership—will welcome a new class of 18 fellows at the start of the 2014–2015 season. The new education wing will provide a central gathering space for the fellows as well as program alumni, and a location for professional development activities, rehearsals, teaching, and practicing. Both current Ensemble ACJW fellows and alumni will facilitate an interactive performance offered at the September 21 Family Day.

Throughout the year, the wing will be home to a variety of other programs and activities serving WMI constituents and partners including rehearsals for creative learning projects involving New York City students; one-on-one and group teaching; Music Educator Workshops for teachers from across the country; “sharing performances” for WMI songwriting workshops taking place in community settings citywide; plus professional development activities for teachers, teaching artists, and performers.

About Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute
The Weill Music Institute creates visionary programs that embody Carnegie Hall’s commitment to music education. With unparalleled access to the world’s greatest artists, WMI’s programs inspire audiences of all ages, nurture tomorrow’s musical talent, and harness the power of music to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. WMI’s programs are designed to facilitate creative expression, develop musical skills and capacities at all levels, and encourage participants to make lifelong personal connections to music. The Weill Music Institute also generates new knowledge in the area of music education through original research and shares a wide range of free online resources with teachers and music lovers around the globe. Nearly 450,000 people each year engage in the Weill Music Institute’s programs through national and international partnerships, in New York City schools and community settings, and at Carnegie Hall. This includes over 300,000 students and teachers worldwide who participate in WMI’s Link Up music education program for students grades 3 through 5, made possible through Carnegie Hall partnerships with over 70 orchestras in the US, Canada, Spain, and Japan. For more information on WMI, visit carnegiehall.org/education.

About Ensemble ACJW
Ensemble ACJW is an inspirational collective of young professional musicians who are fellows in a two-year program created by Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education, designed to support them in building careers as top-quality performers, innovative programmers, and dedicated teachers who fully engage with the communities in which they live and work. On the concert stage and in its work in New York City’s public schools and the community, Ensemble ACJW has earned accolades from critics and audiences alike for the quality of its performances, its fresh and open-minded approach to programming, and its ability to actively engage any audience as members of the ensemble redefine what it means to be a musician in the 21st century. For more information and a schedule of upcoming performances, visit acjw.org.

About Carnegie Hall’s Studio Towers Renovation Project & Resnick Education Wing
In May 2007, Carnegie Hall announced its plans to undertake extensive renovations of its two Studio Towers—the South Tower added by Andrew Carnegie in 1894, which rises from street level on West 56th Street and stretches across the roofline of the 1891 concert venue, and the North Tower added in 1897 on top of the northeast corner of the building, facing West 57th Street.

The comprehensive Studio Towers Renovation Project has enabled Carnegie Hall to transform its facilities, refurbishing the acclaimed concert hall’s backstage areas while fully supporting the Hall’s non-profit mission—making great music accessible to as many people as possible–by adding new inspirational spaces dedicated to music education on the upper levels of Carnegie Hall’s building.

The completion of the new 61,000-square-foot Judith and Burton Resnick Education Wing, spread across the upper levels of Carnegie Hall’s North and South Towers, adds twenty-four new music rooms to the landmark building, enabling many music education activities now taking place off-site in inadequate spaces to be brought into spaces designed especially for these activities, connecting program participants with the inspirational setting of Carnegie Hall. New practice rooms, teaching studios, and ensemble rooms, located on the Lily and Edmond J. Safra Education Floors, will be vital resources for Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI), which offers a wide range of music education and community programs for people from all walks of life, and also for Ensemble ACJW—the two-year fellowship program for outstanding professional post-graduate musicians, created by Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and WMI in partnership with New York City’s Department of Education.

These beautiful new spaces of varying sizes will become the home for a variety of music education activities, including interactive events for children; rehearsals by students participating in Carnegie Hall creative learning projects, WMI artists, and Ensemble ACJW; workshops and master classes for young musicians; and professional development activities for educators, teaching artists, and Carnegie Hall musicians who serve audiences in New York City schools and community venues. Overall, they will be vibrant places where people will have the opportunity to meet, learn, explore, and share musical experiences.

Located within the Resnick Education Wing, Carnegie Hall’s Archives has been upgraded with state-of-the-art high density storage. A newly-added reading and listening room for visitors will increase access to Carnegie Hall’s historic collections.

Adjacent to the wing is a new outdoor roof terrace—a feature first envisioned in 1892 by the building’s original architect, William Burnet Tuthill, now re-imagined for the twenty-first century. The new Weill Terrace will be an ideal gathering place for users of the building: performers, concertgoers, families, teachers, students, and staff.

The Studio Towers Renovation Project has also allowed Carnegie Hall to fully refurbish its backstage areas (located largely within its South Tower), upgrading artistic support spaces and ensuring that the venue continues to serve New York City as the top international destination for the world’s greatest performers and ensembles with amenities that match the world-class quality of the artistic environment on stage.

Carnegie Hall’s backstage area has been doubled from three to six floors and modernized in line with the wide variety of performances undertaken at the Hall. Three new backstage rooms have been added, including an artists’ lounge at the stage level of Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage and a “green room” on the second floor. Access to the Stern / Perelman stage-left entrance has now been restored, greatly enhancing production capabilities. In addition, the locations of artists’ dressing rooms have been consolidated, including increased access for those with disabilities. Fewer stairs in the new backstage design now make it easier for musicians to navigate off stage, especially with large instruments.

Through these renovations, many elements of Carnegie Hall’s 123-year-old building infrastructure will be upgraded to contemporary standards for safety and accessibility. Administrative offices have been consolidated for greater efficiency, and the building will become more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly, upon project completion, achieving LEED Silver certification and compliance with the NYC Green Buildings Law. Thanks to Carnegie Hall’s original 450 windows on the upper floors, natural light has been maximized in the building’s design. New environmental control systems and plumbing as well as special features unique to the roof terrace (such as plantings and reflective pavers) will help reduce energy needs. In addition, key elements of the building’s exterior and interior have been restored. Among the elements of the plans, signature architectural features—cast-iron stairs, original steel trusses, vaulted ceilings, window casings, fireplace mantles, and more—have been preserved or replicated throughout the renovated facility.

Construction work on the $230 million Studio Towers Renovation Project began in 2010, and has taken place over multiple years, coordinated with Carnegie Hall’s performance and rehearsal schedules. Carnegie Hall’s three auditoriums have not been touched by the renovations. Iu + Bibliowicz Architects LLP is architect for the project. Tishman Construction Corporation is Carnegie Hall’s construction manager.

Carnegie Hall’s Studio Towers Renovation Project is made possible by major gifts from Joan and Sanford I. Weill and The Weill Family Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Lily Safra, and other generous supporters. Significant project funding has been provided by New York City and New York State.