Brian Stokes Mitchell to be Keynote Speaker for APAP|NYC+ 2023

The Association of Performing Arts Professionals has announced programming highlights for APAP|NYC+ 2023, the world's leading global performing arts marketplace and members conference, taking place in New York City, January 13 - 17. It will be the first time APAP|NYC+ has been held in person since 2020. Once again, thousands of performing arts professionals from around the globe will converge on the New York Hilton Midtown for meetings, discussions, and professional development sessions, and attend showcase events at venues around the city.

As the premiere networking event in the presenting, booking, and touring field, APAP|NYC+ 2023 offers unparalleled opportunities for performing arts professionals to connect with peers; form fresh partnerships; discover new artists, companies, venues, and programs; and engage with ideas and practices that are shaping the future of the field. Hence the conference's theme for 2023: "Community. Commerce. Learning. Discovery."

The arts marketplace comes to life at one of the conference's most popular meeting spots: the EXPO Commons, occupying three floors of the Hilton. Here, throngs of industry professionals gather around hundreds of booths promoting artists and services vital to the field.

ADVOCACY

APAP|NYC+ 2023 will spotlight programs dedicated to APAP's advocacy initiatives, including:

APAP Arts Compensation Project: advancing compensation transparency in the arts industry
BEEP: Building Ethical and Equitable Partnerships in contracting + artists' fees
ArtsForward: promoting the recovery of the performing arts industry
10/20/30 Pledge: building racial equity, diversity, and inclusion in the field
Lately, the issue of fairness in arts compensation has taken on special urgency. In an important step toward greater pay transparency, parity, and equity for arts workers, APAP has partnered with AMS Analytics to launch the APAP Arts Compensation Project, an ongoing comparative study of salary and compensation in the performing arts field.

In a conference session on Sunday, January 15 (2:30 - 4:00 pm), initial findings from the project will be presented to the public for the first time, based on analyses of the pilot phase of the project, which includes two years of employee compensation and demographic data from 63 performing arts organizations across the U.S., with budgets ranging from $500,000 to over $12 million. The session will reveal the pilot findings and highlight important issues and trends the field needs to address around workforce compensation and sustainability.

Naturally, the recovery of the performing arts field is a vital theme for 2023, with sessions on Learnings and Stories from Partnering During the Pandemic, Life after SVOG [Shuttered Venue Operators Grant], This Should Not Be Normalized: Strategies for Better Touring, and other timely topics. The Schedule-At-A-Glance can be found here.

PUBLIC EVENTS

As in pre-pandemic years, APAP|NYC+ forms the nucleus of JanArtsNYC, the annual collection of world-class public performances and innovative industry gatherings taking place throughout the month of January at various NYC venues. The events that comprise JanArtsNYC began life as satellites to APAP's annual conference; they now include such major festivals as Under the Radar, Prototype, American Dance Platform, Winter Jazzfest, globalFEST, and others.

While APAP|NYC+ is the hub of 1000+ independent showcases, APAP's only self-produced public showcase takes place on Monday, January 16, spotlighting the organization's Young Performers Career Advancement Program (YPCA). Nine exceptional young classical music artists and ensembles will take the stage at a free concert at Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall. APAP supports the artists, in part, by providing business training in the performing arts industry, and guidance for navigating the next steps of their careers.

Says Lisa Richards Toney, President and CEO of APAP, "As an industry with more than its share of challenges since March 2020, the return of the in-person APAP conference is the pièce de resistance in the face of the pandemic. Thousands of arts professionals will converge in New York - presenters, agents and managers, artists, producers, funders, policy leaders, and service organizations - to celebrate one another and conduct the business to move our industry forward more boldly than ever before!"

Additional sessions and guests will be announced in the coming weeks. Visit apap365.org/conference for further information and updates on APAP|NYC+ 2023.

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CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Friday, January 13

Friday marks the return of a professional performing arts community deeply impacted by the events of the last three years and yet deeply committed to its comeback. The day's events showcase themes of reconnection, new work, and rebirth.

As a prelude to the official sessions, a series of free pre-conference events, forums, and affinity groups will take place throughout the day on Friday, open to the entire field (RSVP required, although APAP|NYC+ 2023 conference registration is not required).

2:30-4:30 pm: UP NEXT! Artist Discovery Session

Discover 18 diverse and exciting new works that are tour ready for the 2023-24 season. Admission is limited to fully registered APAP|NYC+ conference attendees. Works and artists curated by APAP and a team of presenter colleagues.

Alexis Fletcher and Arash Khakpour - همه هستی من آیه تاریکیست | All my being is a dark verse
Audrey Rose Dégez - Mothermotherland
Baba Israel & Grace Galu (lead creators) - CANNABIS! A VIPER VAUDEVILLE
Crystal Skillman - OPEN
Delirium Musicum - Seasons
Honolulu Theatre for Youth - The Pa'akai We Bring
Kinetic Light - Wired
KM Dance Project - Raw Fruit
Lemon Andersen - When Aliens Fall From The Sky
Loga Ramin Torkian - The Seven Realms of Attar
Machine de Cirque - Robot Infidele
Monica Bill Barnes & Company - The Running Show
NORTH: The Musical by Ashli St. Armant - NORTH: The Musical
Paul Morgan Stetler - Thanks, But No Thanks -- The Greatest Rejection Letters of All Time
Sultans of String & Friends - Indigenous Collaborations - Walking Through the Fire
Svetlana & The New York Collective - Swing Makes You Sing!
Valerie Green - HOME
Versa-Style Dance Company - Freemind Freestyle
4:45-6:00 pm: Opening Plenary Session

The official opening of the APAP|NYC+ 2023 conference will be a welcome, a reunion, and a celebration rolled into one. Featured special guests include Broadway legend Brian Stokes Mitchell, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, whose leadership for the state of New York and in helping Save Our Stages was instrumental in the recovery of the field, and a surprise performing arts icon who will help usher in the rebirth of the performing arts.

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Saturday, January 14

Saturday is about gathering and sharing knowledge: What stories do the industry's recent experiences tell? By examining partnerships, practice, advocacy, and more, the field will plan its next steps and a way forward, together.

9:00-10:50 am: ArtsForward in Practice: Learnings and Stories from Partnering During the Pandemic

APAP's ArtsForward funding initiative required presenters to commit to a payment structure designed to foster equity. Hear insights drawn from ArtsForward's successes, lessons and lingering challenges, partners' experiences and discoveries in this complicated year. Panelists include Thaddeus Davis and Tanya Wideman-Davis, Wideman Davis Dance (Artist); Leah Keith, Rhythm of the Arts (Agent); Amy Dupain Vashaw, The Pennsylvania State University (Presenter).

10:00-10:50 am: Equity in Contracting - New Resources and Next Steps

Hear about the findings, vision, and materials propelling the movement toward equitable contracts from people involved with APAP's Building Ethical and Equitable Partnerships initiative, Creating New Futures, and the Equitable Contracting Working Group (Dance/USA), plus other speakers to be announced.

10:00-10:50 am: Creating Welcoming and Belonging in the Front of House

An equity, diversity, and inclusion session focused on creating cultural spaces that are welcoming and belonging to people of all identities, cultures, gender expressions, abilities and more. Session led by Beatrice Thomas, Authentic Arts and Media.

11:00 am-12:15 pm (Plenary): Life After SVOG: What's Next in Advocacy for the Creative and Live Arts Sector?

This session will include David Holland, Deputy Director, Alliances, Advocacy and Public Policy, WESTAF; Jean Cook, Artist; Jen Lyon, NYIVA Board President, owner of MeanRed; and others to be announced.

2:30-4:00 pm: Compose Your Career and APAP Present: Tell a Better Story, Book Better Gigs - A Workshop for Musicians

Led by Clay Ross (Grammy Award-winning musician from Ranky Tanky) and Jayme Stone (Juno Award Winner).

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Sunday, January 15

The last three years have been about shifting circumstances, perspectives, priorities, and practice. Sunday will focus on the welcomed and necessary shifts in how the performing arts industry works.

10:00-10:50 am: This Should Not Be Normalized: Strategies for Better Touring

2022 saw an unprecedented number of artists canceling tours, citing poor finances and health concerns. As an industry and a community, we must find ways to make touring more sustainable and survivable. Our panel of experts will talk about how presenter collaboration, "slow touring", "green touring" and an evolving funding landscape all contribute to tours that are healthier for artists, more financially sustainable, and better for the planet.

10:00-10:50 am: Producing the Future: Shifting Tides in New Work Development

With the proliferation of digitized performing works, free performances in public spaces, and concerns about Covid mutations, how can we as producers, presenters, managers, and agents support the development and presentation of new work in all its forms - in performance halls, virtual platforms, and outdoor spaces - and continue to gather people to share in the transformative experience of live performing arts? Session led by the Creative Independent Producer Alliance (CIPA).

11:00 am-12:15 pm (Plenary): A Brutally Honest Conversation about Nonprofit, For-Profit, Government, Philanthropy, and the Arts

Over three years into the pandemic, and many of us are exhausted. In this no-holds-barred and lively conversation led by Nonprofit AF blogger Vu Le, we will discuss financial sustainability, collaboration among the sectors, avoiding burnout, and the continuing of the Great Resignation, among other topics. This session promises to be provocative, challenging, and possibly cathartic.

2:30-4:00 pm: Advancing Industry Pay Transparency with the APAP Arts Compensation Project

This session will present initial findings of the APAP Arts Compensation Project to the public for the first time, based on analyses of the pilot phase of the project, which includes two years of employee compensation and demographic data from 63 performing arts organizations across the U.S., with budgets ranging from under $500,000 to over $12 million. This session will reveal the pilot project's findings and highlight important issues and trends the field needs to address around workforce compensation and sustainability.

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Monday, January 16

The APAP|NYC+ conference will take time to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. with a focus on service, mentorship, and membership. Monday morning is dedicated to giving space for leaders under 35 to share their ideas as they map the future of the field. Midday on Monday midday will feature a presentation on the State of the Association, including a town hall-style "Real Talk in Real Time."

8:30-9:50 am: MLK Day of Service Project for Arts Professionals

Kicking off a day committed to investing in the field's collective future, APAP members will participate in a networking event focused on mentoring and sharing stories with emerging arts professionals.

10:00-10:50 am: Stop Talking, Start Listening! - Finding Common Ground with Young Arts Workers and the Future of Our Field

Host of APAP's podcast ARTS. WORK. LIFE. Claire Caulfield and a panel of younger artists, presenters and agents will raise up the change they would like to see in the industry going forward. This session will be a recorded live for the ARTS. WORK. LIFE. podcast.

11:00 am-12:30 pm (Plenary): Member Meeting and Town Hall

Part I of this session is APAP's Annual Member Meeting and State of the Organization. Part II is a Town Hall-style meeting where members will raise up key issues between presenters, agents, artists and others in an effort to seek collective industry solutions. As part of this session, Choir! Choir! Choir! will lead a participatory performance event.

4:00 - 5:00 pm: Michael Mwenso: Ancestral Listening Session

Featuring Harlem-based global music artist Michael Mwenso, whose performances with his band The Shakes have been called "intense, prowling, and ebullient" (The New York Times).

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Tuesday, January 17

Tuesday is about taking stock of the week's events and setting the stage for 2023.

10:00-11:00 am: Closing Plenary Session

As the APAP|NYC+ 2023 conference comes to a close, U.S. National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson shares her vision for the future of the performing arts, and the impact of the arts worker.

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About the Association of Performing Arts Professionals

APAP, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, based in Washington, D.C., is the national service, advocacy and membership organization dedicated to developing and supporting a robust, performing arts presenting, booking and touring field and the professionals who work within it. Our 1,700 national and international members represent leading performing arts centers, municipal and university performance facilities, nonprofit performing arts centers, culturally specific organizations, foreign governments, as well as artist agencies, managers, touring companies, and national consulting practices that serve the field, and a growing roster of self-presenting artists. APAP works to effect change through advocacy, professional development, resource sharing and civic engagement. APAP is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization governed by a volunteer board of directors and led by president and CEO Lisa Richards Toney. In addition to producing the annual APAP|NYC conference-the world's leading gathering and marketplace for the performing arts-APAP is an industry leader, providing year-round resources, programming and services for the advancement of performing arts presenting, booking and touring.

About APAP|NYC+

APAP|NYC+ is the world's premier gathering of thousands of performing arts professionals in New York City at the New York Hilton Midtown. APAP|NYC features 1000+ world-class artist showcases held around the city, 300+ exhibitors, dozens of professional development sessions, A-list keynote speakers, and pre-conference forums, many of which are free and open to the public and members. See more conference information at apapnyc.org, and APAP membership information at apap365.org.