Purchase to Honor Norman, Cunningham, Etc. at 11/12 Gala

Purchase College will mark its 40th Anniversary on November 12, 2007 with a gala at the Millenium Broadway Hotel/Hudson Theater to honor Jessye Norman, Helen Frankenthaler, Merce Cunningham, Douglas Durst and Ming Cho Lee with the first Nelson A. Rockefeller Awards for their contributions to the visual and performing arts or the environment.

"The college is creating the first endowment for professional training programs in dance, music, theatre and the visual arts with scholarships and guest artists such as choreographers, conductors, theatre directors and visual artists.  The endowment will also support student exhibitions and fully staged student performances in the college's Performing Arts Center and production venues in New York City – all open to the public," state press notes.

"The anniversary gala will feature performances by Purchase Conservatory students as tributes to each of the honorees.  Ultimately, the talent and professionalism of these students are a tribute to Purchase College and the caliber of education and training it has provided over the past four decades. 

Purchase College State University of New York, a major institution of higher education encompasses the liberal arts, professional training in the performing and visual arts, and liberal studies and continuing education, the Neuberger Museum of Art and The Performing Arts Center.

Purchase College, part of the State University of New York, reaches a milestone in higher education, celebrating 40 years of academic excellence in conservatory and liberal arts training.   Its School of the Arts builds on the tradition of bringing together the most talented students and offering them the highest level of professional preparation and development. 

Purchase is one of a handful of colleges in the world capable of preparing students for the rigors of the professional dance world.  At the Conservatory of Dance, students receive conservatory-style training for dancers in the master-apprentice tradition.  They audition for the internationally renowned Purchase Dance Corps, an acclaimed student company, and perform at the Performing Arts Center of Purchase College.  Unique to Purchase, the center is a significant regional arts venue that attracts national and international performers to the Purchase College campus and serves as a professional performance space for Conservatory of Dance students.

The Purchase College Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film is an international leader in professional training.  Since 1972, it has built on the legacy of its renowned founder, American director/producer Norris Houghton, an associate of Stanislavski and Meyerhold, and the founder of the Phoenix Theatre. 

Faculty members at Purchase College are among the most accomplished in their disciplines and have won Grammy, Emmy, Tony and Guggenheim awards. By engaging talented and challenging minds, the staff enables graduating students to shape the future of all art forms.  Alumni include: Doug Elkins, dancer for Doug Elkins Dance Company; Terese Capucilli, artistic co-director for Martha Graham Company; Regina Spektor, singer-songwriter; Dwayne Croft, Metropolitan Opera; Jon Kessler, exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art; Paul Schwartzreich, Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker; Brian MacDevitt and Kenneth Posner, 2007 Tony Award winners for Best Lighting Design for a Play, and actors Stanley Tucci and Edie Falco."

Visit www.purchase.edu for more information.