Alliance Theatre Promotes Christopher Moses to Associate Artistic Director

The Alliance Theatre is pleased to announce the promotion of Christopher Moses to Associate Artistic Director. Moses joined the education staff of the Alliance Theatre in 2000 and has served as the Alliance's Director of Educational Programs since 2011. This transition reflects the Alliance's ongoing commitment to artistic integration in education.

"Excellence in education has always been as central to the Alliance's mission as excellence in theatre. We are committed to arts education that advances learning, empathy, and social engagement. As our Director of Educational Programs, Chris has been a phenomenal partner in the leadership of this theatre's artistic vision," said Susan V. Booth, Jennings Hertz Artistic Director. "In a desire to recognize and celebrate that partnership, we've promoted him to the position of Associate Artistic Director, a position in which I know he will continue to grow, thrive, and create the most innovative and engaging models for arts education in our field."

Under Moses's leadership, the Alliance Education Department has doubled the number of young people participating in the educational programs to approximately 11,000 students this year. During his tenure as Director of Educational Programs, the Alliance Education Department launched innovation new programs including Theatre for the Very Young, an Artist to Artist master class series, ArtsVibe programming for teens, and Alliance@Work professional development courses, and expanded nationally recognized programs like the Collision Project and the Institute for Educators and Teaching Artists.

"It's inspiring to work at a cultural institution that values its educational work as much as its artistic work. And really, it's the deep relationship between the two that makes this place so extraordinary," said Moses. "The educational work is always more powerful when it's steeped in the art and the reverse also holds true because the Alliance Theatre creates extraordinary artistic work not as an end in itself. Rather, it uses the artistic experience as a catalyst for learning, for creating community, and ultimately for building compassionate human beings."

In his new role, Moses will continue the work he started to develop important new partnerships with organizations like GA Quality Care for Children, GA Bright From the Start, the Anti-Defamation League, and Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, and will deepen system wide school partnerships with Atlanta Public Schools and Fulton County Schools.

"The support from Susan Booth, from the board, and from the entire staff of this theatre encourages our education department to continue to take the same creative risks in the classroom as we do on our stage," Moses continued. "This is vitally important in an educational landscape that is in need of reform. This deep rooted and authentic commitment to education is what makes the Alliance such a unique force both locally and on a national level. What a profound gift to be in the position to continue to move this mission forward."

About the Alliance Theatre -- Founded in 1968, the Alliance Theatre has become the leading producing theatre in the Southeast, creating the powerful experience of shared theatre for diverse people. The Alliance values excellence, pursued with integrity and creativity, and achieved through collaboration. Reaching more than 200,000 patrons annually, the Alliance delivers powerful programming that challenges adult and youth audiences to think critically and care deeply. Under the leadership of Susan V. Booth, Jennings Hertz Artistic Director, the Alliance Theatre received the Regional Theatre Tony Award ® in recognition of sustained excellence in programming, education and community engagement.

Known for its high artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance has premiered more than 80 original productions including Tony Award® winners The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, Aida, by Elton John and Tim Rice, and Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo. The Alliance has a reputation for developing important American musicals with a strong track record of Broadway, touring, and subsequent productions, including the world premieres of Sister Act: The Musical, Come Fly Away, Bring It On: The Musical, Stephen King and John Mellencamp's Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, the American premiere of Zorro, with music by the Gipsy Kings, and most recently, Harmony - A New Musical by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman. The Alliance also creates and nurtures the careers of playwrights through the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, producing a premiere for the competition winner as part of the regular season, and the Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab, providing developmental support and production resources for three performing arts projects each year. The work produced by the Alliance allows locally based artists the chance to create on a nationally watched stage, building and sustaining Atlanta's artistic community.

Each year the Alliance Theatre Acting Program and Education Department reaches close to 50,000 students through performances, acting classes, drama camps, and in-school initiatives. The Alliance creates and produces plays for young audiences at every age level: from the Collision Project, where high school artists create and perform new work based on a classic text, to the ground breaking Theatre for the Very Young, creating interactive shows for infants and toddlers. The Alliance also offers community education classes for all ages and abilities of theatre interest; and adult student productions of unproduced plays in development, working with local and national playwrights.

An active participant in Georgia classrooms, the Alliance has developed programs using theatrical techniques to aid in student learning through storytelling and problem solving. The Alliance's Institute for Educators and Teaching Artists equips teachers with theatrical techniques that link directly to school curriculum, align with the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards, and increase student learning. These programs include Georgia Wolf Trap Early Learning Through the Arts, which focuses on literacy skills for children in Pre-K - 2nd Grade, and Dramaturgy K-12, in which students create research material that informs Alliance productions and prepares peer audiences. Twice recognized by the U.S. Education Department as leaders in arts education, these programs reflect the Alliance's commitment to city wide arts access.

The Alliance delivers the finest talent, art and educational opportunities for Atlanta audiences-proving once again that the Alliance is where great theatre lives. For more information, visit www.alliancetheatre.org or call 404.733.4650.

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