Michael Feinstein Appointed Artistic Director Of Indiana's Center For Performing Arts

Grammy Winner Michael Feinstein has been appointed the Artistic Director of the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, IN. The center will also be the base of the Michael Feinstein Foundation.

Michael Feinstein - the multi-platinum selling, five-time Grammy nominated entertainer dubbed of "The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook" - is considered one of the premiere interpreters of American Popular Song. His 150 plus shows a year have included Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and major concert halls, as well as the White House and Buckingham Palace. More than a mere performer, he is nationally recognized for his commitment to the American popular song, both celebrating its art and preserving its legacy for the next generation.

The Sinatra Project, his recent CD from Concord Records which celebrates the musical sensibilities of "Old Blue Eyes," earned Michael his fifth Grammy Award nomination in 2009. Feinstein is currently preparing PBS-TV series, "Michael Feinstein's American Songbook" - in which he travels around the world to discover rare artifacts relating to Classic American Music. He is designing a new piano for Steinway called "The First Ladies," inspired by the White House piano. Starting in 2011, Feinstein will also serve as the Artistic director of the Carmel Performing Arts Center, a $160 million three-theatre performing arts center in Carmel, Indiana which will host an annual international Great American Songbook festival, along with diverse live programming and a museum to house his rare memorabilia and manuscripts.

His latest CD, The Power of Two - with Broadway leading man Cheyenne Jackson - was called "passionate, impeccably harmonized and groundbreaking" by The New York Times. Michael has written the score for two upcoming stage musicals: The Night They Saved Macy's Parade and The Gold Room, and is currently developing The Thomas Crown Affair into a Broadway musical with MGM Onstage. He is also currently scoring his second movie, The Big Valley, starring Susan Sarandon. This spring Michael starred with Dame Edna in the new Broadway show All About Me.

His previous CD from Concord Records is Hopeless Romantics, a songbook of Harry Warren classics recorded with legendary jazz pianist George Shearing. In 2004, Michael completed a national tour with songwriting icon Jimmy Webb based on their CD, Only One Life - The Songs of Jimmy Webb. The disc was named one of "10 Best CDs of the Year" by USA Today. Recently he hosted and produced The Great American Songbook, a PBS Special and DVD set from Warner Brothers that traces the history of popular music in our country and debuted at the Palm Springs Film Festival.

For more information visit http://www.thecenterfortheperformingarts.org and http://www.michaelfeinsteinfoundation.org/

The Center for the Performing Arts is a world-class performing arts center located in Carmel, Indiana. The Center will boast a state-of-the-art, acoustically perfect 1,600-seat concert hall, dubbed The Palladium, a 500-seat proscenium theater, and a 200-seat studio theater.

The Center for the Performing Arts will play host to a diverse lineup of local, national and international arts programming, including a Great American Song Book Series, jazz, dance, classical, chamber, choral and country concerts, plus appearances by world famous symphonies like the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, singers and musicians, a variety of plays and musicals, intimate cabaret performances, one night stands by America's favorite comedians and a host of other entertainment options that will enhance the quality of life in Central Indiana and throughout the Midwest.

Additionally, the Center for the Performing Arts will be home to a number of local performing arts organizations, including Civic Theatre, which will be the principal resident theatre company of the Center, and the Carmel Symphony Orchestra. Other future residents include Carmel's Actors Theatre of Indiana, Carmel Repertory Theatre, Central Indiana Dance Ensemble, and the Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre.

 

Photo Credit: Linda Lenzi

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