Berklee Institute of Creative Entrepreneurship (BerkleeICE) and Citi Performing Arts Center have partnered to launch a new Spring 2016 Entrepreneurial Practicum at the college titled “Performing Arts Centers: Sustaining Relevancy | Making an Impact”. This 15-week course is a part of the Music Business curriculum and designed to introduce students to the varied roles of historic performing arts centers in an urban environment. Students will examine the challenges of sustaining relevancy and making a civic impact in the context of current economic and political climates and propose solutions that focus on how performing arts centers can succeed.

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“There was a lot of upheaval in the Boston theater industry in 2015, and a lot of questions remain unanswered about what the local performing arts landscape will look like five or 10 years from now,” said Josiah A. Spaulding, Jr., President & CEO of Citi Performing Arts Center. “Since Boston is home to the nation’s brightest young people, we thought, why not have them examine the current landscape through their creative lenses and share feedback on the current challenges and opportunities facing performing arts centers all across the country and right here in Boston? Arts and cultural organizations play an incredibly important role in our community, and we are very excited to embark on this new venture with Berklee to uncover how the performing arts industry can grow and thrive.”

The course kicks off on January 26 on the Wang Theatre stage. Working in small groups, senior-level students will explore seminal questions facing performing arts centers today and propose solutions. Topics will include: 1) Boston’s theater climate: too many seats, too many theatres, and not enough shows; 2) How to address programming needs and engage audiences in a minority majority city; 3) How to use technology and innovation to engage younger audiences and enhance the overall live performance experience; 4) Different organizational models: Profit v. nonprofit, commercial v. non-commercial; and 5) How to create a dedicated revenue source to support arts and culture.

“The role of performing arts centers in any community is integral to its cultural foundation, and we want to uncover solutions to ensure these centers sustain relevancy in Boston and beyond," said Panos Panay, founding managing director of BerkleeICE. "We believe there is a strong link between creative, innovative thinking and the entrepreneurial journey, which is at the core of the BerkleeICE philosophy. We designed this course as a way to not only provide hands-on experience for Berklee students but also provide leading performing arts centers – like Citi Performing Arts Center – with valuable input from the city's brightest minds to help them innovate for future generations."

The new course will feature a variety of both local and national industry leaders as guest speakers, including Jon Abbott, President & CEO of WGBH; Dave Balter, Head of Transactions at Pluralsight and Venture Partner Boston Seed Capital; Julie Burros, Chief of Arts and Culture for the City of Boston; Paul Grogan, President of the Boston Foundation; Robert Travaglini, Former President of the Massachusetts Senate; Panos Panay, Founding Managing Director of BerkleeICE; and Josiah A. Spaulding, Jr., President & CEO of Citi Performing Arts Center. At the end of the semester, students will have created a business plan proposing solutions to one of the seminal questions, examined the viability of live performance as a business, and evaluated various methods of audience engagement.

“We are thrilled to be entering into this academic partnership. Our music business/management program has always emphasized practical, real world training, and I can’t imagine a better learning lab than Citi Performing Arts Center," said Don Gorder, Chair of the Music Business/Management Department. "To be given an inside view of the challenges facing performing arts centers, and an opportunity to develop solutions through innovative thinking (with influence from BerkleeICE), could be a life-changing experience for our students. How lucky they are!"

To learn more about the Berklee Institute of Creative Entrepreneurship, click here.

About Citi Performing Arts Center – Citi Performing Arts Center, which includes the Wang and Shubert Theatres, is one of the nation’s foremost nonprofit performing arts institutions. As New England’s largest cultural venue, it honors all aspects of the performing arts offering theatre, opera, classical and popular music, comedy, dance, and Broadway musicals. Its education/public programming initiatives present the City Spotlights Leadership Program and ArtWeek Boston.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Boston’s historic Theatre District, Citi Performing Arts Center offers a diverse mix of educational workshops and community activities; collaborates with artists and local performing arts organizations; and, acts as a champion for the arts in the Greater Boston community by aggressively helping to make the arts an integral part of the community’s collective, daily experience. For more information, please visit www.citicenter.org.

About BerkleeICE – Creativity and innovative thinking are the most valuable assets for professionals who wish to excel in today’s competitive business environment. Such skills are particularly critical in the music industry, where new technologies and ideas compel constant change in the ways music is developed, marketed and distributed. These trends are at the core of Berklee’s Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (ICE), an initiative designed to inspire, educate and launch the next generation of creative entrepreneurs. BerkleeICE helps prepare graduates for careers as entrepreneurs; fosters the creation of new products, services and businesses in the creative industry; and inspires disruptive ideas through musical creativity and cross-discipline collaboration.

BerkleeICE was founded in 2013 and is led by founding managing director and entrepreneur Panos Panay. More information can be found at http://www.berklee.edu/focused/ice and @BerkleeICE.