Greek actress Lydia Koniordou performed at the Anderson Center for the Arts and plans to return to Binghamton to work with students on another dramatic production.

What it Takes: Arts center holds the "keys to a new era"

In the winter of 1986, a fledgling new performing arts center opened on the Binghamton University campus and immediately earned a spot on the international map. The Anderson Center for the Arts' gala dedication featured the Central Ballet of China making its North American premiere. The event was attended by the Chinese ambassador to the United States, China's Bureau of Arts director, then-Gov. Mario Cuomo and a host of other dignitaries.

The New York Times called the new $15 million center "a cultural landmark." Accolades poured in not just from patrons, but from performers, too. The New York Philharmonic once canceled a Saturday performance at Lincoln Center to appear at the Anderson Center instead.

The center hosts approximately 175 events each year, drawing about 100,000 visitors. It has showcased performing groups from more than 26 countries and every continent except Antarctica.

The center's three theaters accommodate audiences from 400 to 2,800 persons. The 1,200-seat Concert Theater has a retractable glass rear wall that opens up to a superb summer amphitheater, seating 1,500 additional patrons. The adjacent Fine Arts Building offers two studio theaters and a 225-seat recital hall administered by the Theatre and Music departments.

Knowledge and appreciation of the performing arts is integral to a sound liberal arts education, said Floyd Herzog, director of the center. "We recognize our responsibility to expose students to excellence in the performing arts and embrace the University's commitment to diversity and globalism," Herzog said.

The Anderson Center has hosted cultural celebrations and academic exchanges with Scotland and Northern Ireland, in collaboration with the British Council, and Greece -- the latter through an unprecedented semester-long partnership between the University and Greece's most prominent artists.

Students and faculty present more than 50 concerts at the Anderson Center each year. Department of Music programs range from solo recitals to chamber groups to jazz presentations to complete student symphony orchestras.

Department of Theatre performances such as Electra, which featured Lydia Koniordou (considered by many the greatest living Greek actress) starring and directing, give students a unique opportunity to work directly with world-respected artists. With a major grant from the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, Koniordou plans to return to Binghamton to work with students on another dramatic production.

Students also work behind the scenes with costumers and set designers, choreographers, artistic directors, lighting and sound technicians.

Locally based arts and community organizations use the Anderson Center as well, and more than 100 community volunteers contribute about 25,000 service hours to the center. Recently, in collaboration with a local school district, the Anderson Center became one of 11 teams selected nationwide by the Kennedy Center for its prestigious Partners in Education program.

The Anderson Center is a center of artistic excellence in central New York. It brings international renown to Binghamton University and offers a world-class cultural and academic resource to students, faculty and the community-at-large.

-- Susann Thiel

For more information about supporting the Anderson Center for the Arts, contact Marcia Steinbrecher, director of development, 607-777-2911, or msteinbr@binghamton.edu, or Floyd Herzog, director of the Anderson Center, 607-777-6802 or fherzog@binghamton.edu.

Susan Reifer '64 and husband, Stanley Reifer '65 Private support critical to center's future In 1990, the Anderson Center began offering its facilities for rent by off-campus groups, providing a valuable community service and moving the center toward greater self-sustenance. But while box office revenue and rental fees cover much of the artists' costs, they do not pay for management and operational costs, stagehands, promotions or equipment upgrading or replacement. Most of the Anderson Center's technical equipment and furnishings, such as stage curtains, are in need of replacement for safety as well as artistic reasons. Recently, the Anderson Center launched a fundraising initiative, "Keys to a New Era." According to center Director Floyd Herzog, private support is critically needed to maintain the center's ability to continue attracting world-class performing artists to Binghamton, and its high stature as a teaching and cultural facility. Susan Reifer '64 and husband Stanley Reifer '65, a self- described "opera fanatic," are among those whose programming endowments have helped the center to book such productions as Il Trovatore by the Russian State Opera and this fall's scheduled performance of Lucia di Lammermoor by Opera Verdi Europa. The Reifers are also major donors to the University Art Museum. "Prudent fiscal management has enabled the center to offer a rich array of programming," Herzog said. "However, artists' fees often exceed ticket revenues, leaving a shortfall in revenue to support production and operation. Performance sponsorships and programming endowments help bridge this widening gap, provide a stable source of income and help keep ticket prices affordable."

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