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Behind the Scenes events will take
place on Jan. 11, Feb. 8 and April 5 at the North Greens Golf Course
in Atlanta. Beginning at 6:30 p.m. artists will speak about their
lives and careers, share stories about their experiences on a
national and international stage, give insights into the people they
have met, and talk about what it means to be an artist. A reception
with the artist will follow each event.
Behind the Scenes is sponsored by the
Atlanta National Bank and the city of Atlanta.
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Heather Hitchens
This week the Behind the Scenes
program will feature special guest Heather Hitchens, executive
director of the American Theatre Wing and producer of the Tony
Awards.
Hitchens joins the series on Friday
at 6:30 p.m. at the North Greens Golf Course Community Room in
Atlanta. The event kicks off with a reception with the artist
followed by her presentation at 7 p.m.
Hitchens began her tenure at the
American Theatre Wing in July 2011. As the chief executive officer,
she is charged with maintaining its brand of excellence in the Tony
Awards as well as overseeing and shaping its other vital
grant-making, professional development, educational and media
programs.
She came to the Wing after a
four-year term as executive director of the New York State Council
on the Arts, the largest state arts agency in the country. Prior to
her leadership there, she served as president of the renowned
national arts service organization Meet the Composer.
A percussionist since the age of 6
and a lifelong lover of the performing arts, she holds a master's
degree in arts administration from Drexel University in
Philadelphia, Pa., and a bachelor's degree in percussion and music
business from DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.
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Casey Childs, Feb. 8
For the Feb. 8 program, the speaker
will be Casey Childs, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with
a bachelor's degree in acting and a master's degree in directing. He
has acted and directed all over the United States and Great Britain
and has taught and lectured on the subjects of television and
theater at leading theater schools throughout the country. He has
made three trips to Russia as a guest of the Federation of Russian
Theatre Workers. Since founding Primary Stages in 1984, he has
produced over 100 new plays, many of them world premieres.
Childs also has produced and
directed television for over 25 years, working on such shows as "As
the World Turns" for CBS; "Another World" for NBC; and "The City,"
"Loving," "One Life to Live," "All My Children" and segments of
"Spin City" for ABC. He also directed "The Catlins" for Turner
Broadcasting, "Our Group" for Lifetime and "Hollywood Heights" for
Sony's "Nick at Nite." Childs has won two Emmy Awards for his
television directing and countless nominations for both producing
and directing in television.
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Mikhail Istomin, April 5
Born and educated in Russia,
Mikhail "Misha" Istomin holds a master's degree in music from the
St. Petersburg Conservatory. While still in school, he became
principal cellist of the State Hermitage Orchestra and later joined
the orchestra of the Kirov Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.
In 1987, he became the cellist of
the Leningrad Conservatory String Quartet, and in 1989 the group won
the grand prize in the National Soviet Union Competition of String
Quartets. Later that same year, Misha defected during the quartet's
U.S. tour and was granted political asylum in the United States.
Immediately following these events, he joined the Richmond Symphony
and became a faculty member of both Virginia State University and
the Governor's School for the Performing Arts at the University of
Richmond.
Misha was appointed principal
cellist of the Pittsburgh Opera and Pittsburgh Ballet Theater
orchestras in 1991, and the following year he joined the Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra. In July 1998, he returned to St. Petersburg to
perform in the Second World Cello Congress under the direction of
Mstislav Rostropovich.
Misha is a founding member of the
Pittsburgh Piano Trio, which has released three CDs on the Minstrel
label to resounding critical acclaim.
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Tickets for Behind the Scenes are
available in advance at the Atlanta Public Library, as well as at
the door on the evening of each event. Seating is limited and
advance purchase is recommended. Individual event tickets are $12.50
for adults and $7 for students under age 21 and under. Discounted
series tickets for all four events are also available for $40 for
adults and $25 for students. There are group rates as well for
groups over 10 people. Email
apldinformation@gmail.com
to arrange tickets for your group.
Visit the library's website at
http://www.apldinfo.org/ to
learn more about all the library's programs in 2012-13.
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Tony producer Heather Hitchens comes to 'Behind the Scenes' at the
Atlanta Public Library & Museum
