New York’s Carnegie Hall has agreed to partner with the new Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Center (ISPA member organization, pictured left) in Asturias, Spain, designed by the legendary architect Oscar Niemeyer.  As part of this partnership, musicians from The Academy, an innovative program created by Carnegie Hall and The Juilliard School, will take part in a residency at the Niemeyer Center, including public performances and educational activities.

Sir Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall, will visit Spain on December 3 and 4, 2009, to meet with the top authorities of the Principality of Asturias and the Niemeyer Center to announce this international collaboration.

Since its opening in 1891, Carnegie Hall has set the international standard for excellence in performance.  Today, the pre-eminent concert hall presents close to 200 performances by the world’s finest artists on its three stages—Stern Auditorium /Perelman Stage, Weill Recital Hall, and Zankel Hall—with offerings ranging from orchestral concerts, chamber music and solo recitals to jazz, world, and popular music.  Through the work of The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall, wide-reaching music education programs serve more than 115,000 people annually, playing a central role in Carnegie Hall’s commitment as a non-profit organization to making great music accessible to as many people as possible. 

In 2007, The Academy—a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute—was created.  The two-year fellowship is a leadership program for the finest post-graduate musicians, providing performance opportunities, advanced musical training, and hands-on educational experience through work in partnership with music teachers in the New York City public schools.  Carnegie Hall’s partner in establishing The Academy program, The Juilliard School, is one of the world’s pre-eminent conservatories of dance, drama, and music.  Founded in 1905, Juilliard continues, in its second century, to educate an astounding array of artists and leaders in the performing arts with its current student body representing 39 US states and 46 countries from around the globe.

The Niemeyer Center is the new and leading Spanish project in arts and culture which will open its doors in 2010 and which has already involved a received the visit of prestigious world cultural leaders such as Stephen Hawking, Vint Cerf, Kevin Spacey, Paulo Coelho, Teresa Berganza, Wole Soyinka or Woody Allen, to name just a few of the individuals which are cooperating with its activities.  Education is key to the mission of the Niemeyer Center.