Stephen Klein / The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts
As president of The Kentucky Center, Stephen Klein knew when he arrived here six years ago that the Center needed a strong vision for its future. In that time, he has spearheaded a comprehensive and ongoing Strategic Plan for the Center. Thanks to the generosity of individuals and corporations and to an 8.9 million dollar grant from the Kentucky legislature, Klein and his staff have been able to renovate the Brown Theatre and this summer will conclude long-needed acoustical and lighting improvements to Whitney Hall. I met with Stephen in his office overlooking the corner of Main and Sixth Streets to discuss his plans for the Center and its expanding role in the community. .
SD: How has your summer been?
SK: The summer has been very good here at the Center. It’s been a little sporadic because we’ve had the Whitney Hall closed for all sorts of change-overs.
SD: What kinds of changes have you made?
SK: We’ve made almost 4.5 million dollars in improvements to the acoustics, which is a really big deal!
SD: What is that going to mean to an audience member?
SK: There will be a certain sound for unamplified music; and when we have a big amplified show, we will drop in banners and different acoustics to modify the sound. Twenty-seven years ago, when The Kentucky Center opened, almost nothing was amplified, except for a few rock ’n’ roll groups. Now every Broadway show is amplified – as are many of the other productions coming into the venue – so we need to deaden some of that sound in a hall that was originally acoustically designed for unenhanced orchestras and other classical sounds.
SD: This retrofit has been under way for a couple of years.
SK: This summer should finish it. We had to work piecemeal to install new lighting in the Whitney and the Bomhard. This was the big one, though, because it included the hydraulics that operate the acoustic clouds over both the stage and audience.
SD: What performances have you scheduled for the Whitney this season?
SK: We naturally hope to have Louisville Orchestra performing as scheduled. Very dear to me will be the London Royal Philharmonic with Pinchas Zukerman conducting and playing. I’ve known “Pinky” for thirty years; he is absolutely brilliant and this is a great, great orchestra. They’re playing at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, so it’s a major coup for us to have them in Louisville. In April, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with violinist Joshua Bell is also scheduled to perform.
SD: Joshua Bell is almost a local.
SK: He did Fanfara with the Louisville Orchestra a couple of years ago and sold out the house! He is a wonderful musician, and you’re right – he serves as adjunct faculty at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. We have some outstanding classical performances planned for this season, but we also have other great things ahead.
SD: Such as?
SK: Well, Wynton Marsalis is coming in with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra this month. He was with us a few years ago and people packed the house to see him. This group doesn’t tour that frequently; so we are, again, very fortunate to have them on the roster. The acrobats of the People’s Republic of China are coming here from Beijing, and that will be a spectacular performance October 26. DrumLine Live! is another great event coming in November; this show is based on the marching band traditions of African American colleges. There was a film called DrumLine a few years ago that told the story, but you really need to be able to feel the percussion ringing in your bones to get the full experience. That’s what DrumLine Live! offers that can’t be translated by even the speaker system in your television or movie theatre. Our region has a strong marching band scene, and we will be involving some local high schools in this production. I’d like to say it’s my vision, but it’s an institutional vision that we should and must have a place where people can convene – where people can come and see arts, experience them together and then commune about it.
SD: So much of that sharing is happening through technology…
SK: But is that as satisfying as talking about it in person?
SD: Not for me, but I wonder if that is changing for other people?
SK: I don’t know. I have children with their own children and they will, of course, watch stuff on the tube and go online. But I’m very impressed that they still use that as the impetus for personal experience and not as a replacement. They recognize that the live experience
is so important in that it offers them
an opportunity to step out of the pre-recorded experience and take their own direction. In my involvement with symphony orchestras for decades, there
is something more valuable to me in hearing someone recover from a mistake in a live performance than hearing it corrected on a recording.
SD: The Kentucky Center is known for its eclectic mix of performers. Any of that this season?
SK: Of course! We will have Sesame Street in March; the a cappella ensemble Straight No Chaser, local band Tin Can Buddha and comedian Brian Regan in November; celebrity chefs Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert in February; Celtic Crossroads in March; and lots of rockers. We’ve got all kinds of stuff coming in that we believe provides something for just about everybody.
SD: The last few years in particular you’ve had some unusual presentations, and that trend continues in September.
SK: Yes, we’re bringing in Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer. He is the world’s foremost canine rehabilitation specialist and he’ll be here to discuss pet problems – if your dog is compulsive, aggressive, lazy…whatever. But I’m told we can’t bring our dogs to the performance. Our custodial people are very happy about that.
SD: What is the climate like for corporate support these days?
SK: The climate is a little funkier than it was perhaps a few years ago. We’ve had some downturns in the stock market, but most of the corporations are still sticking with us. In fact, some of them are actually increasing their giving because they are aware of the pressures we’re under. They are aware of the pressure all the arts are under locally and nationally. Interestingly, we’re finding a bunch of newer corporations in the mix who are saying, “This is important to us, it’s important to me, it’s important to our employees and we want to make sure that these resources exist for today and for the future.” It’s very rewarding. Some people have had to cut back a bit because of what’s going on with the market and overall earnings, but we’re doing okay. We’re hopeful, obviously, that the economy will get better and we can get more support from more folks.
SD: Other than tickets and corporate support, are there other significant revenue streams you use for operations?
SK: It’s a different level of the convening idea I mentioned. We rent out space here for a huge number of meetings and parties and weddings. We had our first bar mitzvah earlier this year. This is a natural place for people to get together.
SD: In the lobby this summer you’ve been displaying the work of artist E. V. Day. The installation is a collaboration with Art Without Walls entitled Divas Ascending* and features deconstructed costumes from New York City Opera.
SK: I want us to do a lot more with Art Without Walls and other similar groups. This association has brought a lot of people to the Center who might not otherwise have come. I stroll through the Center a few times a day for various reasons, and I’m seeing a variety of groups just looking at the art.
SD: This exhibition is not the sum total of your collaborations, and certainly not the only nonperformance-related activities. What are some of the others?
SK: One of the biggest is the Governor’s School for the Arts. We do this now at Transylvania University in Lexington, where 225 kids from all over the Commonwealth come annually for three weeks – at no cost to them – for instruction in nine different art forms, such as music, dance, painting and writing. We’ve now had students from all 120 counties – some had never been out of their county or town. All of a sudden they’re coming to Lexington to work with instructors from the Metropolitan Opera and Broadway! It’s a spectacular program.
SD: Does The Kentucky Center foot the bill alone?
SK: We do the Governor’s School in conjunction with state government. Depending on state funding, the Center is responsible for 40 to 60 percent of the costs. We have programs like ArtsReach that takes artists into under-exposed areas around the Commonwealth. We also work with
teachers to expand their proficiency in teaching the arts in the classroom.
SD: You have also been developing the new Arts-in-Healing program.
SK: Yes, we started it about two years ago. The idea is to take local and national artists into locations where people are in the healing process, such as hospitals and rehabilitation centers. It might be a harpist, a singer, a cellist or a storyteller who will work with those who need some form of elevation and joy that comes only from the arts. We partner with Norton, Jewish, St. Mary’s and the VA hospitals, and we’ve had terrific funding from Humana and the Crusade for Children, some individuals and other corporations. We constantly reach out to new places that might use this service.
SD: Beyond entertainment that helps pass the time, what are the benefits of the Arts-in-Healing program?
SK: Among other things, I think it helps reconnect people to their humanity. So often when people are isolated in a clinical setting they become the object of the treatment. They’re so concentrated on being ill they forget what it is to be well, and the arts can be a reminder of what is best in all of us. A couple of years ago we brought in the Mark Morris Dance Group to work with people who had Parkinson’s disease. Many of these folks were in wheel chairs. One woman was crying – she wasn’t a patient, but she was sobbing because her husband, who had been participating, began to smile. She said it was the first time in three years she had seen him smile.
SD: This is part of a long tradition for The Kentucky Center. I remember 20 years ago the Center was one of the first venues of its kind to introduce audio description.
SK: We still provide those services for a lot of arts groups in town. We are very proud to be hosting the LEAD conference: Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability. They’re expecting hundreds of people to come to hear what everyone else is doing, and to also see what we’re doing. We are in a leadership position not only in Louisville and Kentucky, but across the nation.
SD: You’re also hosting the IdeaFestival.
SK: I love the IdeaFestival! It’s so exciting and brings so many innovators into The Kentucky Center. I understand Mayor Fischer and many others will be moving their offices into the lobby so they can talk with people and be closer to these amazing new ideas. It’s nuts! It starts every morning at 7:30 and goes until 10 every night. They come here from all over the world to share ideas about arts, science, medicine, sports and more! This is an event that really enhances Louisville’s reputation internationally, and we are proud to be the host. I encourage everyone to come
see what all the buzz is about!
For information about the IdeaFestival, hall rentals and tickets to performances, go to www.KentuckyCenter.org or call the box office at 502.584.7777. *To see an interview with artist E. V. Day and curator Alice Gray Stites, go to www.Arts-Louisville.com/Visual Arts.