ABSTRACT: On January 1, 2008, Peter Lesnik, currently Executive Director of the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), will become the second Executive Director of Sunset Cultural Center, Inc. (SCC). Mr. Lesnik’s “Theatre” Biography is presented; Information, Mission & History of the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center is also presented.
Peter Lesnik, currently Executive Director of the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), will become the second Executive Director of Sunset Cultural Center, Inc. (SCC) January 1, 2008.
“THEATRE” BIOGRAPHY OF PETER LESNIK:
• Currently Executive Director of the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB)
• Presents everything from “dance and theater to original and avant garde work; from jazz to family programming.”
• 20 years in the performing arts field, as author, performer, producer, director and presenter.
• Former Executive Director of the Herberger Theatre Center, Phoenix, AZ., the Kelsey Theater at Mercer College, New Jersey, Norris Theatre for the Performing Arts, Los Angeles, CA.
• Oversaw the revitalization of performing arts centers, including the Herberger Theatre Center, Phoenix, AZ., the Kelsey Theater at Mercer College, New Jersey and the Norris Theatre for the Performing Arts, Palos.Verdes, CA.
• Current Board Member (Vice President) of Diavolo Dance Company
• Current Member of California Presenters; established in 1985, "a statewide organization committed to advancing professional touring and presenting of the performing arts."
• Principal, TMA, Inc. (Theatre Management Associates); TMA “constructs solutions to all imaginable physical, fiscal, staffing, marketing and programmatic challenges for venues as they are being built, renovated or re-imagined.”
• Former Commissioner on the Los Angeles County Arts Commission
• Former reader and advisor to the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference
• Former Dramaturge, Acting Teacher and Director at the Performing Arts Foundation, Huntington, N.Y.
• Former Residents Director at the 13th Street Theatre, New York and the Odyssey Theatre, Los Angeles
• Creator of the Counterpane Acting Method
• Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre, University of California Riverside; Master’s Degree in Theatre and Film, Pennsylvania State University
THE RICHARD AND KAREN CARPENTER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: INFORMATION, MISSION & HISTORY:
• Named after Richard and Karen Carpenter, the Grammy Award-winning brother and sister duo “The Carpenters.”
• Richard Carpenter and his family support the Carpenter Center philanthropically
• Mission: The mission of the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center is to guarantee the citizens of Long Beach, CSULB students, faculty, and staff, and surrounding communities access to the entire spectrum of performing arts experiences through resident companies, arts outreach, and unique programming.
• The Carpenter Center is the second largest performing arts center in Long Beach; second to downtown’s Long Beach Performing Arts Center.
• Built in 1993, the 1,074-seat venue was christened the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center after Richard donated $1 million to the facility.
• The $27 million white building, constructed with state bond money, was modeled after the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City.
• The Carpenter Center debuted in Dec. 1993; the official grand opening took place in Oct. 1994
• February 1995: Summer & Fall Performances on hold and staff laid off due to poor revenues. The Center was transferred from the university’s fund-raising office to the College of the Arts.
• September 1995: a new season announced.
• December 1997, Lesnik hired as Executive Director.
• "My basic philosophy on programming is to find out what's available to people on a professional level in and around the immediate community," Lesnik says. "What's not available is what we should be doing."
• Lesnik made international and contemporary dance a priority and started a series of family programming.
• 150 to 200 events a year take place at the center, 80 of them by the center's four residents (South Coast Chorale, Musical Theatre West, Long Beach Opera and Long Beach Community Concert Association).
• According to a recent Monterey County Herald article, Lesnik “raised programming and fundraising revenues tenfold during the past 10 years as director of the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.”
SOURCES:
http://www.carpenterarts.org/
http://www.fiatlux.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=914
http://www.theatremgmtassociates.com/associates.htm
http://www.leadsister.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t1780.html
http://www.ced.csulb.edu/news-events/story.cfm?hackid=484
http://www.diavolo.org/
http://www.calpresenters.org/
http://www.montereyherald.com/
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Peter Lesnik, Executive Director
(562) 985-2488
plesnik@csulb.edu
CARPENTER CENTER
6200 Atherton Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90815
562.985.4274
For More Information about The Carpenter Center, click on Post title above or copy, paste and click http://www.carpenterarts.org/
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