Mid Atlantic Tours
Mid Atlantic Tours supports engagements of performing artists to celebrate, promote and support the richness and diversity of the area’s resources and increase audience access to the arts and cultures from within the region and abroad. The Foundation offers support to presenters from the nine states and jurisdictions it serves who book artists included on the Mid Atlantic Tour roster, with a priority on engagements in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, and West Virginia. Presenters are eligible to receive support toward artist fees for their engagements.
The Foundation selects artists for Mid Atlantic Tours based on a number of goals and criteria:
Affordability: Fees for selected artists normally range between $5,000-$15,000 enabling a diverse range of presenters to easily participate in this program. Artist affordability and appeal also help ensure that the Foundation’s funds get distributed in a broad and equitable manner across the region.
Support of Key Artistic Disciplines: Preference is given to artists working in disciplines that may be more challenging for presenters to program because of cost, risk or unfamiliarity. Jazz, traditional/folk performing arts, contemporary dance, and theater are disciplines of particular interest.
Promotion of regional and international art forms and artists: The Foundation is committed to celebrating art forms with deep roots in the region, such as jazz and folk and traditional arts, and promoting artists based in the mid-Atlantic and from outside the U.S.
Strong Artist Representation: Priority is given to ensembles with strong artist management and/or booking representation capable of identifying appropriate venues and maximizing available resources to fully realize the program’s goals of broad regional participation and providing access to high quality performing arts in underserved communities.
2008-2009 Mid Atlantic Tour Roster
The 2008-2009 Mid Atlantic Tour artists include the following groups. These artists are available for booking between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009.
 Dance: Inbal Pinto Dance Company
Inbal Pinto Dance Company, the celebrated Israeli contemporary dance company, was founded in 1992 by choreographer and designer Inbal Pinto and actor-director Avshalom Pollak. Together, they have built an international reputation for creating unique, highly accessible and entertaining dance theatre works. The 12-member company of dancers and actors has toured extensively around the world. Inbal has received numerous dance awards including Israel’s Ministry of Culture Award for Dance (2000) and a New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award for her creation “Wrapped."
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For booking contact: Rena Shagan, Rena Shagan Associates
Phone: 212-873-9700
E-mail: rena@shaganarts.com
http://www.inbalpinto.com/
 Blues: Cephas & Wiggins
John Cephas and Phil Wiggins are leading exponents of the Piedmont Blues – specifically its distinctive guitar style. The two musicians joined forces in 1977, championing the East Coast style first popularized by artists like Blind Boy Fuller, Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Willie McTell and Blind Blake. Cephas & Wiggins were awarded the “W.C. Handy Blues Entertainers of the Year” in 1987 and “Best Traditional Album of the Year.” Cephas is a 1989 NEA National Heritage Award Fellow.
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For booking contact: Tina Terry, Piedmont Talent
Phone: 252-257-3538
Email: wheremusicmatters@gmail.com
http://www.cephasandwiggins.net/
 World Music : Simon Shaheen
Palestinian oud/violin maestro and master educator Simon Shaheen, a 1994 NEA National Heritage Award winner, is one of the most significant Arab musicians, performers and composers of his generation. Known for dazzling his listeners as he deftly leaps from traditional Arabic sounds to jazz and Western classical styles, Shaheen’s soaring technique and melodic ingenuity have earned him international acclaim as a virtuoso on his instruments. His work incorporates and reflects a legacy of Arabic music, while it forges new frontiers, embracing many different styles in the process. In 2008-2009 he will be touring with his world-class ensemble.
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For booking contact: Jeff Laramie, SRO Artists, Inc
Phone: 608-664-8160
E-mail: jlaramie@sroartists.com
http://www.simonshaheen.com/
 Jazz: Christian McBride Band
Christian McBride is THE bassist-in-demand. Over the course of three albums as a leader and over a hundred as a sideman, Christian McBride has arguably become the most acclaimed acoustic and electric bassist to emerge from the jazz world in the 1990's. He has performed with an impressive array of artists from McCoy Tyner and Sting to Kathleen Battle and Diana Krall. His own recordings encompass a diverse canon of original compositions and imaginatively arranged covers. McBride currently leads a quartet featuring saxophonist Ron Blake, keyboardist Geoffrey Keezer and drummer Terreon Gully.
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For booking contact: Laurel Wicks or Jamie Ziefert, Ted Kurland Associates
Phone: 617-254-0007
E-mail: laurel@tedkurland.com or james@tedkurland.com
http://www.christianmcbride.com/
 Theater: The Acting Company
The Acting Company, America’s only nationally-touring classical repertory theater, was founded in 1972 out of the first graduating class of the Juilliard School’s Drama Division. Established to tour smaller cities, towns and communities and make the language of theater accessible in performance, classes and educational outreach activities, the Company’s alumni include the likes of Frances Conroy, Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone and David Ogden Stiers. For the 2008-2009 season, The Acting Company joins forces with the Tony-Award winning Guthrie Theater to tour a new co-production of Shakespeare’s Henry V and a new adaptation of The Spy by James Fenimore Cooper.
For booking contact: Elaine Lipcan, Opus 3 Artists (formerly ICM Artists)
Phone: 212-584-7522.
E-mail: ELipcan@opus3artists.com
http://www.theactingcompany.org/
Funding Guidelines and Process
Presenters in the Mid Atlantic region (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, DC and West Virginia) are eligible to receive fee support grants toward the contracted artist fees. Artist fees may also include hotel and lodging expenses. Not all artists are eligible for fee support in all states. Please contact the artist’s agent for details.
Supported engagements must include at least one complementary activity that builds appreciation for and a greater understanding of the performance or the art form. Complementary activities may include but are no limited to exhibitions, readings, master classes, lecture-demonstrations, workshops, open rehearsals, or pre-or post-performance discussions. The Foundation encourages presenters to involve the featured artists in the planning and presentation of the complementary activity, however it not a funding requirement that the artist participate in the activity. Presenters should discuss the complementary activity and the artists’ involvement with the artists’ booking agents and include these activities in their negotiations.
There are no restrictions on the number of Mid Atlantic Tour grants a presenter can receive in a given year.
Presenters interested in booking any of the 2008-2009 Mid Atlantic Tour artists and receiving fee support should contact the groups’ agents directly to negotiate terms of the engagement . While there is no application process involved for Mid Atlantic Tour funding, funds are limited, and fee support grants will be available “while supplies last.” Presenters are encouraged to pursue this opportunity and secure artist engagements as soon as possible. The deadline for confirming any engagements proposed for Mid Atlantic Tour funding is March 1, 2008, providing funds are still available.
Presenters reaching communities underserved by the arts will be given priority consideration for support. For the purposes of this program, an underserved community is one in which individuals lack access to arts programs due to geography, economic conditions, ethnic background, or disability.
For questions about the program and funding information, contact Krista Bradley at Krista@midatlanticarts.org.
Funding for these tours
is made possible with support from the National
Endowment for the Arts Regional
Touring Program.
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