We are pleased to share our most recent publication, which takes a look back at the first two seasons of Center Stage. This piece recaps the impact of the first two seasons of the program, featuring profiles on each ensemble, photos from the many engagements around the country, and testimonials from participants.

Center Stage is a fantastic, well-loved and important program that has gone far to develop and deepen cross-cultural collaboration, cultural diplomacy and dialogue.  It has huge potential to break down barriers between U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries.  – Isabel Soffer, Live Sounds

Center Stage takes participants beyond the headlines and common misperceptions to engage artists, audiences, and community members alike as citizen diplomats. In the first two seasons, Center Stage has…

• Visited 70 communities in 32 states and Washington, DC
• Hosted 101 artists in 17 ensembles from 5 countries: Haiti, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan, and Vietnam
• Booked 164 performances – indoors and out, ticketed and free
• Planned 538 educational, community, and artist-to-artist activities
• Traveled 62,000+ cumulative tour miles
• Connected with 85,000+ U.S. Audience members, participants, and students
• Engaged 200,000+ U.S. and global users of web-based content and social media channels
• Placed 1,000,000+ media impressions (online and print) in outlets including The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, MTV Iggy, The Huffington Post, Rolling Stone Indonesia, Voice of America, The New York Times, Dawn, NPR, and the BBC.

Center Stage will continue to bring important new voices into the global cultural dialogue.  Ensembles from Algeria and Tanzania will be announced in the summer of 2015 for touring in June–December of 2016.

Art can be – and should be – a transformational force across the globe. – Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Department of State

To request a hard copy of the brochure, contact program manager Adrienne Petrillo. 

And check out more Center Stage publications here.