Zankel Opens Tonight!

Feb. 5 performance will be first event at new facility

The inaugural performance at Skidmore's new Arthur Zankel Music Center will be a concert by Ensemble ACJW in a "Carnegie Hall Premieres" performance at 8 p.m. tonight. 

Free and open to the public, the event will take place in the 600-seat Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall. As with previous Ensemble ACJW concerts, seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Those who attend the pre-concert discussion at 7 p.m. will be assured of getting seats. Call 518-580-5321 for the latest information on the event. 
 
Ensemble ACJW comes to Skidmore through a partnership between the college and The Academy?a program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute, in partnership with the New York City Department of Education. The program's musicians,  all young professionals, continue their musical training while also teaching and performing in New York City schools.
 
Skidmore has hosted an Ensemble ACJW residency once each semester since 2007, presenting the upstate premieres of works commissioned by Carnegie Hall. While on campus, ensemble members work with Skidmore students, visit local schools, and give a major public performance. For the  third year in a row, the ensemble will return to Saratoga Springs in June to perform at SaratogaArtsFest.
 
The Feb. 5 concert will include David Bruce's lively Gumboots for clarinet and string quartet, which premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2008. The work is divided into two parts, with a tranquil prelude preceding six jubilant "gumboot dances," inspired by a form of dancing that originated during apartheid in South Africa. Since workers were often prohibited from talking while they labored in mines, they communicated by slapping their boots in rhythmic patterns.
 
Another of Bruce's Carnegie commissions, Piosenki, received its upstate New York premiere in 2007 at Skidmore.
 
The British-American composer recently said that his memories of Skidmore include a packed hall, an enthusiastic audience, and the most talented young players the country has to offer. He will be on campus to work with the fellows during the residency and throughout the rehearsal process leading up to the Feb. 5 performance.
 
Also included on the program will be Prokofiev's Quintet in G Minor, Op. 39; and Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67.
 
Thomas Denny, professor and chair of Skidmore's Music Department, will lead the pre-performance discussion with Bruce and Ensemble ACJW members beginning at 7 p.m.
 
In addition to Bruce, the following performers will be on campus: Sarah Beaty, clarinet, Meena Bhasin, viola, Nicholas Canellakis, cello, Owen Dalby, violin Joanna Marie Frankel, violin, Angelina Gadeliya, piano, Evan Premo, double bass, and James Austin Smith, oboe.   

Opening of the Arthur Zankel Music Center  

The spring semester marks the opening of the Arthur Zankel (pronounced Zan-KELL) Music Center at Skidmore.
 
With approximately 54,000 square feet of teaching, practice, performance, and administrative space, the Zankel Music Center features two performing spaces: the 600-seat Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall and the 90-seat Elisabeth Luce Moore Hall. Designed by the Philadelphia architectural firms of EwingCole and BelsonDesignArchitects and drawing upon the expertise of acousticians, theater designers, and landscape architects, the center reflects Skidmore's commitment to the arts and to creative thinking. Construction of the project has been handled by MLB Construction Services.
 
Located on the main drive near the front entrance of the College, the Zankel Center serves as a gateway building for the campus. Its traditional brick, copper, and glass facade harkens back to the style of the initial campus buildings, while its bold structure will work in tandem with the similarly powerful shape of the nearby Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery. Together with the Janet Kinghorn Bernhard Theater, the Marjorie Saisselin Art Building, and the original Therese W. Filene Music Building, it creates a true arts quadrangle.
 
The total cost of the building, including construction, equipment, and architectural fees, is $32.5 million. It will be formally dedicated in October.
 
The core funding for the Zankel Music Center came from the estate of Arthur Zankel, a longtime Skidmore trustee, friend, and benefactor, who bequeathed $46 million - the largest gift in the College's history. Of the bequest, $15 million went to the Zankel Center.  Other uses of the gift include the establishment of a Zankel scholarship program based on need for New York City-area students and the creation of a program of study in arts administration.   

Background on Arthur Zankel

A lifelong resident of New York City, Arthur Zankel was co-managing partner of High Rise Capital Management, which he founded in 2000. Prior to that he was with First Manhattan Co., an investment management firm, for 35 years, becoming co-managing partner and then senior partner. He is credited with playing a key role in the 1998 merger of Citibank and Travelers Group insurance company.

Zankel served on the board of directors of Citigroup, Travelers Property-Casualty, and other corporations, and was a trustee of the UJA Federation, the New York Foundation, and Carnegie Hall, and Skidmore. He and his wife, Judy, made a major donation to Carnegie Hall, which led to the construction of a new Carnegie concert space named in their honor.

Zankel's connections to Skidmore were many. Two of his four sons graduated from the College, Kenneth in 1982 and James in 1992, as did a nephew, Harun Zankel, Class of 2001, and a daughter-in-law, Pia Scala Zankel, Class of 1992. As a Skidmore trustee during 1989-99, he was known for his astute leadership of the board's investment committee and a wonderful sense of humor.

A generous Skidmore donor, he endowed a professorship in management and the liberal arts and the Zankel Lecture Series, which fosters discussion of business issues from a societal and ethical perspective. Zankel also provided support for student scholarships and for the College's Office of Special Programs.