Sarasota, FL – (June 1, 2009) Visual art and performance enthusiasts are encouraged to purchase tickets now for the October 7-11, 2009, Ringling International Arts Festival. Single tickets are available online at the Festival’s official website www.ringlingartsfestival.org or can be purchased by calling the Historic Asolo Theater Box Office at 941.360.7399. Festival attendees can also choose to purchase a Festival package by calling the Box Office.
“The ticket prices are very affordable,” said Dwight Currie, Associate Director of Programming at the Ringling Museum. “We want to make the Festival accessible to everyone even in a tough economy. Festival packages and single ticket sales are off to a promising start and I encourage everyone to get them now before your favorite program sells out.”
The Festival will take place October 7-11, 2009 at the Florida State University cultural campus in Sarasota, Fla. The five-day Festival will feature artists from Australia, Canada, England, France, Israel, Scotland, Spain, and the United States, presented in the Historic Asolo Theater, Mertz Theatre, and Cook Theatre. Outdoor performances and events, as well as lectures, workshops, and artist discussions will augment the core programming.
Single ticket prices range between $10-$30 for each of the one-hour performances in theater, music and dance. Festival-goers can also choose to purchase a Festival package that includes prime seating for a choice of four, six or eight Festival performances as well as general admission to the Museum’s four venues. Single tickets do not include admission to the estate. All performances, with the exception of the opening night concert, are offered at multiple times over the course of the five days. A detailed schedule of performances, events, single ticket prices and festival packages is available at www.ringlingartsfestival.org.
The Opening Night Celebration will feature Robert Spano, leading the Florida State University Symphony, and pianist Pedja Muzijevic. Tickets to the Opening Night Celebration are $100 per ticket and also include a reception at the Museum of Art Courtyard before the concert. Tickets can be purchased at www.ringlingartsfestival.org or by calling the Historic Asolo Theater Box Office.
Sarasota web agency GravityFree created the Festival’s online presence. As part of their social media strategy, GravityFree utilized Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and a blog to help visitors get acquainted and interact with the festival’s wildly diverse selection of artists.
“GravityFree’s online vision and passion for the project was incredible,” said Currie. “They created a site that perfectly conveys the power and creativity of the Festival.”
In addition to the creating the online presence, GravityFree is also a major sponsor of the Festival.
The Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) opened its doors in New York City¹s Hell¹s Kitchen in November 2005. BAC serves as a creative laboratory, meeting place, and performance space for a vibrant community of artists from around the world. BAC is also dedicated to building audiences for the arts by presenting contemporary, innovative work at low or no cost to ticket buyers. The organization recently purchased a 299-seat theater in the performing arts complex, which will undergo renovation in 2009 to be transformed into the state of the art Jerome Robbins Theater. Scheduled to open in 2010, the theater will serve as an organic extension of the existing center, featuring multi-disciplinary work, emerging talent, and international artists, and including artist-centered activity that fosters creative exploration. For more information about the Baryshnikov Arts Center, please visit: www.bacnyc.org.