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CenterStage:  The Queens Center for the Performing Arts opened in March 2009 following the closing of the Brooklyn Queens Conservatory's Flushing campus.  The conservatory had a long history in Queens, having been a presence for more than 50 years in Flushing.  Upon its closing an entire community of artists and their students were left without a home.

Upon learning of the closing, Barbara Speedling, a student and former board member of the conservatory, Clyde Bullard, long-time concert producer for Flushing Town Hall, and Norman Pors, a piano instructor at the conservatory's Flushing campus joined forces to create CenterStage with a new mission and vision for arts education. 

 

Mission: To bring music and arts instruction to the masses, regardless of age or focus, and provide a platform for the development of professional and technical skills that will prepare every student to achieve his or her personal goals for artistic expression through performance.

 

Vision: To create an artistic community in which students of all ages and interests will have access to the instruction, training and experience that will serve as the foundation for their growth and development as an artist and performer.

 

CenterStage, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization, provides private and ensemble music instruction to students of all ages, along with dance, theater and creative arts programming.  The curriculum includes opera and jazz vocal workshops, a children's choir, and a thriving Suzuki violin and piano program.  We also host concerts, workshops and master classes designed to promote and support arts education in a variety of areas.

 

In the months since opening, CenterStage faculty and staff have partnered with a number of other community organizations to provide music for holiday and special events programming.  The Queens chapter of the United Nations Association, Louis Latimer Museum, Queens Historical Society, WaterPod Project, Police Athletic League, Selfhelp and several public schools have all shared in the music provided by CenterStage.  Through these efforts we hope to keep music and arts programming alive and accessible to many.  In  2010, CenterStage will begin offering educational and therapeutic arts programming to a  number of schools and community organizations in Queens.

 

 In addition to education and outreach programs, CenterStage hosted a dynamic Inaugural Concert on April 25th in which more than 40 artists thrilled the audience with their fabulous music.  In June the Magic Circus gave CenterStage students the opportunity to perform songs on magical themes as accompaniment for the magicians who delighted the audience with their magic. In October, we hosted The Good News Gospel Choir, a group of visiting artists from Annecy, France, and produced a special Gospel Music Workshop in their honor following the performance.  During the month of December we will host two major benefit concerts:  "Amahl and the Night Visitors" on December 3rd and the "Lew Picardi Big Band Swing Orchestra" on December 12th. 

 

 CenterStage is a tenant of St. George's Episcopal Church school in downtown Flushing, Queens.  We have access to 12 classrooms, including a dance studio, a choir room, and a performance auditorium with a capacity of 200.