In Sunday’s (11/11) New York Times, Douglas Martin writes, “Isaiah Sheffer, who three decades ago looked at a grimy, derelict movie theater on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and envisioned the palace of performing arts that became Symphony Space, a vibrant, eclectic institution … died on Friday in Manhattan. He was 76.” Sheffer had “an exuberantly varied theatrical career as a librettist, playwright, director and impresario. But he said his professional life had ‘no coherence’ until he and his artistic partner, the conductor Allan Miller, put on a marathon concert of Bach at the theater on Jan. 7, 1978. The next morning, he wrote down his idea for a place he had decided to call Symphony Space, in part because that was the name of the theater and in part because its first event was a symphony concert. After tens of millions of dollars raised and a decade of litigation, it became a complex of two theaters with a cafe, offices and a board of directors. He was its artistic director, and would remain so for 32 years.” Symphony Space has hosted the New York Philharmonic’s Contact! new music series along with classical chamber music and solo recitals.
Posted November 12, 2012
