It is hard to believe that one of the world’s most iconic arts and cultural landmarks, Wales Millennium Centre, will be celebrating only its second birthday this Sunday (26 November).Since opening its doors on 26 November 2004, Wales Millennium Centre has taken its place alongside the leading performing arts venues of the world, has attracted world-class productions, has developed audiences for new art forms and has created and generated its own works to great success. More than 1.2 million visitors have walked through the doors, attended shows or business events, been on guided tours and visits of Wales Millennium Centre over the last two years, exceeding its audience and visitor targets (facts and figures in notes to editors). Chief Executive of Wales Millennium Centre, Judith Isherwood, explains “We have come a long way in such little time and delighted with what we have achieved to date. One of the events that encapsulates our success on an international level and demonstrates our primary objective of bringing the best of the world to Wales is the Mariinsky Theatre’s Ring Cycle, performing at the Centre in a week’s time. “It is estimated that the Centre has brought more than £120 million to the Welsh economy which can only be good news for Wales and Cardiff. Noticeably, since we have opened, ticket sales for the other Cardiff arts venues have also increased, clearly highlighting that interest in the arts is rising and that we are reaching new audiences.” World-class productions to have graced the Donald Gordon Theatre stage over the last two years include Russia's legendary Kirov Ballet, Miss Saigon, Australian Ballet’s Swan Lake and The Royal Variety Performance. Exciting shows to look out for over the coming months include Mariinsky Theatre’s production of Mariinsky Theatre’s Ring Cycle, conducted by Valery Gergiev, in November, Swan Lake on Ice in December, Scottish Ballet’s Cinderella in January 2007 and Australian Dance Company’s Held in March. As well as attracting international productions, the Centre is also a platform for Welsh talent with shows such as Amazing Grace and more Welsh language productions making their way to the Donald Gordon Theatre and the Weston Studio. WMC is committed to creating its own productions such as Ivor Novello’s Glamorous Night concert that toured to San Francisco and the West End in 2006. New work has also been generated through the Incubator Project, a scheme aimed to nurture, develop and encourage emerging talent and new work in Wales. Instantly recognisable, the award winning Wales Millennium Centre has won several architecture awards including the National Eisteddfod Gold Medal for Architecture 2005, the European Convention for Structural Steelwork Award 2005 for creative and outstanding use of steel in architecture & construction, the MIPIM (International Property Conference) Award for Excellence, a RIBA Award and a RICS Award. The vision of Wales Millennium Centre is to be an internationally significant cultural landmark and centre for the performing arts, renowned for inspiration, excellence and leadership. WMC aims to attract audiences and visitors from Wales & beyond and to provide a creative home for Wales’s leading arts and cultural organisations. ...................... Interesting Facts to date about WMC: · Attracted more than 1.2 million visitors · Attracted over 575,000 attendees to over 360 performances in the Donald Gordon Theatre · Attracted 18,000 attendees to 160 Weston Studio performances · Attracted over 446,000 casual visitors · WMC has welcomed more than 25,000 schoolchildren, many from North and West Wales as well as the South Wales Valleys who have benefited from the Centre’s educational programmes · Attracted 34,000 people to take guided tours of the building · 30,000 business users have attended over 830 conferences/events · Over 870 free foyer performances have taken place · Created a database of 135,000 with 5,000 joining every month · 98% of first time visitors intend to visit again in the near future · Secured over 30 new corporate supporters since opening |
| Wales Millenium Centre web site: www.wmc.org.uk |
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Sunday, November 26, 2006 |
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