Even though plans for Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park were made public only a year ago, the promise of it has lived in the imagination of symphony and civic leaders for years.
“I’ve been with the orchestra for 14 years and, for at least a decade, I’ve been looking for a summer home, so this is a great day,” says ASO President and Chief Executive Officer Alison Vulgamore. “The orchestra looked north and south [of Atlanta]. We had a wonderful discussion with Habersham County, but it came a little early in our life to actually pull it off. We’ve had discussions in the south, with Callaway Gardens, for years. In the end, this was the community that, with its own vision, was the ripest for an amphitheater that the ASO would manage. It was just a great synergy of our mutual visions.”
Brandon Beach, president and chief executive officer of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce says the amphitheater is the culmination of a dream he and other community leaders shared for a long time. “These individuals knew the missing component in our community was an arts and entertainment center where they could enjoy music and friendship without having to drive downtown.” He remembers an early pamphlet the chamber had drawn up to advertise plans to build an arts center. When a company representative from New Jersey visited to discuss relocating her office to Alpharetta, Beach pulled out the brochure. “She said, ‘Do you have any more of these? This might make the difference between my 70 employees – the arts are big in New Jersey.’
“Today we have more than a brochure,” he continues, “We have a reality. The arts are a catalyst for economic development. This amphitheater will serve as a catalyst, a nerve center to bring the citizens of our community together in a great, great way.” The benefits of the new amphitheater reach far outside the immediate metro Atlanta community; people from more than 40 states purchased tickets to see the Eagles play last month.
ASO Vice President of Business Development and Chief Financial Officer Don Fox came close to tears when he heard the amphitheater’s sound system tested for the first time, because he saw the amphitheater fulfilling an ASO vision. “Alison has a phrase,” he explains. “She would say, ‘We want to create a destination beyond the stage.’ Because if you don’t have great enthusiasm for what’s happening in front of you; you’d have great enthusiasm for what was happening around you.”
The amphitheater was designed to make the most of a natural bowl it sits in, so people on the grass have excellent views of the stage. Sightlines and a high-tech sound system enable attendees to hear and see everything going on from the moment they walk through the gates. The biggest testament to the venue’s promise, perhaps, is Music Director Robert Spano’s decision not to attend European festivals this year; instead he is overseeing the ASO’s seven summer concerts here.
Vulgamore says Encore Park will never replace Chastain; they each serve unique audiences. Chastain’s series focuses on jazz and pops concerts, while the ASO concerts at Encore Park are classically-based. “”Obviously at Chastain there’s a long history of seeing the stars, being under the magnolias, bringing in your food … Here, if it rains, you don’t have to worry about getting wet. Together with Alpharetta we will grow a happy, vibrant listening experience of classical music listeners in Alpharetta,” she explains.
Three venues mean a lot of dates for the ASO to fill, but Vulgamore says there are no plans for a secondary orchestra.
“One of the things that’s very special about our orchestra is it does it all,” Vulgamore says. “The ASO records La boheme, wins Grammys for America’s greatest composers and supports some of the most phenomenal popular artists of our time. The organization itself presents great artists. We like to be a part of everywhere we are.
At the Encore Park opening, Vulgamore stressed, “This isn’t only a venue. We live here with you. Ninety percent of our musicians volunteer in the community.”
The Atlanta community itself is to thank for the ASO’s diverse talents and offerings. Vulgamore says Atlanta’s youth as a city and its welcoming nature invites new ideas. “The arts frankly live in this culture that allows experimentation and flexibility, and supports experimentation.” As a result, Vulgamore says, “The Atlanta Symphony – we are unlike any other orchestra I am aware of in the country. The diversity of those ensembles alone makes me so tremendously proud. Now that we have three venues – that means I have a whole lot of playground to deal with.”
