Performing Arts Professionals to Gather in NYC

Several thousand people are expected to converge on New York City, January 10-14, 2020, for the annual conference of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP). Now in its 63rd year, the global performing arts gathering, marketplace and conference will feature more than 1000 artist showcases (including a number of folk and roots music artists), nearly 400 exhibitors, daily plenary sessions and keynote speakers, a wide array of professional development sessions, and networking opportunities galore. Daily plenary sessions also will be streamed via Facebook Live, while Wavelengths: Global Music Conference at APAP and other pre-conference sessions on Jan. 9-10 are open to the public — as are some of the ticketed showcases at venues throughout the city.

Risk and Resilience is the theme of the 2020 conference “[It] will provide an important lens for our industry as we take stock of the risks we’ve taken to stay resilient and support the creative forces that have encouraged discovery, empathy and courage in our field,” said Mario Garcia Durham, APAP’s president and CEO. Conference programming will reflect how creative professionals lean into the risk that is inherent in the creation and discovery of art-making and arts-presenting, while embodying the resilience that is intrinsic to being part of and responding to the world around us – becoming stronger as we flex with it.

Several pre-conference events on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 9 and 10 (including professional development and networking sessions and the free, two-day Wavelengths: Global Music Conference at APAP (featuring workshops, panel discussions and musical interludes) are open to the public. To RSVP, click on the following link: https://bit.ly/APAPNYC2020PreConRSVP.

The conference’s daily plenary sessions featuring creative thinkers, thought leaders and artists also may be streamed live at facebook.com/APAPNYC. These include an artist-led opening session on “The Power of Risk-Taking” on Friday, Jan. 10, and a closing session on “Art, Life and Music” to be presented by musician Ben Folds on Tuesday morning, Jan. 14.

As in years past, dozens of performing artists from the folk, roots and singer-songwriter communities in the U.S. Canada and several other countries will showcase their talents during the multidisciplinary arts business conference. Highlights are apt to include a Folquebec TradFest at Scandinavia House in Manhattan on Saturday night, Jan. 11, and “From Manhattan to Moose Pass,” an annual roots music variety showcase curated by fiddler and poet Ken Waldman, at the Manhattan nightclub Don’t Tell Mama on Friday, Jan. 10, that also is open to the public. The Roots Agency presents showcases featuring Alisa Amador and The Subdudes at Iridium in the early evening on Jan. 10, while Skyline Artists Agency presents The Hillbenders and We Banjo 3 at the noted Manhattan jazz club later that night. Artist showcases also will take place at the New York Hilton Midtown, the conference’s host hotel, and at other venues.

A Washington, DC-based nonprofit, APAP is a national service, advocacy and membership organization dedicated to developing and supporting a robust performing arts presenting field and the professionals who work within it. More information on APAP and is conference may be found online at www.apap365.og.