Friday, April 9, 10:00 am
10:00 am - 11:30 am
FREE EVENT
Join Arizona Musicfest’s executive and producing director, CEO Allan Naplan for an informative and entertaining look behind the scenes at Musicfest,. As part of his engaging presentation, Allan will share how he selects artists and curates each annual concert season; he’ll walk attendees through the hiring and contract process for celebrity entertainers and distinguished artists; he’ll provide insight into the Musicfest business model; and he’ll offer some personal stories about his experiences working with entitled entertainers, demanding divas, and temperamental talents!
Getting Here
Instructor
Allan E. Naplan joined Arizona Musicfest in 2013. Since his arrival, the organization has realized transformative growth and success. During his tenure, Musicfest has greatly expanded the number of concert performances offered each season; the breadth of musical genres presented; the caliber of guest artists engaged; and the total number of patrons attending the annual concert season, now exceeding 50,000 per year. Further, charitable support for the organization has dramatically increased, providing the non-profit with a healthy fiscal balance of earned vs. unearned revenue. Under his direction, Arizona Musicfest has presented a distinguished roster of guest artists, including Jason Alexander, Paul Anka, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Michael Bolton, Chris Botti, Rosanne Cash, Kristin Chenoweth, Il Divo, Michael Feinstein, Renée Fleming, David Foster, Sutton Foster, Kenny G, Augustin Hadelich, Samara Joy, Lyle Lovett, Patti LuPone, Johnny Mathis, Midori, Rita Moreno, Marie Osmond, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, LeAnn Rimes, Lea Salonga, Gil Shaham, and Mavis Staples, as well as the Carnegie Hall Big Band, Pink Martini, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Manhattan Transfer, The Ten Tenors, The Texas Tenors, Steep Canyon Rangers, The Piano Guys and many others.
Beyond the concert stage, under Allan’s direction the organization has expanded to include Music Alive!, the organization’s popular lifelong learning and creative aging series (over 350 presentations each season), as well as Musicfest Theatricals, a new division of Musicfest, which offers fully staged theatrical concert productions of Broadway musicals, featuring guest Broadway artists.
In 2020, Naplan was recognized as an “Arts Hero” by On Stage/On Media magazine, the official publisher of arts performance programs for the Phoenix valley. Previously in 2018, Naplan was named as a “Best of Arts and Culture” winner by the Phoenix Jewish News for his leadership of Arizona Musicfest and his artistic contributions to the community.
* returning Musicfest artist