CU Venue Joins City Arts Scene

When George Steel was appointed executive director of the Kathryn Bache Miller Theatre three years ago, he opened the curtain on a new sound. A musician, composer, conductor, and former managing producer at the 92nd Street Y, Steel turned the theater's focus toward new music and living composers and has attracted both media praise and a faithful audience of students, New Yorkers, and suburban theatergoers.

Last Thursday, Miller Theatre opened for the 2000-2001 season with a performance by composer Steve Reich and his ensemble. Reich, who has won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Composition, was presented with the William Schuman Award, honoring lifetime achievement; it has been conferred on only five American composers over the past 19 years. Reich is just one of several recognized 20th century composers who have performed at Miller in recent years.

Miller Theatre, then known as McMillan Theatre, was built in the 1920s to host lectures, concerts, and other events suited to an auditorium, according to Steel,. It was renovated in 1988 and thereafter came to play an active role in bringing events to innovative new performances on campus. As early as 1996, The New Yorker called Miller Theatre "the city's hottest hotbed of innovative programming."

Almost a decade after the physical renovation, Steel updated the theater's image when he assumed the role of director. This process involved presenting programs by living composers in order to create interest in concert hall music among the Columbia University community.

In 1999, Billboard Magazine credited Steel for Miller Theatre's recognition in New York City as "an oasis of intrepid culture."

"We need to make programs that have unusual interest or are tailored for students or have city-wide interest," Steel said.

"We're here partnering with Columbia to create the next concert hall audience. It's fitting that Columbia, a great university and a place full of young people and new ideas, be the home of Miller Theatre, [a place] that focuses on the art of our time."

Many publications, including the New York Times, Newsday, and The New Yorker, have recognized Miller's growth and development as a noted New York venue. From the 1997-1998 season to the 1999-2000 season, revenue has increased by close to 30 percent, with the majority of ticket sales sold at full price, as opposed to the discounted tickets that Columbia students receive.

"George Steel has turned that place into a major venue in New York, especially for new music," said composer John Musto, who has been featured at Miller for the past two seasons and will return in February. "For old music, and new music [it's] not the business as usual that you get everywhere else. He's got his finger on the pulse of everything that's going on."

Steel has aimed to bring unique programming to Miller in order to differentiate it from other New York venues.

"You have to be the best of something to succeed in New York. [Miller is] the most important concert hall for new music in New York. It's like the MoMA of music. You come to learn and to appreciate," Steel said. "People don't know it [20th Century music] because they haven't had the right exposure to it."

In the past few years, however, Miller Theatre and its programming have been receiving a lot of exposure, both on and off campus. Musto credits Steel for the growing recognition of Miller Theatre throughout New York City.

"I don't know of a venue that is so associated with its director. You say Miller Theatre; people think George Steel. He's remade it into something quite special and quite unique," Musto said.

He's done this by bringing music that is not featured elsewhere in New York to Miller's stage.

"I think they do really terrific programming, a lot of new music and a lot of music you can't hear other places," said David Haiman, a music education masters student at Teacher's College who lives in the Bronx and frequents Miller Theatre.

The location of the theater seems far from the cultural hubs of Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, but at the same time, the location makes it convenient for Columbia students.

"It offers fine performances for a low price, and it's convenient," said SIPA student Christine Nollen, who goes to Miller once or twice a year.

"The programming compares well [to other venues in New York City], especially this [far] uptown," said Matthew Goldberg, a student at the Manhattan School of Music who sometimes attends events at Miller Theatre.

"Part of it is that we have developed an audience that expects [something special]. Part of it is what seems vital and interesting. [We ask], 'will a program appeal to and educate our audience of students and people from around the city?"' Steel said.

Although Andrea Staskowski of the East Village only learned about the Miller Theatre when she was accidentally put on its mailing list, she has since attended and enjoyed several events at the venue.

"It's a little bit of a find for me. It's a civilized and intelligent milieu. They have good programming with variety and sophistication," Staskowski said at Saturday's Steve Reich concert.

"There should be a very congenial audience that is coming to enjoy the music. At some larger places, corporations buy large amounts of tickets, and the people in the audience don't know why they're there, and they don't know what they're listening to, and that energy has a negative experience," Staskowski said.

Future plans for Miller include programs that Steel hopes will involve Columbia students more directly in musical, theatrical, and production roles.

Until then, however, Steel plans to continue providing the community at large with "a really great music program covering all genres," as Robert Hurwitz, the president of Nonesuch Records said in the Sept. 10 New York Times.

The upcoming season's program continues to explore 20th century living composers and their works. There is a composer series featuring Louis Andriessen, a leader of cutting edge composition, combining jazz and rock 'n roll. There will also be a jazz series featuring the music of Cole Porter and Etta Jones, among others. In addition, the Gogmagogs, a London string ensemble, will be putting on Gobbledygook, which combines drama and music into an amusing performance.

"Any Columbia student can go get a discount ticket and go to Carnegie Hall. Anyone can do that. How does Miller Theatre compete for students who can go elsewhere in New York City to see an event? That's the stiffest competition in the world," said Steel. "The answer is to put on events that don't happen anywhere else."