Celebrating 20 years, Spivey Hall welcomes The Coca-Cola Company as corporate sponsor

A new sponsorship supports the Jupiter String Quartet’s "Project Jupiter" residency, a visual retrospective of Spivey Hall’s first twenty years, and the acquisition of a new concert grand piano

The Coca-Cola Company and Clayton State University’s Spivey Hall have revived a decades-old relationship through a corporate sponsorship of Spivey Hall’s Twentieth Anniversary Season of high-quality music education programs and concerts by superb international guest artists.

The Coca-Cola Company, headquartered in Atlanta, was a Founding Donor to the campaign led by The Walter and Emilie Spivey Foundation to build Spivey Hall in the late 1980s, making a pivotal gift that helped ensure the campaign’s success. These generous and far-sighted gifts haven proven to be exceptionally fruitful investments in the region’s cultural development and enrichment.

From the very first dedication concert at Spivey Hall, given by superstar violinist Itzhak Perlman on January 23, 1991, the Hall’s world-class acoustics have drawn universal accolades from artists, audiences and critics alike. Spivey Series concerts by distinguished international musicians supported by The Spivey Foundation quickly established a reputation of excellence for the intimate, elegant, 392-seat hall – a reputation extended to millions of listeners via frequent nationwide public-radio broadcasts.

Spivey Hall’s service to the region was further enhanced by the creation of music education programs under the guidance the Spivey Hall Education Committee and its chairman, Jay Wucher, responding to the needs of metro-Atlanta teachers and students though fine music, and now serving some 18,000 individuals each year.

Marking a significant milestone in the Hall’s history, The Coca-Cola Company’s new sponsorship sustains the excellence for which Spivey Hall is renowned, and directly supports three Twentieth Anniversary Season initiatives. The first is "Project Jupiter," a three-year residency by the critically-acclaimed Jupiter String Quartet, designed to develop greater appreciation for string chamber music through partnerships with three high schools in Clayton, Fayette, and Henry counties. In addition to regular Spivey Hall performances for schoolchildren and adults, the Jupiter String Quartet will give numerous outreach concerts in metro Atlanta, thereby introducing new audiences to the pleasures of hearing chamber music expertly performed, and heightening awareness of Spivey Hall’s community-service mission of access to fine music. The Coca-Cola Company is the exclusive beverage sponsor of Project Jupiter.

Coca-Cola sponsorship funds make possible the production of a ten-panel, full-color display for Spivey Hall’s lobby, celebrating the artistic and community-service highlights of the Hall’s first twenty seasons. This exhibit, to be unveiled in January 2011, will illustrate for concert-goes and visitors the broad scope of Spivey Hall’s achievements, especially in presenting international artists and ensembles whose performances have significantly enriched the musical wealth of the region, and in the creation of the award-winning Spivey Hall Children’s Choir Program under the direction of Dr. Martha Shaw. Augmenting the display on a rotating basis will be photographs and program books autographed by guest artists, and other memorabilia that tell the story of Spivey Hall’s rise to national and international prominence.

Additionally, The Coca-Cola Company sponsorship supports the Friends of Spivey Hall Piano Fund, established with a seed gift from The Chaparral Foundation to acquire a new Steinway grand piano, which will enhance Spivey Hall’s ability to meet the performance needs of the world’s foremost concert pianists who appear each season in the Spivey Series. With major funding also committed by Clayton State University, The Coca-Cola Company sponsorship and additional gifts from the Friends of Spivey Hall will soon enable the Piano Fund campaign to reach its goal. Delivery of the new Steinway grand piano is anticipated later this season.

"I am delighted and sincerely grateful that the long relationship between Spivey Hall and The Coca-Cola Company has been strengthened and rekindled through this sponsorship," said Spivey Hall Executive & Artistic Director Samuel C. Dixon. "As a Founding Donor of Spivey Hall, The Coca-Cola Company helped make access to first-rate classical, jazz, and world music possible for millions of people in Georgia and across the country. Our Twentieth Anniversary Season sponsorship reinforces our commitment to serve people of all ages through fine music, and to extend our tradition of artistic excellence as Spivey Hall enters its third decade."

Spivey Hall’s home is Clayton State University, an outstanding comprehensive university of the University System of Georgia offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees, which through a 2009 partnership agreement designated Coca-Cola as the exclusive provider of non-alcoholic beverages on campus.