The Oxford Performing Arts Center is a

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

venue located in

Oxford, Alabama Oxford is a city in Calhoun, Talladega, and Cleburne counties in the State of Alabama. The population was 22,069 at the 2020 census,. Oxford is one of two principal cities of and included in the Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Statistical Area, ...

. The venue opened in May 2013 with a gala concert by the

Alabama Symphony Orchestra The Alabama Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra based in Birmingham, Alabama. The orchestra's resident and principal conductor is Christopher Confessore. The Orchestra was first formed in April 1921 but had to close because of financial issu ...

. The $10.4-million project saw the addition of a 1,200-seat theatre to an existing historic building dating to 1921, which previously served as a school, city hall, police station, and city jail. Located in the Oxford's downtown commercial district, the venue was designed by Goodwyn, Mills, and Cawood Architects of

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

. During expansion and restoration, historical aspects of the original 1921 building were retained, such as flooring and columns. Since its opening in 2013, the venue has had a series of renovations to enhance

front of house In the performing arts, front of house (FOH) is the part of a performance venue that is open to the public. In theatres and live music venues, it consists of the auditorium and foyers, as opposed to the stage and backstage areas. In a theatre, t ...

spaces and production capabilities. The first renovation commenced in 2015 and included the addition of a women's restroom and an expanded box office. The most recent renovation, in 2018, added 100 box seats to the main theatre, added a studio theatre to the venue, and expanded the theatrical fly system. The center utilizes the Tessitura ticketing platform and maintains memberships in regional and national arts organizations, such as the

Association of Performing Arts Professionals The Association of Performing Arts Professionals (previously the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, also known as APAP), based in Washington, D.C.,

. The Oxford Performing Arts Center has presented several national Broadway touring musicals, including ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...

'', '' Jersey Boys'', and ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

''. In August 2022, the center presented and hosted the inaugural Rubato Internation Piano Festival with support from

Steinway Piano Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to the opening of a ...

. The competition is the first of its kind as it will integrate the categories of classical and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

music in a single competition. The judges for the inaugural competition are Steinway Hall of Fame of artists and professors from Fullerton College,

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

, Texas A&M,

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

References

{{coord, 33.6146, -85.8340, type:landmark_region:US-AL, display=title Performing arts centers in Alabama 2013 establishments in Alabama Buildings and structures in Alabama Oxford, Alabama