Tony Award-winning theater director Gregory Mosher is stepping down as founding director of Columbia’s Arts Initiative, but he says this isn’t his final bow at the University.
“Gregory’s extraordinary efforts to imagine and establish the Arts Initiative at Columbia leave us well positioned to ensure that the entire spectrum of university life continues to be enriched by the arts,” said University President Lee Bollinger in an email he sent out on Thursday.
Bollinger established the Arts Initiative in 2004 as a multifaceted initiative that includes student and alumni programs aimed at providing affordable and exclusive access to arts and culture events around the city.
Despite an economic recession that made arts a low priority for many, a 30 percent budget cut last year, and an administrative move from the Office of the President to the jurisdiction of the School of the Arts, CUArts, as it is also known, has continued to expand its programs—a success that some attribute to Mosher’s leadership.
In his email, Bollinger credits Mosher with bringing the former president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel, to Columbia for a seven-week, artist-in-residence program.
Mosher said in an interview with Spectator last year that funding global initiatives was very important to him—in addition to running programs such as the Ticket and Information Center, ArtsLink, and Passport to New York. Two years ago, a global initiatives program funded a trip to Beijing for several musicians from the Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Program—these students had the opportunity to perform with local musicians.
During his time at Columbia, Mosher continued the off-campus activities that have made him a celebrity in the theater world.
Last year, Mosher directed “A View From the Bridge” at the Cort Theatre on Broadway, a production for which lead actress Scarlett Johansson won a Tony Award.
In an email to Spectator after Bollinger’s announcement, Mosher, who will remain a professor, said he hopes to return his attention to the stage.
“I’m nursing along several theatre productions, and if the theatre gods smile I’ll be back in a rehearsal room soon,” he said.
“I really enjoy my teaching,” Mosher said, adding that this semester his students are using ArtsLink, a CUArts program, to see shows on Broadway, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and at Lincoln Center.
There is no word yet on Mosher’s departure date or when the search for a new director will begin.
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