The wait for a new professional programming presenter at the Arden Theatre is over. Casey Prescott, The Banff Centre’s theatre arts department’s program manager, is slated to start Tuesday, Aug. 3.
Prescott takes over the position from Brenda Heatherington after she moved to Ontario on April 30 to oversee the completion of the $11 million Burlington Arts Centre.
“We are absolutely delighted to have been able to attract him here,” said cultural services director Gail Barrington-Moss, describing his present responsibilities administering opera, dance and theatre training programs, residencies and professional workshops.
Prescott also produces the Banff Summer Arts Festival, a four-month event from May to August that ranges from music, theatre, dance and opera to literary works, visual arts, aboriginal and media arts. “He has such a strong background in producing and this was attractive to us,” added Barrington-Moss.
Prescott, originally from Brockville, Ont., initially funnelled his creative drive into studying opera at McGill University. While in Montreal, he also picked up work as an agent for opera singers and small ensembles.
During a stint at New York’s prestigious Glimmerglass Opera Festival, he made connections with the Banff Centre. That was 13 years ago.
“I was at a crossroads, whether to be an agent or an administrator/producer. I found this more rewarding and balanced. At the end of the day, I always wanted to contribute to the creation of art,” Prescott said in a telephone interview from his Banff office.
Over the years, he has helped developed top tier artists in virtually every field — jazz vocalist Jill Barber, opera/cabaret singer Patricia O’Callaghan, trumpet soloist Jens Lindemann, playwright John Murrell and dance impresario Sandra Laronde.
Through the performing arts residency, Prescott has shepherded the decade’s most illustrious new works — Calgary Opera’s Filumena and Frobisher, Alberta Ballet’s Dangerous Liaisons, The Fiddle and Drum, and Love Lies Bleeding as well as Red Sky Performance’s Tono that played at the Arden in Feb. 2010.
During the summer training programs about 300 to 500 artists pass through the Banff Centre’s doors. “Something magical happens. There’s a kind of electric energy and there’s a real high to have been a part of that.”
In recent years, Prescott and his wife Christine moved from Banff to Canmore where he picked up the mantle of artistic director for the one-day Canmore Children’s Festival. “I wanted to connect with the community. It was very grassroots and I got to meet a lot of people. It was a labour of love.”
How did he fit the children’s festival in? “I’m a workhorse. In the arts you never have a day off. I’m passionate about that kind of work and you make time and you get it done.”
However, Prescott will face certain challenges when he arrives. Although every Arden Theatre manager has worked judiciously to keep it in the black, in early May the provincial government chopped the $85,000 Community Presenting Project Grant without warning. This grant had in past years been used to pay for seasonal costs.
Despite the budget cuts, Prescott is optimistic. “You have to be proactive, passionate and creative. Working in the arts is always rife with challenge. The Arden has a wonderful reputation nationally and internationally. When you have a great team, anything is possible.”
