About Us
Mission
The Ann Arbor Summer Festival’s mission is to present a world-class celebration of arts and entertainment that enriches the cultural, economic, and social vitality of the region.
Core Values
Excellence, Diversity, Relevance
Vision
The Ann Arbor Summer Festival's vision is to increase the positive impact on audiences and the community while building a financially stable and adaptable organization.
Board of Trustees
Patricia M. Garcia, Chair
James A. Kosteva, Vice Chair
Julie Fritz, Secretary
Erik W. Bakker, Treasurer
Dawn H. Foerg, Imm. Past Chair
LeAnn Auer
Christie Wong Barrett
H. David Baru
Lisa Bee
Susan Chandler
Sally Churchill
Alan G. Cotzin
Paul Cousins
Michael S. Dubin
Karen Edwards
Bettye S. Elkins
Peter B. Fayroian
Susan Gott
John C. Hieftje
Jerold Lax
Kenneth Magee
Sudha Maheshwari
Kevin S. McDonald
Margaret B. McKinley
Jayne Miller
Ronald G. Miller
Y. Jamie Mistry
Anthony Y. Nam
Patricia Pooley
James S. Reece
Kimberly L. Scott
Ellie Serras
Angeline Smith
Daniel Washington
Trustees Emeriti
Paul C. Boylan
George D. Goodman
Margaret Massialas
J.P. Weidenbach
Management Team
Robb Woulfe
Executive Director
Amy Nesbitt
General Manager
Credits
Phire Branding Co.
Festival Branding
Myra Klarman
Festival Photography
University Lithographers
Festival Printing
Highlander Graphics
Festival Signage & Display
Consultants
Robin Sherer CPA, Accountant
Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone PLC, Attorneys
Willis & Jurasek PC, Auditors & Tax Advisors
JJR, Landscape Architecture, Planning & Urban Design
DIDAKTIKOS, Technology & I.T. Consultant
Come be inspired
The Ann Arbor Summer Festival is an exhilarating celebration of performing arts, outdoor entertainment, and community spirit. Each year, this three-and-a-half-week cultural and social event offers dozens of performances, activities, screenings, and more, with eclectic music, dance, comedy, film, visual arts, and family fun.
Preparing to celebrate our 27th season from June 18 through July 11, the festival has invigorated the cultural life of the community for over two and a half decades. We bring the world to Ann Arbor: innovative artists, enthusiastic audiences, eager students, curious visitors, and anyone looking to be inspired and entertained on a beautiful Michigan summer night.
An evening at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival engages all the senses. You can have a light supper and enjoy a beverage at Top of the Park, meet your friends at your favorite spot on the lawn, take in the outdoor performances or the night’s big indoor concert, then watch a movie under the stars, all on one of the prettiest campuses anywhere.
Join us in 2010 as we once again gather to share a truly inclusive cultural experience that celebrates our community, the richness of our stories, the talent of our artists, and the creativity of the human spirit.
See you on the lawn,
Robb Woulfe
Executive Director
A community tradition
Founded by Eugene Power, and established as an equal partnership between the City of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, the Ann Arbor Summer presented its first full season of events in 1984. Early festival seasons emphasized classical music and theater, but have since become more popular and diverse in nature, encompassing a breadth of performance genres.
Recognized today as one of the leading performing arts festivals in the country, the festival produces two concurrent and complementary performing arts programs, one indoor and one outdoor, on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The indoor Mainstage series includes ticketed performances of world-class music, dance, theater, and comedy. The outdoor program, Top of the Park, is held along a beautiful campus green and offers admission-free concerts, movies under the stars, open-air spectacles, family attractions, and more.
Now preparing to celebrate our 27th season, the Ann Arbor Summer Festival offers an energetic mix of regional, national, and international artists of all disciplines. Presenting over 100 events each season, the festival’s spectrum of artistic expression attracts a diverse audience in terms of age, interest, ethnicity, socio-economic background, education, and gender. With an estimated attendance of over 60,000 attendees each year, we provide a multitude of creative ways to engage our fans and supporters.
Dedicated to the planet
In addition to our commitment to providing a first-rate entertainment experience, the festival is also committed to consciously greening our events and lowering our environmental impact wherever possible. We want to leave the planet, and Ingalls Mall in particular, as beautiful as we found it.
Starting in 2008, the festival launched an ambitious environmental initiative as a way to make a vocal and public commitment to raise awareness about green issues and to encourage the community to be more eco-conscious. Some of our current efforts include:
FOOD & BEVERAGE
*Requesting all food and beverage vendors use biodegradable or compostable packaging for their food and tableware, whenever possible
*Using cold drink cups from our beer distributor O&W that are made from PLA plastic derived from corn. PLA plastic is a compostable material that when placed in a commercial environment will naturally decompose back to organic elements.
*Engaging food and beverage vendors from the Ann Arbor community in an effort to support local businesses, and to decrease the amount of travel and fuel consumption required for product to get to the event.
*Promoting the efforts of our food vendors such as Silvio’s Organic Pizza, which works with organic ingredients and offers numerous options in their menu that do not include any animal products (vegan); as well as Glass House Cafe, which offers biodegradable containers and cutlery at its Top of the Park location.
*Working with our partners at Coca-Cola to return and recycle cans and bottles more effectively from the festival site.
TRANSPORTATION
*Promoting alternative methods of transportation to and from Festival events by encouraging attendees to use mass transit, car-pooling and bicycle racks. Local area bike enthusiasts are helping with this effort and promoting bike transportation to festival events all month long.
*Working with local vendors, service providers and staff whenever possible to conserve gas and transportation energy – reducing our carbon footprint on every level while we support ‘all things local’.
*Commuting and encouraging others to commute to our office and event site using hybrid vehicles, bicycles, and carpools.
MATERIALS & PRODUCTION
*Reusing/repairing as much of our production equipment as we can each season, thus keeping excess waste out of landfills.
*Printing our season program guide, brochures, calendar, letterhead, business cards, and other collateral materials using soy inks on various grades of recycled paper.
*Offering organic cotton for the festival apparel sold at the TOPshop.
*Accepting Top of the Park performer submissions electronically online via Sonicbids, an efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional press kits.
*Asking caterers, food and beverage vendors to use recyclable or biodegradable products.
*Increasing the number of recycling bins at festival events, and ensuring that they are more prominently and clearly displayed.
FUN & EDUCATION
*Hosting a variety of environmentally-focused activities and entertainment at Top of the Park. Many of these events include numerous hands-on events at the KidZone tent.
*Presenting bands that are touring using bio-diesel vehicles and other environmentally friendly touring methods. These artists often talk about these choices from stage and on their websites.
*Encouraging all festival staff and patrons to “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” in appropriate ways in our many areas of messaging.
There are many, many things the festival and the community can still do to improve our activities to lessen our impact on the environment, so please join us in doing all you can to “green” our collective activities!
PRESS ANNOUNCEMENTS
Download releases in PDF format.
2010-01-07 | Big TOP Revue: Feb 16
2010-01-07 | Festival Changes for 2010
2009-11-09 | Board Fundraising Challange
2009-11-09 | Myra Klarman Winter Exhibit
PRESS IMAGES
General Top of the Park images. Download images in high res format.
FESTIVAL LOGOS
Download images in high res JPEG format.
2009 Season Festival Logo- Full Color
CONTACT INFORMATION
For interviews, press tickets, or other media needs, please contact the festival office at (734) 994-5999.
Join our dynamic team
We appreciate your interest in the festival as a potential employer. The Ann Arbor Summer Festival is committed to building an inclusive work environment that is as stimulating, inspiring, and diverse as the many artists and programs we present.
We are currently accepting applications for the following positions:
DIGITAL MARKETING INTERN
The Ann Arbor Summer Festival is seeking a web-savvy, enthusiastic and diligent individual to implement and maintain digital marketing strategies for the 2010 festival. This internship provides an opportunity for design, marketing, and communications students to get practical, hands-on knowledge in the arts and entertainment industry. Hours are flexible and adaptable.
Click here to download Job Description
PRODUCTION INTERN
The Ann Arbor Summer Festival seeks motivated, enthusiastic candidates for production internships. These are year-round, unpaid opportunities that allow candidates to get practical, hands-on knowledge in arts and entertainment and the production world. Hours are flexible and adaptable.
Internships are shaped to work with the mutual benefits of matching the festival’s needs with the candidate’s areas of interest. Select candidates can apply internship work towards select accredited college programs (as available). A successful candidate will be responsible for numerous production activities and participate in the dynamic environment of festival production.
Candidates should have an interest in event production, the arts and nonprofit organizations. Candidates must have exceptional communication skills and be able to work independently as well as with a team. Positive, productive and self-motivated individuals will fit successfully within our team.
Please submit cover letter with resume, weekly hours available, ideal areas of focus, and internship duration sought to Amy Nesbitt at arnesbit@umich.edu.
Candidates are asked not to request submission status updates.
Resumes are kept on file for future consideration.
If your qualifications match current openings, you will be contacted directly. Thank you.
The Ann Arbor Summer Festival is an equal opportunity employer, and does not discriminate against employees or applicants on the basis of any characteristic protected by law, such as race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, height, weight, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, or disability as defined by law.
Contact Us
Ann Arbor Summer Festival
310 Depot Street, Suite 3
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
T: (734) 994-5999
F: (734) 994-5885
Robb Woulfe
Executive Director
Amy Nesbitt
General Manager