Updates:

| September 2009 |

Local civic leader pledges $5 million to kick off fundraising campaign for city-backed facility to include dance school, rehearsal studios and office space

      Joyce Raley Teel, a long-time pace-setter among Sacramento’s philanthropists, will be acknowledged today as the lead community donor for a new performing arts rehearsal, office and classroom building in Midtown.

The building, a public-private partnership with the City of Sacramento, will be called

after Mrs. Teel’s late mother. The Studios will serve four of the region’s principal arts groups – The Sacramento Ballet, California Musical Theatre (Music Circus and Broadway Sacramento), the Sacramento Opera and the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra.  Mrs. Teel has made a $5 million donation and asked that the Studios be named in honor of her mother, whom she credits for her love of the arts. The City of Sacramento made the initial funding commitment to the project.

Joyce Raley Teel is known for bringing the heart and soul of her community into the everyday working life of her company, Raley’s Family of Fine Foods. Widely respected as a business woman as well as a community leader and philanthropist, Mrs. Teel has involved Raley’s in a widely diverse range of community groups, focusing on the areas of education, literacy, the arts, families, children, youth and health. In recognition of her selfless involvement and generous support, she has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Presidential Commendation for Private Sector Initiatives to Raley’s and Food For Families for outstanding contributions to the community; YWCA Outstanding Woman in Business Award; Distinguished Citizen award from the Boy Scouts of America; William Booth Award by the Salvation Army; the Outstanding Philanthropist Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals; and the Frank Corti Development Award from the American Red Cross for an individual who has made an indelible mark on the Sacramento community, just to name a few.

Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo and representatives of the arts groups will announce Mrs. Teel’s donation at 11:00 today and will unveil plans for the Studios, which will occupy the corner of 14th and H streets adjacent to the H Street Theatre Complex. The facility will house rehearsal and office space for all four organizations as well as the Ballet’s Center for Dance Education.

The ceremony at 14th and H property will also be attended by members of the Sacramento City Council, the boards of directors of the arts groups and some of the region’s key philanthropists, including Mrs. Teel. Building designs by architectural firm Dreyfuss & Blackford will be unveiled by Mayor Fargo, Mrs. Teel and the heads of the four boards of directors.

A media packet will be available at the conclusion of the event.

E. Claire Raley was many things to her family and her community: supermarket pioneer, wife, mother, pilot, horsewoman, bridge player, community volunteer.

To her daughter, she was most responsible for instilling in her a love of the arts. And by doing so, she left an enduring legacy for her five grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren. Her daughter remembers that she “took me to the ballet and concerts. That had a lasting impact on me.”

The Studios for the Performing Arts is a groundbreaking collaboration among four of the city’s highest-profile nonprofit performing arts groups. The four already share a performance space at the Sacramento Community Center Theater, but the common rehearsal and office space will provide financial stability, expand education programs and create opportunities to explore additional shared resources.

The City Council committed $9 million to the project as part of its Community Reinvestment Capital Improvement Program bond issue approved in February 2006 and has extended a $5 million bridge loan. The four-story, 47,000-square-foot structure has a budget of $25 million. The balance will be supported through a capital campaign and rent payments from the arts groups. The building is expected to be available for occupancy in the fall of 2009.

Currently, lack of suitable rehearsal areas plagues each of the four companies. The Opera and the Philharmonic have led a gypsy existence, scheduling practice sessions in churches and high school gymnasiums. More than one rehearsal has had to be re-scheduled to accommodate a funeral.

The Ballet has had the best situation, with makeshift but spacious leased studio and office space. Its dance studios even produced rental revenue, most notably from Music Circus rehearsals in summer, but also from other local performing arts companies and touring Broadway shows. That comfortable circumstance is coming to an end, however. The impending termination of the lease has sent both the Ballet and Music Circus scurrying to find a suitable replacement.

The E. Claire Raley Studios for the Performing Arts will remedy the uncertainty.   Long-term, secure access to full-feature studios and classrooms plus modern office facilities will offer these major arts providers a stable foundation to further develop their artistic visions. Sharing the same space will create a fertile environment to explore inter-disciplinary work and enhance vitality and creativity. Nevertheless, each of the organizations will continue to cultivate its individual identity.

Founded in 1954, The Sacramento Ballet is the region’s only professional performing arts organization with a resident company. The Ballet presents four productions per season at Sacramento's 2400 seat Community Center Theater and tours seasonally to various locations. Performances encompass a diverse repertoire which includes: The Nutcracker; classical ballets; works by George Balanchine and contemporary pieces created by Artistic Director Ron Cunningham and other choreographers from throughout the nation. Reaching an audience of over 80,000 each season, the Ballet has taken a leadership role in outreach, education, community service and collaborative projects. In the 2007-2008 Season, the Ballet celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Artistic Director Ron Cunningham, who co-directs the Company with his wife Carinne Binda; Kerri Warner is the Executive Director.

California Musical Theatre is the region’s largest nonprofit arts group, producing both Music Circus at the Wells Fargo Pavilion and Broadway Sacramento at the Community Center Theater.  Selling over 300,000 theater tickets a year, CMT has received national recognition for its innovative casting and commitment to high-quality productions, as well as its extensive theatre education programs.  Founded in 1951, the company is now lead by Executive Producer Richard Lewis.  The chairperson of the board is Carol Van Bruggen.

Sacramento Opera is one of the five largest performing arts organizations in Sacramento and fills a unique niche in the region's cultural landscape as the only fully-professional, producing opera company.  Founded in 1947 as part of the San Francisco Opera Guild’s education and outreach program, the association incorporated as a separate 501(c)3 entity in 1966 as Sacramento Opera Company. In 1981, it began mounting productions locally.  Since that time, Sacramento Opera has presented over 64 critically acclaimed operas with orchestra, including two world premieres.  Michael A. Nelson of TLC Tech serves as president of the 21-member governing board of directors, and the company is led by Executive Director, Rod Gideons and Artistic Director, Timm Rolek.

The Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra is the premiere professional orchestra for Sacramento and five outlying counties.   The organization engages an 83-member orchestra under the leadership of Music Director and Conductor Michael Morgan.  Now in its 11th year, the Philharmonic has enjoyed growing attendance and critical acclaim, presenting high quality orchestral music at the Sacramento Community Center Theater, the Mondavi Center in Davis and smaller venues throughout the region.  Along with great works of the past, the Philharmonic introduces audiences to exciting living artists through its commissioning project, California Compositions.  The Philharmonic also offers a variety of music education projects that last season impacted more than 24,000 students.  The orchestra has active partnerships with the Sacramento Ballet and the Sacramento Opera.  The organization’s Executive Director is Marc Feldman.  David E. Lindgren serves as President of the Board.

The Ballet, the Philharmonic and the Opera have been partners since 2004 in the Regional Arts Managers, an association allowing for collaborative ventures between the organizations, including promotion, fundraising and cooperative outreach programs.

The E. Claire Raley Studios for the Performing Arts will reflect Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects’ signature open, modernist style, typified by their many landmark projects, including Sacramento International Airport Terminal A, completed in 1998, CSUS College of Continuing Education (2002) and the airport’s 2004 parking structure, which won the American Public Works Association’s prestigious 2005 Project of the Year Award.  For over 50 years the firm has created inspired public building projects that are timeless, enduring and endearing – to the public, their clients and other architects as well. Above all, Dreyfuss & Blackford creates work that is highly functional, that excels in meeting all program needs and goals for their clients.

The capital campaign to fund the Studios for the Performing Arts is being guided by Millennium Advantage, a local full-service consulting firm headed by Michael E. Moore, FAHP, and Rebecca D. Moore. Established in 1993, Millennium Advantage provides counsel for nonprofit organizations in the fine and performing arts, health and human services and higher education. The company was the first Sacramento area firm to be registered as fundraising counsel with the California Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts. Mr. Moore has more than 30 year’s experience in fund development and holds a master’s degree in philanthropy and resource development from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. With more than 30 years in marketing innovations, Mrs. Moore earned her MBA in finance and marketing. Both are frequent speakers at educational conferences and are widely published nationally in professional journals.