IMG Artists Welcomes Major Investor
17 February 2005
IMG ARTISTS WELCOMES MAJOR NEW INVESTOR
NEW YORK/LONDON, July, 2003 – IMG Artists announces a major new step forward in its international development. Financier, entrepreneur, philanthropist and now Chairman of IMG Artists, Barrett Wissman has become a significant investor in one of the world’s largest performing arts management agencies. IMG Artists’ list of international clients includes Itzhak Perlman, Hilary Hahn, Joshua Bell, Renée Fleming, Thomas Hampson, James Galway, KODO, Evgeny Kissin, Lang Lang, Murray Perahia, Antonio Pappano, Vladimir Jurowski, Franz Welser-Möst, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic with Yuri Temirkanov, the Oslo Philharmonic with Andre Previn, the Emerson String Quartet, Bill T Jones and Pilobolus.
Wissman is currently principal in several financial management and investment advisory companies as well as on the boards of several for-profit and non-profit enterprises. He has continued to be actively involved in music, having served on the boards of several arts institutions and created several charitable organizations. One of these is the Cremona Society, a unique international organization that collects and lends rare and priceless instruments to deserving soloists.
Barrett Wissman’s commitment to classical music began at an early age with serious piano study. He made several debuts as a concert pianist with prominent orchestras from the age of 11 and won several national and international competitions thereafter. He graduated cum laude from Yale University in economics and political science and went on to receive graduate degrees in music from Southern Methodist University and the Accademia Chigiana in Italy.
IMG will remain involved in IMG Artists, and its activities in artist management, orchestral touring, dance attractions, world music and special projects. IMG Artists will continue to be directed by Stephen Wright, Managing Director of IMG Artists Europe, and Edna Landau, Managing Director of IMG Artists North America, from its European and North American offices, respectively.
IMG Artists has become recognized as an initiator and creator of a major range of arts projects which range from the creation of the new MalaysianPhilharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur, to the making of television documentaries such as the “Art of Conducting,” to the presentation of the world famous Spanish Riding School of Vienna.
Bob Kain, co-Chief Executive Officer of IMG said, “During the last 19 years, our Artists division has matured and is recognized as one of the leading arts management companies in the world. We are delighted that this new partnership will bring IMG Artists the potential to develop further its activities worldwide.”
Wissman said, “I have long admired IMG Artists as the most creative and innovative performing arts management group in the world. I am therefore particularly pleased to be able to join with them in order to invest in, and continue to build, IMG Artists. Together with IMG, we intend to continue to offer artists, orchestras, and cultural institutions the widest and most comprehensive range of services available today.”
Wright said, “Given the current context of arts management, and the world of classical music in general, we are particularly happy to have been able to find exactly the partner that we need for the future – someone who believes in the long term development of classical music, and its performers, and who is therefore committed to investing in all of the activities we currently manage at IMG Artists.”
Landau remarks, “After nearly 20 years with IMG, we are delighted that our substantial success has attracted Barrett Wissman to move forward with us into a new decade of opportunity. We look forward to bringing even greater levels of creativity and accomplishment to the company as it continues to grow.”
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Contact: Tristen Hennigs
IMG Artists
Tel: +44 20 8233 5891