About us
Lower East Side Performing Arts, Inc. (LESPA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 2006, with a commitment to artistic excellence and accessible, free to low cost, community-oriented programming.
A commitment to accessible programming, free to low cost, and to artistic excellence.
LESPA encourages the creation of new work in contemporary music and music drama. It facilitates the interface between diverse composers, artists, performers, especially women, and primarily low-income, multicultural communities. LESPA’s programs show depth and humanity, and effectively address the complexity of our time, improving the quality of life and sense of community in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
BENEFITS TO THE COMMUNITY
Affordable programs of high cultural standard
Diversity oriented programming
Cultural enhancement through innovation
Economic development opportunities and jobs
BENEFITS TO THE ARTISTS
Exposure Through Artist Interaction and Media and Networking, Collaborations, Archive to Networking, Collaborations and Archiving
Web pages
Networking, Collaborations, Archive
Elodie Lauten
Elodie Lauten received the 2014 Robert Rauschenberg Award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Composer and media artist, her 30+ releases, including 5 operas, are available worldwide digitally. Her music has been presented by the Lincoln Center Festival, the New York City Opera, WNYC, The Whitney Museum, The Kitchen, La Mama, and Theater for the New City. Born in Paris, daughter of jazz composer Errol Parker, she lived in downtown New York, beginning in the mid-1970s when she met Allen Ginsberg. She was a classically trained pianist, studied voice and Indian music, graduated from NYU, and taught composition at NYU and CUNY. She was the founding artistic director and curator of Lower East Side Performing Arts. Elodie Lauten died in June 2014.
See a selection of her compositions, video work and performances at Music of Elodie Lauten – Presented by Lower East Side Performing Arts.
Our Projects
Mary Hurlbut
artistic director & treasurer
Carolyn Ratcliffe
president
Nicholas Birns
Secretary
Jeffrey James
Media director
Contact us
Carolyn Ratcliffe