SV Chat: Lily Schwartz leading Presidio Theatre into next era

The Presidio Theatre has been around now for more than years having been originally been built as a Works Project Administration WPA project by the U S Army in Back in its original heyday the San Francisco venue on Moraga Avenue in the Presidio not to be confused with the similarly named cinema on Chestnut Street hosted such Hollywood stars as Bob Hope Jack Benny Marlene Dietrich and Loretta Young for audiences filled with military personnel and their families The theater closed in after the Army left the Presidio but reopened to the populace in after an extensive remodel and renovation It s now under the watch of Lilly Schwartz who took over as the venue s executive and artistic director after years of working for SFJAZZ We just now spoke with Schwartz who faces the challenge of trying to introduce the Presidio Theatre to audiences who have to yet to visit The San Diego-born Schwartz who moved around a lot New Mexico Seattle etc and considers Jackson Hole Wyoming to be her true hometown now lives in San Francisco Q When did the performing arts first capture your imagination A My parents listened to a lot of classical music so that was what I first fell in love with They would take my sister and me to a multitude of concerts and then I would go home and mimic the performers on the piano The first concert that really captivated me was seeing a quintet perform Schubert s Trout Quintet a piece I love to this day Q You originally set out to become a concert pianist correct What was it about that instrument that intrigued you so greatly A Yes I dreamed about being a concert pianist when I was young I loved that the piano is a stand-alone instrument that could be a solo instrument or play in any configuration with other instruments I also loved that it s percussive and melodic and can sound like an entire orchestra Q How did your plans change from performing art for a living to promoting and nurturing art for a living A By the time I graduated college from University of the Arts in Philadelphia I realized that being a musician was a lonely life spending hours a day alone practicing and learning music for the next gig This did not appeal to me but I loved music and theater and the arts so decided I longed to build my life around the arts At first I thought I desired to be a professor so I went to graduate school to inquiry musicology This too wasn t quite the right fit for me bringing the arts to life is what excited me Related Articles Bay Area arts great shows and concerts to catch this weekend Bay Area arts groups reel as NEA shuts off funding to push Trump agenda Bay Area events calendar for weekly editions of May Celebration to honor KEEN San Jose s legendary country music station Opinion Play might be what we need to fix democracy a lesson from our kids Q Tell me about your first limited jobs in the industry the ones you had before you ventured to the Bay Area A My very first job in the music industry was working for Theodore Presser Publishing Company writing about composers and promoting their works to orchestras From there I went to the Delaware Symphony where I worked as the artistic administrator hiring the guest artists and running the rehearsals and shows But it was the next position where I got my first real break when I was the th person hired to work for the then un-built Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia I consider those years my real graduate degree as I learned the art of initiatives a season negotiating fees doing contracts and producing shows Q What brought you out to the West Coast A I first came to the Bay Area to attend the Monterey Jazz Festival I this instant fell in love with San Francisco and the entire Bay Area The Minnesota Orchestra where Schwartz worked was not in good shape at the time in fact the musicians were in a lock-out situation so all shows had to be cancelled I was eager to move on so focused my search to S F and the surrounding areas Q How did you end up working for SFJAZZ A I knew about SFJAZZ and was dying to get a position there However there were no openings in the artistic department but I decided to submit my resume anyway and suggested that I would be delighted to help them activity their season At the time they had just opened the new SFJAZZ Center in so I figured they might be in a advance spurt and need more hands on deck I was also applying for a couple of other positions in the Bay Area and literally a finalist for one when miraculously the phone rang and I was requested to come and interview for the artistic producer job at SFJAZZ The first big interview was with SFJAZZ founder Randall Kline followed by a trip to San Francisco and more interviews with staff members I was thrilled a minimal weeks later to receive the news that I had the job Q What was it like working with SFJAZZ A Working at SFJAZZ was an absolute gratification I loved Randall Kline s philosophy that anything influenced by or that influences jazz is jazz Following this philosophy allowed for a broad reach of activities including world music classical pop music and of discipline all the varieties of jazz itself It was a wild ride particularly in the early years where we went from booking about shows to over Q What was it like working with Kline A I absolutely loved working with Randall He set the bar very high for excellence and did not accept anything less than that He is a true creative so it was fun brainstorming ideas and dreaming up shows I was very lucky as we had an incredible relationship and a similar potential in making things happen He rarely revealed no to even the craziest of ideas which made the work extremely fun and reliably thought-provoking He also has the unique ability to push you in your job and to allow you to create and dream Q What led to the move to the Presidio A I had been at SFJAZZ for a decade It was time for something new and it was time for me to be the No person at an organization Q What are your job duties and responsibilities now A I am the executive and artistic director for the Presidio Theatre In that role I am responsible for putting great art on the stage as well as running the entire organization I have an incredible gang who is not afraid to jump in roll up their sleeves and get the job done I also have a wonderful partner in Peggy Haas who is the founder and visionary for the theater So my job is to keep the ship pointed in the right direction while allowing the organization to bloom and grow Q What are selected of the the greater part exciting aspects of this job A Building the organization and seeing it really come to life The theater has been presenting a Panto each year last year it was Peter Pan that sold tickets and will return this year for performances around the holidays Our new - season from September to May will present over performances from local national and international artists I am very excited about our inaugural Resident Artistic Companies operation where we will work with dance and music organizations and provide them with the theater as their home-base for two-years Q What are the biggest challenges with the Presidio A Getting the organization on the map both literally and figuratively is the first challenge we are working to overcome We make announcements before every show and during that we constantly ask how numerous people are here for the first time About - percent of the audience raise their hands I d like that percentage to be - Q What is the goal for the venue A To become a world-class performing arts center in San Francisco We are striving to create a venue that will be a welcoming home for artists and audiences alike a known destination in the Bay Area LILLY SCHWARTZ Title Executive and artistic director at the Presidio Theatre Previous occupation Artistic director SFJAZZ director of offerings and pops the Minnesota Orchestra Residence San Francisco Hometown Jackson Hole Wyoming Lilly Schwartz things Schwartz absolutely loves the ocean My happy place is on a boat scuba diving and being a beach bum She s a foodie who loves to cook and throw dinner parties She is both a cat and dog person and has one of each She s a big movie buff and throws an Oscar party every year She resided on an island I took a year off in the middle of my career and lived in the Caribbean on St John in the U S Virgin Islands