In these changing times, people encounter uncharted territory in every area of the arts business. We provide a road map with a strategic route of action. As an "idea factory," this office generates concepts and solves problems through highly creative thinking, and makes valuable matches between professionals. The agency was born in 1978, when conductor/cellist Mstislav Rostropovich suggested that Ms. Shear open a business implementing musical projects for others as she had often done for him. Since then, NSAS has handled clients on an on-going basis, a limited number of single events and projects, and has produced many concerts and events throughout NYC.


Juilliard String Quartet – Lifetime Achievement Award
In January 2011, the four-time Grammy® Award-winning Juilliard String Quartet was singled out by The Recording Academy® (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) as the first classical music ensemble ever to be honored with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Our goal was to convey the fact that this great ensemble had a future as strong as its past, particularly with the appointment of its new first violinist, Joseph Lin. Nancy Shear Arts Services worked with the press department of The Recording Academy®, issuing a press release about the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was acknowledged during the 53rd annual Grammy® Awards telecast. For the press release, click here. Click here for Website.


Richard Stoltzman
One of our goals at Nancy Shear Arts Services is to represent the multi-dimensional qualities of our clients. Clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, in addition to being a Grammy® Award-winning and internationally renowned musician, has the unusually fine gift of oral and written eloquence. We regularly incorporate Mr. Stoltzman's quotes into press releases and cover letters to add personalization and insight into our work on his behalf. Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara composed his first Clarinet Concerto as a commission to be performed by Mr. Stoltzman and the National Symphony Orchestra. During the compositional process, Mr. Stoltzman traveled to Finland, exchanging ideas with Rautavaara. Mr. Stoltzman kept a diary detailing his collaboration with the composer, and we were able to present this intriguing literature as supplementary material to our press release, and were able to further personalize our pitches after understanding this special artistic interaction. Mr. Stoltzman is also a skilled, Cordon-bleu trained pastry chef. With our creative pitches, we were able to place stories and strategize with presenters identifying Mr. Stoltzman as the "Culinary Clarinetist." Mr. Stoltzman's son, Peter John Stoltzman is a highly talented jazz pianist who performs in recital regularly with his father. We have customized pitches for the family duo, and placed them on Voice of America's Father's Day feature which was broadcast to 85 million people around the world. Click here for Website.


Time_for_Three_Photo_credit_Vanessa_Briceno-Scherzer.jpgTime for Three
As National Press Representatives for the virtuoso trio Time for Three, we worked closely with the group to both build and maintain a positive presence in the National Media, as well as on a local, “tour-support,” level. In addition to placing numerous feature stories, previews and reviews, we secured substantial television and radio appearances across the nation. As their national profile rose, we also worked closely with their record label to promote their first major-label CD release.





Guarneri String Quartet - Personnel Change/Lincoln Center Celebration
of 40th Anniversary
As Press Representatives for the Guarneri String Quartet, we handled two critical career milestones in the ensemble's history. After 37 years of music-making, the quartet experienced its first personnel change when cellist David Soyer retired and was succeed by his student and protégé Peter Wiley. As a quartet who had been a research model for the business world, their reputation was based on their world-class musicianship as well as their longevity. Nancy Shear Arts Services devised the media concept of "Passing the Bow," which emphasized the familial, generational aspect to the personnel change. The new cellist stepped seamlessly into his mentor's former position, and the quartet began a highly visible new era. The second benchmark was the celebration of the Guarneri String Quartet's 40th anniversary in which Nancy Shear Arts Services created, produced and publicized three events at Lincoln Center. These events, free and open to the public, included an open rehearsal, master class led by the quartet, and panel discussion that brought together three generations of the finest players in chamber music. These events were attended by capacity audiences, and received abundant attention in the print and broadcast media. For results of "Passing the Bow" and the 40th Anniversary Celebration, click here.


Marvin Hamlisch
As national press representatives for the composer, conductor and pianist Marvin Hamlisch, we arranged for him to be featured in outlets such as People Magazine, CNN, CBS This Morning, and CBS Evening News. In addition to national and international press coverage, we arranged for him to address the National Press Club which was broadcast around the world over NPR and CNN. We also arranged for his speech to be reprinted by the New York Times and Family Circle Magazine. With our close attention to detail, we advised about the subject and content of Mr. Hamlisch's address, and worked with the National Press Club on the invitation list for the tribute luncheon. Our office is skilled in working with high profile clients, and is able to represent these personalities with polish and discretion. For complete press results, click here.


Steinway & Sons - Horowitz Month-Long Tribute, and Launching of the Boston Piano
In addition to ongoing press representation, Nancy Shear Arts Services represented Steinway & Sons during the Horowitz month-long tribute and the launching of the Boston Piano. Our office conceived, produced, administered, and publicized a series of events in Steinway Hall to honor Horowitz, to keep alive and prominent the association between Steinway and Horowitz, and to keep a steady flow of traffic of targeted clientele coming into Steinway Hall. The most challenging project, however, was the launching of the Boston Piano, a high-quality, cost-effective, mass-produced piano with Steinway engineering. Unlike Steinway, however, the Boston Piano was not hand-crafted or made with top-of-the-line materials. Our office carefully navigated the situation by using Steinway's name to elevate the prestige of Boston Piano without compromising the reputation of Steinway & Sons. For complete results, click here.


Anne-Marie McDermott - Prokofiev Marathon
Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott performed all nine of Sergei Prokofiev's piano sonatas as a highlight of Lincoln Center Festival 2003's Prokofiev Marathon, which took place on two successive Saturdays at Alice Tully Hall. Our challenge was to establish an American-born pianist as a Prokofiev specialist (in a world where native Russian pianists dominate the repertoire) without limiting her reputation to one genre of music. Among many impressive results, we serviced eight breaks in the New York Times including a full-page article, reviews and photographs. We also arranged an unusually rich coverage of the event on WQXR in which Ms. McDermott's Prokofiev recordings were compared to recordings of Prokofiev performing his own works. As ongoing national press representative for Ms. McDermott, we were able to identify her expertise as well as present her as a multi-faceted, world-class musician. For complete results, click here.



Wigmore Hall, LondonWigmore Hall, London
NSAS is proud to be the North American Press Representative for the 110th Anniversary of Wigmore Hall. Dubbed by The Times of London as “the greatest chamber-music venue in the world,” Wigmore Hall, under the direction of John Gilhooly, continues to be one of the foremost presenters of chamber music. For the press release, click here.






Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition received unprecedented publicity in 1989 when Nancy Shear Arts Services handled the project -- 13 substantial articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, Vogue, USA Today, Associated Press, David Letterman Show, ABC, NBC's "Today Show," and CBS News are just a few of the many results obtained. For complete press results, click here.

Bamberg Symphony Orchestra
NSAS handled the 2009 New York and New Jersey concerts of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Jonathan Nott, conductor, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano soloist. For a list of results, click here.

Joseph RescignoJoseph Rescigno – World Premiere
Joseph Rescigno has served since 1981 as Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor of the Florentine Opera Company (Milwaukee). In addition, he has conducted symphonies, concertos, operas and oratorios, from Bach through contemporary works, in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Engagements include such companies as the Montreal Symphony and the New York City Opera. He has made six recordings – Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Verismo, and Joruri. Maestro Rescigno is now working on his first book – The View From the Pit: Where Theater Meets Music. In October, 2010, Joseph Rescigno and the Florentine Opera will give the world premiere of Río de Sangre, an opera by Don Davis, with a libretto by Kate Gale, in a Spanish translation by Alicia Partnoy. As national press representatives for Maestro Rescigno, Nancy Shear Arts Services will also represent this production. For press results, click here.   For the Florentine Opera website, click here.

Seymour Lipkin – Complete Beethoven Sonatas, CD and CD-ROM
A lifetime of performance, teaching and scholarship suffuses pianist Seymour Lipkin’s recordings of the piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven with deep human warmth and transcendent spirituality. While many artists have recorded complete Beethoven cycles, Mr. Lipkin’s was the first to be issued not only on compact disc, but also on a CD-ROM containing all the sonata recordings, a 10,000-word essay, and complete readable scores on more than 600 pages. As press representative for the Beethoven release, NSAS obtained reviews in major press outlets, and arranged for radio airplay nationwide. For a list of results, click here.

Gotham Chamber Opera - Sutermeister's "Die Schwarze Spinne" and Handel's "Arianna in Creta"
The NYC-based Gotham Chamber Opera retained our office to handle the American premieres of Sutermeister's "Die Schwarze Spinne" and Handel's "Arianna in Creta." The company, though performing music in the limited niche of chamber opera, sought a pop-culture appeal. We represented Gotham Chamber Opera with the same playfulness that they presented in their innovative stage productions: the pages of our press release for the creepy tale of "Die Schwarze Spinne" (The Black Widow) were spattered with images of crawling spiders - a press release that our media contacts still have not forgotten! Our press release and cover letters for the production of "Arianna in Creta" transported our readers into the mythical world of monsters, Greek gods, labyrinths, human sacrifices, and ill-fated love. With each of our clients, we customize our pitches to match the image, energy, and reputation that they possess or wish to attain. For complete press results, click here.

Leonard Bernstein - An American Life, 11-part radio series
In a world dominated by TV, our office was responsible for giving this 11-part radio series first-class media attention including stories in the Associated Press, 1010 WINS, New York Times, and Gramophone Magazine. This series, produced by Steve Rowland, distributed by WFMT Network, narrated by Susan Sarandon and featuring Alec Baldwin, documented the life and influence of Leonard Bernstein, and was a recipient of the Peabody Award. The documentary was broadcast on more than 300 radio stations nation-wide and more internationally. For complete press results, click here.


Fiddlefest at Carnegie Hall
Fiddlefest, the gala benefit for Opus 118: Harlem Center for Strings, was headed by teacher Roberta Guaspari and later turned into a documentary, "Small Wonders," and film, "Music of the Heart," starring Meryl Streep. Nancy Shear Arts Services handled the 2002 Apollo Theater Gala, and the 2003 Carnegie Hall Gala which celebrated the 10th anniversary of Opus 118 - Harlem Center for Strings. The Carnegie Hall event had violin students playing side-by-side with some of today's greatest musicians: Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Joshua Bell, Bobby McFerrin, Dave Grusin, Mark O'Connor, Regina Carter and others. Our challenge with the Carnegie Hall project was to generate more publicity for an organization that had already received much attention though the Hollywood movie and documentary, as well as extensive publicity the previous year generated by our work on the Apollo Theater event. Through carefully crafted press materials and thoughtful pitches, we were able to place a story and large front page photo in the New York Times at a time when the newspaper covers were dominated by the war in Iraq. We also arranged for coverage on NBC's Today Show, and placed a story in Associated Press which broke nation-wide. For complete press results, click here.

"First Ladies of Song:" A Tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt in Song and Words
The benefit event, "First Ladies of Song," celebrated the life and influence of Eleanor Roosevelt, and raised funds for the monument to her which now stands at 72nd Street and Riverside Drive. The concert featured Rosemary Clooney, Judy Collins, Barbara Cook, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Lena Horne, Marilyn Horne, Shirley Verrett, Julie Wilson, and Joanne Woodward at Alice Tully Hall. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was Honored Guest and one of the speakers. Our office obtained local and national publicity, advised on the general concept and details of the program, worked closely with the event's producing organization, The White House press corps, Ms. Clinton's advance staff and press staff and the Secret Service on all aspects of the event's public relations. For complete press results, click here.

Music For All Seasons
Music For All Seasons is an organization bringing musical performances to people in residential institutions such as retirement homes, nursing homes, hospitals and prisons. NSAS handled the publicity and event production for the Carnegie Hall Benefit featuring Dudley Moore, Janos Starker and Roberta Peters. For complete press results, click here.

Australian Chamber Orchestra - US Tour
NSAS handled the Australian Chamber Orchestra's 11-city tour from Alaska to New York, including a performance at Alice Tully Hall. For complete press results, click here.

Wigmore Hall Live, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson CD releases
In 2008 and 2009, Wigmore Hall Live, Wigmore Hall’s own record label, released two live recordings of recitals by the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson: Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano; Roger Vignoles, piano; songs by Mahler, Handel and Peter Lieberson (WHLive0013, 1998); Lorraine Hunt Lieberson; mezzo-soprano; Julius Drake, piano; songs by Brahms and Schumann (WHLive0024,1999). We worked with writers, editors and radio programmers to obtain reviews and airplay. For a list of results for WHLive0013, click here. For a list of results for WHLive0024, click here.