Founded in 1976, Boston Lyric Opera is North America's fastest growing opera company, recognized for its commitment to debuts featuring some of the world's most exciting young singers, conductors, directors and designers.

The Company's educational and community programs division, Opera New England, brings opera to 30,000 young people each year, and broadcasts on WGBH radio reach some 250,000 listeners throughout New England.

The Wang Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to presenting the finest performing artists and cultural attractions from around the world t207us outreach and educational efforts, The Wand Center strives to educate and inspire a greater appreciation of the performing arts as an essential component of the fabric of our society.

The Wang Center for the Performing Arts operates two of Boston's most historic and well known theatres, The Wang Center and the Shubert Theater.

Founded in 1815, the Handel and Haydn Society is America's oldest continually performing arts organization. The Society offers "Historically Informed Performances" featuring the instruments and performing styles from the period in which the music was composed.

Performances take place at Boston's Symphony Hall, New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall and Sanders Theatre at Harvard University.

The American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) occupies a unique place in American theatre. Founded in 1980, A.R.T. provides a home for artists from around the world whose singular visions generate and define the theatre's work.

Over its 28 year history the theatre has welcomed American and international artists who have enriched the theatrical life of the whole nation and the world, performing in 22 cities around America and worldwide in another 21 cities in 16 countries, and has garnered distinguished awards that include a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award and a Jujamcyn Award.

The Huntington Theatre Company, now in its 27th season in residence at Boston University has a growing annual audience now exceeding 175,000, and the theatre serves Greater Boston with extensive educational and community programs.

In addition to operating out of the BU Theatre, the Huntington and the Boston Center for the Arts entered into a partnership to build, manage and program the Calderwood Pavilion and the Virginia Wimberly Theatre in the South End of Boston - the first new theatres built in the city in 0ver 80 years.

On February 4, 1870, The Massachusetts Legislature passed an act establishing a board of trustees for one of the first museums founded in America. In 1876 the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston opened the doors of its John H. Sturgis and Charles Brigham designed red brick and terra- cotta gothic structure in Copley Square.

In 1909, the rapid growth of its collection made a new location necessary and the museum moved to its present historic neo-classical structure on Huntington Avenue and the Emerald Necklace. In 1981 the museum added its I. M. Pei designed West Wing, and in 1999 the MFA commissioned renowned architect Lord Foster to design a master plan for the expansion and renovation of the museum.

Created more than a century ago, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum houses a preeminent collection of paintings, sculptures, tapestries, furniture and decorative arts including works by Rembrandt, Boticelli, Raphael, Titian, Sargent, Whistler and Matisse.

Housed in three floors of a 15th century Venetian-style palace surrounding a flowering central courtyard, the museum offers works spanning 30 centuries and representing numerous cultures. In addition the Gardner Museum presents contemporary exhibitions, classical and jazz concerts, lectures and educational programs, as well as monthly horticultural displays in its central courtyard.

One of the leading arts institutions in the world, the Harvard University Art Museums are distinguished by the range and depth of their collections, their groundbreaking exhibitions and original research. For more than a century, it has been the nation's premiere training ground fro museum professionals and scholars, and is renowned for its seminal and ongoing role in the development of the discipline of art history in this country.

The museums include the Fogg Art Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum. The 150,000 objects in the museums' collections range in date from ancient times to the present and come from Europe, North America, North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia.

The Institute of Contemporary Art, New England's premiere contemporary arts museum, presents provocative programs and exhibitions by local, national and international artists that explore the ideas, issues and images of our time. From Picasso and Warhol to Cindy Sherman and Bill Viola, The ICA has been the first to show many of the most innovative and inspired artists from around the world for nearly 75 years.

The ICA's new museum on the waterfront at Fan Pier in Boston is the first art museum to be built in Boston in over 100 years.

Nestled on a lush, 35-acre pond-side estate just 16 miles from downtown Boston, the 1880 castle-like structure with a modern architectural addition is a cultural center for the visual arts. The museum collects and exhibits significant examples of twentieth-century American art, with emphasis on the work of New England artists. The green, rolling park is home to some 75 monumental sculptural works by nationally and internationally acclaimed artists. The café serves light fare, and the museum gift shop has received top honors from national publications. Parking is free.