Michael Curry
Director
mcurry@hampton.gov

British born Michael Curry was named "one of the top 20 individuals who have made a difference in Hampton Roads over the past twenty years" by Portfolio Weekly magazine. Michael was appointed the founding Director of the Hampton Arts Commission in April 1988 after serving for 13 years as the Founding Director of the Fine Arts Foundation in Lafayette, Louisiana. His career began as an Assistant Stage Manager at the Chelmsford Civic Theatre in Great Britain. Since then, he has worked with many of the leading artists of the current generation and has the rare distinction of having produced major ballet galas featuring the three leading male dancers of the twentieth century- - Alexander Godunov, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. As a Producing Director, Michael has also mounted stellar productions in Lafayette, at the Actors Theatre in Louisville, at the 50th Edinburgh International Festival Fringe, at the Virginia Arts Festival and, of course, right here at the American Theatre. Michael has also overseen and been actively involved in the renovations and adaptive reuse of two of Hampton's most historic and significant buildings - The Charles H. Taylor Arts Center which celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2005 and The American Theatre which was originally built in 1908. Under his direction, Hampton Arts has secured an enviable position as one of the leading arts institutions in Virginia and it now serves as a model for many other public/private partnerships. Michael Curry was born in London and grew up in a small village about 40 miles south of the capital. He is the youngest in a family of six. He also has two foster brothers and one sister, and a host of nephews and nieces. He attended the Royal Masonic Schools for ten years where he received an intense education in the classics and in the performing arts. He served as Principal Bass in the school's orchestra, organist for chapel services, piano accompanist for various concerts and competitions and as a solo pianist, giving his first public recital at the age of 11. He also took leading roles in and co-directed many theatrical productions including and A Man for All Seasons. Michael has served on numerous Boards and Committees and is a Past President of the Downtown Hampton Kiwanis Club. He is listed in the premiere edition of Who's Who in Entertainment as well as in Who's Who in the South and Southwest and the International Dictionary of Biography. He frequently consults to other arts agencies across the region and is a regular speaker and panelist for Leadership classes at both the Peninsula and the Hampton Roads Chambers of Commerce.Michael attended the University of London where he studied for a joint degree in English, French and Law. In addition to his lifelong passion for the arts, he enjoys swimming, Buddhist philosophy and teachings, yoga, gardening and working on his 1939 home in the Wythe neighborhood of Hampton.