Boston Arts Academy Celebrates New Beginnings with its BAA Honors – Honorary event chairs: Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Lorrie Higgins

Boston, MA – On Saturday, May 4, Boston Arts Academy (BAA), Boston’s only public school for the visual and performing arts, will host its annual BAA Honors celebration at the Rose Kennedy Ballroom, InterContinental Boston from 6 to 10 p.m., featuring an array of arts dignitaries from Boston and beyond. The celebratory, creative black-tie event honors prominent leaders across industries, including arts, entertainment and education. Event proceeds will support BAA’s STEAM program, which infuses arts across subjects, encouraging student inquiry, dialogue and critical thinking in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Lorrie Higgins are this year’s BAA Honors co-chairs; Jeff Rosica, president and CEO of Avid Technology, is chairman; and Deborah B. Goldberg, Massachusetts State Treasurer and Receiver General of Massachusetts School Building Authority, is an honorary guest.

The 2019 honorees are Roger Brown, president, Berklee College of Music; Mikko Nissinen, Hart Artistic Director’s Chair, Boston Ballet; Linda Pizzuti Henry, managing director, Boston Globe and co-founder, HUBweek; Kevin Sussman, actor and comedian (“The Big Bang Theory” and “Ugly Betty”); and Lisa Tung, executive director Bakalar & Paine Galleries Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Boston-based singer, songwriter and producer Phaedra Live is this year’s emcee. BAA students Danny Rivera, Jr. and Laren Taylor England are co-hosting the event, which features dinner, student performances, a live auction and dancing. BAA alumna, actress Diane Guerrero (“Orange is the New Black” and “Jane the Virgin”), will host the After Party from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Since its founding 21 years ago, BAA has provided access to conservatory-quality arts training and college preparatory education for a diverse student body, a majority who come from low-income families, from every neighborhood throughout Boston. In recent years, BAA has attracted attention from students beyond New England, whose families recognize and value BAA’s extraordinary training, education and culture. Over the past four years, between 97 – 98% of the school’s graduates are accepted to college; most have been first-generation college students.

In October 2018, the BAA community broke ground on a new $125 million facility at its Fenway location, which will expand from 121,000 square feet to 153,500 square feet upon its completion in 2021—allowing the school to admit 150 more students each year.

“BAA Honors is a celebration of the remarkable accomplishments of our honorees, students, alumni and teachers, who unite around their shared passion for the arts and education,” said Denella Clark, president, Boston Arts Academy Foundation. “The performances, energy and spirit around this event encapsulate the best of the Boston Arts Academy community. We’re grateful for the support from our dedicated network of corporate, foundation and individual partners who believe in the transformative power of the arts.”

For more information, to sponsor or purchase ticket, visit www.bostonartsacademy.org/baahonors.