Giordano Productions-about us

VIRGINIA GIORDANO (independent producer, event wrangler, social justice advocate)

Virginia has been working in live production for over 20 years and has crossed the nation bringing spirited, thought provoking and exceptionally produced events to audiences from New York City to Seattle. She originally trained in all manner of theatrical stagecraft before landing in the independent music biz with one of her first companies, a distribution house focused on folk, world and progressive music. From there, she catapulted into live music production and ended up teaming up with the world-renowned a cappella ensemble, Sweet Honey in the Rock, as concert producer and promoter. This relationship spanned over two decades and included productions in major metropolitan halls across the northeast including Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall in Boston and Philadelphia’s Academy of Music.

Another long-time client is folksinger Ani Difranco. Virginia has been Ani’s New York City producer for over 15 years. Memorable concerts include 10,000 revelers in Manhattan’s Battery Park braving a flash thunderstorm and 10 acres of mud, and a benefit concert for Central Park Summerstage where all the electricity went out and truck generators had to be called in at the last minute to save the day.

Music (with or without instruments) has become a mainstay of Virginia’s career. Currently, she is the Managing Director for AC100 – The A Cappella Centennial Celebration, a 100 day music festival with signature concerts to be held at Lincoln Center and Berklee Performance Center. Virginia is also moving the mountain to Manhattan, that is, Mountain Stage with Larry Groce, the award winning NPR radio program, an annual concert at NYC’s Town Hall in October, 2008.

Ever the champion of those with something socially important to say who need a stage and a microphone, Virginia has been sought out by major artists and organizations to help them speak out, educate and enrich - creating tours, spectacles and outdoor happenings to engage audiences and promote causes.

Known for pulling off complicated large scale events featuring many artists, Virginia was tapped to lead Smithsonian Institution’s 50th Anniversary Celebration featuring Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris’ Concert for a Landmine Free World. She is also the producer of International EarthBox Day, an outdoor festival that brings attention to a new way of eradicating global hunger and poverty. In 2006, she was the national director of the Environmental Justice for All Tour, a collaboration of over 70 environmental, public health and human rights groups that banded together to tour the country. For Columbia University Law School, Virginia produced a year long conference on the 50th anniversary of the landmark case, Brown v Board of Ed. She has also recently collaborated with Wired Magazine for a live event with Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth: A Wired Town Hall Event on the Climate Crisis.
Up next for Virginia? Something interesting; you can bet on it.

GIORDANO PRODUCTIONS

In February, 2004, Virginia Giordano welcomed President Bill Clinton and Mrs. Thurgood Marshall to celebrations at Columbia University. Virginia organized ‘Brown v Board of Ed, 50th Anniversary,’ a well-publicized year-long conference for Columbia Law School The events ran flawlessly and were brought in on budget - a hallmark of the highly respected producer/director, Virginia Giordano.

Virginia’s ability to launch events of this magnitude is based on years of production experience in the premier concert halls in New York City; Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Town Hall and The Beacon Theatre.

Giordano Productions began in the concert arena and expanded into a full-service company producing a broad spectrum of events. Giordano Productions hit the streets of New York, and the road as well, producing events in theatres from Manhattan to San Francisco. Events have included a concert tour for George Winston, a lecture tour for Deepak Chopra, and other speaking tours in halls as diverse as the Fifth Avenue Theatre in Seattle and the Baltimore Convention Center. Back home, Giordano Productions has produced concerts, benefits, rallies on the street and in Central Park which have been televised, and unusual events, like a book signing-variety show for St. Martin’s Press.

Virginia has directed Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins at fundraising events. Recently, she worked with the City Parks Department, managing shoots in one of the city’s finest gardens for HBO’s hit series ‘Sex and the City,’ and for Robin Williams’ film, ‘House of D.’

Concerts this year include long time clients Ani DiFranco and Sweet Honey in the Rock. DiFranco, the maverick folk-rocker, rocks the music industry with her off the chart ticket sales. Sweet Honey in the Rock, has been raising the rafters at Carnegie Hall for twenty years thanks to Virginia’s astute and street smart producing and marketing.

Although Virginia easily and expertly can manage a production when rehearsals allow for a sane pace, she has also developed a reputation as a 'ringer' for events which must be produced spontaneously in less time. A classic producer, she is always present and decisive, yet becomes the invisible guiding hand as the staff and artists fully assume their roles.

Virginia has an organized approach, respect for those working with her, an outstanding sense of design and what works practically as well as artistically, recognition of the importance of details and a flair for promotion, marketing and presentation. She is an excellent team leader and team player as well.