AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: February 19, 2025
Item Number:
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Matthew Brown, Recreation Services Manager
Sara Scrimshaw, Venue Supervisor – Historic Site
Subject: RECOMMENDATION BY ARTS AND CULTURE COMMISSION
COUNCIL LIAISONS MIRISCH AND WELLS TO CO-SPONSOR
BEVERLY HILLS INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL USE OF
GREYSTONE MANSION FOR CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERTS IN
2025
Attachments: None
RECOMMENDATION
Arts and Culture Commission Liaisons Mirisch and Wells recommend that the City cosponsor the 2025 Beverly Hills International Music Festival at Greystone Mansion and waive the associated hard and soft costs.
INTRODUCTION
As has been requested in prior years, Beverly Hills International Music Festival (BHIMF) has requested the City’s co-sponsorship, and use of the Greystone Mansion, for the return of the Beverly Hills International Music Festival in 2025. Founded in 2004, BHIMF is a non-profit organization that aims to bring classical and jazz music, performed by local and internationally acclaimed musicians, to Beverly Hills and the region, to promote excellence in performance and musical education. BHIMF was last held at the Greystone Mansion in 2019 for what at the time was the 16th annual festival - and seeks to return the festival to Greystone with performances in 2025. As part of returning the festival to Greystone Mansion in 2025, two concert dates can be accommodated at Greystone, with concerts currently planned for April 24 & 25, 2025.
DISCUSSION
Similarly to what has occurred in the past, to produce the concert performances, BHIMF is requesting in-kind services from the City of Beverly Hills, to offset the cost of Greystone facility rental fees. The Arts and Culture Commission Council Liaisons John Mirisch and Meeting Date: February 19, 2025
Mary Wells reviewed the proposal at their meeting on December 17, 2024, and were supportive of BHIMF returning to the Greystone Mansion through this continued cosponsorship arrangement in 2025. To facilitate the events, Greystone staff would provide day-of event support, including the set-up and break-down of Greystone chairs for the concerts. If a piano is needed for any of the concert performances, BHIMF would be responsible for supplying the piano, and coordinating any delivery and removal logistics for the piano before and after the concerts, with Community Services staff.
BHIMF will be charging for tickets, as has been done in prior years. For the 2025 concerts, ten percent of the available tickets will be offered to Beverly Hills residents free of charge.
Non-residents will be charged $50 per person for tickets. If the allotted tickets provided free of charge to Beverly Hills residents are all distributed prior to the concerts, BHIMF will sell any additional tickets to residents at a reduced rate determined by BHIMF. Greystone can accommodate a range of approximately 65 - 70 people for each performance, dependent upon the set-up needs for the performance. Revenue from ticket sales, would help offset BHIMF operating costs for the concerts.
FISCAL IMPACT
Community Services staff project hard costs of approximately $1,300 in Park Rangers and Greystone staff time for set-up and break-down, and approximately $3,190 in foregone revenue from rental fees for use of space at Greystone for the concerts, for a total of $4,490 that would be waived to produce the concerts.
BHIMF would be required to provide the City with Comprehensive General Liability insurance, at their expense, with minimum limits in the amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000) per occurrence.
Stephanie Harris,
Director of Community Service
Approved By