ATHENS, Ga. – On June 1, the Performing Arts Center (PAC) bade adieu to longtime staff member Bobby Tyler, who retired after nearly 25 years of service to the university. Tyler joined the department prior to the opening of the facility and served as the PAC’s director of marketing and media relations throughout that time.
Over the course of his tenure, Tyler developed relationships with many people in the community and at the university, enabling him to promote the venue’s many professional concerts and educational activities. Prior to coming to UGA, he worked in similar roles at Yale University and the University of California Berkeley.
“Bobby has played a critical role in the continued success of the programs at the Performing Arts Center throughout the years,” says PAC Director Jeffrey Martin. “From the nuts and bolts of editing programs and scheduling ads to writing press releases and all of the myriad details involved in promoting an operation like ours, he has been deeply involved. He will be sorely missed, and we wish him the very best in his retirement.”
One of Tyler’s major accomplishments for the Performing Arts Center included the establishment of a relationship with the producers of Performance Today, the Peabody Award-winning classical music radio program produced by American Public Media and broadcast nationally on NPR stations. The unsurpassed acoustics of Hodgson Concert Hall and Ramsey Concert Hall have been heard far beyond the borders of Athens and Clarke County due to the extensive exposure the PAC has received on the program.
“Our connection and continued relationship with Performance Today is one of my proudest accomplishments for the PAC. It has allowed us to extend our reach far beyond the walls of our venue and continues to shine a positive light on the things we are doing here,” says Tyler.
Performance Today producer Bradley Althoff appreciates the opportunity to showcase the PAC regularly on the broadcast. “[Bobby’s] work has provided our audiences with truly outstanding performances from UGA, and has made our jobs much easier,” he says.
Of course Bobby has been sitting in the audience for many of the PAC’s high-profile performances over the years. Some of his fondest memories include performances by the dance company Pilobolus and the celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma. His most cherished memory, however, came in April 1996 when opera star Jessye Norman gave a recital in Hodgson Hall during the PAC’s opening week gala. “There have been very few times when I have felt as much buzz in the concert hall as I did for that performance. Her second encore was ‘He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,’ and she was determined to show people that she could blow the roof off our new venue—and she did! It was an amazing, even spiritual, experience I will never forget.”