The Schuster Center is the home for two of Dayton’s arts treasures, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and Dayton Opera Association. Dayton Ballet Association and Victoria Theatre Association present select performances at the Schuster Center as well.

Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
Founded in 1933, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra holds a distinguished place in the Gem City’s history as one of the community’s oldest and longest-standing cultural institutions. Today, rich in artistic tradition and under the leadership of Music Director Neal Gittleman, the Orchestra makes its new home at the Schuster Center.

Under Gittleman’s direction, the Orchestra has received the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music three times. More than 85,000 school children are reached by the Orchestra’s extensive education programs—more children than any other orchestra of their budget size in the United States.

Dayton Opera Association
For more than 40 years, Dayton Opera Association productions have mirrored the full spectrum of human experience to a diverse regional audience. With each production, Dayton Opera, under the leadership of Artistic Director Thomas Bankston, strives to assemble the finest artistic personnel and highest quality voices from the esteemed U.S. and international opera houses.

A new era in Dayton Opera history began with the opening of the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, which provides an opera experience like nothing Dayton has previously experienced. In addition, Dayton Opera presents and produces a growing number of education programs, as well as a popular opera preview program.

OTHER ARTS GROUPS USING THE SCHUSTER CENTER

Dayton Ballet Association
Founded in 1937, Dayton Ballet is one of the oldest professional dance companies and schools in the U.S., with an ever-increasing regional impact. Under the direction of Dermot Burke for more than 10 seasons, Dayton Ballet presents 40 productions each season, and has become widely known for presenting American dance classics and for premiering new works by emerging American choreographers.

Dayton Ballet reaches more than 17,000 Miami Valley children each year, through the Young Audience Program and The Muse Machine, in addition to more than 400 students through the Dayton Ballet School and Dayton Ballet II, a pre-professional training and performing company of talented young dancers.

Victoria Theatre Association
Victoria Theatre Association is one of Dayton’s premier arts organizations, presenting the Chase Broadway Series, the Young at Heart Family Series, the Michelob Ultra Cool Films series, Star Attractions, the Universal 1 Variety Series, and the Physicians for Kids Discovery Series, which features curriculum-enhanced live theatre productions for school children. Victoria Theatre Association is proud of its alliance with the Dayton Opera Association and its collaboration on The Eichelberger Loft Series 1 with The Human Race Theatre Company.

In addition to the performances it presents, Victoria Theatre Association also manages the historic Victoria Theatre, the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, and the Metropolitan Arts Center, which houses The Loft Theatre. Victoria Theatre Association receives funding from a variety of diverse public, corporate, individual and private sources, including the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District and the Ohio Arts Council. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program or organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.