• Founded and incorporated in 1986 by pianist Vivian Taylor, the Boston group produced major events including the 1988 Boston premiere of the opera X-CERPTS by Anthony Davis and an ongoing chamber music concert series in New England.
  • VIDEMUS appointed its new Artistic Director, Louise Toppin, on October 1st, 1997 and moved its base of operation to North Carolina.
  • Received grants from The National Endowment for the Arts, North Carolina Arts Council, The Copland Foundation, Polaroid, and A. J. Fletcher Foundation to produce concerts, recordings and educational programs.
  • Presented more than 25 years of concerts in New England, Ohio, Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan, Minnesota, and New York on university campuses and concert series.
  • Created an education division of Videmus which has presented 10 years of educational programming for public school and college students. Established the Lynn Bridges Memorial Award ($1,000) and the Edgar Toppin Memorial Fund to assist financially undergraduate and graduate students.  In 2011 we established and held the first George Shirley African American Art Song and Opera Competition in Detroit, MI to encourage the performance of this repertoire by High School students.  Students competed for college scholarships and performance opportunitiesLook for information about our January 2013 competition and scholarship fundraiser this summer in Detroit.
  • Produced more than 30 compact disks of American music
  • Employed, encouraged and exposed hundreds of musicians and audience members to the music of under-represented composers through concerts and recordings.
  • Successfully and actively seek opportunities to collaborate with other arts organizations, schools, and universities.
  • Created Visionary Recordings (now Videmus Records) division in 1998 and collaborated with Albany Records to distribute Videmus recordings.






Louise Toppin,
Director
louisetoppin@videmus.org

Willis Patterson,
President

Darryl Taylor,
Vice President

Lee Melvin,
Secretary/Chair, Bridges Award

Chris Wells,
Director of Development