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Arizona Opera Plaza to be named for local arts advocates Shoshana and Robert Tancer

The Tancers, community advocates for the past 50 years, will be honored in a ceremony in fall 2020

Posted 4/29/20

In commemoration of their remarkable contributions to Arizona Opera, the company has announced that the courtyard at the Arizona Opera Center in downtown Phoenix will henceforth be known as the …

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Arizona Opera Plaza to be named for local arts advocates Shoshana and Robert Tancer

The Tancers, community advocates for the past 50 years, will be honored in a ceremony in fall 2020

Posted

In commemoration of their remarkable contributions to Arizona Opera, the company has announced that the courtyard at the Arizona Opera Center in downtown Phoenix will henceforth be known as the Shoshana B. and Robert S. Tancer Plaza.

Shoshana and Robert (Bob) Tancer moved to Phoenix 50 years ago with their four children and have become familiar faces in the community across a variety of organizations.

Arizona Opera’s announcement of this naming follows the passing of Bob Tancer last month, after many years of service to the company and community, according to a press release.

Mr. Tancer was a longtime, devoted member of the Arizona Opera Board, serving in multiple leadership roles, including two terms as board chair, from 1999-2001 and again from 2015-17. At the time of his passing last month, he was serving as Chair of the company’s Development Committee.

Mrs. Tancer’s involvement with Arizona Opera has also been very deep. She previously served as president of the Phoenix Opera League, in addition to chairing several of Arizona Opera’s special events over the years.

She has been an honorary trustee of Arizona Opera since 2015 and will continue Bob’s board legacy, having been elected to the organization’s Board of Directors.

“Bob and Shoshana are incredibly special to Arizona Opera,” said Arizona Opera President and General Director, Joseph Specter, in a prepared statement. “The naming of the Shoshana B. and Robert S. Tancer Plaza allows us the opportunity to celebrate Bob’s memory, as well as Bob and Shoshana’s remarkable legacy of support, advocacy, and passion for our company. It will be a joy to see the Tancer name smiling down on us at the Opera Center every day.”

Mrs. Tancer says the Arizona Opera is very dear to the family.

“The naming of this plaza is an honor that neither Bob nor I could ever have imagined. I am so grateful for this recognition, and I am looking forward to serving on Arizona Opera’s Board and continuing the service to which Bob gave of himself for so many years,” Mrs. Tancer said in a prepared statement.

In addition to their involvement with Arizona Opera, the Tancers’ engagement and philanthropy extends across a variety of Arizona organizations, including the Desert Botanical Garden, Barrow Neurological Foundation, Act One, Arizona State University’s Friends of Jewish Studies, the Harvard Club of Phoenix, the Phoenix Symphony Association, Ballet Arizona, and Phoenix Country Day School.

Both Bob and Shoshana are professors emeriti of International Studies at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, now part of Arizona State University.

“It is a joy to be able to celebrate Bob and Shoshana with the naming of the Plaza,” said current Arizona Opera Board Chair, Sharon Landis, in a prepared statement. “Bob and Shoshana have done so much for our company over the years, in addition to their remarkable work across our entire community, through the arts and beyond.”

A celebration of the naming of Tancer Plaza will take place on a date to be announced later this year, the press release stated.