In Business 101, a basic requirement for success in a new business is to come up with a concept that fills a need. Provide something people need to succeed in their own careers or business, and they will beat a path to your door. Henno Lohmeyer and Everett McCorvey have done just that with United Artists & Authors Agency (UAAA) LLC. The two arts professionals identified a need in the community for a company that can guide performing artists and authors through the process of launching a career.
Lohmeyer and McCorvey both have many years of experience in the performing arts world. Recognizing the untapped wellspring of creative talent in the Lexington area in the performing and literary arts, the partners agree the decision to start the agency was an easy one.
“Many young artists just need direction and support,” explained Lohmeyer. “We can take them all the way and believe in them. When you finish a degree at the university in many careers, you can stay here and thrive. If you get a degree in opera, you must leave. How do you navigate this? These graduates need someone to help them.”
If you or anyone you know has an interest in performing arts or writing, you know it is a tough field to break into. Also daunting is developing your craft while also trying to market yourself, make connections and stay abreast of opportunities to meet big players and decision makers in your chosen field, in order to get a crack at career-making opportunities.
That’s where UAAA steps in. The agency has a multi-pronged approach, utilizing divisions within the company with access to the experts and advisors that artists and writers need to succeed and to customize their services to the particular needs of their clients.
For instance, one client may need skill development and industry guidance, while another needs a booking agent. A separate division of the agency, UNA Entertainment, will serve as a source for booking artists for special occasions for which entertainment is needed, representing all types of artists and musicians, from jazz to bluegrass to opera.
“We want to provide ways artists can live and work in their chosen field and have viable careers. Part of that is creating ways for them to thrive. We don’t want artists to always have to leave Lexington in order to practice their art. Lexington is a city that places great value on the arts. With Henno at the helm, we want to help artists achieve careers,” said McCorvey.
For writers, UAAA offers access to publishers and editors in the business, which can be hard to accomplish on your own without the proper entrée into the publishing industry. Editors are inundated with manuscripts, so having the proper connections can cut through a lot of the frustration experienced by many writers trying to get their work seen by the major publishing houses.
Both men bring considerable experience to the business.
Lohmeyer left an active career in public relations, television production and talent management, coming to Kentucky in 1999 with his late wife, Gail Robinson, a well-known opera performer whose career spanned many years on the stage in New York and around the world with the Metropolitan Opera Company. She came to teach at the University of Kentucky and was the Endowed Chair in Voice in the School of Music in the College of Fine Arts before her death four years ago.
“My wife and I were subject to the persuasive powers of Everett McCorvey many years ago when he invited us to Kentucky. He runs a great program at UK and has for many years. He knows talent, and I know talent. We are a good team. Everett is a man who knows everyone,” said Lohmeyer
“I had done this work my whole life, and then I chose to concentrate on my wife’s career when we came to Kentucky, and when she died, I lived a bit of a reclusive existence,” Lohmeyer said. “The agency is a way for me to do what I do best, to add to the community and to invest in talented people here.”
McCorvey explained, “Henno was too young to be retired. We both felt that artists and students could benefit from all the expertise he has to offer in artist representation. I knew I could learn from him and the community could benefit, so I happily collaborated with him on the agency.”
McCorvey is a tenor who has wowed audiences around the world and regularly performs to packed houses, often with his wife, soprano Alicia Helm McCorvey. He is also professor of voice and the director of opera at the University of Kentucky and Lexington Opera Society Endowed Chair. As such, he has built one of the most respected performing arts programs in the country. He also served as the executive producer of the opening and closing ceremonies of the World Equestrian Games, held for the first time in America in Lexington in 2010.
Stay tuned, Lexington. Artists from United Artists and Authors Agency are coming to a venue near you and also opening nationwide.
United Artists and Authors Agency has offices at 333 West Vine St. in Lexington.
A European office is located in Hamburg, Germany. Check the website unitedartistsandauthors.com for more information.