Boston is the center of artistic activity in Massachusetts, and Cape Cod and the Berkshires are areas of significant seasonal artistic activity. In 1979, Massachusetts became the first state to establish a lottery solely for funding the arts. Boston is the home of several small theaters, some of which offer previews of shows bound for Broadway. Well-known local theater companies include the American Repertory Theatre and the Huntington Theatre. Of the regional theaters scattered throughout the state, the Williamstown Theater in the Berkshires and the Provincetown Theater on Cape Cod are especially noteworthy.
The Boston Symphony, one of the major orchestras in the US, was founded in 1881, and its principal conductors have included Serge Koussevitzky, Charles Munch, Erich Leinsdorf, and Seiji Ozawa. Emmanuel Church in Boston's Back Bay is known for its early music concerts, and chamber music by first-rate local and internationally known performers is presented at the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall and other venues throughout the city. During the summer, the Boston Symphony is the main attraction of the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood in Lenox. An offshoot of the Boston Symphony, the Boston Pops Orchestra, gained fame under the conductorship of Arthur Fiedler. Its mixture of popular, jazz, and light symphonic music continued under the direction of Fiedler's successors, John Williams and Keith Lockhart. Boston is also the headquarters of the Boston Lyric Opera. Prominent in the world of dance are the Boston Ballet Company and the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in the Berkshires. Ploughshares, a literary journal published through Emerson College in Boston, has become well known nationally as a showplace for new writers.
The Massachusetts Cultural Council provides grants and services to support public programs in the arts, sciences, and the humanities. Grants are made to organizations, schools, communities and artists. In 2003, the Massachusetts Cultural Council and other arts organizations received grants totaling $3,315,100 from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities was founded in 1974. In 2000, the National Endowment for the Humanities contributed $5,880,267 to 72 state programs.