A gorinto is a Japanese pagoda, typically a stone tower made of the five shapes representing the Buddhist concept of the five elements — earth, water, fire, wind, and space.
Much like the multi-tiered structure it is named for, Gorinto Productions has many layers, but at its core, Gorinto’s purpose is to bring world-class national and international live music and an inclusive, alternative social scene to State College and beyond. It does so through a variety of local venues, including a new downtown performance space, a CSA-inspired membership program, and a three-day annual festival.
Curation With Intention
Corey Elbin, founder and director of Gorinto Productions, acknowledges that succinctly describing the multi-faceted initiative is difficult to do — even when it comes to defining who is part of it. On one hand, Gorinto Productions is simply Corey Elbin, yet it’s also made up of the many passionate community members who work together to support its mission.
Elbin himself has a multi-layered, gorinto-like background. Among other things, he’s been a chef, a farm worker, and a DJ. Now, Elbin’s roles with Gorinto range from event planner to promoter to proprietor to tour manager to the role he seems most proud of — curator.
He began curating experimental music and art in 2009 while working as a sous chef at the renowned Mercury Café, a restaurant and performing arts venue in Denver, Colorado. He embraced the opportunity when the owner gave him the responsibility of booking weekly artists for Wednesday nights, and Gorinto Productions was born.
After taking a few years off from the music scene to do agricultural work in Ohio, Elbin returned to Happy Valley, where his parents had gone to school and he still had family. As a chef at Webster’s Bookstore Café, Elbin catered the opening night of 3 Dots in 2019 and developed a relationship with the community arts space, eventually curating programming there under the Gorinto Productions umbrella — including bringing in DJs from all over the country for regular all-ages dance parties, and the “Forgotten Valley” series, featuring notable DIY punk bands from the 1990s.
Elbin became adept at networking within the East Coast music scene, developing connections with promoters who specialize in helping musicians from other countries obtain visas and book hotels and tour dates. With his connections, he is able to bring these artists to State College as part of their tours, which could include stops in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cleveland, New York, and Washington, D.C. Here, they play venues like 3 Dots, Zeno’s, Boal City Brewing, and, as of Dec. 31, 2024, Gorinto’s new home base — Manny’s Performance Space, located at 101 Hiester St. in what was formerly The Saloon.
Elbin describes Manny’s — named after his beloved cat who lived to the ripe old age of 23 — as a “listening room.” While local breweries do serve adult beverages there, Elbin says the vibe is much different than at a typical bar. Again, curation comes into play — currently, Manny’s is only open when there is a performance happening at the venue, and those performances are selected with care.
“Curation and intentionality, that’s what we’re focused on. I’m not filling a quota; it’s not like, ‘Oh, we need something on Thursday night,’” he explains. “The programming and event calendar aren’t based around bar and alcohol sales, so it is a different model.”
‘A True Exchange’
Elbin says the visiting artists — who have recently included well-known acts from Argentina, Brazil, the Republic of Congo, Estonia, and Switzerland, as well as NYC-based jazz legend David Murray — often come to State College in between performing at big-city venues like the Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center. Perhaps surprisingly, many of them say they prefer playing in State College, he says, in part because of the intimate “listening room” model that puts the music at the forefront.
“It’s a fresh, very hungry audience — there’s no taking the performance for granted like you would in New York City, where there’s so much cool stuff happening all the time,” Elbin says. “The artists tell us, ‘We love how kind and genuine your audience is, we love that they’re so enthusiastic, we love that they want to come up and talk to us after the show.’ It’s really so rewarding for them because it feels like they’re tapping into expanding their music and their culture to a new audience.”
Based on Elbin’s experience helping artists come to the United States to tour, the Bogota Chamber of Commerce recently invited him to Colombia to discuss the process. He says he was shocked to discover how many Colombians knew of State College, mainly from seeing it listed on tour posters and from speaking with artists who came here.
“They said, ‘I hear it’s a great place to play; we want to come there,’” he says. “I’ve come to understand that these artists are not doing us a favor by coming here. They are receiving from us, too. This is a true exchange.”
Secret Planet
To help raise the funding necessary to make this kind of exchange happen, Elbin says he was inspired by a program in western Massachusetts that was set up like a CSA (community supported agriculture), but for jazz musicians rather than farmers.
The Gorinto version is called Secret Planet and involves having community members purchase five tickets — in the form of wooden tokens that Elbin made at The Rivet — to be used for admission to future shows. The money collected up front helps cover the costs of bringing artists to the United States, including things like visas, transportation, and housing during a tour, and helps to ensure that the shows will be well-attended.
Secret Planet extends to Elbin’s counterparts in other cities, who all collaborate to make international music tours happen through involvement that goes far beyond simply raising funds.
This is when Elbin puts on his “tour manager” hat — something he says he and Secret Planet members take turns doing. For example, he will be helping a Colombian band that will be touring the East Coast for a week in August.
“I will be going to New York, renting a van, picking them up from the airport, driving them to each city, where I’ll be responsible for getting them checked into their hotels, and getting them to the venues on time,” he explains.
Because many of the artists may not speak English well and have not been to these cities before, he says, “It goes without saying that the artists are super appreciative.”
Rhoneymeade Fest
This June, Gorinto Productions hosted its fifth annual Rhoneymeade Fest — a three-day festival held in several locations around town, but primarily centered at Rhoneymeade, a scenic 150-acre site situated between Boalsburg and Centre Hall, featuring an arboretum, sculpture garden, and the historic Rhone House.
Naturally, the event features myriad international music acts, as well as hands-on art and nature activities, and Elbin sees the event as a chance to show off the natural beauty of Central Pennsylvania.
“It’s become a destination for a lot of folks from urban areas. We just hear it over and over from people who travel from concrete jungle, that to come out here and be able to see all the amazing music you might be able to see in the city, but to be able to see it outside at Rhoneymeade is a huge attraction,” Elbin says.
Local Impact
Whether it’s at Rhoneymeade Fest, Manny’s, or other local venues, the impact of Gorinto Productions events on local tourism is quantifiable through Elbin’s ticketing process, which enables him to see how many audience members are coming from out of town. Many are coming from towns and cities across Pennsylvania, as well as from New York and Ohio — presumably staying in local hotels and putting money into the local economy. This kind of information helps Gorinto receive state grants as well as support from the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and State College Borough.
Elbin is earnest when he speaks about what it means to him to be able to contribute to the local economy and the community at large. Even though he is now the proprietor of Manny’s, he continues to collaborate with other businesses and venues.
“We’re all wanting to make State College better, not creating an island here and an island there; it’s about making a collective offering,” he says.
He feels honored to have worked with the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts this year to bring international artists to the Festival Shell and the Allen Street stage, as well as to host “Arts Fest After Dark” performances at Manny’s.
Elbin also seeks to build a connection among a diverse population, including long-time residents and Penn State students.
“Blending town and gown is a challenge, and I’m extremely motivated to be engaged in what’s happening at Penn State and in providing community activities for the people who live and work here,” he says.
The all-ages shows provide a rare venue for youth to both perform and experience live music, and Elbin hopes young people who don’t quite fit the mold of traditional Penn State students will feel that Manny’s is a safe space.
“It makes me emotional to think of the things I hear from the students that maybe have felt a little bit lost here,” he says. “I feel like a large part of what Gorinto is is a place for people that don’t feel like they have a space downtown, or people that aren’t into the drinking culture, and our events have created a spot for them.”
Overall, Elbin says that Gorinto Productions has had a positive impact on students, the community, performers, and even himself.
“This is not a money-making operation, but it is life-affirming,” he says. “It feels very organic, and it feels quaint and wholesome. … This is a community effort to bring cultural exchange to a world that needs it.”
For more information, visit gorintoproductions.com. T&G
Karen Walker is a freelance writer in State College.
