Arts Fusion 2004 showcases local talents
The Virginia Tech School of the Arts (SOTA) announces Arts Fusion 2004, the inaugural weeklong celebration of the arts on campus and in the Blacksburg community, April 19-25. Arts Fusion 2004 will feature a variety of events in music, art, theater, dance, film, and poetry.
The talents of the Art and Art History, Music, and Theatre Arts departments will be showcased in gallery exhibits, open studios, master classes, street and mainstage theater performances, and outdoor lunchtime and mainstage concerts. Local businesses and student organizations will participate by hosting live music, open mics, dance workshops, and performances.
Featured events include a Kick-Off Celebration, which is free and open to the public, the Department of Theatre Arts' production of [sic], an art exhibit in the Armory Gallery, and performances by the University Wind and Early Music Ensembles.
The Kick-Off Celebration from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday, April 25, in Squire's Haymarket Theatre will be a musical extravaganza highlighting the talents of the Jeff Midkiff Quartet, the nationally recognized bluegrass and jazz group; the University Jazz Ensemble with guest artist John d'Earth; and the Department of Theatre Arts' student-run workshop, Side by Side by Sondheim. Melissa Gibson's [sic], a comedy compared to television sitcoms "Friends" and "Sienfeld", will run April 20-25 in Squire's Studio Theatre.
Established as a unified entity in 1996, the School of the Arts is committed to providing a broad spectrum of public performances and gallery opportunities for the university and local community. The School of the Arts brings together the talents and expertise of the faculty, staff, and students in the Departments of Art and Art History, Music, and Theatre Arts. Through each of its three departments, the School of the Arts provides a wide range of training and educational opportunities.
The school promotes a wide range of curricular offerings in the visual and performing arts through the various undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Art and Art History, Music, and Theatre Arts. The school encourages students to seek out and develop interdisciplinary pursuits among the visual and performing arts disciplines. Such pursuits complement interdisciplinary performance and exhibit initiatives engaged in by the three departments.
Through its Arts at Virginia Tech program, the school provides a broad spectrum of public performance and gallery opportunities for the university community. Ranging from instrumental and choral ensembles to theatre productions in mainstage and studio formats to exhibits in the Armory Art Gallery, these events contribute significantly to the cultural life of the university. All students at Virginia Tech are invited to share in these activities; and non-arts majors are specifically encouraged to become involved. Open auditions are generally scheduled at the beginning of each academic term, and curricular credit may be achieved, depending on the performance ensemble or activity.
For complete calendar information, go to http://artsfusion.sota.vt.edu/calendar.html. For more information, please contact the School of the Arts at (540) 231-5200.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become the largest university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top 30 research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 170 academic degree programs.
