2014 Arts@Lehigh Year in Review

A friend in Lehigh's Communications Office asked me for the top three arts stories of 2014. Three.

Three? That's like asking me which of my children I like best. But I complied - kind of.

Instead of answering his email directly, I picked the top three stories in categories that are how I think about the arts when I look around campus: guest artists, news, student production, faculty research and campus arts integration. Arts news in Bethlehem, Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania or the nation... Maybe I'll write those. Maybe.

I posted a shorter version on the Arts@Lehigh wordpress blog. For this post, I added a little more commentary. I love what I do, and I do what I love.

Guest Artists:

3. Smokey Robinson at the 2014 Zoellner Arts Center Gala. Mr. Robinson was generous, and in great voice. I only wish he would have taken me up on bringing a bassoon on stage for Tears of a Clown. I was ready. [smiley face emoticon]

2. Nas and Angela Davis for the MLK keynote. Yeah, that was kinda huge, even if they weren't "Zoellner" guest artists in the sense that they were on the season. Thanks to Dr. James Peterson for bringing him to Lehigh. There's nothing like celebrity status to start social justice discussions. Behind the scenes, witnessing Nas get nervous about meeting his idol Angela Davis was a very special moment.

1. Darlene Love - Zoellner's Artistic Director Deborah Sacarakis really nailed the timing of Darlene Love's show in Bethlehem the day after her final Late Night with David Letterman performance. Deb saw her perform live two years ago at 54 Below in New York City; before 20 Feet from Stardom, before her induction into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. She booked her then. Yes, that's how far in advance Deb works. Heck, after 40 years at Lehigh, Ms. Sacarakis knows a thing or two about booking shows. Ms. Love's first song of the show was, Hark the Herald Angels Sing. The line, "...with angelic hosts proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem," the crowd went nuts. She even said, "singing in Bethlehem at Christmas is just unreal." 

Top three News Stories:

3. Zoellner Administrative Director Andy Cassano led the PA Presenters conference in May 2014. We are fortunate to have a visionary leader not only for our campus arts center, but for Pennsylvania.

2. Deborah Sacarakis was honored by the Lehigh Valley Dance Consortium with the Distinguished Service Award. (April 6, 2014) See? Even arts consortium's know how amazing she is.

1. Andy responds to Bethlehem City Council/Mayor proposal to raise the Amusement Tax in an op-ed piece to the Morning Call. This is an important issue for our community. We understand the importance of finding revenue to pay for the things that make our city great. We also understand that this speaks of the value of the arts in our community. Personally, I hope to see an increase of visible support from our city's leaders by merely attending more arts events by the organizations and artists affected by this tax. Dear reader, think about the last time you saw a member of city council or the Mayor at a ticketed arts event. Just saying.

Student Production

3. Mustard & Cheese Reefer Madness. The writer, Dan Studney came to the show on Dec 6th ! 

2. Marching 97 at Yankee Stadium (they were the stars of the Rivalry 150, IMHO)

1. Lisa Glover - Kit Rex

Faculty Research (these items picked with performance dates in mind)

3. Erica Hoelsher - Costumes and mask design for the Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium's production of Eugéne Ionesco's Rhinoceros

2. Bill Warfield's CD Release Party at Iridium

1. Steven Sametz with LU Choral Arts at Carnegie Hall

Campus Arts Integration

3. Increasing community school outreach. McKinley Elementary School second graders tour the campus after lunch in Rathbone Dining Hall and seeing Lightwire Theater at Zoellner. That campus engagement led to a week long residency in July with local artist, Doug Royston. In October, the entire Broughal Middle School saw Cirque Alfonse.  The PBS39 story on Broughal attending Cirque Alfonse starts at 6:30:

Both of these opportunities were the results of campus support; financial support from College of Education and College of Arts & Sciences, staff volunteer campus tour guides, and generous expertise from local artist, Doug Royston.

2. TIE Mercy Killers & Shostakovich 7th. Mercy Killers is a heart wrenching look at the consequences of America's health care system. The one-man play was written and performed by Michael Milligan. Experts from Lehigh faculty and administration were on hand to provide reflection and discussion after each show. Story by student Madison Gouveia in Lehigh's Brown and White. 

The Lehigh University Philharmonic took an extensive semester long study of Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 which was written during the 1943-1944 siege of Leningrad. The members of the orchestra read an historic fictional novel based on events of the composer's and others involved in the premier performance, as well as describing the harrowing conditions the people of Leningrad endured. Professor Mary Nicholas of Lehigh's Russian Language and Literature also presented a cultural perspective on what the history of the siege continues to mean to Russians today. 

1. Hammerschlag Design series. Envisioned by two faculty, Anthony Viscardi and Nick Nikolov, these experience fully embraced the creative potential of the Mountaintop Learning Environment. 

1. Steven Sametz with LU Choral Arts at Carnegie Hall (I'm sure you've got enough on that)

Where I started.

I've been working in the field of Arts Integration and Audience Development since 1997. That's the official start I will claim; marked by a position with the former Performing Arts Council of Toledo. I was hired to direct The Muse Machine program for a 22 county-wide area of northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.

Before then, I had touch points in Arts Integration as a performer with Young Audiences of America while a doctoral student of bassoon performance at the Eastman School of Music. Through the experience of performing in a woodwind quintet for elementary students, I came to understand that my training wasn't really preparing me for the work that needed to happen "off" the bassoon. The degree program was rigorous and glorious. So much repertoire, so many memorable moments on stage with fabulous conductors and other musicians.... The culture wars of the mid-1990s was heating up in congress. Audiences were graying. The 1983 report, A Nation at Risk was being interpreted to mean more focus on math and science in school or the Japanese will be taking over our economy. Education reform was challenging the arts in schools. Young Audiences intended to provide quality arts experiences in schools and build new audiences. It was rewarding work, but something was missing for me as an artist. I realized that performing for these special audiences meant I needed a better methods to connect with them; not just in the music, but in how I talked about it.

My career aspiration was to find an orchestra position paired with a studio in a university. I was two semesters away from finishing a doctorate. I had one recital left and the doctoral comprehensive exams. I was preparing for a rehearsal with the RPO when all around me I was hearing concerns from my fellow musicians about how the public just doesn't get us. Were they crazy? Did they not see the beautiful theatre we were in? Did they not know the mecca stage we were sharing with a history of legends before us? How could they not be in awe of the opportunity we had to make magic? Guilting the audience into liking orchestral music might not be the best course of audience development action. I immediately knew I had to do something to bridge the new audiences to the music I adored.

I was lucky enough to have an academic advisor who saw administrative chops in my questions; and my resistance to prescribed curriculum. I didn't see the value in an entire semester spent on studying Bach's music during his Leipzig period when I needed to understand why our community wasn't supporting the local orchestra. Through his design, I was able to be a guinea pig for what is now the Filene Arts Management program at Eastman. I took his seminars on organizations structure, when to a few symposiums in New York city presented by the American Symphony Orchestra League, pushed and got the first student internship at the Rochester Philharmonic. Then I hit my first professional crossroads.

I didn't want to be a studio musician, or a tenure track professor with an orchestral gig. I wanted to put my energy into building the audience.

...

As a musician, I was trained in breaking down the musical challenges of a score; critically analyzing the performance to find problem spots and discover ways to smooth fingering technique, take the right amount of cane off a reed, and how to interpret phrasing based on theories of performance practice. Fixing musical challenges came down to intonation, tempo, balance and style. The performance was only as good as the weakest player. We learned to identify weak spots and figure out how to improve them. Improvement was addressed in a small closet with a metronome and a tuner. I had to solve my own problems.

This sensibility informs my work now, but working out solutions doesn't happen in a practice room. It comes through observation, finding models of excellence that inspire action. A breadth of different educational settings, meeting educators of all levels and degree, a complex society with ever- changing policies, traditions and practice - and a new field of work: audience development.

In the past 20 or so years, I've been working in both arts integration and audience development. I'm now at a university that is not a conservatory or music, or a drama school, or a noted for a fine arts school. It has incredibly fabulous faculty in all of the arts disciplines and I'm darned lucky to support their teaching and research. Most students who major in the arts combine the arts based major with a second major (engineering, business or other humanities). Other students who participate in the arts are involved in performance opportunities through university supported ensembles, or through co-curricular activities. The "arts" are not a particularly strong signature in the institutional brand. Yet.

I was hired by the university to direct and arts integration program. While the program was discontinued after seven years, I'm still at the university. Still working on raising the visibility of the arts on our campus. Still celebrating the artistic achievements of students and faculty. Still supporting the arts in the community that shares the university zip code. Still practicing what I preach: art is a way of learning and life.

I hope to focus more of these thoughts and wonderings on the blog in 2015. I hope it sparks discussion, but not about me. Let's explore the work that supports creative development in each student, faculty and staff member on campus, as well as our neighbors in the community.

It's time to retool...