Sewanee Launches New Performance Arts Efforts

by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer
The University of the South is injecting renewed vigor in the school’s performing arts programs to strengthen student opportunities and enhance visibility of public performances.
“There are a lot of people involved in making art (here) and this is really exhilarating and exciting,” said Dan Backlund, chair of the University’s Arts Task Force and professor of theatre arts. “We have enough plans to last for the next 20 years.”
The task force is a result of Sewanee’s 2012 Strategic Plan, and Terry Papillon, dean of the college, said the committee is moving from the planning to the enacting stage. An accomplished musician, Papillon praised the role of arts in all areas of life.
“We have seen in modern academic culture and in the culture in general, a lack of value for the arts; I think that’s incredibly unfortunate,” he said. “I think it’s just shortsighted and makes us less able to interact as human beings. We’re seeing the results of that in modern American culture.”
One of the first missions is the new website portal <artssewanee.sewanee.edu>, which synchronizes performance scheduling and allows the public to find events in one place. Two other new additions are a University fiddling program and starting this spring, an artist-in-residence program.
Sewanee has also hired a number of highly-accomplished faculty members in the arts department (look for more on new faculty in coming weeks).
Hiring more technicians for lighting and sound and bringing in visiting musicians are also high on the task force’s list, Papillon said. The performing arts series starts Saturday,
Oct. 8 with a performance by acclaimed bassist Edgar Meyer, followed by an organ recital by Catherine Rodland in November.
The third part of the series, in February, features the American Spiritual Ensemble, a world-renowned vocal collaborative, which will be in Sewanee for five days, performing and workshopping with students and local music groups. Among the various activities, the Ensemble and the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra will perform Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess.”
In addition, Stephen Miller, professor of music, noted that a benefactor made a large donation to bring in Americana musicians to work with students. Some of those musicians may perform for the public as well.
The University has also broadened the way it thinks about choral music activities and church music, so look for expansion in those areas, Papillon said. Among the long term goals is a 250-seat lecture/recital hall at Bishop’s Common, which will be renovated as the School of Theology moves to central campus. He said the hall should be a top-notch space for chamber and small choral concerts in the next four years or so.
A new performing arts center is also a long term goal, Papillon said. Guerry Auditorium isn’t ideal for large events, like a Broadway tour, because of the difficult access for semi-trucks, and the HVAC system is also outdated and loud and must be shut off during performances.
The present initiatives also involve intentionally recruiting more arts students to campus, including adding additional arts scholarships and internships.
César Leal, artistic director of the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra (SSO), noted that the orchestra’s work study program has expanded and now serves as a model for several other work study programs on campus. The Artistic Leadership Program started last year with only six students and has expanded to 20. The program provides students with a valuable learning experience while producing all musical events. They work as talent managers, assistant production managers, audio visual technicians, music librarians and musicians.
At SSO performances students are in charge of everything from lights, audiovisual production, and all aspects of logistics and pre-production. Leal noted that the SSO is partnering with other organizations on and off campus to bring new innovative programs. The SSO will also carry on its traditional concerts, such as the Halloween concert, which features a night concert for the community and a morning concert for more than 500 area elementary students.
“I am truly happy and excited for the new opportunities that the SSO creates each year for our students and musicians,” Leal said. “The SSO is a true representation of Sewanee, who we are as a community, and how we draw our strength and success from working together. As we work really hard to prepare our repertoire for the 2016–17 season, I am confident our audiences will keep supporting us with their attendance and applause.”
Another recruiting program that started last year gives prospective students a behind-the-scenes tour of plays, concerts and dance performances. Backlund said the University invited students within a 100-mile-radius to tour campus, which included a backstage look at dress rehearsals and questions and answer sessions with cast members and directors.
And for students who are graduating, the University has added to its “Beyond the Gates” program by bringing in professionals in areas such as lighting, arts history, dancing, singing, and film and television to help prepare students for possible careers in the performing arts.
In the theatre department, the first production of the year will be “The Good Doctor,” by Neil Simon, based on the short stories of Anton Chekhov, said Peter Smith, professor of theatre arts. Smith is directing the production, which is scheduled for Friday–Sunday, Oct. 28–30 and Thursday–Saturday, Nov. 3–5.
On Thursday–Friday, Nov. 10 and 11, guest artist and Sewanee graduate Raymond McAnally will present his one-man show, “Size Matters,” in the Tennessee Williams Center.
For more information go to <arts​sewanee.sewanee.edu>.