Dean Holly Receives Grant from DeKalb County Community Foundation

Rich Holly, right, accepting the check from Larry Bolles of the DeKalb County Community Foundation Board

Rich Holly, Dean of the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts, is pleased to announce that he has received a $2,500.00 grant from the DeKalb County Community Foundation. The funds from the grant will help in the partnership created with Arts Midwest to bring the Arts Midwest World Fest to DeKalb County during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years.

Working with the superintendents and other representatives of DeKalb Schools, Sycamore Schools, and Sandwich Schools, Dean Holly is excited about Arts Midwest World Fest coming to the county. "Arts Midwest World Fest will bring four internationally-touring music acts to DeKalb County, one per semester, over the next two school years," he stated. "Each of the four partners - NIU, DeKalb Schools, Sycamore Schools and Sandwich Schools, will have each group in residence for one full day, working with children in the schools, teaching the students about the music of the country from which they hail," he explained.

Holly goes on to note that this is a unique opportunity not only due to the great exposure the students will have to these artists and their music, but to also learn about the customs and culture of other lands.

In addition to spending several days working with school children and NIU students, each group will perform a public concert at the end of their one-week residency.

The first group to appear as part of Arts Midwest World Fest will be Bandolino, from Israel, in September. In January of 2014, the group La Vent du Nord, from Quebec, will be in residence. The groups for the following school year will be from China and Brazil.

As more specific details become known about each group's appearance and their public concert, promotional notices and materials will be sent to area news outlets.

"In particular I want to thank the Superintendents of the county school districts," Holly stated. "It's a joy to work with passionate people who all have the same vision of bringing the world to their students."

School of Theatre and Dance Moves Out of Stevens Building!

The extremely long-awaited renovation of the Stevens Building on the NIU campus is about to begin! The NIU School of Theatre and Dance is housed in the Stevens Building, which they share with the Department of Anthropology.

In addition to all new mechanicals, windows, ceilings, etc. just to "fix" the building, the School of Theatre and Dance will be getting a brand-new, state-of-the-art, 8000+ square foot black box theatre, as well as a hugely expanded scene shop which will service both the black box as well as the existing O'Connell Theatre.

This is expected to be at least a two-year project, while some projections place it at closer to three years. In any event, we are excited about the future.

In the meantime, the faculty and staff of the School of Theatre and Dance are busy packing and labeling all items for the movers to do their work next week. The offices of the School will be in Grant Hall Tower A, while classes and rehearsals will be spread all across campus as well as at two locations in the City of DeKalb.

Here are some photos of what the faculty and staff have been busy doing the past couple of weeks!

Organic Theater Company Opens 2013 Season in Chicago

Chicago's Organic Theater Company, which features many NIU alums and has as it's Producing Artistic Director Alex Gelman (Director of the NIU School of Theatre and Dance), is opening its 2013 season in Chicago on May 29 at the Greenhouse Theater Center.

The two featured plays are "The Emigrants" by Slawomir Mrozek, and "Caligula" by Albert Camus.

Here is the trailer for "Caligula":

Percussion Professor Earns Terrific Review

Greg Beyer, Professor of Percussion in the NIU School of Music, performs with Chicago's noted new music group Ensemble Dal Niente. This past weekend Dal Niente presented several new works in concert, and the group - and in particular, Greg - received a terrific review.

Reviewer Gerald Fisher in Chicago Classical Review notes "...the prodigiously talented percussionist Gregory Beyer..." and later states that the duo Greg performed with Mabel Kwan, NIU piano alumna, "...proved one of the evening's highlights."

Please read the entire review here.

Congratulations, Greg!

Faculty Composer's Works Featured in Festivals

On May 1, NIU School of Music faculty member Robert Fleisher was one of 60 composers whose electro-acoustic compositions were heard—and seen—at Washington University (St. Louis), in a premiere screening of experimental videos by 22 Digital Studio students.

Dr. Fleisher’s Loretto Alfresco (piccolo) was originally selected for the 60x60 “Crimson Mix,” premiered during the 2010 International Computer Music Conference in New York City. The Crimson Mix has since been heard in Taiwan, Italy, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and at venues throughout the United States. All “60x60” mixes comprise 60 compositions by 60 composers, each of which lasts no more than 60 seconds.

Loretto Alfresco (piccolo) was selected again for two new mixes in 2012: the “Composers Concordance” mix was premiered during the Composers Concordance festival at Spectrum, in New York City; the “EMM” mix features works by composers (including NIU music alums Matthew Dotson, Tony Reimer, and Andrew Walters) whose music was previously accepted for both 60x60 and the biennial Electronic Music Midwest (EMM) festival, where it received its premiere in October at Lewis University (Romeoville, IL). For the recent Washington University screening, each of the digital video students created visuals to accompany three of the 60 works in the EMM mix.

Huskie Spring Fever Campaign Under Way!

We know that many regular readers of these posts are donors to the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and for that we sincerely thank you!

If you have not donated yet this year, or you might be considering becoming a donor, now is a GREAT time to give! We have a wonderful matching program at the unusually high match rate of 2 to 1!

Gifts received by the college will go to benefit programming and opportunities for students that would otherwise not be available. We encourage you to help us provide the best possible education for the current generation of students in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

As noted in the graphics below, here is the link to the web page where you can donate. As you begin to complete the online form, please remember to select the box for "I'd like my gift designated to a specific area," then select the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Thank you!

Faculty Composer's Works Featured

Three works by NIU School of Music faculty composer Robert Fleisher were performed in April: Gig Harbor (solo piano) was performed by his composition faculty colleague, David Maki, at NIU on April 3 and subsequently during the Society of Composers, Inc. (SCI) conference at Clarke University (Dubuque, IA) on April 13. Loretto Alfresco, an electro-acoustic composition released earlier this year on the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) 2012 Miniatures CD “Re-Caged,” was also heard during the SCI conference, on April 12. Dans le piano, another electro-acoustic work, was heard during the annual SEAMUS festival at the McNally Smith College of Music (St Paul, MN), April 18-20.