By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The series of premier arts events at Bowling Green State University is finding its legs.
The idea of programming and promoting some of the top arts offerings as a series came about in the wake of the shuttering of the Festival Series. For more than 30 years under the auspices of that concert programming, BGSU’s College of Musical Arts brought in internationally renown performers.
But flagging attendance and funding, sank those concerts. For four years, the university presented Bravo! BGSU, which former President Mary Ellen Mazey hoped would become a premier arts happening in the region. Bravo! though was not staged last year when it was determined the amount of money it raised was not commensurate with the effort it took to put on.
Also, it was not developing an audience for the arts on campus, said William Mathis, dean of the College of Musical Arts and chair of the university’s arts coordination group.
So for the third year, the university is packaging a number of performances and presentations as Premier Arts Events. Some are ticketed, others are free.
These 11 offerings will be marketed as a group as well as being promoted individually.
Nothing presented, though, is being specifically booked as a premier performance. Rather this is a curated collection of events that would happen on campus regardless. (See schedule below.)
The series includes performances featuring students in two theater productions, a Gilbert and Sullivan light opera, and the Men’s Chorus alumni concert.
The choral ensembles will perform with the Toledo Symphony, highlighting the connections between the orchestra and the College of Musical Arts. And graduate art students will display their work in the MFA Exhibitions.
Fiction writer Michael Martone, considered the fabulist of the Midwest, will read from his work, and graphic designer and BGSU alumnus Rick Valicenti and architect Iker Gil, will speak about creativity and collaboration in the Simmons Creative Minds lecture.
Two of the events, a presentation by Jane Chu, former chair of the National Endowment for Arts and
a performance and workshops with Grammy-winning Cuban percussionist Pedrito Martinez, come under the auspices of the Hansen Musical Arts Series.
And on Dec. 7, ArtsX, now in its 15th year, will be staged. The inclusion of the arts gala is fitting since it is a pioneering example of bringing the arts from across campus together.
“The collaboration among the arts units is stronger than it’s been in the last three years,” Mathis said. “We’ve hit our stride on the planning of this series.”
He was pleased that a save-the-date announcement was made in May before the spring semester ended.
“It’s really solidified into a series in terms of programming,” he said. “It’s a stronger line up. The goal is to have a nice variety of arts events that will have interest to different audiences and always to a general audience.”
Mathis said he felt that attendance has been strong. Three performances last year — Apollo’s Fire, Conspirare, and the BG Philharmonia’s Beethoven Ninth Symphony — packed Kobacker Hall, and “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Midsummer Nights Dream” drew large audiences in the Donnell.
Mathis credited that to marketing the performances “in a more systematic and focused way.”
The Hansen and Simmons Creative Minds endowments have served as linchpins. “Now we know we have this series, we can pick a speaker that would really fit that. It’s a way to bring the arts together,” Mathis said.
There will always be a mix of guests and student ensembles.
To be included a presentation must be related to the curriculum and be pedagogically relevant. “It must be student centered,” Mathis said.
“There has to be a connection to the community … and have general interest or relevance.”
Also, there must be a variety from lectures to light opera to art exhibits.
“We also want every single event to have a value added experience and engagement experience, a community outreach, or university development component,” he said.
Guests aren’t just coming in for a single appearance but instead to interact with the campus and Bowling Green community.
The arts coordination group is “really concerned and working toward a couple major goals. One is to bring arts more into the fabric of campus life and the other is for the arts to be more impactful in our region.”
Premier Arts Events this season are:
September 12
The Edwin H. Simmons Creative Minds Series presents Iker Gil, architect, and Rick Valicenti, graphic designer
October 3
Creative Writing Reading Session featuring author Michael Martone
November 1 and 3
BG Opera Theater presents Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore
November 7
The Dorothy E. and DuWayne H. Hansen Musical Arts Series presents the Pedrito Martinez Quartet
November 21-24
The Department of Theatre and Film presents Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play by Anne Washburn
December 7
ArtsX
February 15
BGSU Choral Ensembles and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra present Orff’s Carmina Burana
April 17
The Dorothy E. and DuWayne H. Hansen Musical Arts Series presents Jane Chu, former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, current PBS Arts Advisor
April 18-26 & May 2-10
MFA Art Exhibitions (Opening receptions, April 17 and May 1)
April 25
BGSU Men’s Chorus Alumni Concert.
April 30-May 3
The Department of Theatre and Film presents Pippin by Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson
