By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
With Bravo! BGSU entering its third year it has not settled into a pattern, and that’s by design.
The arts gala was created by President Mary Ellen Mazey to raise money for scholarships for Bowling Green State University students in the arts.
The night showcases the creativity from all the arts on campus, with a selection of sweet and savory munchies.
The celebration will begin at 7 p.m.in the Wolfe Center for the Arts. To purchase tickets, call 419-372-6780 or email lmattia@bgsu.edu. For more information, visit bgsu.edu/bravo.
Because of sponsorships, including by presenting sponsor PNC, all the ticket money will go toward scholarships. Last year, more than $70,000 was raised.
Both sponsorships and ticket sales are up, said newly named Dean of the College of Musical Arts William Mathis.
In a statement, Mazey said: “Bravo! BGSU is a wonderful evening that allows us to showcase the talents of our students, faculty and alumni in the arts.”
With the interim dropped from his title, Mathis and Dean of Arts and Sciences Raymond Craig has been serving as “artistic directors” of Bravo, Mathis said.
“We’ve been telling our patrons we wanted to do something a little different every year, and bring on new elements” Mathis said.
The biggest change will be a short, culminating concert at the end of the evening. The feeling was the gala needed a finale.
A new nine-foot Steinway grand piano will be dedicated, and a scene from last semester’s musical “The Drowsy Chaperone” will be presented.
Also showcased will be recent BGSU graduate Jenny Cresswell who will perform in a vocal duo with her husband, Brad Cresswell, now program director at WGTE-FM. Both are veteran operatic performers.
Another husband-wife musical duo, Revamped with Mark Minnich and Sally Williams Minnich will perform throughout the evening. Both violinists are graduates of the College of Musical Arts. The duo is a holdover from the previous Bravo events.
Also performing at several times will be Greek accordion virtuoso Panagiotis Andreoglou, who is a Fulbright Fellow at BGSU this semester.
A New Orleans style band will traverse the halls announcing the various acts.
All the arts on campus are getting in the act.
Even creative writers who normally work in solitude will be showcasing their work. They will be writing stories based on audience suggestions for characters, settings, and plot throughout the weekend. The stories will unfold as they are being drafted on screens throughout the Wolfe Center.
Visual artists in painting, glass, digital, and ceramics will also be stationed and at work in the halls of the arts center at work as well as exhibiting their creations. There will be theater, music and dance performances in the center’s nooks, crannies, corners, and stages.
Mathis said that the event is a showcase for the university’s arts initiative.
It has three goals, he said:
- To enhance and create a culture of the arts on campus.
- Reach out build an audience in the greater community for the arts at BGSU.
- Increase collaboration among all the arts.
Bravo! BGSU puts those goals into action and has earned cheers in the process.
