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Show !THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2001 UNIVERSITY IOURNALARTS PAGE 15 MFA students .pave the way BY MARY HAMMON JOURNAL TAFF WRITER Art today involves more than color, depth, ch me and perspective. A successful arts program requires administrators who know about writing grants, fund-raising and marketing as well. plans to fill this need with the new m ter of fine arts administration program. Robert Fass, djrector of the program, wants to how tuden th "busine ide of the arts.n One of few program of its kind in tbe nation, the program offers training in theatre, dance, music and visual art . "TI1e whole pr gram is bas d n a practical learning approach, n Fas aid . " tuden are in academi cour-s during the day, primarily in th m min , then they transfer th knowL dge the -are getting from that class into actual job experience as paid taff memb rs (who) work with our pro~ ional affiliat : the tah . hake pearean Festival the American Folk Ball t, and th Braithwaite Fin Ai:ts Gall ry.n ours like marketing fund-raising, social and government relations, written communication and accounting prepare student for careers in ans administration. a ome of these students have artistic backgrounds and may cboo to combine what they kno of administration and What they know about being an artist and work it into a position where they get to do both," Fass said. Fass is familiar with combi,ning art and business. As the executive director of a theatre company in Texas, he elected and directed plays while performing administrative duties for the company. "Graduates from this program are the p opl who will run the administrative function of art organizations," Fass said. The eight students currently enrolled in the program com from aero the nation and outside the country. Four tud n are from Missouri California, Taiwan and New York while the remaining four ar from Utah. SUU's first class of MFA students are front row, I to r; Mark Houser, Cedar City; Sarah Johnson, Missouri. Middle Row : Django McDanlels, Cedar City ; Lauren Winokur, New York; Darline Sacquety, Callfornla; Ven-Fen Cheng, Taiwan. Back Row: Kelly Pugh, Orem; Marlo lhler, Cedar City. "The areas of intere t range from mwic to dance to visual art to theatre," Fass said. Students are trained in different areas through the first several emesters. "The student are asked (to pend) eight weeks exploring different areas of the administration," Fass said. " ot only are they exploring for instant marketing, fund.raising accounting but they are also exploring tho e areas in different arts groups- theatre, dance company and art gaJlery." .As a result, the student:, are given a broad background in several different aspect of arts administration before the choo e whjch area to specialize in and which area of administration iatere ts them most. "With just th acad mic portion or ju the prof. ional p rtion the program doe n't work," Fass aid . "Tho have to go hand in hand." In additio~. course are offeced by prof. · ionals in the field like Fr d Adams, founder and·executive producer of th Utah hake pearean Festival; Lydia Johnson, director of the Braithwaite Fine Art Gallery and R. ott Phillip , managing director of the Utah Shakespearean Festival. The entire program emphasizes prof. sionaJ experience and practical application of classroom theories. For the first eight rodents pioneering the program. it offers an opporru.aity to combine their unique artistic talents with business for a career tailored to their needs. Montage honors classics BY CYNTHIA KIRKHAM SENIOR STAFF WRJTER Classical Montage, the second of a six-part rttital series. pee eoted by the Orchestra of outhem Utall, was a unique mix of cultural music performed by various artists. Performances ranged from "Someone and Others"- a piece based o n a composition of. Walter de la Mare's cWldren' poems composed by SUU profes or emeritus Hal Campbell~ to the traditional melody of "Greensleeve _n The first two performers were flutist Celeste Miller and harp player Heather Mecham, who are both tud nts at Cedar Middle hoot. They played a collection of English and Irish baJlads like "Greensleeve , " W. B. Yeats "Down by the alley Garden" and "Even ong" by K. Holme . While Miller and Mecham are still young and began performing in tbe community only a few years ago, thclr performance was that of a easoned duo. The harp tum d th impt melodi the duo played into omethlng emotionally powerful. Recital director Sara Penny asked Mecham to perform an encore piece at the end of the recital because she aid harps are so rare in Cedar City. "Autumn," a piece by French compo er C. Chaminade, was performed on the piano by SlnJ chemistry student Kristen Pearson and portrayed the changing of the easons. It started smooth and mellow like the winds of August and increased in intensity until it sounded like a fierce wind turning trees leafless and creating whirlwinds of leave flying through the air. The end of the song lowed in motion again as if the piano key were frozen by the cold of winter. Pearson has participated in the Cedar City music community for many years and is cu11ently an accompanist for a choir at the LOS Institute of Religion. Victoria Hoy, an SlnJ music major, played a pi ce by Belgian com.po er Vieuxtemp called "C3priccion on the viola. The song was fast and Hoy' .fing rs raced aero the trings. What ceaJJy drew the crowd into the piece, however, were her facial expression , which displayed th.e emotion behind th music. Hoy has played for everal music organizations in southern Utah and participated in prestigious worlcsbop at Meadowmount, Idyllwild and Roundtop . She was a finalist in the American tring Teachers Association competition. Soprano Sally Jensen and pianist Dixie Morrell performed "Someone and Others," an original piece composed by Campbell. This piece was eight children's poems set to music. Each poem had its own musical composition, and Jensen et the tone for each with her dramatized performance. While some music did not eem to mesh with the childlike words, others worked well. Tue way Jensen witched from one poem 's character to another made the piece entertaining, put because there were breaks in music between the poems it seemed· more like eight separate compositions instead ·of one fluid piece. Morrell and Jensen ace accomplished Cedar City musicians. Beaver High cbool tudent Benjamin Lee was the finaJ performer. He played "Malambo," a piano piece by Argentinean compo er Ginastera. FOREIGN FILM FRENZY Giorgio Cantarl plays the son In a Jewish family trying to survive the Holocaust In the award-winnrng Italian film, 'Life Is Beautiful. ' The film was played Monday night as part of the Foreign Film Frenzy that the SUU Honors Program is hosting. The program Is developing an ongoing fllm series promoting cultural awareness of broad topics. Throughout the remainder of this week, the Foreign FIim Frenzy wlll featuring fllms at 7 p.m. with refreshments and coffee chats to follow. |