Letter to the Community
Dear Friends,
The 2007-08 school year saw remarkable, vibrant breakthroughs for the arts at Brandeis. Here is a summary of what was new and noteworthy.
The Creative Campus
This year introduced the Second Stage Forum. Continuing the concept of the Brandeis First Year Book Forum -- in which all first-year students read and discuss the same book -- all sophomores were invited to have a shared class experience around a theatrical production. A campuswide coalition, led by the Office of the Arts, theatre arts, and German studies, hosted forums on The Threepenny Opera produced by the Brandeis Theater Company.
Other integrated arts programs included the Rose Art Museum exhibition Steve Miller: Spiraling Inward, which broke boundaries between art and science. Related scholarly symposia were hosted by Andreas Teuber (philosophy) and Mark Auslander (anthropology). Studio art faculty Claudia Bucher collaborated with computer science faculty Tim Hickey for a screening of ground-breaking computer generated art: Ani-motion Commotion. Music composition faculty Eric Chasalow partnered with studio art faculty Markus Baezinger on an innovative new course exploring the intersection of electronic music and sculpture.
In October, the International Center for Ethics Justice, and Public Life sponsored the international conference Setting the Stage for Peace: Acting Together on the World Stage. The gathering, organized by the Slifka Program’s Cynthia Cohen, welcomed nearly 100 theatre artists and peace practitioners from around the world for open classes and performances examining the intersection of performance and conflict resolution. Problem-solving workshops addressed conflicts in regions including Serbia, Israel, West Africa, Sri Lanka, and East Africa.
MusicUnitesUs, the intercultural program led by Lydian Judy Eissenberg, collaborated with the Brandeis Theater Company on the thrilling world premiere of The Orphan of Zhao. This commissioned adaptation of a Chinese folktale was co-directed by BTC artistic director Eric Hill and Naya Chang ’04, MFA ’08. The production featured new music composed by faculty Yu-Hui Chang PhD ’01, performed by MUUS guest artists Jiebing Chen, Yangqin Zhao, and Josh Gordon and Mary Ruth Ray of the Lydian String Quartet.
The Provost's Advisory Committee on the Arts focused on the impact of technology on new and traditional forms of art. The issues that emerged inspired further conversation with the School of Creative Arts faculty and staff at their annual spring meeting. The arts and humanities faculties convened for two interdisciplinary “conviviums” at the Rose and the Spingold that spotlighted the creative scholarship of Olga Broumas (creative writing), Susan Dibble (theater arts), Matthew Fraleigh (East Asian literature and culture), Bob Moody (theater arts), Fernando Rosenberg (Hispanic studies), Raimie Targoff (Renaissance literature), and Jonathan Unglaub (art history).
The 2007-08 school year ended with the first-ever assemblage of all graduating students in the School of Creative Arts. The Office of the Arts hosted a farewell reception at the Faculty Club, which featured toasts and tributes as well as practical career advice from the Hiatt Career Center.
Increasing Arts Participation
The Office of the Arts led a year-long survey of Brandeis art patrons, who identified “quality” and “selection of programming” as our greatest attractions. We discovered that 63% of our arts patrons are affiliated with Brandeis; 37% are not and “just love the arts.” 97% rated their arts at Brandeis attending experience as “good” or “excellent.” 73% of our patrons get event information from the Arts@Brandeis E-List, which was redesigned this year and grew to 1,700 email subscribers.
Online ticketing for theater and music events was launched in the fall. State of the Arts magazine was redesigned and expanded to 24 pages. Arts membership, our unified arts donor program, reached a new high of 125 people, and donations can now be made online.
This year marked the debut of the Brandeis Arts Council, which provided $75,000 in grants to support performances, exhibitions and programs in the School of Creative Arts. Through the combined contributions of its members, the council’s support directly benefits students.
The inaugural council is Sydney Abend '54, Tammy Ader '83, Barbara Binder '76, Daniel Lehrman '64, Fern Lowenfels '59, Sarah and Jack McConnell, Jr. P '10, Joan Merlis '79, Betsy Pfau '74, Harvey Mark Ross '67, Mindy Schneider '75, Jolie Schwab '78, Barbara Sherman '54/P’83, Carla Singer '66, and Alan Sterman ‘52.
The Office of the Arts presented special arts orientations to all new students, staff, and faculty, including Arts First, an introductory free ticket program. The Office of Communications generated nearly 30 media releases on campus arts events, providing continuous representation in regional press and university publications, as well as video coverage of the creative arts festival. All of the arts websites have been redesigned and will be fully launched by fall 2008.
Entrances and Exits
Wayne Marshall joined the music department and African and Afro-American studies as a Kay Fellow in Ethnomusicology. His scholarship is in hip-hop, reggae, and Afro-Latin music. Emily Mello was appointed the new education director of the Rose. A Harvard alum, Ms. Mello came to Brandeis from Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center. Los Angeles–based artist Claudia Bucher became the Avnet artist-in-residence, teaching Three-Dimensional Design and Sculpture in the Age of New Media. Costume designer Charles Schoonmaker, a four-time Emmy Award-winner, joined the theatre faculty and designed Boston’s 2008 Elliot Norton Award-winning Best Production The Clean House at the New Rep Theatre (starring Cristi Myles MFA’05).
Music faculty Michael McGrade departed Brandeis to become Director of Graduate Admissions at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Theatre faculty Karl Eigsti retired after receiving this year’s distinguished arts faculty award from Provost Marty Krauss. Karl is a true theatre legend, who designed 20 Broadway shows and was honored with a Tony nomination.
Theater
Brandeis really gave its regards to Broadway this year. Playwright Theresa Rebeck MA '83, MFA '86, PhD '89 made her debut on the Great White Way with Mauritius, starring Bobby Carnavale (Tony nomination). Tony Award-winning Avenue Q producer Robyn Goodman ’69 had another success with the 2008 Tony Award-winning Best Musical In the Heights (13 Tony nominations). Ms. Goodman and her Brandeis roommate, filmmaker Jane Paley Price ’69/P ’08, returned to campus in the fall for a seminar on careers in the theatre.
The Brandeis Theater Company season at Spingold united tradition and innovation. It began with a cutting edge revival of The Threepenny Opera. As many of you know, Marc Blitzstein’s adaptation of the Brecht-Weill musical premiered at Brandeis during 1952’s inaugural creative arts festival. Fifty-five years later, Mack the Knife still drew 97% capacity crowds. The production was sponsored by the chairman of the Board of Trustees Malcolm L. Sherman, his daughter Robin ’83, and his wife Barbara ’54 -- who worked backstage on the Brandeis premiere while an undergraduate.
The BTC broke new ground in production design with The Three Musketeers, co-developed with the Double Edge Theatre, in which the audience followed the actors through the Spingold stages; and Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy As You Like It, which made use of state-of-the-art video design.
Department chair Susan Dibble was appointed the Louis, Frances, and Jeffrey Sachar Professor of Creative Arts. Adrianne Krstansky directed an all-female Macbeth for the Actors Shakespeare Project featuring Marya Lowry in the title role; and Janet Morrison appeared in ASP’s King John. Eric Hill directed The Caretaker at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Brandeis received top marks for the professional New England premiere of The History Boys produced by the SpeakEasy Stage Company and directed by yours truly. It featured actors Sheldon Best ’08, Samson Kohanski ’08, Mohit Gourisaria ’09, and a set design by Janie Howland MFA ’93. And the department bid farewell to its first M.F.A. acting company in three years, who leave us with so many wonderful theatrical memories.
Music
The new Global Hip-Hop course had the highest enrollment of any SCA course this year, and a global perspective also distinguished the concert season. The Lydian String Quartet continued its series Around the World in a String Quartet celebrating composers from Argentina, Iran, Ukraine, China, Finland, and Germany.
MusicUnitesUS brought Brazilian song and dance to Slosberg with the dynamic Ologunde, while classical Chinese music (with a touch of jazz fusion) graced our campus in the spring. Both programs featured a rich series of related cultural symposia and workshops. The newly expanded Marquee Series of professional concerts featured diverse styles and themes from Sol y Canto’s Latin rhythms (two sold-out shows!) to Chris Smither’s New Orleans blues.
Nicholas Brown ’10 organized the first European concert tour by the Brandeis University Chorus, to Germany and Austria. It was sponsored by the Brandeis Arts Council. Students performed at a memorial service at the Dachau concentration camp. Other ensemble highlights included the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra’s magnificent fall concert of Beethoven’s “Eroica.” This year marked the debut of the first Leonard Bernstein Scholarship String Quartet, which performed at the arts festival and for the Board of Trustees. Brandeis’s VoiceMale won the A Cappella Live competition at Boston’s Cutler Majestic Theatre, solidifying the student group as one of the best in the Northeast.
Neal Hampton conducted Every Good Boy Deserves Favour by Andre Previn and Tom Stoppard at New York City’s Town Hall. Miriam Jencks, widow of biochemistry professor William Jencks, donated an 1835 fortepiano to Slosberg; with donations from other friends, the William P. Jencks Early Music Room is now dedicated to the University's extensive collection of early instruments. Spring colloquia featured composers Samuel Adler, Gustav Ciamaga, and Daron Hagen; and percussionist Michael Lipsey. Seth Coluzzi was appointed assistant professor in musicology. The student-run Irving Fine Society gave a concert honoring the music department’s founder.
Visual Arts
The fine arts department’s post-baccalaureate program in studio art received a substantial profile in the New York Times for its originality and excellence. Susan Lichtman assumed leadership of the studio art program, which sponsored six exceptional student exhibitions during the year. Fundraising and capital planning continued for the new Edmond J. Safra Fine Arts Center. A new gift from Jolie E. Schwab '78 and David Hodes ’77 provided support for studio artists’ thesis projects, as well as for all the visual art projects in the creative arts festival.
Department chair Charles McClendon was named the Sidney and Ellen Wien Professor in the History of Art. Sculpture by faculty Tory Fair was exhibited in Block Bloom at Boston’s LaMontagne Gallery. Talinn Grigor was selected as the new architecture faculty and will join us in 2009 following a year of research at the Getty Institute. Julia Hechtman will teach two new fall courses in digital photography funded by the Brandeis Arts Council.
The Rose Art Museum continued its renewed emphasis on its collection of more than 6,000 works, creating surprising correspondences between the old and the new. Empires and Environments exhibited works by Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and emerging artist Natalie Frank. Rose Geometries marked the professional debut of assistant curator Adelina Jedrzejcak and highlighted works by Ellsworth Kelly, Jean Arp, and Ad Reinhardt.
The Rose summer exhibitions featured Alexis Rockman in his first major U.S. museum solo exhibition. Rockman is known for creating socially charged predictions on global warming. The New Authentics: Artists of the Post-Jewish Generation explored contemporary cultural identity.
Jonathan Lee was appointed chair of the Rose board of overseers; his mother, Mildred Lee, was the first president of the board. The Rose received several new works from donors, including a collection valued at more than $1 million. The total value of recent gifts exceeds $2 million, and the museum has doubled its acquisitions endowment, placing it in the forefront of museums collecting modern and contemporary art.
The Rose partnered with the Women’s Studies Research Center to present Tiger by the Tail, an examination of the vision and values of female artists from India. Back at the WSRC, Lynne Avadenka’s site-specific installation A Thousand and One Inventions transformed the Kniznick Gallery. The WSRC also hosted its first student exhibition co-sponsored by the Ethics Center: photographs by Naomi Safron-Hon ’08 taken during her Ethics Center fellowship at an arts-therapy center in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Film
Under the leadership of history faculty Alice Kelikian, the number of film studies minors tripled last year, and Kelikian was profiled in the Boston Globe. Legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog previewed his new film about Antarctica, Encounters at the End of the World, at the Wasserman Cinematheque. Theater alum Tony Goldywn ’82 was honored at the SunDeis Film Festival following a screening of his film The Last Kiss. The film season concluded with the exclusive premiere of Errol Morris’s documentary Standard Operating Procedure about the abuse of prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, hailed by the New York Times as a “big, provocative, and disturbing work.”
Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts
Nearly 5,000 people from across Greater Boston attended the five-day festival and enjoyed more than 100 performances, workshops, and works of art created by students, faculty and guest artists. The Office of the Arts awarded forty grants for students to produce new work in visual art, music, theater, and dance. Highlights included exhibitions in eight locations around campus, a choral performance of Lost in the Stars, new music by the Brandeis Electro-Acoustic Music Studio, and a memorable performance by the Brandeis Dance Collective uniting the talents of students, faculty, and alumni.
The weekend hosted the first Spingold performance of Culture X, a song and dance celebration of the cultural diversity of Brandeis with more than 200 student performers drawing a capacity crowd of 750. Sunday’s Performing Arts Festival featured music by Sol y Canto, theatre by New Rep and Shakespeare Now, and a Children’s Pavilion with music and art activities. The 50th anniversary of Bernstein’s West Side Story was celebrated with a concert at the Rose. The festival’s growth was made possible by the generosity of Sue Pollets Nager ’55, Jolie Schwab ’78 and David Hodes ’77, Eddie Chernoff ’73, Jeffrey Scheckner and Jay Mandell ’80, and the Aaron Foundation.
Honors and Awards
The 2008 recipients of the Alumni Achievements Awards were afore mentioned playwright Theresa Rebeck and filmmaker Caroline Baron ’83. Ms. Baron is best known as the producer of Capote, nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture. She is also the founder of humanitarian organization FilmAid International.
Charles McClendon of the Department of Fine Arts received the Haskins Medal for his book The Origins of Medieval Architecture. The Rose was honored by the New England Chapter of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) for “Best Exhibition of Time-Based Art” for its exhibition Balance and Power: Performance and Surveillance in Video Art. Yehudi Wyner, professor emeritus of music composition and 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winner, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Reflection
The words of Leonard Bernstein really resonated with me this year: “It is the artists of the world, the feelers and the thinkers, who will ultimately save us; who can articulate, educate, defy, insist, sing, and shout the big dreams.” The arts at Brandeis have never lacked innovative ideas or ambitions. This year was distinguished by growing resources that are helping to make those big dreams come true.
I am also pleased that, in reflection of the University’s commitment to being a global institution, an international perspective on the arts was evident. More than ever, we are exploring the relationship between creative expression and social justice. I find that especially meaningful during this historic election year. As a community of artists and scholars, Brandeis is poised at establishing new visions for the 21st century.
On behalf of the Brandeis arts community, Provost Marty Krauss, and my colleague in the Office of the Arts, Ingrid Schorr, I thank you for helping to make these many achievements possible. We look forward to more dreaming together.
Warm regards,
Scott Edmiston
Director
Office of the Arts