Displaying items by tag: Development

 The University of Utah School of Music was ranked #15 out of 370 institutions in the U.S. for veteran friendliness in College Factual’s 2019 national and state rankings. This places the U in the top 5% best music schools for veterans in the nation and is the second year in the row the U has ranked as the best school of music for veterans in Utah.

According to PayScale survey, a U music graduate makes an average of $37,436 in their early career to $59,299 in their mid-career — these amounts are above national average earnings for music graduates.

The U also ranked #1 overall for best university for veterans. Determining factors pertaining to veterans include: affordability, population, polices, resources, satisfaction, and overall college quality. 

The U’s Veterans Support Center aims to “enhance the individual and academic success of veterans, service members, and their family members,” to find out about more about their resources and support, visit: veteranscenter.utah.edu and to learn about the College Factual’s ranking methodology, visit their website here.

We end this semester and the calendar year during the time when our skies see the least amount of light. But what better moment is there to appreciate the illumination caused by our curiosity, our exploration, and our art? So, as we look forward to the coming semester and the coming year, we are sharing our gratitude for the experiences, learning, and growing that took place over the last several months. Here are just a few examples of what transpired.

 
College of Fine Arts
• To kick off the new school year, we held our biggest-ever Arts Bash celebration on Library Plaza with live performances, interactive art, free food, and free t-shirts. 
• We also refreshed our Distinguished Alumni Awards with an evening celebration and three awardees: Claudia Sisemore (Legacy Award), Rosa Vissers (Horizon Award), and Neil Hendriksen (Arts Educator Award). 
• We were thrilled to celebrate with John W. Scheib who was named AVP for the Arts for the University of Utah.
• We launched the Create Success initiative taking the learnings from our successful alumni and sharing them with our current students.
• The CFA also welcomed our new Internship Coordinator, Kate Wolsey!

Department of Art & Art History
• The biennial Art & Art History faculty show at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts “Site Lines: Recent Work by University of Utah Art Faculty”” was a powerful exhibition curated by guest, Felicia Baca, and highlighted more than 40 works.
• Three Art faculty members, Edward Bateman, Beth Krensky, and Kim Martinez, along with the UMFA’s Jorge Rojas, were all recognized by 15Bytes as Utah’s 15 most influential artists!

School of Dance
• The School of Dance had a busy season with its headliner shows Performing Dance Company and Utah Ballet getting rave reviews.
• The student-driven Graduate Thesis Concert and Ballet Student Showcase brought new, interesting dance to the stage of MCD as well as the Modern Student Concert.
• The U’s Screendance program, run by Professor Ellen Bromberg, brought Silvina Szperling to campus for an impactful residency.

Department of Film & Media Arts
• The 8th annual F&MAD Film Festival highlighted 16 short films with the Audience Choice award going to Eduardo Soares for his film “Chasing the Dragon.”
• The U has one of the top ranked Film programs in the country! This year, College Factual ranked The University of Utah’s Film & Media Arts Department #19 out of 136 schools nationwide, placing the school’s program in the Top 15% of all Film programs in the United States. The U’s Film program also earned the title of best in state for the second year in a row.
• Miriam and Sonya Alberto Sabrino, known as the Also Sisters, have been busy this semester (as always) and their film “The Film Machine” (which was shot with help from the students in the Grip & Lighting Course, who also helped light and direct the film) won two Awards at the Curtocircuíto - International Film Festival.

School of Music
• The School of Music’s 18th Annual Camerata Awards Concert and Gala honored Gordon & Connie Hanks and Henry Wolking.
• The School of Music was gifted a new, custom-built practice pipe organ from renowned Dutch organ maker, Plentrop Orgelbouw, by the generous Jim Mitchie.
• We followed the University Chamber Choir, directed by professor Barlow Bradford, to China over the summer for their headlining performance at theChina International Choral Festival in Beijing that was televised nationally on CCTV.

Department of Theatre
• The first half of the Department of Theatre’s season has been a whirlwind from “Chess” to “Julius Caesar” and “Big Love.”
• Theatre professor and former Department Chair, Gage Williams, participated in the 2019 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (PQ) also known as the “Olympics” for performance designers
• Theatre’s Actor Training Program was honored to host Fight Master David Boushey.

For this episode of MAGNIFYING we spoke with Development Director Devon Barnes. Our creative community here at the College of Fine Arts is diverse and wide spread. With the goal of gaining a deeper knowledge and awareness of the people within our community, we bring you MAGNIFYING, a series dedicated to showcasing the talent of our students, faculty, and staff.

Tell us about yourself: Name, where you are from, what you do and how you got into in your field of work
My name is Devon Barnes. I am originally from a suburb outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I came to attend the University of Utah as a freshman in the fall of 2005. It was that fall that my new college friends decided to get a part-time job working for the University of Utah Phonathon; making outbound phone calls and fundraising on behalf of the University. I decided to join my friends and also get a part-time job as a student caller. It was with the Phonathon that I learned of the importance of fundraising and connecting alumni back to the University while sharing the impact of a gift, of any size, to the U. As many fundraisers, I feel as though I accidently fell into fundraising. A part-time job truly changed my life and I knew I wanted to continue this line of work by making a difference one donation at a time.

What has surprised you the most in your life?
I am most surprised by how much I fell in love with Utah and the University of Utah. Although I was excited to come to the University, I never imagined staying long-term. When I came to the U, I considered myself a “Philly Girl”. I always thought I would return back east. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania and the majority of my family still resdies in the area, now. However, to my surprise, after experiencing the usual home-sickness and getting past that, I fell in love with the U, Salt Lake City, and everything Utah had to offer- from the Mountains to being able to camp under the stars in Southern Utah. Additionally, a few years into attending college, I met my now husband. The University of Utah and Salt Lake City is very dear to my heart and quickly became my home.

What do you wish you had known/been told?
Before classes officially began for me, my parents accompanied me to Salt Lake City where I toured campus and attended orientation. When it was time for my parents to return to Pennsylvania, I recall my father telling me that it was OK to play hard, but first I had to work hard. As an 18-year old, I simply acknowledged the comment and started my new freshman life in the dorms. After making mistakes and learning from those mistakes, I have come to truly appreciate the saying: work hard/ play hard. However, I wish, then, I truly understood what my father was saying. There have been times in my life that the work hard/ play hard motto hasn’t been so even. Over time, I have learned that those two need to be in balance with each other. To this day, I try to live by this motto and in return enjoy life to its fullest.

For this episode of MAGNIFYING we spoke with Development Specialist Blake Bratcher. Our creative community here at the College of Fine Arts is diverse and wide spread. With the goal of gaining a deeper knowledge and awareness of the people within our community, we bring you MAGNIFYING, a series dedicated to showcasing the talent of our students, faculty, and staff.

Tell us about yourself: Name, where you are from, what you do and how you got into in your field of work
Hi there – My name is Blake S. Bratcher and I currently have the privilege of working for the College of Fine Arts in the role of Development Specialist. As a semi-recent M.Ed. Graduate of the College of Education, I began my time in Salt Lake City in 2016 moving from the small community of Tontitown, Arkansas. My childhood was filled with memories of a tight-knit familial atmosphere, one of which was supported by conservative ideologies that I begged to challenge as I got older. In doing so, I realized the profound impact that friends, mentors, teachers, and professors during my undergraduate years had on me. Therefore, one aspect of my life that I have always extremely valued is relationships. Relationships, no matter personal or professional, have always been the means of transportation that have assisted me in not only figuring out my own identity, but appreciating those identities around me. Now being 1,200+ miles away from home, the University of Utah and all the fabulous individuals who encompass it have been nothing short of supportive in fostering my own personal development and as a staff member. Anyway, I guess it is time to answer your question! In my last semester of graduate school, I was incredibly grateful to be a Development Intern in the Vice President’s Office for Institutional Advancement, assisting in research under Chris Ostrander, Executive Director of Foundation Relations. This experience, coinciding with my time as a Graduate Assistant in the A. Ray Olpin Union Administration Office, the field of Development (and the relationships within), had me craving more. My time in the College of Fine Arts has been filled with a broad spectrum of items, all the way from assembling massive paper lanterns in the 90-degree July heat, to playing a minor role in developing major million-dollar proposals. Would I change a thing? Absolutely not – Daily, I am reminded of how truly grateful I am to work with such passionate people. Also, I am reminded of how integral relationships are in supporting each academic area that makes the College of Fine Arts a vital component in creating the “One U” student. The field of Development is still very new to me, but as I am fortunate enough to be given new opportunities daily, led and advised by my incredibly knowledgeable colleagues, I look forward to welcoming the many years ahead.

What has surprised you the most in your life?
Depending on the day of the week, I either hate or love surprises. Namely, if the surprise involves cash, puppies, or a new car, I welcome them with open arms. But in all seriousness, I think the one thing that has surprised me most in my life is how incredibly privileged I am to be where I am today. All too often, either with national news or campus tragedies, we are reminded of the tribulations that our various communities are facing. During those times, including in my own experiences, people will naturally gravitate to those relationships who support, nurture, challenge and remediate problems that they may be facing. Therefore, I am surprised how much I lucked out in still having that tight-knit familial atmosphere so far away from home.

What do you wish you had known/been told?
First off, I absolutely love this question and ask it in my own ventures, simply because I believe it to be a prime chance for individuals to be vulnerable and honest. That being said, I wish I had been told from a very young age, and granted my parents said this often, that “Everything will be okay.” Yes, I do believe some things happen for a reason, but maybe not quite everything, and the outcome of those things and one’s reactive state is something I think to be heavily dependent on your ability to believe everything will be okay in the end. I acknowledge that I am a huge proponent of worst-case scenario thinking (and for the record to clear my name, I’d argue the correct term is realism as opposed to pessimism) but counteractive to that, recent reaffirmations have made my own confidence in this saying to be elevated. No, you will not get fired immediately if you have a minor slip-up in your job (you’ll learn, everything will be okay). No, the world will not end if you forget to call your mom back (actually, debatable. but everything will be okay). Although minuscule to most, this saying and the mindset it brings is something I should have known all along. And moving forward, I am cutting myself some slack to believe in it more.

Last summer, Kendyl Schofield participated in an inclusive Painting Residency at the Taft-Nicolson Environmental Humanities Center in Montana. This competitive program was led by Kim Martinez and only accepted 11 other students. For 9 days, Schofield immersed herself in the intensive Painting and Drawing course and recently presented her work at the Vice President for Research Dean’s Luncheon.

Schofield took advantage of the Montana landscape—painting and studying environmental issues with visiting scholars and scientists. The experience changed Schofield’s outlook as an artist and pushed her to develop a deeper understanding and respect for the environment we are a part of.

“The residency was absolutely amazing. I would recommend it highly to anyone who is interested in painting, the environment, and getting to know some fellow students really well. It completely changed my perspective on oil paints and I fell in love with landscape painting and have continued to pursue plein air painting here in Salt Lake,” said Schofield.

In conclusion to her residency, Schofield exhibited her work with her peers in the Gittin Gallery at the Department of Art and Art History. Schofield assumed leadership of the exhibition by creating posters, press releases, and installation of the show. The sale of multiple paintings during the exhibition highlights not only her artistic foresight but also her entrepreneurial skills.

Schofield received an Associate’s Degree at Salt Lake Community College before attending the U in Fall 2017. She was awarded the Grace Durkee Meldrum Scholarship in Spring 2018. Schofield is currently pursuing a BFA in Painting and Drawing and is developing a portfolio of landscape paintings throughout Utah with a focus in plein air.

The School of Music proudly announces the addition of a new, custom-built practice pipe organ from renowned Dutch organ maker Flentrop Orgelbouw. Housed in the Schreiner Organ Studio in Gardner Hall, the new Flentrop Organ provides organ students, faculty, and visiting artists the highest quality practice experience.

While the School of Music installed the beautiful Lively-Fulcher performance pipe organ in 2000, organists still needed to warm up or practice on an electric organ or piano. For an organist, practicing on a piano is like “a violinist having to warm-up with a guitar,” explains organist and former Dean of the Utah Chapter of the American Guild of Organists Harry Cross.

The new Flentrop organ is the only one in the Intermountain West. The Rolls Royce of organ manufacturers, the Flentrop organ took two years to design and was built by hand in Zandaam, Netherlands. It arrived in three crates by boat and took two weeks to assemble and voice by a Flentrop specialist.

The organ was paid by a generous donation by Jim Michie of the James R. and Nanette S. Michie Foundation. A lifelong lover of organ music, Jim explains, “I love the resonance, strength, and variety of tones an organ provides.” Cross noticed the need for a new organ a decade ago while attending an event at David Gardner Hall. He was taken aback to discover organ students had no organ to practice on.

“Teaching a student to drive a car with an automatic transmission won’t help much when asked to drive a car with a manual transmission,” Harry explains.

The Flentrop organ is designed to complement the Libby organ—it mirrors its layout, has three manuals, a full pedalboard and was designed for the small room that houses it. The School of Music offers two bachelor and master degrees in organ performance. But unlike other universities with similar degrees, the School of Music only owned a performance organ. The addition of the Flentrop allows students to more accurately practice technique and articulation. It also serves as a warm-up organ for guest organists.

“Being an all-Steinway school for piano students, the U will now provide that same superiority for organ students,” said Cross. The University of Utah joins other great performance venues and organ programs across the country in providing the highest quality instrument for our students.

Many people’s talents, passions, expertise, time, and resources go into sustaining and nourishing the University of Utah College of Fine Arts, and for each of them, we have a deep and abiding appreciation.

To the learners, the learned, the donors, the patrons — each of you play a role in cultivating a space where creative exploration can take flourish.

The results are new creative thinkers, ideas, and windows into the perspectives of those whose eyes we would otherwise never have the chance to see through.  From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.

Former Department of Theatre Chair, Gage Williams, has been invited to participate at the 2019 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (PQ). PQ is the biggest international performance design event in the world. Only 51 USA designers were invited to showcase their work and discuss their careers.

Williams’ set of Romeo and Juliet at Lake Tahoe Shakespeare will be featured at PQ, making this his third time to participate in 25 years. Williams’ set designs for Anne of Green Gables at Childsplay Theatre Co and Hamlet at Idaho Shakespeare Festival were selected by PQ in 1999 and 2003.

“The set design for Rome and Juliet is a fragment of a Renaissance building, being supported by a scaffold.” Williams explains. The city longs for recovery and some sense of stability in this production of Romeo and Juliet, and Verona is a place of danger, a war-torn city just recovering from the first World War. A single wall in a state of ruin set against the enormous beauty of Lake Tahoe juxtaposes the central themes of this play. “At times the set strives to capture the beauty of an ancient ruin in the setting sun against the greenery of the trees and blue of the lake while foreshadowing the ultimate total demise of these two families. By the end of the play, only the tomb and fragments of the wall are visible through the edgy lighting, and the beauty of the lake and trees are lost to darkness.”

Williams started teaching at U of U in 1994 and served as chair from 2009-2018. He was the resident set designer for the Idaho Shakespeare Festival (ISF) from 1995- 2008, and continues to design for ISF and for other regional theaters and opera companies including, Great Lakes Theatre, Actors of Theatre Phoenix, Childsplay Theatre Co, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Salt Lake Acting Company, Pioneer Theatre Company, and Utah Opera Company. He has designed numerous productions for the U’s Department of Theatre, including Hello, Dolly! at Kingsbury Hall, that was featured in the quarterly USITT publication TD&T this past summer.

From 1990 to 1994 he lived in LA and was a staff Art Director for Bruce Ryan Production Design. During that time, he art directed productions for ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, HBO, Showtime, ESPN, Disney, VH-1, and MTV. Williams received a CableACE Award for his art direction of the Showtime film Mastergate. Since 1994 he has art directed numerous comedy specials for HBO, including productions featuring George Carlin, Bill Mahar, and the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, CO. from 1995-2008.

Williams is currently on sabbatical from University of Utah for the 2018-2019 academic year and will return to teaching at the U in Fall 2019.

Graduate student, Mariko Azuma, completing her MA in Art History, has already carved herself a path and gained recognition on a global level. She is dedicated to infusing global dimensions into her studies, and her research has been supported by multiple grants, including the Department of Art History Program’s “Eskridge Travel Grant”.

This grant allowed Mariko to present at an international conference at the University of Lisbon on “Preserving Transcultural Heritage: Your Way or My Way” in July 2017. Mariko’s paper presented at the conference “Yin Yu Tang and the Effects of Re-Contextualization” was recently published in the conference proceedings edited by Professor Joaquim Rodrigues dos Santos, Institute of Art History, University of Lisbon. Her thesis advisor Professor Winston Kyan notes, “Mariko’s thesis is the culmination of an MA graduate career dedicated to finding connections between the local and the global.”

Congratulations Mariko, the College of Fine Arts thrilled to have you as a student representative and look forward to watching your career blossom.

For seventeen years, The Utah Philharmonia has embraced the Halloween spirit through its annual haunted orchestra performances. The orchestra will wear costumes while performing Broadway hits, 10/25 and 26 at 7:30P in the Libby Gardner Concert Hall.

Each music selection showcases the haunted side of orchestra. Directed by Dr. Robert Baldwin, this family friendly production will feature songs from popular musicals like, Phantom of the Opera, its sequel, Love Never Dies and Young Frankenstein. Guests will enjoy songs like “Think of Me,” “Masquerade,” and “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.”

Classical music selections such as MacDowell's In a Haunted Forest, movements from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition accompanied accompanied by the School of Dance, and Mozart's “Queen of the Night” aria from The Magic Flute will also be performed. This aria is one of the most recognizable pieces in the classical genre and captures the darker side of music. It depicts the Queen of the Night in fit of vengeful rage encouraging her daughter to kill her rival.

Organist Logan Blackman will play the 3,838-pipe organ that looms over the stage, alongside the orchestra in their rendition of the famous Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by J.S. Bach.

Frankenstein will also make an appearance as the orchestra plays music from the musical Young
Frankenstein featuring actors and singers from the the Department of Theatre.

Guests of all ages are encouraged to come in costume and participate in the costume parade as the orchestra plays the Phantom Regiment. This event is expected to sell out. Tickets can be purchased in advance by visiting the Kingsbury Box office, online or by calling 801-581-7100.

PURCHASE TICKETS