The Gallery at Penn State Lehigh Valley will present a new exhibit from IDEA: Inter-District Experience in the Arts. "QRC:ART - Contemporary Melding of Art and Today's Technology through Young Minds," will run from May 14-June 20, 2012 with a reception from 5-7 p.m. on May 17. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public. This exhibition was made possible by a grant from the Erwin J. and Gertrude K. Neusch Fund of the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation. (more)
Roughly 170 Penn State student-musicians experienced a rare opportunity on Tuesday night, as they performed before an enthusiastic audience in Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh. The event was the sixth annual Penn State President's Concert, a collaboration among the School of Music, the Alumni Association and the Office of the President. "It was absolutely fabulous singing up there. I loved the opportunity," said Nathan Owen, who played Grandpa Moss in the Penn State Opera Theatre's portion of the program. "Singing in a hall with such great acoustics is really great. It requires a different kind of singing, a different kind of listening to yourself. It's really interesting, and really cool." For photos from the event, visit http://live.psu.edu/flickrset/72157629116064634 online. (more)
Penn State's Blue in the FACE a cappella group will host the Varsity Vocals International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) Mid-Atlantic quarterfinals at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at Alumni Hall in the HUB-Robeson Center on the University Park campus. The event is free and open to the public. Groups will be judged on a variety of items including musicality, choreography and arrangement, among other factors. This event is a once-a-year chance to showcase a cappella and music talent from around the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. (more)
The Penn State Glee Club performed the world premiere of 'Everyone Burst Out Singing,' the U.S. premiere of 'Ancient Forests Once Stood Here' and a rousing chorus from Gilbert and Sullivan among other selections at its fall concert Saturday, Nov. 5, in Schwab Auditorium on Penn State's University Park campus. The group is one of three that will perform during the Penn State President's Concert, scheduled for Feb. 28 in Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh. The Glee Club is the oldest student organization at Penn State. Membership is by audition and is open to all undergraduate and graduate students at University Park. For photos from the Glee Club's fall concert, visit http://live.psu.edu/flickrset/72157628070978460 online. (more)
The Arts Project at Penn State Lehigh Valley is partnering with the Futuros Empresarios (FE) Program organized by the Fe Foundation of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of the Lehigh Valley to provide a full-day art workshop for 34 local high school students from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. on July 15. The students will represent nine different high schools throughout the Lehigh Valley. Artists Ron DeLong and Heather Sincavage will lead the 10th- and 11th-graders through self-exploration exercises in design and drawing, and sculpture, respectively. (more)
The spring edition of Panorama, Penn State Beaver's Journal of the Arts, is available for free to the public. Copies of the publication are now available in the campus library, Student Activity Suite, Center for Academic Achievement, the Brodhead Bistro, and the lobbies of the Student Union Building and the Ross Administration Building. Panorama features a variety of original artwork, photography, writing, poetry and essays submitted by campus students, faculty and staff. To obtain a copy of Panorama through the mail, contact Carol Schafer, associate professor of theater, integrative arts, and women's studies, at cas33@psu.edu or 724-773-3591. (more)
As Penn State's drum major, sophomore Ian Kenney is used to performing before enthusiastic audiences in excess of 100,000 people. However, he'll be getting a very different performance experience on Friday, Feb. 25, when he dons more formal attire to sing tenor with the Penn State Concert Choir in the fifth annual Penn State President's Concert, being held this year at the Strathmore Music Center near Washington, D.C.
"It's about as opposite of an environment as you can get from Beaver Stadium," Kenney, a sophomore music education major studying voice, said of performing at a major concert hall. "It will be one-hundreth the number of people in the audience, and I get to share the stage with 50 or so members of the choir, instead of having just me in the spotlight." In that sense, the amount of pressure on him is greatly lessened. However, he said, "it's an incredible venue, so it's 100 percent of the same excitement to perform there. It's going to be a phenomenal concert." (more)
Bon Jovi, the band of namesake Jon Bon Jovi, kicked off its 2011 tour at the Bryce Jordan Center on Wednesday, Feb. 9, lighting up the venue with songs old and new, including the finale selection of "Livin' on a Prayer," known to attendees of many Penn State athletic events. Even those who weren't part of the near-capacity audience of more than 14,400 could view portions of the event via a live video stream on multiple websites. For more photos of the concert and Wednesday's behind-the-scenes activities, visit http://live.psu.edu/stilllife/2425 and for photos of Monday's setup, visit http://live.psu.edu/stilllife/2423 online. (more)
Hundreds of students packed into Alumni Hall of the HUB-Robeson Center on Monday, Feb. 7, for a Student Programming Association-sponsored concert featuring cover band Go Go Gadjet and headlining ska punk band Streetlight Manifesto. Sponsorship by the Student Programming Association (SPA) allowed the concert to be free for Penn State students with valid student identification, while general admission tickets were $5. For more photos of the event, visit http://live.psu.edu/stilllife/2424 online. (more)
For several hours on Monday afternoon, the main arena floor of the Bryce Jordan Center became a classroom for about 14 or so Penn State students in a variety of majors. Their instructors for the day included Mike Savas, Gordon Hyndford, Jeremy Knight, Dan Witmyer, Carson Austin and Mark Woody - all members of Jon Bon Jovi's tour crew - and the class could be called "tour setup 101." "This is our first time doing this," explained Savas, who handles publicity for Bon Jovi. "We've got the students helping us with load-in, showing them how something like this works." This is highly unusual for a tour of this magnitude. Major musical tours typically don't allow anyone to see the set-up in progress before a show. Not so for this tour, Savas said. "This was a no-brainer for us, with this being an educational institution, to invite the students in to observe and help. There's plenty of great stuff for the students to see and learn about lighting, video, audio and public relations production." For photos from the behind-the-scenes experience, visit http://live.psu.edu/album/2423 and for photos from the concert, visit http://live.psu.edu/stilllife/2425 online. (more)
