Diverse range of offerings highlight the Center for the Arts' 2012-13 season
The Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech has a diverse line-up of performances as part of the schedule for its 2012-13 season. This season’s events will be hosted in a variety of local venues while the center's permanent facilities are under construction at the corner of Main Street and Alumni Mall in downtown Blacksburg.
The center is partnering with local organizations — from both Virginia Tech and the local community — on the current season, which will bring only a sampling of the imaginative and engaging programming that will be presented when the new center opens its doors in the fall of 2013.
Offerings for the 2012-13 season include a celebration in honor of American novelist Toni Morrison; a diverse range of musical offerings highlighting some of the world’s finest musicians and vocalists; a contemporary dance performance; and artist residencies featuring thought-provoking events that combine art, science, technology, and performance in conjunction with the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology.
Center for the Arts 2012-13 season schedule
Making the Invisible Visible: Discoveries Between Art and Science
- Virginia artist Rebecca Kamen, who has exhibited and lectured nationally and internationally, will spend a week in the New River Valley, leading workshops, presenting a public lecture, and participating in a panel discussion on art informed by science, and science revealed by art. Kamen’s work explores the nexus of art and science. This event is co-presented with the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology; the Virginia Tech School of Visual Arts; and the Christiansburg Library.
- Sept. 19, 6 p.m.
- Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology Studio, Collegiate Square, Blacksburg, Va.
- Watch
Sheer Good Fortune: Celebrating Toni Morrison
- Toni Morrison, American novelist, editor, and professor, is celebrated by guests spanning the fields of literature, music, government, and more. Hosts for the evening are Maya Angelou, author and poet; Nikki Giovanni, Virginia Tech University Distinguished Professor, poet, writer, commentator, and activist; and JoAnne Gabbin, professor of English and executive director of the Furious Flower Poetry Center at James Madison University. This event is sponsored by the Office of the President, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, and University Development at Virginia Tech.
- Oct. 16, 2012, 7 p.m.
- Burruss Hall Auditorium, Blacksburg, Va.
- Visit the event page
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble
- Chamber orchestra Academy of St. Martin in the Fields is renowned for its polished and refined sound, rooted in outstanding musicianship. The eight-musician chamber ensemble will perform Brahms’ Sextet in G-Major, Op 36; Shostakovich’s Prelude and Scherzo for String Octet, Op. 11; and Mendelssohn’s Octet for strings in Eb-Major, Op. 20. This performance is co-presented with the Virginia Tech Department of Music and School of Performing Arts and Cinema.
- Oct. 22, 8 p.m.
- The Lyric Theatre, Blacksburg, Va.
- Watch
New York Polyphony
- The common thread for a capella vocal chamber ensemble New York Polyphony’s concert is furtive passion. This performance will feature music written for hidden chapels and discreet locations and will include William Byrd’s exquisite “Mass for Four Voices;” the sensuous texts of the “Song of Songs,” an anthology of Hebrew love poems by Renaissance composers; and contemporary works by Grayston Ives (b. 1948). This performance is co-presented with the Virginia Tech Department of Music and School of Performing Arts and Cinema.
- Watch
- Nov. 14, 8 p.m.
- St. Mary's Catholic Church, Blacksburg, Va.
What Is This Thing Called Freedom? Transforming and Timeless Songs of Protest
- This special program reflects on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. with violinist Diane Monroe and her jazz quartet, along with vocalist Paul Jost. Drawing on the passionate music of the Civil Rights Movement, these extraordinary artists relive, revive and refresh songs from Bob Dylan, Gil Scott Heron, Richie Havens, Joni Mitchell, Pete Seeger, Dr. Billie Taylor, and many others who contributed to the soundtrack of an era. This event is co-presented with the Office for Diversity and Inclusion at Virginia Tech.
- Watch
- Jan. 25, 8 p.m.
- The Lyric Theatre, Blacksburg, Va.
Lucid Possession
- Lucid Possession combines musicians, a video DJ, and stage-controlled robotic screens to present a contemporary ghost story. The audience is drawn into a world in which video characters come to life. The players onstage collectively perform the movie, which spills off the dynamic, dimensional screens onto the stage. The result is like a complex three-dimensional, automated video pop-up book, and as characters are brought to life through motion, voice, and robotics, the boundaries of the real and virtual are blurred. This performance is co-presented with the Virginia Tech Department of Theatre and Cinema and School of Performing Arts and Cinema.
- Watch
- March 16, 7:30 p.m. and March 17, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
- Theatre 101, Blacksburg, Va.
Jeremy Denk: Solo Piano
- American pianist Jeremy Denk is an artist with an unusually broad repertoire, performing as a soloist with major orchestras across the U.S. and abroad. Last season he played concertos by Beethoven, Copland, Mozart, Schumann, and Stravinsky, and was the featured artist of the Ives Project. Denk’s program will focus on the works of Liszt and Brahms. This performance is co-presented by the Virginia Tech Department of Music and School of Performing Arts and Cinema.
- Listen
- March 24, 8 p.m.
- The Lyric Theatre, Blacksburg, Va.
Dinosaur Petting Zoo
- Celebrate Earth Day with the Dinosaur Petting Zoo by ERTH Visual and Physical, Inc. This performance takes children and adults on an interactive, prehistoric journey through an incredible cast of dinosaurs that inhabited Australia millions of years ago. Children will get up close and personal with these amazingly life-like creatures, which are brought to life via various forms of human powered puppetry. Children have the opportunity to help feed, water, and care for these prehistoric marvels with a simple lesson in animal husbandry. Recommended for children in kindergarten through sixth grade.
- Watch
- April 21, 3 p.m.
- Henderson Lawn, Alumni Mall and Main St., Blacksburg, Va.
A History: Bebe Miller Company
- This new contemporary dance work directed by Bebe Miller with long-time collaborators Angie Hauser, Darrell Jones, and Talvin Wilks is an intimate and compelling evening-length duet for Hauser and Jones with video by Lily Skove. “A History” probes their 10-year creative partnership and the collision of their internal processes as dancers, inviting the audience into the world of dance-making. Miller’s work has been produced at major dance centers throughout the U.S. and abroad.
- Watch
- April 26, 8 p.m.
- Haymarket Theatre, Blacksburg, Va.
Vocal Arts and Music Festival
- The fourth annual Vocal Arts and Music Festival returns to the Virginia Tech campus. Presented in partnership with International Vocal Arts Institute founders Joan Dornemann and Paul Nadler, opera’s rising stars are united with legendary coaches and outstanding instrumentalists for two weeks of masterclasses and performances.
- June 2013
- Squires Student Center, Blacksburg, Va.
Visit the Center for the Arts website for more information about each performance, including details on how to get tickets.
