Sep 01, 2017 |
From left: Cody Anderson, Dr. Leslie Sabina and Kenny Crane perform at the campus Rathskeller as part of a 2016-17 jazz series that returns this academic year with an expanded format.
Martine Performing Arts Series opens Sept. 13
Faculty in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at St. Bonaventure University are presenting a performing arts series this academic year aimed at a very special audience — SBU students.
The Martine Performing Arts Series, funded by a grant from the university’s James J. Martine Faculty Development Endowment, kicks off Wednesday, Sept. 13, with a 7 p.m. performance by Brooklyn-based rock guitarist Thomas Millioto in Rigas Theater of the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts on campus.
The series, free to SBU students, faculty and staff, includes 10 unique arts experiences over the course of the academic year: five concerts, two theater performances, two club-atmosphere performances and a concert/demonstration performance.
While all performances are open to the public, they are intended first and foremost to entertain and expand the educational and cultural experiences of St. Bonaventure students, said Dr. Leslie Sabina, director of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at SBU.
“It’s a way to enhance the arts curriculum beyond the confines of the classroom, to offer students a convenient, no-cost way to experience a variety of performing arts genres,” said Sabina.
The series is a continuation of a successful jazz concert series held each of the past two years, also funded by the Martine Endowment. The new expanded format will allow students to “better experience and appreciate the wide diversity that exists within the performing arts,” said Sabina.
St. Bonaventure students presently enjoy discounted tickets to an annual community-based music series held on campus, presented by Friends of Good Music of Olean in association with the Quick Center, but Sabina and his faculty wanted to create a performing arts series that more directly targets their students and coursework.
“Our goal was really twofold: We wanted to expand our initial jazz concert series to include different genres of music that we’ve always talked about in our arts classes, and we wanted to have direct faculty involvement in choosing the artists that we feel are important to our students,” said Sabina.
He credits his department’s faculty for spearheading the project. “This really was their idea, I just followed their lead,” said Sabina. “All performances are linked to our music, theater and core arts courses, and each will be extensively previewed and discussed in different classes by the performing arts faculty.”
His co-faculty planners include lecturer Laura Peterson and artist-in-residence Kathryn Black from the music program; and from the theater program, Dr. Ed. Simone, professor of theater and program director, and Associate Professor Rebecca Misenheimer.
In addition to the Sept. 13 series opener by guitarist Thomas Millioto, other fall semester performances include:
- 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27, at the Quick Center’s Rigas Family Theater: Dave Mancini Trio with Friends. A Rochester-based composer and percussionist, Mancini offers a crossover classical/jazz sound.
- 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, Rigas Theater: Rochester City Ballet. The troupe will give a demonstration and mini-performance of dances from their fall “Bound for Brubeck” show.
- 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, Rigas Theater: Shakespeare’s “Othello,” presented by National Players, an outreach program of Olney Theatre Center in suburban Washington, D.C. The players will conduct a workshop for students the following day.
- 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, at the university Rathskeller under Hickey Dining Hall: Jazz ’n’ Wings with the Les Sabina Septet. Sabina and his band provide the cool jazz, the Rathskeller serves up the hot chicken wings.
Performances for the spring 2018 semester are being finalized and will be announced at a later date.
While all performances are free to SBU students, faculty and staff, there will be a nominal fee charged to the general public for events held at the Quick Center. Those outside the campus community seeking tickets may call the Quick Center Box Office at 716-375-2494.
The James J. Martine Faculty Development Endowment, named after a longtime former English professor, provides funds to faculty engaged in activities designed to improve the quality of teaching and learning within the core curriculum at St. Bonaventure.
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