The newly reorganized College of Music and Fine Arts is ready for its coming out.
The college is holding the first ever Music and Fine Arts Festival on Friday, March 28.
Event coordinator Ashley Shabankareh said she’s excited about the new festival. Shabankareh, music education and music industries studies junior, said the festival is a collage of the college’s offerings and a culmination of the year’s work.
She came up with the idea last year with fellow students to provide an opportunity to showcase the achievements of the college.
The event features two separate stages, with the first act starting at 3:30 p.m. in the Peace Quad, and the next act beginning 15 minutes later in the St. Charles Room.
The acts include performances by the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the Genesis Gospel Choir and a tuba ensemble.
Loyola’s Battle of the Bands, recently canceled due to foul weather, will resume as a sudden- death competition.
The festival is not only about music, though. Members of the dance department will perform, as well as theater students performing scenes from the play “Twelfth Night.”
The visual arts department will feature art lining the Peace Quad to the St. Charles Room. Screen-printed t-shirts and other student work will also be for sale.
Visual arts senior Alexandra Gelpi, president of the art department’s club Untitled, said she’s excited for the students to join in with Untitled’s interactive art piece this year. “This piece involves a paint-filled balloon toss towards either three moderately sized canvases or one large canvas,” Gelpi said. The balloons cost between $1.50 and $2, and the proceeds go to the club’s trip to New York City.
Postcards were sent out to high schools in the area, as well as high school seniors who have already been accepted to Loyola, in order to provide them with a first-hand look at the College of Music and Fine Arts.
Edward Kvet, dean of the college, said most students in the area know where Loyola is but not anything that happens on campus. He hopes this festival will be eye-opening.
John Adams can be reached at [email protected].
