Visiting artist Elise Witt returns to Blacksburg for more community singing events
Elise Witt, far right, tests out the sound on our Grand Staircase with some help from Program Manager Sara Bailey and Lee Heuermann, a faculty member in the department of music.
Elise Witt, a singer, composer, recording artist, educator, and community activist from Atlanta, returns to Blacksburg for a three-day community singing extravaganza. Witt will lead several community singing events, workshops, and concerts of “local, global, and homemade songs.”
Most recently, Witt visited the area in June during our Vocal Arts and Music Festival. Community members were able to participate in a community singing workshop, which culminated in an “Impromptu Glorious Chorus” at the Blacksburg Farmer’s Market.
She’ll kick off this weekend’s visit with A Concert of Global, Local & Homemade Songs™ at the Blacksburg Public Library tonight at 7 p.m., with additional community events to follow Saturday and Sunday. (You can see the full schedule of events on our website.)
Witt said she’s most excited about hearing the voices come together, and reconnecting with people who have been doing the workshops. In June, most of the students had left campus for the summer, so this weekend also affords her the opportunity to connect with Virginia Tech students.
“I’m looking forward to hearing a Capella singers and getting to connect with the campus,” she said.
Witt’s work leading community singing activities really began in the late 70s, she said, when she was a part of the Theatrical Outfit–a collective of musicians, actors, dancers, and other artists who lived and worked in the same space. The idea at the collective, Witt says, was that everyone would teach each other what they knew. It fell to Witt to teach singing.
She credits some of the “amazing” teachers she’s had throughout the years, starting with the music teachers in public schools growing up, and including Dr. Ysaye Barnwell (Sweet Honey in the Rock), Fred Onovwerosuoke, Bobby McFerrin, and Rhiannon.
Witt feels that over the years, she’s taken “bits from all my teachers” and molded that into her own unique teaching style. Incredible teachers notwithstanding, “I feel like I’ve learned the most from my students,” she said.
Currently, Witt works with Global Village Project, a school for teenage girls–refugees from Afghanistan, Burma, Congo, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, and Somalia–and she may be uniquely qualified for the work. Witt was born in Switzerland to German parents, and learned English as a second language. She’s also tacked on Spanish, French, and Italian for good measure. Her passion for language extends into her teaching.
“I’ve spent years getting students excited about language through singing,” she said. Each language has a different form of expression, not just through the difference in the words themselves, but also sonically, she said. “Even your body language changes. I’m not just interested in how to say something, but the way the body expresses in a language.”
“Singing is our original language, our original way of communicating,” Witt said. “When we sing, our bodies literally vibrate. In doing so, it changes us.”
Be sure to come out to one or more of Elise Witt’s events this weekend. Her concerts and classes could change you in a way you may not expect.
Witt will return to Blacksburg again for a community performance at noon on Sunday, November 3, 2013, during our Community Open House.
Opening week at the Moss Arts Center
We’ve shared photos from the inaugural visual art gallery exhibition openings. But we know you’re hankering to see everything else that went on during opening week here at the Moss Arts Center.
The Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology hosted their second annual Tech-or-Treat in the Cube on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. Children from all over were able to step into the Labyrinth and interact with all sorts of tech-based, Halloween-themed activities. Check out photos below, or a traditional slideshow here.
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While Tech-or-Treat was going on in the Cube, the Blacksburg Children’s Chorale took over the Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre for dress rehearsal ahead of their performance with the Philip Glass Ensemble on Friday, Nov. 1. Under the direction of Children’s Chorale founder and artistic director Patrice Yearwood and with some help from Michael Reisman, music director for the Philip Glass Ensemble, the singers took on their bits of the score for Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation.
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After a brief break on Thursday, we hit the ground running on Friday, Nov. 1, with our ribbon cutting ceremony. Hundreds of folks turned out for the momentous occasion. Our executive director, Ruth Waalkes, was joined by Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger and Virginia Secretary of Education Laura Fornash for remarks prior to cutting the ribbon. Afterwards, we opened the gallery and lobby spaces, as well as the performance hall, in the newly named Moss Arts Center to folks who wanted to take a peek.
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We all recharged a bit over lunch, where we presented Ruth with a signed, framed photo of the staff–in hardhats, of course! It’s hard to believe it was just a few months ago that the building was still a hardhat zone. It feels like years and minutes, all at once.
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In a blink of an eye, we were all preparing to welcome 1,200 patrons to the center for our inaugural performance from the Philip Glass Ensemble. In what felt like moments the lobby filled with patrons mingling, meeting new friends, and enjoying the exhibitions in the galleries. Then, just as quickly, everyone was seated, Ruth was taking the stage for her curtain talk to welcome the inaugural audience and to introduce the performance, the members of the ensemble were walking on stage, Powaqqatsi was beginning, and some of the staff were possibly beginning to cry…
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But the inaugural performance wasn’t all we had up our sleeves for Friday night. After the show, we welcomed donors into the Cube for a meet and greet with Philip Glass–our way of saying thank you to everyone who helped make our opening week possible.
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Another brief pause in the flurry of activity on Saturday, and then we geared up to welcome community members during our Community Open House. The open house featured several a cappella groups positioned strategically throughout the center, culminating in An Impromptu Glorious Chorus led by Elise Witt.
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After the open house, patrons enjoyed a beautiful performance by the Sphinx Virtuosi, during which Virginia Tech music students tried out an experimental educational opportunity: Tweet Seats. The music students engaged in an educational discussion on Twitter about the performance, led by instructors Tracy Cowden and Erica Sipes using the hashtag #cfasphinx. After the performance, we hosted a reception for our tweeters–and they were joined by the Sphinx Virtuosi!
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We had a very busy week, but it was such an exciting, rewarding experience. We want to thank everyone who has supported us along the way, and we hope you continue to support us and enjoy the new arts opportunities we bring to Blacksburg and the surrounding areas.