New York Polyphony

Elise Witt, foreground, leads a group of community singers during An Improptu Glorious Chorus at the Blacksburg Farmers Market on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013.

At the Center for the Arts, we’re all about some community engagement. That’s why we’re hard at work crafting outreach events that are designed to get the community involved at the Center. Jon Catherwood-Ginn, our Partnerships & Engagement Manager, will guest post from time to time, so you’ll be able to stay in the know about workshops, activities in the lobby before the show, “My Take” Gallery Talks, and much more.

So far, we’ve already had some incredible engagement events with visiting artists–and we haven’t even really kicked off our inaugural season!

Most recently, during this year’s Vocal Arts and Music Festival and again during last weekend’s community chorus events, visiting artist Elise Witt brought some community singing action to the Blacksburg area with A Concert of Local, Global & Homemade Songs and An Impromptu Glorious Chorus. The best part? She’ll be back during our Community Open House on Sunday, Nov. 3, with a community performance.

Last season, prior to a recent Blacksburg performance presented by the Center for the Arts, the four-man a cappella group New York Polyphony led a master class with the Virginia Tech Chamber Singers, an advanced choral group of 36 students, including 16 students from Virginia Tech’s Department of Music in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Under the direction of Dwight Bigler the students performed the Renaissance piece “Christe Jesu, pastor bone” by John Taverner. The workshop also served as preparation for the students, who traveled to the Virginia Music Educators Association’s annual conference the following day to perform for music educators from across Virginia.

Also as part of last season’s activities, on his first of a two-day residency at Virginia Tech coordinated by the Center for the Arts, violinist Mark O’Connor worked with local elementary school students with the Virginia Tech String Project. The kids had a great time learning the tune, “Boil’em Cabbage Down.”

Be sure to check out the engage page on our website, and check back here for more information about upcoming engagement opportunities, as well as photos, videos, and more from all of our exciting activities!