6.23
Performing Arts
Eugene Lew reflects on a year without live performances
Eugene Lew reflects on a year without live performances
During the pandemic, the lecturer and director of Sound and Music Technology in the Department of Music switched from organizing live performance events to collaborative online technology.
Ballerina Emily Davis is ‘on her toes’
Ballerina Emily Davis is ‘on her toes’
May graduate Emily Davis earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the College of Liberal and Professional Studies while working full-time as a ballerina with the Pennsylvania Ballet and volunteering to conduct research at CHOP and community service with Philadelphia nonprofits.
The Sachs Program announces 2021 arts grants
The Sachs Program announces 2021 arts grants
The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation will support 25 new Penn arts projects, totaling $177,000 in funding.
Students’ spring shows go virtual
Students’ spring shows go virtual
COVID-19 restrictions have forced nearly all student shows to go virtual this year, and they are cropping up throughout this month and next as Facebook livestreams, Zooms, and YouTube posts.
Penn Glee Club becomes fully gender inclusive after 159 years of all-male singers
Penn Glee Club becomes fully gender inclusive after 159 years of all-male singers
The Penn Glee Club and Penn Sirens are merging, meaning that for the first time since its founding 159 years ago, the Glee Club will include singers of all genders and will perform repertoire for soprano and alto voices, in addition to tenor and bass, and for all four voice parts.
The show must go on, even amid a pandemic
The show must go on, even amid a pandemic
Amid pandemic restrictions, student performing arts groups continued to find innovative ways this fall to create new theater, dance, comedy, a capella, and instrumental productions to share on virtual platforms.
Sachs grant paves way for ‘Sis Uprising’ in experimental video
Sachs grant paves way for ‘Sis Uprising’ in experimental video
Works by Arien Wilkerson and Sachs Artist-in-Residence Ricardo Bracho debut at a virtual event for Slought.
An improv class that enriches the mind and soul, even remotely
An improv class that enriches the mind and soul, even remotely
The Penn Memory Center’s Cognitive Comedy program gives people with memory impairments and their caregivers a no-pressure space to think creatively, socialize, and be part of a community.
Penn performers keep creating during pandemic
Penn performers keep creating during pandemic
During the pandemic, the student Performing Arts Council has been working with the Platt Student Performing Arts House to encourage and support the hundreds of Penn performers, finding ways to promote their work on social media.
Personal documentaries replace performing at Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Personal documentaries replace performing at Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Theatre arts students created personal documentaries relating their situations during the coronavirus quarantine to the theme of transformation in crisis in the play “Orlando,” which they were supposed to perform at the now-cancelled Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland
In the News
The Washington Post
With Emmy win, John Legend achieves status worthy of his last name
With his latest award, a Creative Arts Emmy for his role as producer for “Jesus Christ Superstar Live,” the Class of '99 Penn alum became the 15th recipient of the legendary EGOT—or Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award.
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Time
An Expert's Take on the Symbolism in Childish Gambino’s Viral ‘This Is America’ Video
Guthrie Ramsey of the School of Arts and Sciences provided an in-depth analysis of the provocative music video. “Even though we think of popular culture as a space where we escape, [Childish Gambino’s] forcing us to understand that there’s actually nowhere to run,” Ramsey said. “We have to deal with the cultural violence that we have created and continue to sustain.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Trigger Warning: John Waters to Get ‘Filthy’ on Penn Campus
Iconoclast John Waters will be commemorating the creation of the Sachs Program for Arts Innovation at the Annenberg Center’s Zellerbach Theater tonight with a one-man show.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Penn Choral Director William Parberry Retires After 45 Years
After more than four decades in Penn’s Music Department, University Choir director William Parberry has retired. Parberry marked the occasion on Sunday with a final concert, featuring Handel’s “Messiah.”
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