CAS News

Performing and Fine Arts

“On the Verge” Review

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By Kate Stringer ,  Staff Writer stringer14@up.edu

From THE BEACON

When traversing into the wilderness it is important to take three things: a machete, a Victorian pith hat, and an umbrella for poking hippopotami.

At least that’s the advice given by the characters in UP’s production of “On the Verge”, a play by Eric Overmyer about three female explorers from the Victorian era setting out to discover a new world, Terra Incognita.

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While they don’t encounter a hippopotamus, the women undergo bizarre occurrences. Foreign objects mysteriously appear in their luggage. Strange words begin pouring from their tongues. Women walk around in trousers.

Terra Incognita forces the women to confront their fears and anticipations of the unknown. While Alex (sophomore Emily Clare Biggs) demands they embrace their new world, Fanny (junior Danielle Renella) is as accepting of the future as she is of “cyclones, pit vipers, and bad grammar.” [Read more…] about “On the Verge” Review

Patrick Murphy Receives Graves Award

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Assistant Professor Patrick Murphy, or Performing and Fine Arts, has been named the most recent recipient of the Graves Award, which recognizes outstanding faculty at the start of their careers.  Prof. Murphy will use the funding from the award to support his research into band music from the former Soviet Union.  His goal is to bring to performance music that has not been heard outside or Russia–and our students will play their parts in the world premier.

Performing and Fine Arts Welcome

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The Performing and Fine Arts at the University of Portland are an integral part of campus life, the Portland Community, and our world.  Every year, Student and Faculty Artists in Music, Drama and the Visual Arts perform and present their work in a variety of performances and events to audiences of over 10,000 who witness the creativity, expression and passion of the collaborative work that happens within our Department.  Students can earn both majors and minors in our nationally accredited programs.

The Drama program produces 4 main stage productions annually in the Mago Hunt Theater, and 2 – 4 student directed second stage productions performed in our new black box theater.  The Music Program presents 12 – 14 performance events, from its ensemble groups which includes the University Singers, the Women’s Chorale, the Jazz Band, the Wind Symphony and Orchestra.  There are weekly recitals presented by professional musicians and students in the Mago Hunt Recital Hall.  The Mago Hunt Center, the department’s home, houses a theater, recital hall, drama rehearsal space and shops, and music practice rooms. 

Both drama and music students go on to graduate study and internship programs around the country.  In recent years, drama students have won both regional and national awards in acting and design through the Kennedy Center’s American College theatre festival.

Scholarships for music and drama students are available.  Look deeper into our site for further information on all of our programs, scholarship auditions and applications.

The visual arts also enrich the student’s curriculum and the campus environment.  A minor in the fine arts allows student opportunities to study design, art history and studio coursework in photography, drawing, painting, sculpture and ceramics.  A rotating monthly art show by professional artists and students happens in the campus’s Buckley Center Gallery.

I and the Arts Faculty invite you to explore Drama, Music and the Visual Arts at the University of Portland.  Please contact us if you have any further questions about the great training and events we have to offer. 

Sincerely,

Larry Larsen
Chair, Department of Performing and Fine Arts
Associate Professor in Theatrical Design
larsen@up.edu

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